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Eisenstein Mug Shot  |  

Paul A. Eisenstein

As a journalist and as publisher and editorial director of The Car Connection, Paul A. Eisenstein has been covering the auto industry since 1979. One of the world's most widely published automotive journalists, Paul's work routinely appears in such publications as The Economist, Investor's Business Daily, Germany 's Auto Motor und Sport, Popular Mechanics, Automotive Industries, Cigar Aficionado, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, and Nikkan Jidosha Shimbun, Japan 's automotive daily. He's also a regular commentator on National Public Radio's Morning Edition, and a frequent guest on a variety of other network broadcasts. Paul also serves as a member of the jury for the North American Car and Truck of the Year awards, and is a board member and past president of the Automotive Press Association. He has won a number of writing awards over the years, including a prestigious Wheels award, presented by The Detroit Press Club Foundation. Born in Chicago and raised in New Jersey (exit 117, to be precise), he received an associate's degree from Brookdale Community College, and then, feeling an urge to see more snow, he moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, graduating cum laude with a bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan. Eisenstein currently resides in Pleasant Ridge , Michigan , the smallest incorporated city in the state, with his talkative trio of cats and too many computers to count.

Articles written by Paul A. Eisenstein

Marty Padgett  |  

Marty Padgett

TCC's editor spent the '70s toddling, the '80s regretting his wardrobe, and the '90s learning the auto industry, as an enthusiast and as a journalist. Marty earned his Bachelor of Arts (cum laude, with special honors in interwar European history) from Duke University in 1991, then joined the staff of Car and Driver magazine as the editor of UpFront, the news and information corner of the million-selling monthly. After five years of road tests, comparos, video and online work, he joined Mercedes-Benz U.S. International in Tuscaloosa, Ala., as a media relations specialist. In 1996, he returned to journalism as a freelance reporter, with articles in Details, Men's Health, AutoWeek, and Stuff magazines. Today, in addition to serving as editor and producer of The Car Connection, he continues to write books, including a cultural history of the HUMMER brand and a commemorative book on the 50^th anniversary of Car and Driver. Marty lives in Atlanta on occasion, when he's not loitering on the Gulf coast, and still gets an irregular heartbeat from Duke basketball, although lately he's been trying to polish a big Lindsay Davenport-style hardcourt game.

Articles written by Marty Padgett

COPY CHIEF

Bengt Halvorson

As associate editor of TCC, Bengt contributes with industry- and consumer-related news and assists in day-to-day editorial duties. He brings more than eight years of experience in automotive journalism - including positions on staff at Automobile, Car and Driver, and the British weekly Autocar. Halvorson has a rather eclectic background for an automotive writer, with Physics and Philosophy degrees from the University of Michigan , Ann Arbor . He has a strong technical knowledge for reviewing and testing products, and has in recent years become especially familiar with the environmental and regulatory aspects of the industry. When not reporting on automotive subjects, Bengt enjoys listening to, making, and critiquing music, traveling, doing photography and fiction writing, taking things apart, and tinkering with old cars...when he gets the garage space.

Articles written by Bengt Halvorson

CONTRIBUTORS

MIke Davis at Harrah's  |  

Author, journalist and historian, Mike holds a bachelor's degree in history from Yale University, an M.S. in historic preservation from Eastern Michigan University, and has complete the course work for a doctorate in technological history at Wayne State University. Mr. Davis served as a reporter for the Miami Daily News and Business Week magazine before spending 27 years as a public relations and marketing executive at Ford Motor Company and the Evening News Association. He spent five years as executive director of the Detroit Historical Society, where he also served as a director and marketing vice president of the University Cultural Center Association. He is a adjunct professor of architectural history at Eastern Michigan University . Mr. Davis is author of three technological histories - "America's Favorite Homes," (Wayne State University Press, 1990, with Robert Schweitzer), "The Ford Fleet," (Freshwater Press, 1994, with Clare Snider) and "The Technology Century" (the Engineering Society of Detroit's Centennial book, 1995, for which he was both a contributor and editor-in-chief) and contributed the initial essay for a medical history, "Polio," (University of Rochester Press, 1997). As a free-lance journalist, he has contributed to countless magazines, newspapers and trade journals. He is a member of the Automotive Press Association and the Society of Automotive Historians, a trustee of the National Automotive History Collection, an advisor to the Automotive Hall of Fame and an elected director of the Detroit Metro chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.

Articles written by Mike Davis

Jerry Flint  |  

Call him The Car Connection's curmudgeon-at-large. But to twist an old slogan, when Jerry Flint talks, people listen. And for good reason. Born an educated in Detroit , Mr. Flint served a stint with Army Intelligence in Europe , before The Wall Street Journal from 1958 to 1967. In 1967, he went to work as bureau chief for The New York Times in Detroit , a position he held until 1973. In 1973, he went to New York for The Times as Assistant to the National Editor. Mr. Flint left The Times in 1979 to join Forbes Magazine, where he remained until his retirement in 1996. There were more than a few folks who sighed in relief when Mr. Flint's retirement approached, for his insightful and often cutting style left more than a few automotive "emperors" standing naked. But Mr. Flint wasn't ready to drive off into the sunset, and he continues to be an active member of the automotive media-and one of the most widely-read columnists for The Car Connection. While no longer on staff, Mr. Flint writes the regular column, "Back Seat Driver," for Forbes, serves as a contributing editor on CNN/FN, produces a monthly column for Ward's Auto World and is President of the International Motor Press Association.

Articles written by Jerry Flint