N.L. meets journalist Robert Price at the coffeehouse - By N.L. Belardes
Entertainment writer for the Californian, and soon to be birthday girl, Danielle Belton sent me an email yesterday that stated Robert Price wanted to talk to me. I knew what it was all about. I’d offered him a copy of the novel that his 2003 Lords of Bakersfield articles inspired: Lords: Part One; he was taking me up on it. I had told him I wouldn’t give him one unless I could shake his hand. He came through and I wandered down to Dagny’s to meet him.
I entered and noticed him right away in a Hawaiian shirt. Here was Stubble the Lords Hunter a bit unshaven, a tad more grey than I imagined, but with a smiling face, easy to talk to about my intentions as a writer.
I admit some folks are shady. You don’t want to give those kinds of folks too much information. Robert Price doesn’t appear shady at all. In fact, his articles have a spin of integrity that often escapes the comfortable, yet difficult journalistic tact of wall-straddling.
Such a comfort zone, I thought, was a little scary. Perhaps that’s part of the gift of such a journalist, to easily ask questions that reveal information without the subject even knowing how much they’re telling. I think I would have told Robert Price where Jimmy Hoffa was buried—if he’d asked. I was aware of the questions and the slight digging. But that was all right. We talked shop, talked some conspiracies, talked about his latest article on the jailbird Getty staff. “There’s a topic you can write a book on,” he said.
“I have a strong interest in archaeology,” I said. “Those museums have done shoddy deals to acquire antiquities since the dawn of museums.”
He agreed.
“I like the look of this book,” he said. He asked who was in the photo and about the endorsements on the front cover. “Is that Che Guevara’s grandfather?” he laughed, pointing at the quote by Al Guevara.
I paid special attention to the quote from Tony Blanche. “He was my agent who passed away,” I said. That was old Cal graduate Don Ackland, driving through the desert toward Pahrump and crashing his old Mercedes after a night of a little too much vino. The Cal Bears are undefeated right now. A year ago we had football debates around this time. He called the Bruins the baby bears. It was just a few months before his passing and he reminisced in an October 15th email as he always would about the UCLA Bruins:
...also will ask Eric separately as he is contact to Joel Gotler, film/TV deal maker in Beverly Hills. I won't ask them the question while together just in case one is lukewarm, that might suppress the other. When Eric, Malcolm and I are finished I'm off to a business dinner regarding premium restaurant books.........so not back to Pahrump until late. However will email you Saturday morning with any news, and the final pre-game observations..........do you know that the 1954 Bruins, under Red Sanders ran the single wing, were National Champions, undefeated and scored 40 pts a game to their opponents 5 on average. Several great single wing tailbacks, but my favorite was "Touchdown Sam" Brown. The full back was a great one, Bob Davenport, and when he led the blocking for "Touchdown Sam Brown" the UCLA cheering section would cheer "Hit 'em in the Pouch, Couch".
Also on this team were two great linebackers, Terry Debay, about 190 #'s and 5'10" and was Pac 10 (actually Pac 8 then) Player of the Year; and the other was an all-american, Don Moomaw who was 6'4", 230 3's and would be an all-american today too. He looked like a Greek god, had a jaw like Charlatan Heston, but unlike Heston he had real muscles, could play lights out, and was real unlike that 5'8" phony piece of NRA & Neo-con roadkill, Heston.
And when Moomaw made a great tackle the UCLA cheering section sounded out; "Mooo-MAW, maw-MOO"
Those where the days, I was still a school boy, but I'll never forget the day they beat Stanford 72-0, and it wasn't that close. More on the game and all else on Saturday AM.
Robert Price shook my hand and then I wandered down the street, bookless. I felt pretty good about making a journalist happy with my fiction, even though I admittedly get a little too “Star Chamber” in my rendition of events as told in the novel. Although that is more in the background as Lords: Part One is more of a novel about alienated people in the alienating media storms and real storms of yesteryear in the Southern Central Valley.
After I got back to my office I wrote Robert Price an email to which he soon wrote:
thanks for the book.
I walked in the Spotlight after i left dagnys with the book still under my arm and a young woman walked up and said, Ohhh, where can i get a copy? So there's already a buzz. Your book is a chick magnet.
I replied that I would definitely carry two…
I entered and noticed him right away in a Hawaiian shirt. Here was Stubble the Lords Hunter a bit unshaven, a tad more grey than I imagined, but with a smiling face, easy to talk to about my intentions as a writer.
I admit some folks are shady. You don’t want to give those kinds of folks too much information. Robert Price doesn’t appear shady at all. In fact, his articles have a spin of integrity that often escapes the comfortable, yet difficult journalistic tact of wall-straddling.
Such a comfort zone, I thought, was a little scary. Perhaps that’s part of the gift of such a journalist, to easily ask questions that reveal information without the subject even knowing how much they’re telling. I think I would have told Robert Price where Jimmy Hoffa was buried—if he’d asked. I was aware of the questions and the slight digging. But that was all right. We talked shop, talked some conspiracies, talked about his latest article on the jailbird Getty staff. “There’s a topic you can write a book on,” he said.
“I have a strong interest in archaeology,” I said. “Those museums have done shoddy deals to acquire antiquities since the dawn of museums.”
He agreed.
“I like the look of this book,” he said. He asked who was in the photo and about the endorsements on the front cover. “Is that Che Guevara’s grandfather?” he laughed, pointing at the quote by Al Guevara.
I paid special attention to the quote from Tony Blanche. “He was my agent who passed away,” I said. That was old Cal graduate Don Ackland, driving through the desert toward Pahrump and crashing his old Mercedes after a night of a little too much vino. The Cal Bears are undefeated right now. A year ago we had football debates around this time. He called the Bruins the baby bears. It was just a few months before his passing and he reminisced in an October 15th email as he always would about the UCLA Bruins:
...also will ask Eric separately as he is contact to Joel Gotler, film/TV deal maker in Beverly Hills. I won't ask them the question while together just in case one is lukewarm, that might suppress the other. When Eric, Malcolm and I are finished I'm off to a business dinner regarding premium restaurant books.........so not back to Pahrump until late. However will email you Saturday morning with any news, and the final pre-game observations..........do you know that the 1954 Bruins, under Red Sanders ran the single wing, were National Champions, undefeated and scored 40 pts a game to their opponents 5 on average. Several great single wing tailbacks, but my favorite was "Touchdown Sam" Brown. The full back was a great one, Bob Davenport, and when he led the blocking for "Touchdown Sam Brown" the UCLA cheering section would cheer "Hit 'em in the Pouch, Couch".
Also on this team were two great linebackers, Terry Debay, about 190 #'s and 5'10" and was Pac 10 (actually Pac 8 then) Player of the Year; and the other was an all-american, Don Moomaw who was 6'4", 230 3's and would be an all-american today too. He looked like a Greek god, had a jaw like Charlatan Heston, but unlike Heston he had real muscles, could play lights out, and was real unlike that 5'8" phony piece of NRA & Neo-con roadkill, Heston.
And when Moomaw made a great tackle the UCLA cheering section sounded out; "Mooo-MAW, maw-MOO"
Those where the days, I was still a school boy, but I'll never forget the day they beat Stanford 72-0, and it wasn't that close. More on the game and all else on Saturday AM.
Robert Price shook my hand and then I wandered down the street, bookless. I felt pretty good about making a journalist happy with my fiction, even though I admittedly get a little too “Star Chamber” in my rendition of events as told in the novel. Although that is more in the background as Lords: Part One is more of a novel about alienated people in the alienating media storms and real storms of yesteryear in the Southern Central Valley.
After I got back to my office I wrote Robert Price an email to which he soon wrote:
thanks for the book.
I walked in the Spotlight after i left dagnys with the book still under my arm and a young woman walked up and said, Ohhh, where can i get a copy? So there's already a buzz. Your book is a chick magnet.
I replied that I would definitely carry two…
This entry was posted by N.L. Belardes, on
Thursday, September 29, 2005.
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