The American biker is the most powerful, envied and, at times, even feared figure in all of society.
 That’s simply the way it is.
 For many years I have been intimately involved with the way that the media continually examines our lifestyle. I have written about it from the “inside.” I have seen and studied how the mainstream media looks at us from the “outside.”
 The key word in the material that comes from both sides of this particular fence is truth. Sometimes it’s there, sometimes it isn’t.
 I’ve been fortunate to have had my work published in magazines like Easyriders and BIKER. For over a decade my articles have appeared regularly in Thunder Press. I’m the author of the best-selling book, The Original Wild Ones: Tales of the Boozefighters Motorcycle Club and the new book, American Biker. I’m also the co-producer of the series, Bikers: The Inner Circle. If there is one thing that I’m the most proud of, however, it’s the fact that I have always strived to make sure that the truth is the focus of everything that I do—everything that I have a hand in presenting.
 Within a complex and colorful subject like the biker lifestyle it’s easy for “friendly” media portrayal to become exaggerated and mythical—it’s also easy for “unfriendly” media portrayal to become vicious and vindictive; slanted and frightening.
 Exaggeration and myths are never necessary. Every day in this way of life produces so many adventures, the meeting of such incredibly interesting people and a grip on freedom that isn’t seen anywhere else in society. Our reality doesn’t need embellishment. It’s giant, it’s strong and it’s not for everyone. That’s why there is so much vicarious living. That’s why so many people want to be us, read about us and see what we do.
 That’s also where the media on the other side of that fence comes in. They come in with the sensational and the showy. They titillate and tempt…even if truth has to take a backseat.
 When we filmed the first episode of Sturgis Rider Live, we had an audience of real bikers. We featured guests like Kim Peterson, a man who has spent the better part of his life working at the largest biker publishing house in the business. We featured custom builders who can take a bike apart and put it back together in their sleep. We featured members of two of the oldest, most respected motorcycle clubs in the world. We featured great looking women who were more than happy to be a part of this culture—a culture that always appreciates beauty—in metal and in skin.
 We featured the truth.
 There was no need to exaggerate. And this stuff is no myth.
 We live it every day.
 I welcome your comments. Feel free to email me at gotdablues@hotmail.com. In the coming months I’ll be looking at all facets of the media that deals with our lifestyle.
 And remember that key word: truth.