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We were forwarded an odd email this morning from Morgan Friedman, publisher and co-owner of the incredibly successful Overheard in New York:

I am writing to inform you that Michael "Malice" Krechmer, the former editor of Overheard In New York and Overheard in the Office, is no longer affiliated with either web site.

Uh, wha? "Malice" isn't his real last name?!

As for the rest of the story, we understand that the two were in good faith negotiations to part amicably when Friedman sent out the email. We assume Malice-cum-Krechmer is talking with some sort of counsel; in the meantime, he's launching New York Overheard (though not quite at the time of this post). And as far as we know, Harvey Pekar is still working on Malice's forthcoming Autobiography of Michael Malice, though he might want to change that title to avoid any Frey-ian controversy.

And that concludes this installment of random bloggy gossip.