the hoff by david hasselhoff. this is why ten years ago when i was at a bookstore and saw a memoir by a political journalist i had to have called fat man in a middle seat by jack germond. i knew who he was. i grew up watching him and watching the chris farley version of him on is the nl, and teamed up with jules whit to right about presidential campaigns. these were part of my self-education in american politics. while the title first attracted me to fat man in a middle seat i also wanted to read the book. it didn t disappoint. germond who passed away this week at age 85 was a throwback character. a political writer who loved horse races, political and real ones. he imbibed reporting before twitter when reporters could get closer to politicians than they could dream of today, proximity that could produce invaluable