Book excerpt: The scene made cult-classic status right from the start: here's rookie broadcast newsman Paul Linnman in the foreground, reporting on a sticky situation along the Oregon coast. Officials have been working to remove the body of a beached whale, long dead and now rotting. The solution: explosives. As Linnman ducks, the skies issue forth chunks of whale meat, and Linnman's live-action reporting takes its place in broadcast history.