| About PAH! |
| I approach the 20th year & 200th issue of PAH!. It began with commentary on the election of George Herbert Walker Bush. My last essay will be about the time his son leaves office and will mark two decades of doing this. Much of what you see here has been published elsewhere, but mostly it has been a great labor of love and has opened many doors to me and allowed me to meet many interesting people and make friends. Mark Morelli, December, 2007 According to Webster, pah is "an exclamation expressing disgust, contempt, or disbelief." But capitalize the word and you have my organ of humor and commentary gentle, jaundiced and jovial. Since 1988, readers around the world have subscribed to PAH!, which has been published exclusively online since 1997. PAH! grabbed the attention of David Letterman and his head writers Steve O'Donnell and Rob Burnett, who both solicited me at different times to submit batches of comedy. Author William Zinsser wrote, "I congratulate you on this continuing act of intelligence and energy." PAH! was recognized as one of the finest of the thousands of indpenendt press publications in Mike Gunderloy's book The World of 'Zines. In a series of reviews, Factsheet Five, the chronicle of the independent press, called PAH!: "Highly creative and satirical one-sided sheets from a very clever mind." "Wonderful work." "A 'zine of off-the-wall humor and occasional deep thought." "A single sheet of polished humor and fine writing from what seems to be an interesting life (well, did Leo Buscaglia stop by to take you out for New Year's?)." Finally: "PAH! is the jewel that is a celebration of our likenesses and differences. Rather than telling the world about the miracle of Morelli's existence through PAH!, Mark chooses a rarer course. He attempts to show us the miracle of our brief, mystical existence in this world, a rare treat in this reviewer's experience. The author of PAH! is an imaginative genius who creates names and events reflecting, satirically, on our human foibles and follies without losing perspective on our possible heroic possibilities. PAH! is a through-the-looking-glass glimpse of today's human condition." -Sam Cucchiara, editor, SLUGfest, Ltd. |