While interviewing Oscar-nominated screenwriter Michael Lerner for a profile, freelance writer Michael Kaplan decided to join him in smoking a cigar:
"Lerner clips his cigar, lights it, and lets loose with a plume of aromatic smoke. I follow suit. But there is one glitch: in the course of speaking with him and checking my notes and maintaining a flow of questions, I forget to clip the cigar, put it into my mouth backwards, and attempt to light the unclipped head of the cigar. I immediately try to hide my gaff by discreetly snuffing out the Monte in my cloth napkin, figuring that I'll be able to start over again and he'll never be the wiser. Then Lerner notices smoke rising from my lap. 'You lit the wrong end?' he asks, not sounding altogether pleased.
'Yeah,' I admit, totally embarrassed. 'I've never done this before.'"
[Ironically, Kaplan was preparing a piece for... Cigar Aficionado.]
[Lerner on cigars: 'One of the reasons why a Cuban cigar is great is because of the manure. When you hold a Montecristo No. 2 to your nose, you smell s---. That's what makes it great.']
Sources
Cigar Aficionado, 2000
