Who is Carl Nolte?

I need help from the class. Who is Carl Nolte?

I am from the San Francisco Bay Area and will always have a huge place in my heart for that wonderful city.

But I pretty much never read the SF Chronicle because my family never subscribed to it. I grew up 40 miles north of San Fran, but feel free to blame it's pending demise on us.

This Carl Nolte wrote the following about the North Beach district of San Fran:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/03/01/BADS166I36.DTL&hw=north+beach&sn=001&sc=1000


I decided to share it with my friends who live in North Beach because his writing reminds me of the over-embellished writing on the packages of Pepperidge Farm cookies (which we were laughing at hysterically). This is how the Facebook conversation went:

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Billy: Looks like the Pepperidge Farm guy wrote something about your neighborhood in the SF Chronicle...

North Beach exemplifies S.F.'s dreams, history

Source: www.sfgate.com
A drizzly night on the edge of spring at the Caffe Trieste on upper Grant Avenue. Not many people inside: a man in a dark suit and tie, maybe a lawyer, sitting by himself, a tall young woman writing the ...

Jonathan Ogan: interesting article, doesnt really end up saying much though

Billy: Indeed. Just like the pepperidge farm boxes.
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Are we going to hell for criticizing this Carl Nolte? Or is he a writer they may need to axe to save money?

Just wondering.


Oh, and if you're curious, here's a delicious sample of the writing on the Milano packages:

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You've chosen a classic. Simple. Elegant. The perfect balance of two exquisite cookies embracing a layer of luxuriously rich, dark chocolate. A true masterpiece.

There's a whole world of Pepperidge Farm cookie temptations out there - reward all your senses. Lacey-thin crsip mint Brussells, sweet strawberry Verona, Geneva, with chocolate and crunchy pecans... Try them all and expand your horizons!
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Two thoughts: This sounds like Nolte's writing. Also, it makes you hungry don't it?