Back Alley Reporter

A tight, clean, and unmarked copy-First thus-" Mike McCardell is known to thousands in British Columbia as the friendly, somewhat tousled gent who appears most evenings at the close of BCTV News on Global. His tongue-in-cheek investigations of such weighty matters as a shoe abandoned in a downtown intersection have made him one of the most recognizable faces on West Coast television. Back Alley Reporter includes more than sixty delightful and lighthearted stories guaranteed to put a smile on every reader's face. Wherever he goes and no matter what he's doing, McCardell finds magic in the ordinary - whether he's trying to save his garden by hunting for leaf-eating beetles in his own backyard, contemplating the creation of a new holiday ("Garbage Day") or musing on the lost art of washing dishes. So take a tour down the back alley with McCardell and meet a number of intriguing characters along the way: Tom, a genius who became a professional beggar; Abe, an old-time bookie who only took bets on the neighborhood stickball or school track teams; and Lorenzo, who has never broken a New Year's resolution. About the Author: Mike McCardell has earned the loyalty of hundreds of thousands of fans for his tongue-in-cheek investigative reporting and human-interest stories."