What's Going On Now (Progress Report)

Here's what I'm doing about the research, the writing,the permits etc. This information will change as the work progresses. If you're interested, check back periodically. But don't rush me, dammit. June 15, 2008 Progress is, as we scientists say, incremental but demonstrable. When an agent sends a book out to publishers to sell it, they don't send the book- the send the Proposal. We are about 95% done with the proposal. Just a few tweaks to the text, add the photos, put it into a single document and send it out. Fingers crossed, out there! March 1, 2008 So we have an agent, the book and me, and here is where we're at: When the agent sends the book out to publishers, she won't send the book, she'll send The Proposal, and we have been working on that for a while, and it's taking shape. The proposal is basically a Business Plan for the book. It seems that my enthusiasm for the story comes out as exuberance, and needs to be contained for the proposal. We all know that business and KFAT didn't mix, and here we have another example, but what Agent M____ is doing is trying to keep the exuberance, but express it in a way that excites- but won't scare- publishers. Parts One & Two are done, and that's about 80% of the book. All the interviews are done. Part Three is about 50% done, and if they gave me a check I could wrap this bad boy up in a few weeks. I'm really proud of the book, folks, and you can see what Terrell Lynn Thomas thought about it elsewhere on the site. But it's been nine years on this book with no pay, so keep yer fingers crossed out there... How about this: If I hear from enough people ON THE SITE who want to read the Introduction, I'll ask Agent M____ if I can post it. No personal emails on this one. The folks who have written to me off-site know that I always respond promptly, but for this one I need to show the agent that people want to see it, so post it on one of the guestbook pages and I'll ask if I can do that. And make some suggestions for the CD, as we're working on it the minute I get a contract. Hey, I'm hanging in there, and so can you, d-d-dammit! August 1, 2007 For those who've been following the progress of this alleged book, let me say: Huzzah! Fat Chance has an agent, a respected, legitimate, well-connected New York literary agent who feels the book has great potential. I know she's right, but I also fear the potential might also include a few indictments. Oh, that's right- as I say in the opening of the book, "This book is brought to you by the Statute of Limitations." Let's hope they're serious about that shit. Agent M____ thinks the book has big potential for a major publisher, and we'll see... I used to be talking with two fellows about the production of a CD of KFAT music, and now I've been in touch with 'em again, so that once a contract is signed and some money exchanges hands, we can start the process, so make some damn suggestions elsewhere on the site. We want to hear from you about this. Those of you who've read all the updates will know what a thrill this is to have a reputable agent, and in September I go to Portland to do one of the last interviews for the book, and then it's back home to Baja to write the last of it. It's good. Trust me. June 1, 2007 This is so sad. Laura Ellen Hopper has passed away. Mercifully, her decline was swift and, one supposes, dignified. I don’t know about the latter, but I knew her well enough to believe that. I know about the swift, though, and that is a relief and a shock. Here is the post I put onto KPIG’s Pig Squeals: I worked with Laura Ellen for years at KFAT. I did the talk show, so Laura Ellen and I did not interact re the music I was playing, but about items musical, social and KFAT, always KFAT. It was always hard and wonderful times at KFAT, and we all struggled to keep it on the air. Laura Ellen was friend, family and Management, and how many people can pull that off? I am so diminished by her passing. It is a week now and I still can't believe it. I am so lucky to have known her. I'm writing a book about KFAT, and everyone I have interviewed, jocks, record reps, musicians, friends and fans, have ALL spoken reverentially about Laura Ellen and her taste in music, and in how she put it together for her shows. And her impact on American culture. Everyone. We are all much the richer for her being here, and poorer for her passing. Like all of us, I thought she would always be here, and I regret that I never got to tell her that the book, FAT CHANCE, is dedicated to her. As it should be. Wait'll you read the KFAT story. Like Sister Tiny once told me, "Tell it, Gilbert. Tell it all!" R.I.P., Laura Ellen. I'll always miss you. Good luck to you, Elsie and Frank, and the KPIG staff and all of her friends. We all have something in common: we are all diminished now. As for the book, it is still 85% done, and I am trying to find an agent to represent it. It seems that about 12-15 years ago, publishing houses dismissed the staffs that read “unsolicited material,” and they now depend on agents, who are overworked and overwhelmed with all the submissions. It’s tough to get an agent, but I do not understand why THIS book has not sold itself. Someone got to read it and loved it. She said reading it was “like drinking chocolate milk- it’s fun, and you take it in big gulps.” You gotta like that… I have only one more interview to do, in Oregon, and I will do it in September. Then I finish the book. By then, maybe it’ll have an agent to show it to publishers. Anyone know anyone who can help? Please get in touch. April, 2007 The book is 80-85% done, and it is a monster. I'm really proud of it. I think I've said this before, that the story is compelling. Colorful, eccentric people having the time of their lives, c'mon! It's time to sell it, and I am looking for an agent. September, 2006 Last month I was on former KFAT DJ Mary Tilson's show on KPFA, "America's Back Forty." Listen to it here. August, 2006 I will be speaking about KFAT and about the book on the radio on two days this month. ON the 26th, I'll be on KKUP with Deadwood Dick, and you'll have to look up the time, 'cause I don't know it yet. I hope to know it by the 25th. On the 27th, I'll be on KPFA's "America's Back Forty" with Mary Tilson. The show is on from 1 PM until 3 PM, and I'll be on the whole two hours. Both Mary and Deadwood (aka Ranger Rick) were KFAT jocks, and we'll have much to discuss, much to remember, and much to forget. We'll be taking calls. Tune in, dammit. February, 2006 Let me be among the first to say: Happy New Year. Lots to talk about. After the hundreds of interviews I conducted for KFAT, last week was the first time I was ever interviewed. KVMR in Grass Valley has a Saturday afternoon show of FAT music, and they were having a fund-raising drive. They had me on for about 45 minutes talking about KFAT and the book. Wesley & crew were great, made it fun and easy, and I hear it was a successful afternoon for pledges. Thanks to everyone up there. I have been on another writing steak. I need to finish this book, and I know that I’m motivated by that, but it’s more. I always need more interviews, and I will have to get some critical ones on tape before this is finished, but I have a lot of information already and I have been writing, writing, writing almost every day. I can’t believe how much I look forward to this every day now, and it’s because I love these people, and I love the stories so much that writing about them is almost as easy as thinking about them. I always think faster than I can type- and I hope you do, too- but I always get there in the end and the sentences pile up into paragraphs and soon I have six or eight pages. I’ve done over twenty chapters in the past ten days, and although a chapter might be only a half a page, many of them are six or eight or ten pages. It’s been fun, which is good, because discipline hasn’t been in big supply for a long time, and I’d hate to have to get some now. But fun I’m good at. Now let’s talk about the problem. I have lots of stories, and those will be fucking amazing, and funny and sad and all of it. Stories are not the problem. The first staff were interesting as hell, but they lasted only a few months and took off, and the next staff lasted about four years, and it was they that made the station what it was. They are my friends as well as colleagues, and they are the heart of the story. The music was amazing and the stories are amazing, but it is the people who are the heart of the story, and the story does have an enormous amount of heart. There is triumph and there is tragedy in this story, and I want the reader to have a personal relationship with the KFAT staff. That’s part of my job. I want the reader to know these people because if you know them you will care about them. That I can tell the story is clear to me. That I can inject a soul into the story is my goal. If I fail at that, then the book will be an interesting, mostly-fun collection of stories. But it can be so much more… Let me say it now: I have a National Book Award story in my care. I need to write a National Book Award book. You heard it here. Another problem: I like what I’ve written, and I want to show it to someone. No one in particular, necessarily. I’ve got a couple of friends I’ve shown the first part to, but that finished work has 5 or 6 or 7 re-writes, and the next 56 chapters of this new stuff has one re-write and the rest, no re-writes yet, just the first drafts. More than pride prevents me from sharing. I’ve got two friends who are faithful, helpful readers for me, and I’m afraid if I show them something this early, by the time it goes through 3 or 4 re-writes, they will have lost the impact of the better material. You know what I mean? So I toil in a vacuum. It ain’t so bad. I was in Palo Alto in December, and I tuned to KFAT.com, and heard one of my last shows. It had been 33 years, almost exactly to the date, and it was not a little strange. I want to have this book finished in the Fall. I will be back in the Bay Area doing interviews in April, and I’ll report again after that. October 15, 2005 I have been on a tear. I started writing again three or four weeks ago with Chapter 16, and I have just finished the first draft of Chapter 50. This is the second section of the book, of which there will ultimately be three and a half. KFAT I, II, III, and an epilogue. I am extraordinarily proud of the first section, which I think will be about 20% of the book. I know how vain this is going to sound, but it’s got magic. I was fearful of not getting the same result for the second and third parts of the book, but I knew that I just hadn’t tried yet, so it wasn’t like I couldn’t do it. I just hadn’t done it yet. And, of course, there were always more interviews to do, more facts to gather, to keep me from starting again. But it got so that I just had to start writing, and now I am somewhere inside of a period of fruitful production. I’ve even gone back and done a first re-write of two of the chapters. The chapter I am most fearful about is currently Chapter 36. In it, I have to convey the excitement, the buzz that was on, at, and about KFAT. The new musicians people were exposed to, the new music coming out, the old being rediscovered, the jocks with new jobs. How can I make a reader excited that KFAT played Red Steagall if the reader has never heard or heard of Red Steagall? And to make it all sound exciting! And often the stories are contradictory. What do I do when a guy says this important thing happened with him and Jeremy and Raymond, and then another guy tells me the same damn story, but says that it happened with him and Jeremy and Raymond. If either of these guys said that there were four men there, I’d be home free. But, noo-ooo-ooo, they all swear it was just the three of them. What to do? What would you do? I don’t care- go write your own book. All I want is some sympathy… So my job is cut out for me; it’s a lot of work, I feel good about it and I love putting the stories and the facts together. You are going to love this book. And I keep meeting new, cool people, and that’s been great. And thanks to those who stop by the site, and thanks especially to those who leave a message. July 15, 2005 Just got back from several weeks in the Bay Area. I did many interviews and learned a lot, and now I have to sit down and transcribe the interviews. Which I hate. I hate it. But I need ‘em, so I’ll do ‘em. I spent a whole day in a room with Terrell Lynn, Sister Tiny, Sully and Cuzin Al doing an interview. I have lots of stories, but I wanted to know about the daily grind of working in the old studio. It’s the nuts-and-bolts stuff that I need now. I think I have enough to go back and start writing the main part of the story. I still need more interviews, and I’ll go back up north the first week in September. I have a bunch of interviews scheduled for that trip. I visited with Rockett Man, and learned he likes the extra “t” in his name. I never knew that, and neither did you. It’s good to know, but not enough, and you’ve still gotta read the book, because that won’t be on the test. He’s in recovery mode and really needs music, so if you’ve got a cassette to send him, please send it to me at: 858 3rd Avenue #320, Chula Vista, CA 91911 and I’ll see that he gets it. He likes lots of types of music, but favors the Blues, and he could really use the tunes. Fans of the Rockett? A little help? Saw Buffalo Bob, and had lunch with Sherman, too. You people who listen to KPIG are really lucky. You know that, don’t you? Also made some real progress on making the CD happen. More on that maybe next time. May 1, 2005 I know- it’s been awhile. I wish I could say I was busy working on the book, but… Well, I have been working on it. Of the three phases of the story, (which I’ve cleverly named KFAT I, KFAT II, and KFAT III) I finished the section on KFAT I, which I believe will turn out to be the first 20% of the book. And it’s great. Just ask me. I turned it in to my lawyer, who sent it to an agent, who loved it. Really loved it. She insisted I sign with her, and we negotiated a contract. She loved all my ideas and believed strongly in the book. But then suddenly she begged off and disappeared. Weird. I still don’t know what happened. I can’t wait to invite her to a book-signing. Hell, I can’t wait to invite YOU to a book-signing. You’ll come, won’t you? But while all this was wasting too many months, I completed several more interviews, and I’ll be living in the Bay Area for the month of June and doing as many interviews as I can while I’m up there. Ya gotta go where the people are. With the help of Ranger Rick Nagle, former Fat jock, I finally found Rocket Man. He’s in a hospital, and I’m looking forward to seeing him in June. That rough-riding, blues-loving bastard. Also, I have a great lead on someone to work with on the CD, and I’d love to get that started moving forward. Please think about what you’d like to have on the CD, and submit your selections on the link to the left. No- your left. I must say, the more I learn about the KFAT story, the better the story gets. You’re gonna love it. So hang in there, and I’ll do my part. If you have any photos of KFAT- either the staff or the studio, or a live gig, mementos, souvenirs, whatever- let me know. Hells Angels? Can you get in touch? Thanks. July 15, 2004 I always wondered what those writers were talking about with their stories of six and seven re-writes. I thought they were whiners and oughtta get out of the business or quit complaining. Now I understand. I have written fifteen chapters, and I am done for the time being. I wrote a background chapter on what was going on in radio from the explosion of Top Forty in 1955, through the "underground radio" revolution, and into corporate control and the "Classic Rock" format. I have chapters on the original owners, Jeremy Lansman and Lorenzo Milam, two men worthy of their own books. Also Larry Yurdin gets a chapter. All these chapters are written with an eye toward describing the forces that put KFAT on the air. More stuff on what happened to put KFAT together, the early staff of locals and Texans, why they left after a few months, and finally I introduce the new staff that we all know and love: Terrell Lynn, Sully, Sister Tiny, Buffalo Bob, Gordy, Uncle Sherman and Cuzin Al and the rest. Laura Ellen is the heroine of the story, and she gets short shrift in the first chapters, but will appear prominently in the next part of the story. Yesterday I sent the manuscript off to my lawyer and my agent, and today I will buy a large container, fill it with valium, and wait to hear from these good people. Good now, maybe great later... Hey! If you're reading this and you haven't contributed something to the website, you're just not doing your job. What's your favorite KFAT memory? Your suggestion for the CD? How would you define KFAT? May 1st, 2004 I've heard that what I'm supposed to do is write three chapters and an outline to submit to a publisher or an agent, and that was what I was going to do. Except for the outline. I didn't know what an outline was, how to write one, or how important it was. And I didn't know who said I needed one. So screw it. I wasn't gonna write one. I'd write enough chapters to hook a publisher on the story and impress them with my brilliance as a writer. Screw the established wisdom and screw convention, I was gonna do it my way... Okay. Earlier I said that I had to do certain interviews to prepare for writing the book, and that Jeremy's was the last interview before the writing could commence. At least I'd said that, and put off the writing until I'd done what I thought were the necessary preliminary interviews. Which, after Jeremy, I had now done. No more excuses or delays. So I sat down to start writing. I wrote Chapter One. I didn't like it. I discarded it. I sat down the next day and wrote Chapter 1.2. I Didn't like it and tossed it. So I wrote Chapter 1.3 and didn't like it. So I thought, "Yo, dummy, what's the problem?" I didn't want to spend the next six months writing Chapter 1, and so I thought about what I had written and what was wrong with it and what I wanted it to say. After all this thinking, I had some ideas and sat down and wrote Chapter 1.4. Well, I didn't like it, but it had promise, and here at least was something I could build on. Then I sat for a while and thought. What's wrong with it? What do I want it to do? What do I need to do to get it to say what I wanted it to say? And I thought, and I thought, and here's what I came up: I needed an outline. Apparently, this is a learning process. I hope I get the next lesson as painlessly as I got this one. I now have four chapters and an amusing digression that I sort of like. I've done some more interviews, and I hate transcribing them, but I must. I interview, I transcribe, I write. I'm transcribing the Ozone Ranger's interview now. The book, she is starting to take shape. Amy Airheart says she wants to visit, but doesn't know when. I have Awest scheduled for June, and I'm waiting to hear back from Ranger Rick. Sister Tiny, are you coming back to Baja soon? Anyone else have something they wanna contribute? January 1st, 2004 Happy New Year to you, too. I have done about 35 interviews so far, many of them in preparation for my interview with Jeremy. As Jeremy was one of the main instigator/owners of KFAT, this is a very important interview. Once this one is "in the can" -as I'm told real media people say- the writing can begin in earnest. This will, of course, be a mixed blessing, as my excuses for not being more agressive in writing this puppy will have disappeared. I've got about 50 questions for Jeremy and I hope he has enough time and stamina for me. Also, here's an interesting question- What if Jeremy still doesn't know who stole the screwdrivers? Now that my exhaustive research has revealed the answer, should I tell him? Thanks again to all those who have taken their time to sit down with me to talk. It's been great seeing old friends and hearing old and new stuff, and the folks I didn't know-hello, Texas! - you've been a pleasure as well. July 1, 2003 Just Back from the KPIG Swine Soiree and a trip to the Bay Area where we interviewed several of the KFAT staff. September 1, 2002 Tanned, rested and ready. Back to work. March 1, 2001 Health has been an issue of late. I am in a process of recovery, and the medicines that I take these days have several side effects, one of which is an impairment of my concentration. Consequently, I am not able right now to read the books I enjoy, and am reduced to simple fiction. Therefore, writing is difficult, and collating many interviews with disparate versions of events with an eye toward a cohesive overview is impossible. I am regretfully declaring myself on hiatus from this project until my health permits me to return to it. I am not abandoning the project, and would urge you not to, either. If you have an entry for the book, please submit it. I could use the encouragement of your participation and interest in this book. And thanks December 2000 Yes, it was a restful summer, thank you. But I am back at work with the occasional interview and the infrequent reflection. I have composed an opening paragraph for the book and I think you'll like it. In fact, I have long known but studiously avoided admitting that I have an aversion to anything involving the semblance of actual labor, so we must consider my plans to begin the writing of this book by January First to be negotiable. Who knows? It might transpire. I just don't want the guilt if it does not. Don't even TRY the guilt thing: I was raised by a Master of the craft and it won't work. Stay tuned- it might get interesting after the turn of the year. And you can take that to the bank.