Despite having once been in a band with Kiki Anderson, I always dropped the ball when she lived in Paris and I visited.
I never thought to get her number before leaving home and I always suspected, once there, that I had now missed out not only on seeing a old Milwaukee friend, but also a fine Paris tour guide. Now, I know it's true.
Anderson -- who teaches French at the Alliance Francaise -- has partnered with local filmmaker Didier Leplae on an iPhone Paris city guide app.
To find the app -- which currently costs $1.99 -- search "Paris Essential Guide" on the iTunes app store.
"We wanted to have a mix of some of the 'must-see' places and also cool and quirky shops and wine bars," Anderson told me today from Bangkok, where she's working on another guide with Leplae.
"We covered markets, market streets, parks and neighborhoods. There's a language guide, too and some practical advice.
"So far the places to stay we've included are very affordable -- and nice. For instance there's an apartment that two guys with impeccable taste bought and renovated. I referred a friend there, who is a painter and was having a show in Paris, and he stayed at the second apartment they acquired and redid. He ended up hanging out with them."
Anderson says she and Leplae have a contract with San Francisco-based Sutro to do the guide, with acquisitions editor Kim Grant, who has worked on guidebooks for Lonely Planet.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
