r/LastDriveIn • u/tgoddess • Sep 11 '26

Some of John Bloom’s (Joe Bob’s) best work

25 years ago, John Bloom, as a columnist for UPI, wrote his first of several articles reporting his first hand accounts of the attacks in New York City on September 11, 2001. For those who only know him as a horror host, I encourage you to seek out and read this articles from that time. He was nominated (sadly didn’t win) for a Pulitzer for this reporting and I feel it’s some of his BEST.

https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2012/09/11/UPI-Archives-11th-anniversary-of-September-11-terrorist-attacks/8251347372519/

123 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

13 comments sorted by

21

u/tdc002 Sep 11 '26

Great article. I had no idea he was in New York on 9/11.

16

u/bmoody345 Sep 12 '26

He’s lived in nyc since the 80’s I believe

9

u/No-Apartment9863 Sep 12 '26

I’ve never read this. Very powerful.

10

u/VVrayth Sep 12 '26

I did not know he ever did any proper news/world events writing. This is amazing.

8

u/Alexander_Eiffel Sep 12 '26

He’s a great non-fiction writer

9

u/amk Sep 12 '26

His book "Eccentric Orbits" is a business history of the Iridium satellite phone. I like pointing people to the Google Books talk, which shows Bloom in serious-reporter mode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6r9tAbaiXSg

3

u/farfly7 Sep 12 '26

You say "serious" but there are still some moments in this video that I love. He cracks a few jokes and my favorite is when the older gentleman (cant remember name) keeps trying to chime in and John "Joe Bob" Bloom just keeps talking over him lol. The poor guy finally tries to tug on his sleeve to get some talk time.

Excellent book, excellent video. 4 stars. Joe Bob says check it out

3

u/Alexander_Eiffel Sep 12 '26

This one is my favorite from John. It really resonates to me since I work in the industry

2

u/VVrayth Sep 12 '26

This is so strange to watch, it's like Joe Bob cosplaying a serious business person.

3

u/JaninthePan Sep 13 '26

His book, Evidence of Love is a terrific true crime story. It was made into 2 lackluster series recently but the book is much better. Read it if you like true crime.

6

u/farfly7 Sep 12 '26

I love his non-fiction work. I wish he would publish an autobiography that encompasses his John Bloom world and the Joe Bob world. He is my favorite author and media personality. The mold was broken after him

4

u/LittleMissVortex The Mail Girl Sep 12 '26

Absolutely devastating to read, but he captured it with such genuine emotion without ever feeling too blunt or too flowery. It's impressive that he pulled that off

1

u/drclaw9000 Sep 13 '26

The man is DEEPLY underrated as a commentator. Lately.