This week, Ira Sternberg spoke with Michael Shulman.
Writer, photographer, artist and philanthropist Michael Shulman, prior to launching ShulmanSays.com in September 2009, worked in various capacities for many of the world’s best known publications, including Vanity Fair, Ocean Drive, PAPER, Condé Nast Traveler, W, BlackBook, US Weekly, BPM, CardPlayer, Los Angeles Confidential, and VEGAS – the last being home to his popular “Diva Las Vegas” column (a name bestowed upon him by nightlife doyenne Amy Sacco).
His knowledge in the fields of popular culture, luxury, nightlife, travel, consumerism and Las Vegas, as well as his immensely quotable humor have resulted in Shulman’s being cited in publications ranging from The New York Times (“Style” and “Travel” sections) and Departures to gear and The Village Voice.
Shulman’s artwork can be found in the collections of Vanessa/Tom Breitling, Greg Calejo/Thom Filicia, Donna D’Cruz/Tom Silverman, Billy Erb, Robin/Danny Greenspun, Heather Harmon, Sally Horchow/Christopher McCaully, Susan Jansen, Sir Elton John/David Furnish, Alan Mace, Timothy Poster, Camille/Larry Ruvo, Nicole Ruvo, Amy Sacco, Alison Sarofim, Amy Sedaris, and Reagan Silber.
He has been a DJ since the age of 14, when he spun at his prep-school’s bi-weekly dances in the middle of the Connecticut woods. Since then, Shulman has played at a wide array of Vegas venues, ranging from lounges such as ghostbar and Blush Boutique Nightclub to larger clubs including Rain, Light and JET; as well as such diverse national hot-spots as New York’s Bungalow 8 and Man Ray and Honolulu’s Diamond Head Grill.
By way of his enthusiasm for such endeavors and his family’s Shulman Family Foundation, he has become an active philanthropist on a local and national scale, as a vigorous and hands-on supporter of and advisor to such causes as Free Arts for Kids, Human Rights Campaign, Nathan Adelson Hospice, and Keep Memory Alive/Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Institute for Brain Health.
