Al Weisel

Al Weisel (July 18, 1963 – February 27, 2010) was an American freelance writer who lived in New York City.¹

Weisel graduated from Columbia University in 1987.² He wrote for Rolling Stone,³ The Washington Post, New York Newsday, and Us Magazine.⁴ He also wrote for Premiere, Spin, Tracks, George, Travel & Leisure, Out, Time Out New York, and the Bulletin (Australia). From 1999 to 2002 he was the Movies Editor at CDNow where he launched the video/DVD section.

In October 2005, he published Live Fast, Die Young: The Wild Ride of Making Rebel Without a Cause (ISBN 0-7432-9618-4), a book he co-authored with Larry Frascella,⁵ which explores the making of the film Rebel Without a Cause and in particular the relationships between director Nicholas Ray and leading actors James Dean⁶ and Natalie Wood.⁴ He authored a satirical political blog under the pseudonym Jon Swift. There he wrote: "I am a reasonable conservative who likes to write about politics and culture. Since the media is biased I get all my news from Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and Jay Leno monologues."⁷

He died on February 27, 2010 after suffering a severe stroke while undergoing surgery for an aortic dissection.⁸