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| With Wolf Blitzer and the CNN Peabody Award - May 2009 |
Wolf very generously wrote
the following blurb for the recently released trade paperback edition of FAST TRACK: “Fast Track” is one of those rare
novels that you simply can’t put down. I was hooked on page one and it was non-stop until the very end – an emotional
roller coaster.” Wolf Blitzer, CNN Anchor/"The Situation Room"
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Since 1969, I've been a just-the-facts-ma'am journalist
working in radio and television newsrooms in Wisconsin, Germany, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Atlanta. Highlights of my
career include getting tear gassed while covering the anti-Vietnam War riots in 1970 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison;
doing a 40-minute, one-on-one radio interview with Alfred Hitchcock in 1973 during my stint in the Army at the American Forces
Network (AFN)-Europe; and covering the White House for CBN News during the last three years of Ronald Reagan's presidency.
In 1988, I joined CNN as a writer. From 2001 to 2005, I supervised the writing on "Daybreak" anchored
by Carol Costello. Currently, I'm an editor and writer on "The Situation Room" (Weekdays, 4pm - 7pm ET)
anchored by Wolf Blitzer.
I grew up in La Crosse, Wisconsin and earned a BA in Journalism from the University of
Wisconsin-Madison (1977). The name DeDakis first
appeared in the Chicago phone book about 1915 as a typographical error. My grandfather, who had just immigrated from Greece,
felt the accidental capitalization of the second D made the name look more "dignified" so, Dedakis became DeDakis.
It's pronounced dih-DAY-kiss, by the way.
My wife Cindy is a musician. We have three children.
FAST TRACK is my first novel.
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Me
with Carol Costello on her wedding day. Unfortunately, the groom was some other guy. Carol is a trusted, cone-of-silence friend.
Soon we'll be working together on a book-to-tape version of FAST TRACK. She'll read Lark's part; I'll do the guy
voices, or at least that's the plan.
Watch this space for more details.
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Me
in about 1976 at my first television gig at WMTV - Madison, Wisconsin.
This picture could also be captioned: "Another
reason why you shouldn't do drugs."
My beat was Energy and Transportation. I also covered the Cuban boatlift and refugee
influx during Jimmy Carter's presidency, winning a UPI award for my documentary "The Cubans: Freedom and Frustration."
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My wife Cindy took this picture. As we were figuring out
the pose, I asked her, "How do you want me to look?" Without missing a beat, she replied, "Like George Clooney." This
is the best I could do. Sorry.
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