Page 1 of 5 Page 2 of 5 John Bloom Investigative Journalist, Actor, Author, and Movie Critic Alter-Ego "Joe Bob Briggs" Please contact a GDA agent for information. Topics Comedian/Funny Communication Crime Emcee Film History Influence Innovation / Creativity Journalism / Literary / Author Television About John Bloom John Bloom is an investigative reporter, essayist, and actor who was born in Dallas; raised in Little Rock, Arkansas; and attended Vanderbilt University on a sportswriting scholarship. Bloom began his writing career in Texas, earning two National Magazine Award nominations for Texas Monthly. He was later fired from the Dallas Times-Herald for writing (as “Joe Bob Briggs”) a parody of the then-popular song, “We Are The World.” Joe Bob Briggs began his television career on the Movie Channel, hosting “Joe Bob’s Drive-In Theater” for nine years. During this time, it became TMC’s highest-rated show, earning two ACE award nominations. He hosted TNT’s “Monstervision” program and is currently at work on an autobiographical screenplay. John Bloom was a reporter for the Dallas Times Herald for over 15 years. He then was a investigative journalist who covered the Collin County axe-murders of a two best friends. His book, "Evidence of Love" was made into a movie called "Murder in a Small Town" starring Barbara Hershey. John Bloom also was movie critic alter-ego, "Joe Bob Briggs," so he can add film to almost any speech. He delivered a speech to undertakers using the history of film. Most recently he wrote a book, Eccentric Orbits: The Iridium Story. This is a story about a lone wolf guy, Dan Colussy, who read in the newspaper Motorola was going to destroy satellites. John Bloom investigated Colussy's story. Setback after setback occurred with Colussy as he fought on the biggest corporations and the government. This story is the history of the cell phone. Without the iridium cell phone, military and naval would not be able to do their job. Select Keynotes Murder in a Small Town Based on John's novel, "Evidence of Love" and the subsequent television movie with Barbara Hershey, "Murder In a Small Town," John gives insight on a suburban Texas housewife being acquitted of an ax murder. This is an intimate account of how a dramatic attorney, Don Crowder, put his client under hypnosis to convince the jury Candy Montgomery was innocent. The History of the Redneck in Film 90-minute show using humor and more than 200 stills and clips to illustrate how the modern idea of the redneck evolved from the Scottish borders to northern Ireland to western Pennsylvania to the Appalachian and Ohio Valleys, and how Hollywood incorporated this Scots-Irish character into many of its most iconic films. Page 3 of 5 The History of the South in Film 90-minute show using humor and more than 200 stills and clips to illustrate how Hollywood has dealt with the South over the past hundred years, transitioning from the antebellum mythology of the 1930s to the dark rundown defeated South of the 1950s to the heterogeneous “New South” of today. The Iridium Story: How One Man Saved the Largest Satellite Constellation in the History of the World The story-behind-the-story of John Bloom’s book Eccentric Orbits, which was named one of the Best 10 Books of 2016 by the Wall Street Journal. It’s about one of the greatest business deals in the history of the United States. When Motorola announced its intention to destroy the largest satellite constellation ever put into space—because their business plan had failed—there was nothing the government or the Fortune 500 could do to save it. But one persistent Florida retiree set out to preserve the only cell phone that works on every inch of the planet, a phone that has saved thousands of lives in war zones, disaster areas and remote places around the world. The speech is entertaining, inspirational and reveals a sort of “secret history” of U.S. government actions over the past twenty years. The presentation has been a rousing success at venues as disparate as the Google campus, the headquarters of Northrop Grumman, MIT, the Army Navy Club, the Pentagon’s Silicon Valley headquarters, the University of California, the Mobile Satellite Users Association annual meeting, Wells Fargo, and Coilcraft, Inc., which used the speech as a management learning tool. Select Book Titles 2016 Eccentric Orbits:The Iridium Story 2010 Allan McElhiney: One Man's Vision 2010 There You Have It: The Life, Legacy, and Legend of Howard Cosell 2009 The Genius of Money: Essays and Interviews Reimagining the Financial World 2009 The Genius of Money 2004 Barry Bonds: A Biography 2002 Sports Matters: Race, Recreation, and Culture 2000 To Show What an Indian Can Do: Sports at Native American Boarding Schools 1985 Evidence of Love Select Articles Book About 1980 Wylie Axe Murder Is Re-released Digitally If you're new to town, the names Betty Gore and Candy Montgomery might not mean anything to you. In 1980, Candy hacked to death her friend Betty — and then, at her trial, claimed she did it in self defense. The Iridium Story Motorola, the legendary American company, made a huge gamble on a revolutionary satellite telephone system called Iridium. Some in Wylie don't know of 1980 ax slaying; others can't forget Long before TV had its desperate housewives, Wylie had Candy Montgomery and Betty Gore - and the bloody killing that catapulted the small town into national attention. Page 4 of 5 Page 5 of 5.