A Town Called St. Peter, A Place Where Catholics Can Live Their Faith in Peace, Unless Katie Couric Shows Up
Contact: Paige Janco, Janco Communications, 404-909-1430
CHICAGO, Nov. 22, 2010 /
Christian Newswire/ -- In April of 2006, with the town of Ave Maria under construction in Florida, Tom Monaghan went on several national television news shows to generate awareness for this new town that would offer a new Catholic university.
In the early 1990s, Monaghan, the multi-millionaire who founded Domino's Pizza, had been inspired to steer away from pride and lavish possessions. He sold his businesses and put hundreds of millions of his own money into developing a town called Ave Maria and Ave Maria University near Naples, Florida. His dream was to develop a Catholic university on a par with Notre Dame in a town where Catholics could live their faith.
It was a noble Christian effort, but when he stepped onto NBC's Today Show, Katie Couric didn't agree and attacked this mission.
"She went ballistic on him," said John Ruane, author of the new satirical book on the news media titled, The Wizards of Spin. "I had watched her for years and never saw that side of her. She was basically attacking him on network television for trying to develop such a school and community, demanding that the drug stores in the town sell condoms."
In 2008, Ruane was inspired to write his third book, while watching the on-air battle between Bill O'Reilly and Keith Olbermann. The Wizards of Spin is satirical fiction written for those who love to watch news and talk shows, and includes a chapter on Couric.
"I cover the Monaghan interview, but then write a fictional account with another millionaire Catholic forming the town of St. Peter on his island outside of the United States, where Couric had no voice or jurisdiction," said Ruane."In my opinion, Katie Couric absolutely showed her bias and abused her journalistic integrity. Using satire, I expose her arrogance and abuse of power in this story.
"This chapter also gave me the opportunity to describe the perfect Catholic community, which is what I believe Mr. Monaghan was trying to achieve."
The chapter is titled, "A Town Called St. Peter" and is the only faith-based story in the book.
The Wizards of Spin, published by Second City Books, is available at Amazon.com. To contact the author directly for a review copy or interview, send an email to:
Jbruane@rcipr.com.
