Who is this Hollander guy anyway?

Born in Tennessee, I have lived in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Florida, and now obviously Georgia.

I am a child of the South.

My hometown (Lawrenceburg) was at one time the home of the world's largest bicycle factory. Today the factory is an empty shell.

Got a paper route at age 12, bought my first motorcycle at age 14 with my own money and a second one at age 16. For money I've also: mowed yards (at one time I had 12), planted tombstones in graveyards, worked on a garbage truck, washed dishes in a Greek restaurant, run a boat dock, dug ditches, and reported for newspapers. From ages 12-18 I got up at 5 every morning to throw papers, either on bicycle or motorcycle, no matter what the weather. Did it again at 3 p.m. for the afternoon editions. You one of those overindulged yuppie larvae who never worked? Don't tell me.

At my first job at a Mississippi daily, the editor would take me aside at the end of the day, hand me a beer, and then tell me all the things I did wrong. The beer helped, because rookie reporters always make mistakes.

I won awards for my reporting. I moved on to a Louisiana newspaper also owned by the NYTimes company, grew to love Cajun food, married a Cajun girl, later moved to Florida and yet another NYT paper. Went to grad school, got a masters and PhD. Landed job at Georgia as Dr. Hollander and started in Fall 1991. We have two kids,a lazy dog, a crazed cat, and are near the end of three generations of gerbils. Three generations? Let me just say that when the kid at the pet store vows you're buying two gerbils of the same sex, don't believe him. My children got a crash course in rodent mating.

At UGA my research focuses on the political impact of new media and I am among the leading experts on political talk radio. Away from the office I do a lot of stuff (see my guilty pleasures page). In my classes I am known as a hard grader with my record low score on a student's paper being a -147. Yes, negative 147. If you're in my classes, read widely and deeply and when you write, write well.

And remember, coffee is always welcome. Caffeine is our friend.

Embrace it.