Photo by: Jennifer Mikell
At a party in August 2006 celebrating the 1st anniversary of "The Situation Room." From left to right: Christian Hudson, Producer; Me; Chris Carter, Floor Director; Wolf Blitzer; Lydia Garlikov, Graphics.
Wolf very generously wrote the following blurb for the recently released trade paperback edition of FAST TRACK:
“Fast Track” is one of those rare novels that you simply can’t put down. I was hooked on page one and it was non-stop until the very end – an emotional roller coaster.” Wolf Blitzer, CNN Anchor/"The Situation Room"
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Since 1969, I've been a just-the-facts-ma'am journalist working in radio and television newsrooms in Wisconsin, Germany, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Atlanta. Highlights of my career include getting tear gassed while covering the anti-Vietnam War riots in 1970 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison; doing a 40-minute, one-on-one radio interview with Alfred Hitchcock in 1973 during my stint in the Army at the American Forces Network (AFN)-Europe; and covering the White House for CBN News during the last three years of Ronald Reagan's presidency.
In 1988, I joined CNN as a writer. From 2001 to 2005, I supervised the writing on "Daybreak" anchored by Carol Costello. Currently, I'm an editor and writer on "The Situation Room" (Weekdays, 4pm - 7pm ET) anchored by Wolf Blitzer.
I grew up in La Crosse, Wisconsin and earned a BA in Journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (1977).
The name DeDakis first appeared in the Chicago phone book about 1915 as a typographical error. My grandfather, who had just immigrated from Greece, felt the accidental capitalization of the second D made the name look more "dignified" so, Dedakis became DeDakis.
It's pronounced dih-DAY-kiss, by the way.
My wife Cindy is a musician. We have three children.
FAST TRACK is my first novel.
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