CommentaryThe Awesome People Series / Entry 1: Jeff Pearlman
I hereby announce a new feature at brandonsneed.com: The Awesome People Series. It's inspired by the fact that my life doesn't happen without the help of a zillion other people, and most of these zillions of other people are people who have taught me things or touched me in ways that I know you radical readers will really like reading about. So, read on!
Here’s a truth about books: most have just one “author,” but no way does that author get to the end without others’ help. In my case, it was a small army of some of the most generous people you could ever hope to know. It meant a lot to me, and they deserve the recognition—small and insignificant as it might be from my little corner of the Internet world. I thank God for them, because without them, this book would have never become what it is today. Published, and well-done. I'll tell you about all of them in time, but I had to mention this first guy as the first-ever BS.com Awesome Person.
Awesome Person No. 1: Jeff Pearlman
Jeff Pearlman is the New York Times bestselling author of Boys Will Be Boys, an riveting book about the Dallas Cowboys, which I remember because I grew up in the '90s as an indoctrinated Cowboy fanatic. (I've since been reformed and while I admittedly pull for Tony Romo against all common sense, I am, unfortunately, a Carolina Panthers fan now.)
Anyway, my senior year of college, I developed this sense that if I could just spend time working with someone who’s been where I want to be – writing for well-known publications and writing books – I could figure out how to get there simply by learning from them. Jeff gave me the closest thing to that I could have asked for.
I started working on the book in March 2009. My mother-in-law gave me a copy of The Rocket That Fell To Earth, Jeff’s book about Roger Clemens in April 2009. I emailed Jeff soon thereafter, telling him I was working on a similar book, and I told him how awesome I thought his books were--I believe I called it "a**-kissing for points"--and then asked if he wouldn’t mind answering a few questions from a young, dumb, wanna-be author.
Ask away, he said.
Jeff has gone above and beyond in reaching out. He clearly remembers his days as a young writer needing help. His criticisms were hard to take sometimes, and it took some getting used to, but I trusted that they’d make the book better. Man alive, did they ever. Sometimes we need to hear hard things about ourselves, and he said a lot of what I needed to hear. It made the book so, so much better.
He literally answered every question I had. About editing, about sourcing, about lawsuits…. Everything.
Jeff’s not perfect. (Really, who is?) He catches a good bit of flack sometimes for things he writes. He's a tell-it-how-he-sees-it type of guy, and holds nothing back. Lots of people have lots of opinions about the guy.
I don't judge people I don't know, and here's what I know about Pearlman: the dude has been a great mentor for me the past year and a half. I’ll always appreciate him for it.
On a deeper level, our working together shows how little politics and religious beliefs should really matter when it comes to relating to people. If I let that kind of crap get in the way, I'd have never talked with him, nor he with me, and my book would probably suck if it existed at all. Jeff’s an atheist, and one of the most liberal people I know. I love God with all I am, and I am politically moderate at best, conservative at worst. None of that affected either of us. I offered to talk about God with him once or twice, and he respectfully declined, and that was that.
Jeff caches a bad rap sometimes. To be frank, I don’t care what bad people have to say about him. He reached out to this 23-year-old kid, and helped turn my first book from a dream into a messy reality into something I’m truly proud to say I wrote.
Respect for him came natural. He was a bestselling author, for crying out loud. It’s not often the people we look up to get a chance to earn our respect on a personal level. Jeff absolutely earned mine.
So here’s to you, Jeff. Thanks for the leadership, thanks for the blurb, and thanks for enduring my endless stream of emails. Can’t wait for your next book.
Reader Comments (2)
You know, Brandon, this was really, really kind of you. And the point that resonates most is this—"On a deeper level, our working together shows how little politics and religious beliefs should really matter when it comes to relating to people. If I let that kind of crap get in the way, I'd have never talked with him, nor he with me, and my book would probably suck if it existed at all. Jeff’s an atheist, and one of the most liberal people I know. I love God with all I am, and I am politically moderate at best, conservative at worst. None of that affected either of us." People spend so much time thinking about their differences that they forget how insignificant those differences truly are. Much of it can be chalked up to modern politics and politicians/leaders, who thrive on this sort of garbage.
Anyhow, beautifully said, and thanks again for the words. Be proud of the book. It's a remarkable accomplishment.
JP
Thanks Jeff, for the kind words. Glad you got to stop by for a few minutes.
I agree with you wholeheartedly. People spend way too much time thinking about their differences. There are still moments wherein I find myself doing that. Way too many moments.
I think it's modern politics, and politicians/leaders, too, but I also think a lot of it has to do with fear. If I'd been scared of your criticism, I'd have never emailed you, either. And trust me, I was terrified, sending you those first few horrible proposals and query letters. But if we let fear stop us, fear wins, and fear is a tragic thing for us to allow to define our lives. If we let fear define how we relate to others, we really are relating only on the level of animals.
Thanks again, Jeff. I am very proud of the book, and am slowly coming to appreciate it as an accomplishment.
Looking forward to your next one.