The Writer's Life: The Writer's Life 6/1 - That Was Then, This Is Now.

Friday, June 1, 2018

The Writer's Life 6/1 - That Was Then, This Is Now.

Did you, like me, get into inane heated arguments as a kid about a particular athlete being superior to another? I would get nearly apoplectic when others said so-and-so was better than Mickey Mantle. As great as The Mick was, it can be argued that Willie Mays and Hank Aaron were better. Similar arguments are being made currently online about Lebron James being superior to Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant - by adults, albeit mostly in civil terms. Why not just let all three men reside on the same exalted plain? If James seems superior, it is because his astonishing feats are occurring in the present, while those of the others, as incredible as they were, are beginning to blur in the memory of fans.

I have never liked Roseanne Barr and I don't know who Samantha Bee is. Why has one been banished and the other not?

Gonzo, 60, had passed the floating book shop countless times without making a purchase. Still, I'm always happy to see him. He recently retired and often seems to be out killing time. He's in great shape. One day he banged out a number of chins while wearing his backpack. Since the scaffold allows me to work even when the weather is threatening, he needles me, saying: "Neither rain nor..." He's usually wearing athletic apparel, most of the time an Atlantic Falcons #88, which his namesake, the great TE Tony Gonzalez, wore. My favorite is his yellow Roberto Clemente shirt. He also wears a Sandy Koufax. Several days ago he noticed the cover of Rising Star - Sex, Drugs, Rock n Roll - and said it was "right up his alley." He picked it up and noticed my picture on the back. He was shocked to learn I have nine books in print. He asked me to make up a package of all of them, and said he would pick it up the next time he saw me. I suggested he buy only one to see if he liked it, and he said he was happy to support a writer and would pass the books on if they didn't work for him. He showed up today and, true to his word, made the purchase. I gave him a 33% discount, charging $60, although I have the feeling he's not hurting for cash. I know I will eventually more than make up for the short fall with sales of other wares. I told him the hero of one of the stories in A Hitch in Twilight is a young man named Gonzalez, nicknamed Gonzo. If he hadn't come along today, it would have been a day of zero returns, despite the splendid inventory. That's the nature of the floating book shop. Each day I hope someone will come along and save the day, and it usually happens, even if it isn't one of my books that sells but several others. It was a record for the most sales of my books in one day. More than a decade ago I sold eight copies of Close to the Edge at an Italian-American event at Hofstra University. Today's success was more gratifying because that was then, this is now. Maybe I should wear a Lebron jersey. Nah - he hates Trump. Thanks, Gonzo.