Mr Finkel said that the moment he saw Longo's facade crack was when he was on the stand. Finkel's book was published in 2005. After countless letters, phone calls, and visits with Longo, Finkel eventually penned the memoir True Story: Murder, Memoir, Mea Culpa in 2005. When Longo found two of his children gone and the third gravely injured, the story continued, he strangled MaryJane and made the agonizing decision to also end his youngest child’s life. He largely stayed away from the film, although he did speak with Hill over a long dinner and visited the set once during filming of a particularly traumatic court scene. His book became the basis for the Franco/Hill film True Story â it was also Finkel's gateway back into the world of journalism he had been exiled him from after the incident with the New York Times. -- Mike Finkel Bromance with a murderer: The bizarre true story behind James Franco's "True Story" Franco's amazing as a sociopath -- but the real story of Mike Finkel and his … He even wrote an op-ed piece for the New York Times about his quest. How Mike Finkel’s life became a movie. After working various sales jobs, he started a Michigan business cleaning up new construction sites but had trouble collecting on invoices. Michael Finkel was a top New York Times Magazine journalist publicly fired and disgraced for making up a composite character for a big investigative news piece about Africa. By Michael Finkel. Now Longo was back in Oregon, under arrest, charged with the murder of his wife and their three small children. Finkel is a disgraced journalist whose own hubris led him to lie about one of his stories about child slavery in Africa. His editor at the Times Magazine proposed he focus on one boy’s journey from poverty-stricken village to squalid plantation. I first met Mike Finkel around two decades ago through a mutual friend. His real name, though, is Christian Longo (Franco), and he’s accused of having killed his family. mike finkel was in the top five in … And Mike was a journalist again .Now might has a family - a wife and kids. Mike learned that a man named Christian Longo, accused of murdering his wife and children in Oregon, had assumed Finkel’s identity while on the run in Mexico. The problem was, there was no single source from Finkel’s reporting that could tell this story. ... Mike Finkel, Michele Finkel, Michelle Finkel More , Micki Finkel. It felt surreal, but it was nothing compared to the kind of surreal that Mike’s future held for him. $25.95. Apparently, he was a fan. Jill has 5 jobs listed on their profile. He was planning to write a piece for Sports Illustrated on the log-rolling championship to be held in Wisconsin, and I was going to go with him to take photographs. Brothers, sisters, mother, father, wife, husband and exes for Michael Finkel. In 2002, Finkel, a rising star at the Times, was fired for fabricating a character in a story about child laborers in Africa. Longo, it turned out, had read and was a fan of Finkel’s writing in the Times, National Geographic Adventure and Sports Illustrated, and that was why he chose the journalist’s identity as his own. Unfortunately, Finkel discovered, the lethal injections that would kill Longo would also render most of his organs useless. Mike Finkel shunned the typical path taken by his fellow University of Pennsylvania graduates and became an outdoor writer. This movie staring James Franco as Christian "Chris" Longo and Jonah Hill as Micheal "Mike" Finkel. It felt surreal, but it was nothing compared to the kind of surreal that Mike’s future held for him. He was arrested, lost his company and his house and was "disfellowshipped" by his church. His first story won him a free ski trip out West, and he’s been here ever since. The Italian fashion designer was coming home from a neighborhood walk when a madman appeared out of nowhere and shot him dead on the steps of his beloved Miami Beach mansion. Perhaps just call it the worst week of my life ever. But in parallel it's also about Christian Longo, a man accused of the multiple murder of his own wife and three children. So, he invents success through lies and deceit. The story was published, inconsistencies were spotted and Finkel was exposed, publicly excoriated, and fired. His story has been portrayed in the Michael Finkel book 'True Story' and a related film adaptation. 312 pp. In True Story: Murder, Memoir, Mea Culpa, disgraced New York Times writer Michael Finkel recounts the story of the murderer who assumed his identity and examines the reasons for his own fall from journalistic grace, in a memoir that is gripping, perceptive, and bizarre. Age 62 (May 1958) View All Details. Several days later, his wife MaryJane Longo and two-year-old daughter Madison were found in the nearby bay. services offered finkel brokers are members of the business brokers of florida and the greater fort lauderdale realtors association. But in parallel its also about Christian Longo, a man accused of the multiple murder of his own wife and three children. His first story won him a free ski trip out West, and he’s been here ever since.