Al Weisel (July 18, 1963 – February 27, 2010) was an American freelance writer who lived in New York City.[1]
Weisel graduated from Columbia University in 1987.[2] He wrote for Rolling Stone,[3] The Washington Post, New York Newsday, and Us Magazine.[4] He also wrote for Premiere, Spin, Tracks, George, Travel & Leisure, Out, Time Out New York, and the Bulletin (Australia). From 1999 to 2002 he was the Movies Editor at CDNow where he launched the video/DVD section.
In October 2005, he published Live Fast, Die Young: The Wild Ride of Making Rebel Without a Cause, a book he co-authored with Larry Frascella,[5] which explores the making of the film Rebel Without a Cause and in particular the relationships between director Nicholas Ray and leading actors James Dean[6] and Natalie Wood.[4] He authored a satirical political blog under the pseudonym Jon Swift. There he wrote: "I am a reasonable conservative who likes to write about politics and culture. Since the media is biased I get all my news from Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and Jay Leno monologues."[7]
He died on February 27, 2010.[8]