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    Michael McDonald and Paul Reiser on the importance of forgiveness and the problem with gossip

    by Mikael Wood, Los Angeles Times Jun 05, 2024 9 minutes
    Paul Reiser, left, teamed with Michael McDonald to write McDonald’s new memoir, “What a Fool Believes.”

    Michael McDonald and Paul Reiser — yes, the golden-piped white-soul singer, and yes, the veteran sitcom star and comedian — were at Reiser's spread in Malibu the other day when something far more important than their new joint project came up.

    "Forgive me, but I need to take a quick timeout," Reiser said, calling up a menu on his phone. "Half of every writers' room is: What are we doing for lunch?"

    The two had earned the interruption: McDonald, 72, and Reiser, 68, teamed up to write McDonald's memoir, "What a Fool Believes," after they met at a party a few years ago and went back to Reiser's to jam on side-by-side pianos. The book is titled after McDonald's chart-topping 1978 hit with the Doobie Brothers; it covers his childhood in St. Louis and his eventual move to Los Angeles, his stints in Steely Dan and the Doobies, his eventual solo career and his struggles with drugs and booze. Reiser, whose previous books include "Couplehood" and "Babyhood," said he volunteered for the job because he'd always been a fan but didn't understand the arc of McDonald's career.

    "This way I could just ask him," he added with a laugh.

    McDonald then spend the summer on the road with the Doobie Brothers, including a June 23 stop at Inglewood's Kia Forum. These days the singer lives with his wife, singer Amy Holland, in Santa Barbara — where, speaking of lunch, his all-time favorite Mexican restaurant recently shuttered.

    "The old couple who ran it," McDonald was sad to report, "they literally died in the

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