Why Women Will Lead the Way on Gun Reform

Huge thanks to my friend Brooke Elise Axtell for inviting me to write this piece for The Feminist Wire. This details my personal experience with gun violence, how it led me to work in gun violence prevention, standing up against the bullies who want to silence us. 

"What woke me that summer morning in 1978 was the screaming. I didn’t know it was my mother’s voice. I’d never heard a sound like that come out of her. I ran into the living room to find my seven-year-old brother Christopher covered in blood. He had just been shot in the head by a neighborhood kid playing with his dad’s gun..."

Read the article here: http://thefeministwire.com/2014/05/women-will-lead-way-gun-reform/

Follow Your Bliss: Amy Friedman

 Follow Your Bliss is a new series of interview blogs I'll be posting about people who inspire me. These are friends of mine who have courageously said NO to a conventional life, and followed their dreams no matter the cost. Every person on this planet has a rich life story to tell. My aim is to share a few of them here.

 

Amy Friedman has been a journalist, author, teacher, workshop leader and activist--always fighting for the underdog. She is also the muse who inspired me to write my most recent book, Wind To Wildfire. I'm inspired by Amy because she has been relentless in pursuing the things that really matter to her, whether that be her art or her activism. I was especially moved by her diligence in getting her book "Desperado's Wife" out into the world. Though told by agents and publishers that no one would ever want to read about a woman who marries a prisoner, she proved them wrong by publishing her book, and then immediately being invited to appear on the Katie Couric show. Shortly after, she launched her nonprofit POPS, for family members of those who are in prison.

When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I don’t remember ever wanting to be anything but a writer—well, okay, maybe for a while I thought about becoming a wandering surfer or a professional tennis player –but being a writer was at the center of my dreams from age 12 onward, after I wrote my first short story, one inspired by my grandmother who suffered with mental illness. People talked about her, and I wanted her to have a voice, so the story I wrote was what I convinced myself she must have wanted the world to hear.

Is your lifepath today relevant to your childhood dreams?

Almost thoroughly, yes, but of course there have been long periods when I felt lost. It’s only with a retrospective glance that I see how that first short story I wrote encompasses almost everything I do to this day. In all the memoirs, stories, essays and novels I write, in the ghostwriting I do, in my teaching and in the creation of POPS (Pain of the Prison System) for kids whose lives are touched by prison—my path seems to be to help give voice to the voiceless, language to the silences. That’s why I love the Emile Zola line: “If you ask me what I came to do in this world, I, an artist, will answer you: I am here to live out loud.”

How did you get the courage to pursue the writing career you’re in today?

Honestly, I think it’s less courage than it is rebellion and stubbornness. Since I don’t know how to do anything much else but write and teach writing (and boogie board and play tennis), I find myself here, doing this writing thing—though occasionally I still daydream about becoming a wandering surfer…

What was the highest moment of your career so far?

Most of my highs are those moments when I somehow find the words to say what has been swirling in heart and mind and soul, but perhaps the most recent high was finishing (after 10 years and 30 drafts) Desperado’s Wife and having an opportunity to talk about it on national television (a nerve wracking high). But if I have to pick one thing, probably the highest moment of my career so far was becoming a syndicated writer in 1992 for one of the two columns I started writing in Kingston, Ontario—but writing a regular column is, I think, what truly made me a writer.

What was the lowest moment, and what did you learn from it?

Probably the lowest moment (that I recall) was when I finally realized if I wanted Desperado’s Wife to be out in the world, I had to take it out myself. For a while I was just sad, jealous and broke. But for the thousandth time I learned that it’s never acceptance that gives me the deepest satisfaction, and that rejection, icky as it feels for a while, vanishes as soon as a new project/idea is underway. I love Emerson on this: “Do not waste yourself in rejection. Do not bark against the bad, but chant the beauty of the good.” So I’ve learned to chant on…

Where do you see yourself in ten years?

Oh man… I see myself sitting in a room like the room where I’m writing this. I’m on an island at an artists’ residency, and outside my window magnolias are blooming and a cold spring wind is howling in off the Atlantic. For the past two weeks I’ve been writing and wandering this island, meeting new artists, eating good food, and I feel so whole and happy and curious about what’s coming next (in my life and on the page), I can’t imagine anything better. I’ll be writing. I’ll still be enjoying my wonderful husband and children and friends, and I’ll be wandering— physically, mentally and spiritually. And there’ll be a POPS club in every school in the country, and I’ll be so proud of having made that happen.

What’s still at the top of your bucket list, and how will you make it happen?

Top of my bucket list is travel to places I haven’t been but have dreamed of going—India, Southeast Asia, South America. I’ll pack a bag and take off—but that’s just the beginning. I’ll also keep adding to the list. 

Favorite quote: Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.  - Thomas Edison

Find all info on Amy Friedman's books and nonprofit here: http://www.amyfriedman.net

Watch Amy on the Katie Couric show:

 

Rosemary Butler - The Girl Who Fell In Love With The World

I recently had the opportunity to interview my friend (and idol!) Rosemary Butler for Rock Cellar Magazine. In addition to her mind-blowing resume, Rosie's got a life story that will knock your socks off. Below is an excerpt, link to full article at bottom.
 
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The Girl Who Fell In Love With The World

Walking into Starbucks to meet Rosemary Butler, I am astounded by the people sitting around her, casually sipping lattes while fixated on their cellphones. Don’t they know they are in the presence of rock royalty? Forgive me if I’m starstruck, but this is Rosie, the queen of all background singers. Rosie: the voice on Jackson Browne’s “Running on Empty” and “Stay.” The voice that wailed “You’re No Good” with Linda Rondstadt and harmonized with Bette Midler on “The Rose.” This is a woman who backed up Etta James for crying out loud, who has sung with Paul Mc Cartney and performed for Princess Diana and Prince Charles. 

Clarence Clemons, Roy Bittan, Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Browne, and Rosemary Butler

She brightens when she sees me, her megawatt smile wide and beaming. Her huge blue eyes reflect a youthfulness and innocence. My bass-playing friend Chazz aptly describes her as, “the Goldie Hawn of music.

As one of six children, Rosemary grew up an army brat, moving often. Her father’s career took them all over the country, molding her gypsy spirit. At twelve years old, while spending months in a full body cast, she sought solace by banging away on an old guitar. Little did she know this little hobby would one day take her around the world.

Rosie never attended her high school prom but she had a good reason: her all-girl band  The Ladybirds had an opening gig for The Rolling Stones. After the gig, the boys in the band ventured up to the girl-bands hotel room. “They came to our hotel room thinking, ‘hmmm, a girl band. This’ll be easy,’” she muses, “but we were little virgins. We had our flannel nightgowns on and we were like, ‘um, we’re really Beatles freaks.’” The guys continued to stand outside their door smoking cigarettes, waiting for the girls to come to their senses, but the girls kept that door shut. Days later, while everyone came back to school sharing their prom mementos, Rosie sold the cigarette butts the Stones had left outside her door. “That’s when I knew that my life was going to be different.” 

Click here to read the rest on RockCellarMagazine.com.

Walking into Starbucks to meet Rosemary Butler, I am astounded by the people sitting around her, casually sipping lattes while fixated on their cellphones. Don’t they know they are in the presence of rock royalty? Forgive me if I’m starstruck, but this is Rosie, the queen of all background singers. Rosie: the voice on Jackson Browne’s Running on Empty and Stay. The voice that wailed You’re No Good with Linda Rondstadt and harmonized with Bette Midler on The Rose. This is a woman who backed up Etta James for crying out loud, who has sung with Paul McCartney and performed for Princess Diana and Prince Charles.
She brightens when she sees me, her megawatt smile wide and beaming. Her huge blue eyes reflect a youthfulness and innocence. My bass-playing friend Chazz aptly describes her as, “the Goldie Hawn of music.”
As one of six children, Rosemary grew up an army brat, moving often. Her father’s career took them all over the country, molding her gypsy spirit. At twelve years old, while spending months in a full body cast, she sought solace by banging away on an old guitar. Little did she know this little hobby would one day take her around the world.
Rosie never attended her high school prom but she had a good reason: her all-girl band  The Ladybirds had an opening gig for The Rolling Stones. After the gig, the boys in the band ventured up to the girl-band’s hotel room. “They came to our hotel room thinking, ‘hmmm, a girl band. This’ll be easy,’” she muses, “but we were little virgins. We had our flannel nightgowns on and we were like, ‘um, we’re really Beatles freaks.’”
The guys continued to stand outside their door smoking cigarettes, waiting for the girls to come to their senses, but the girls kept that door shut. Days later, while everyone came back to school sharing their prom mementos, Rosie sold the cigarette butts the Stones had left outside her door. “That’s when I knew that my life was going to be different.”
- See more at: http://www.rockcellarmagazine.com/2014/05/06/rosemary-butler-the-girl-who-fell-in-love-with-the-world-interview/#sthash.z1B795S5.dpuf

Walking into Starbucks to meet Rosemary Butler, I am astounded by the people sitting around her, casually sipping lattes while fixated on their cellphones. Don’t they know they are in the presence of rock royalty? Forgive me if I’m starstruck, but this is Rosie, the queen of all background singers. Rosie: the voice on Jackson Browne’s Running on Empty and Stay. The voice that wailed You’re No Good with Linda Rondstadt and harmonized with Bette Midler on The Rose. This is a woman who backed up Etta James for crying out loud, who has sung with Paul McCartney and performed for Princess Diana and Prince Charles.
She brightens when she sees me, her megawatt smile wide and beaming. Her huge blue eyes reflect a youthfulness and innocence. My bass-playing friend Chazz aptly describes her as, “the Goldie Hawn of music.”
As one of six children, Rosemary grew up an army brat, moving often. Her father’s career took them all over the country, molding her gypsy spirit. At twelve years old, while spending months in a full body cast, she sought solace by banging away on an old guitar. Little did she know this little hobby would one day take her around the world.
Rosie never attended her high school prom but she had a good reason: her all-girl band  The Ladybirds had an opening gig for The Rolling Stones. After the gig, the boys in the band ventured up to the girl-band’s hotel room. “They came to our hotel room thinking, ‘hmmm, a girl band. This’ll be easy,’” she muses, “but we were little virgins. We had our flannel nightgowns on and we were like, ‘um, we’re really Beatles freaks.’”
The guys continued to stand outside their door smoking cigarettes, waiting for the girls to come to their senses, but the girls kept that door shut. Days later, while everyone came back to school sharing their prom mementos, Rosie sold the cigarette butts the Stones had left outside her door. “That’s when I knew that my life was going to be different.”
- See more at: http://www.rockcellarmagazine.com/2014/05/06/rosemary-butler-the-girl-who-fell-in-love-with-the-world-interview/#sthash.z1B795S5.dpuf

Walking into Starbucks to meet Rosemary Butler, I am astounded by the people sitting around her, casually sipping lattes while fixated on their cellphones. Don’t they know they are in the presence of rock royalty? Forgive me if I’m starstruck, but this is Rosie, the queen of all background singers. Rosie: the voice on Jackson Browne’s Running on Empty and Stay. The voice that wailed You’re No Good with Linda Rondstadt and harmonized with Bette Midler on The Rose. This is a woman who backed up Etta James for crying out loud, who has sung with Paul McCartney and performed for Princess Diana and Prince Charles.
She brightens when she sees me, her megawatt smile wide and beaming. Her huge blue eyes reflect a youthfulness and innocence. My bass-playing friend Chazz aptly describes her as, “the Goldie Hawn of music.”
As one of six children, Rosemary grew up an army brat, moving often. Her father’s career took them all over the country, molding her gypsy spirit. At twelve years old, while spending months in a full body cast, she sought solace by banging away on an old guitar. Little did she know this little hobby would one day take her around the world.
Rosie never attended her high school prom but she had a good reason: her all-girl band  The Ladybirds had an opening gig for The Rolling Stones. After the gig, the boys in the band ventured up to the girl-band’s hotel room. “They came to our hotel room thinking, ‘hmmm, a girl band. This’ll be easy,’” she muses, “but we were little virgins. We had our flannel nightgowns on and we were like, ‘um, we’re really Beatles freaks.’”
The guys continued to stand outside their door smoking cigarettes, waiting for the girls to come to their senses, but the girls kept that door shut. Days later, while everyone came back to school sharing their prom mementos, Rosie sold the cigarette butts the Stones had left outside her door. “That’s when I knew that my life was going to be different.”
- See more at: http://www.rockcellarmagazine.com/2014/05/06/rosemary-butler-the-girl-who-fell-in-love-with-the-world-interview/#sthash.z1B795S5.dpuf

Walking into Starbucks to meet Rosemary Butler, I am astounded by the people sitting around her, casually sipping lattes while fixated on their cellphones. Don’t they know they are in the presence of rock royalty? Forgive me if I’m starstruck, but this is Rosie, the queen of all background singers. Rosie: the voice on Jackson Browne’s Running on Empty and Stay. The voice that wailed You’re No Good with Linda Rondstadt and harmonized with Bette Midler on The Rose. This is a woman who backed up Etta James for crying out loud, who has sung with Paul McCartney and performed for Princess Diana and Prince Charles.
She brightens when she sees me, her megawatt smile wide and beaming. Her huge blue eyes reflect a youthfulness and innocence. My bass-playing friend Chazz aptly describes her as, “the Goldie Hawn of music.”
As one of six children, Rosemary grew up an army brat, moving often. Her father’s career took them all over the country, molding her gypsy spirit. At twelve years old, while spending months in a full body cast, she sought solace by banging away on an old guitar. Little did she know this little hobby would one day take her around the world.
Rosie never attended her high school prom but she had a good reason: her all-girl band  The Ladybirds had an opening gig for The Rolling Stones. After the gig, the boys in the band ventured up to the girl-band’s hotel room. “They came to our hotel room thinking, ‘hmmm, a girl band. This’ll be easy,’” she muses, “but we were little virgins. We had our flannel nightgowns on and we were like, ‘um, we’re really Beatles freaks.’”
The guys continued to stand outside their door smoking cigarettes, waiting for the girls to come to their senses, but the girls kept that door shut. Days later, while everyone came back to school sharing their prom mementos, Rosie sold the cigarette butts the Stones had left outside her door. “That’s when I knew that my life was going to be different.”
- See more at: http://www.rockcellarmagazine.com/2014/05/06/rosemary-butler-the-girl-who-fell-in-love-with-the-world-interview/#sthash.z1B795S5.dpuf

Follow Your Bliss: Author and filmmaker Alex Stein

Follow Your Bliss is a new series of interview blogs I'll be posting about people who inspire me. These are friends of mine who have courageously said NO to a conventional life, and followed their dreams no matter the cost. Every person on this planet has a rich life story to tell. My aim is to share a few of them here.

Alex Stein is a person who inspires me because, in addition to being an author, he became interested in the Alaskan Iditarod and decided that some how, some way, he was going to make a film about it. He's not Alaskan, and knew nothing about mush dogs but he just did it anyway. Seriously, how awesome is that?  Also, Alex hosts MUSE, a fabulous weekly writer's showcase in Los Angeles. And finally, he wins the ultimate mensch award for filming our No More Silence event, commemorating the one-year anniversary of the Sandy Hook shooting. He showed up with less than 24 hours notice, filmed all day and night, and then took off to host a showcase at Muse. He then spent days editing and gifted us with this beautiful video (which includes a performance by Jackson Browne) What a guy...

When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

When I was a kid, I wanted to be a writer because I heard that writers didn't have to wear ties.  And I couldn’t think of anything worse than having to get up and wear a tie every working day for the rest of my life.

Is your lifepath today relevant to your childhood dreams?

The short answer is: Yes.

The longer answer is that, while I don’t consider myself a role model for success or productivity, I’ve learned a lot about both (especially in the past few years).  I’ve also spent a lot of time honing my craft and developing my creative muscles.

These days, everything I do revolves around telling stories.

When I was a kid, I thought writing was all about inspiration and capturing feelings.  I’ve come to realize that having that initial burst of inspiration is important, but there is a lot more involved in being a writer (or any type of creative artist).  And I’ve learned that there can be as much joy in researching, organizing, learning structure, and rewriting as there can be in that initial burst of inspiration.

I've also learned that putting words onto paper (or into a computer) isn’t the only way of telling a story.  And other methods (such as filmmaking and live performances) can be just as satisfying. 

Ultimately, what interests me is learning about different things, then finding or figuring out the best ways to organize that information and present it in the most effective and powerful way. 

How did you get the courage and wherewithal to pursue the filmmaking/writing career you’re in today?

When I was in my 20s, I thought of creativity and success as being a strictly linear path that led to a specific destination.  It’s only recently that I realized that creating things is almost never simple and linear – and being on a creative path is the reward.  Everything else that happens is gravy. 

I spent a long time when I was younger trying to chase after and create the same things millions of other people were chasing after and creating.  And to do that, I had to ignore and suppress the fact that I have a different and unique approach to things.  When I finally embraced the different way I view things and stopped trying to be like everyone else, things began to work in ways they never had before. 

And even though that hasn’t automatically resulted in immediate success and financial rewards beyond my wildest dreams, it’s made the creative work I’m doing much stronger and made the act of creating things much less stressful. 

What was the highest moment of your career so far?

I’m going to cheat and give you two because they’re both important.

My best public moment was having my Iditarod documentary MUSH (www.mushthemovie.com) premiere at the Anchorage International Film Festival (in a large, full theater).  

I'd had the idea of making this movie for years (and assumed that focusing on the culture of the Iditarod was such an obvious idea for a movie that someone else must already be doing it), but finally just figured out a way to go up there and capture the elements I knew I'd need.  

For years, this movie just existed in my mind.  Then after a long time planning and months of refining, rearranging, and editing, I was able to move the idea out of my mind and share it on a big screen with a group of Alaskans, including many mushers. 

For several days afterwards, people came up to me on the streets and in coffee shops to tell me how much they enjoyed the movie, which made me feel like a rock star.  And I kept getting the best compliment I could imagine when people told me they couldn't believe that a non-Alaskan managed to capture the essence of an event that was so distinctly Alaskan. 

The second one involves a personal essay I wrote called “I Used Graham Parker for Evil (Not for Good)” which appears in my book No, Mr. Bond, I Expect Your Dreams to Die.

For the first few months when I was telling stories live on stage, the stories I told were all clever, funny, and not very personal.  But I soon realized I wanted to do something deeper and more personal.  So I wrote this story, which involves obsession, an album by British singer/songwriter Graham Parker, and an ill-fated college romance.  And I was terrified to tell people the story – partly because it was very personal and partly because it doesn’t show the 20-year-old version of me in a great light.  But when I started telling the story, something amazing happened.  People would come up after and tell me their experiences (and many said they’d never had the courage to talk to anyone about these experiences before).  It was gratifying and overwhelming to think that something that had meant something specific to me could then go out in the world and mean something different (and very powerful) to someone else.  Which was part of the point of the essay -- only in that case it was about how a specific piece of art (a Graham Parker record) came to represent something different and very powerful to me.

Years later, I recorded this piece as part of a radio pilot and my friend Dylan Brody sent the recording to Graham Parker.  A few days later, Graham Parker sent me an email saying he was both honored and a little creeped out, but enjoyed the story a lot.  To have created something that made a good impression on someone whose creative work has made such a huge impression on my life is extremely gratifying.

What was the lowest moment, and what did you learn from it?

To be honest, it was hard to pick one moment. 

I’ve had a lot of setbacks that all seem very similar when I look back on them.  I’ve had a bunch of jobs (such as working as a development executive, writing for a cable channel show) that weren’t what I really wanted to do and then I felt devastated when they ended. 

Looking back, I realized that these jobs were all slowly making me miserable and I made myself more miserable by trying to convince myself the jobs weren’t that bad.  When I stopped thinking like that and moved more towards things I wanted to do and things that I was passionate about, it always felt better.

My takeaway from these experiences is not to let the devastation overwhelm me and not to become nostalgic for worsening situations that drain instead of energize me.

Where do you see yourself in ten years?

I still want to be learning new things, traveling, meeting interesting people, and telling stories.  

I don't know what form that will take, though.

And I'd love for my life to be less financially stressful... but that may not happen.

What’s still at the top of your bucket list, and how will you make it happen?

I'm planning to follow the back of the Iditarod pack on a snowmachine (note: “snowmachine” is the Alaskan term for what those outside Alaska call a “snowmobile”) and do another documentary about the back-of-the-packers and the villagers along the Iditarod trail.  The more time I’ve spent around mushers and the Iditarod, the more I’ve realized that the best stories are the ones you rarely hear, the ones told by the people who know they’ll never win the race, but are driven by a passion and joy just to run the race and try to reach the finish line. 

I'll be launching a crowdfunding campaign in a few months to raise enough money to do that... and hope to be out on the trail in 2015.

"My Writing Process" Blog Tour

Hello all,
I've been asked to participate in the “My Writing Process” blog tour. I post today, and will invite three writers to carry the tour forward on their own blogs the following week.  I was invited to participate by my soul sister, the talented and intensely creative Lori Landau. Lori is one of the most beautifully loving souls I know. Her heart shines through in her art. She is intensely creative, interweaving spirituality into her paintings, photography and writing. See Lori's work here: www.consciousnesscreativity.com

The "My Writing Process Blog Tour" Questions:

1) What am I working on? 

I am in discussions with a wonderful publisher about getting my new memoir "Wind To Wildfire" published. What is the book about, you may ask? This best sums it up:

Imagine waking up tomorrow with no home, no job, no clothes. What if you had no ID, no credit, no pets, no family photos, no history? Who would you be if you lost everything?

This happened to me, and my family. It began with a housefire in the middle of the night that almost took our lives. As my husband and I jumped from second story windows with our children, our house and home-based businesses burned to the ground. We were released from the hospital homeless and jobless with two young children to support. Though the news cycle moves on, disaster doesn’t end when the fire is out. Over the next two years, we were bankrupted, lost our credit and our social standing, and watched our friends and even family pull away. And yet, this is not a sad story. When everything I identified with was gone, I was given the rare (and painful) gift of discovering who I really was. I learned that happiness can be found in the midst of disaster. And as my marriage began to erode under the stress of loss, I found that even when pushed to the edge, love can survive. This is a story of loss, hope and renewal, of love lost and found again.

"Wind to Wildfire" will hopefully be released in 2015. Stay tuned....

2) How does my work differ from others of its genre?  

I write memoir and personal essay, and I can only say that is differs because my story, your story, every life story is rich and unique. Though there are many memoirs about marriages that fall apart tragically and fantastically, few that show how love can last . Mine shows how we almost fell apart, and how we worked to stay together.
 

3) Why do I write what I do? 

Because it is in me and it must come out some how. Because I write what I know. Because For too long I buried the truth about who I was. After writing Dancing at the Shame Prom, telling the truth felt so good, I just couldn't stop.
 

4) How does my writing process work?

I've been keeping a journal since I was in the second grade, so writing is really second nature to me. Since I have kids, I have to be disciplined about writing.  In writing my last book,  I wrote for every hour my son was in school. I did not answer the phone. I did not wash the dishes. If the cat puked, I didn't clean it up until my six writing hours were completed. Gross, I know. But I wrote three books that way.

For me, writing memoir is like vomiting. You don't want to do it. You dread doing it. But you feel a lot better after it's all out and on the page. That's beautiful and poetic, right?

That pretty much sums up my writing process. What's yours? 

Next I am to pass the baton to three bloggers. Please let me know if you are a blogger and you'd like to participate!

Follow Your Bliss: Super Agent Andy Ross

Follow Your Bliss is a new series of interview blogs I'll be posting about people who inspire me. These are friends of mine who have courageously said NO to a conventional life, and followed their dreams no matter the cost. Every person on this planet has a rich life story to tell. My aim is to share a few of them here.

Today's guest post comes from literary agent and author Andy Ross. Andy's e-book Ask The Agent: Night Thoughts on Writing is a must-read for writers at any stage in their careers. Andy inspires me because, first, he is a devoted father and husband, and second, he is a person who stands firm in his beliefs. As the owner of Cody's bookstore in Berkley, (a legendary store that has hosted the likes of President Clinton and Al Gore) Andy refused to stop selling Salman Rushdie's "The Satanic Verses" even in the face of death threats. Subsequently, his store was bombed. And he still continued to sell the book. I mean, seriously, how bad-ass is that?

When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Hollye, first of all, thank you for inviting me on your blog. My first memory as a child was that I wanted to be a fireman. I was inspired by a not very original present from my parents, a plastic fire hat. As I grew older, I became more sophisticated. I decided to be a policeman. At some point, probably around the age of 12, I made a much less thoughtful decision to become a lawyer.

Is your lifepath today relevant to your childhood dreams?

No, not really. I was committed to being a lawyer. I even went to law school for a year at the University of Michigan. But I saw the error of my ways early on.

How did you get the courage to pursue the career you’re in today?

I wrote about this in my blog: “Ask the Agent.”  I would have to say it was done through a series of impetuous decisions and superficial thought. I had been studying European history at the University of Oregon. Somehow a number of trivial events having to do with things like the weather, girls, the counter culture and - well, yes - reading habits led me away from academics and into the book business. But I was lucky, I guess. I’ve been in the book business now for 42 years, first as a bookseller, then as a literary agent. I don’t think I would have been happy doing anything else.

What was the highest moment of your career so far?

For me, that’s an easy answer. For 30 years, I was the owner of Cody’s Books, a sort of iconic book store on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley three blocks from the University of California. Cody’s always seemed to be a magnet for dramas relating to the culture wars. In the 60s before I owned it, Cody’s was associated with the Berkeley anti-war movement, much of which was going on right outside our front door. 

In 1989, Penguin Books published Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses. The Ayatollah Khomeini, Iran’s supreme leader,  issued a fatwa, a religious edict that encouraged believers to kill Rushdie.  A week later, a firebomb was thrown through the window of the store. The next day, while we were cleaning up, we found an undetonated pipe bomb rolling around the poetry section. The bomb was too dangerous to remove, so we had to evacuate the store. As we stood across the street, the bomb squad blew up the device while we watched the building shake. Arguably, this was the first incident of Islamic terrorism in the United States. Moments later we all returned to the store. The big question was whether we would continue carrying the book. To do so could be life threatening. I’m proud to say the staff voted unanimously to keep carrying it.

These days it’s fashionable to talk a lot about freedom of speech. The Supreme Court seems to think that the essence of free speech is unlimited political contributions by corporations. I think what the Cody’s staff did was maybe a little purer than that, and the stakes were significantly higher.  They really did risk their lives for something greater than themselves.

What was the lowest moment, and what did you learn from it?

Again, that’s an easy answer. The worst moment was probably the last moment. By 2006, Cody’s was suffering from the structural changes that were transforming retail bookselling. Part of it was the growth of on-line booksellers. Part of it was the tendency in the book business to focus on more media driven subjects and blockbuster best sellers. That just didn’t fit into Cody’s mission. I finally had to sell the store. The day after I left, the new manager, whom I had selected, called me and told me that I couldn’t speak to any of the store’s employees, that I was effectively banned from the store. And, by the way,  they weren’t going to issue me a last payroll check. So ended my 35 years as a bookseller. Not to make too fine a point, it was not a happy moment.  To their credit, they realized that they had done the wrong thing. We worked it all out.

From this,  I learned the virtue of forgiveness. And I think the people at Cody’s learned it as well. As Shakespeare has said; “It blesseth him who gives and him who takes.’

Where do you see yourself in ten years?

I’ll still be a literary agent. I’m having too much fun to do anything else.

What’s still at the top of your bucket list, and how will you make it happen?

I wouldn’t mind representing a best selling book. How to make it happen?  All I can say is that in the book business, sometimes it’s better to be lucky than smart. Although it’s best to be both.