His writing about pop culture has appeared in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Rolling Stone and many other publications. He is author of the national bestseller Laurel Canyon: The Inside Story of Rock and Roll’s Legendary Neighborhood, currently in its 26th printing. Foundation document and inspiration for Laurel Canyon: The Musical and praised by the New York Times as “an inviting portrait of the bohemian quarter that played a prominent role in the foundation of rock music,” the book is also source for the Emmy-nominated 2020 documentary Laurel Canyon. Michael’s second book, What You Want Is in the Limo—a meditation on 1970s rock stardom and the record-industry infrastructure that allowed it to thrive—was praised by Rolling Stone as “a reminder of why the world would eventually need punk rock.” Michael is screenwriter and executive producer of the thriller Papa Alpha 333, to be directed by Academy Award nominee Robert Lorenz later this year.
He lives in Laurel Canyon, just up to road from the bungalow where Graham Nash wrote “Our House” and Joni Mitchell composed “Ladies of the Canyon.”
Theater Studies