Jerome Tuccille
Sunni: Robert Reich? Absolutely no way! So Jerry, I take it you aren't a gold bug. What do you think of returning the dollar to a gold standard—would you be in favor of that?
Jerry: Any currency needs to be backed by something with intrinsic value. For many that something should be gold. Our currency is backed by the stability of our political and economic system and the power of our economy. Greenspan proposed floating two kinds of money in the form of Treasury certificates—one the present dollar and the other a security backed by gold. He maintained that the marketplace would decide which one it wanted to own. The market would decide which one would survive over time—the gold-backed currency or the current one. I think that approach might be a good way to sort it out. Competition would resolve the issue.
Sunni: A very interesting idea; too bad it didn't get implemented. How did it happen that you started writing biographies? You've done several:
Greenspan,
Jerry: I started writing biographies by accident in a way. A publisher contacted my agent to find out if I was interested in writing a book about the silver crash in the early 1980s. When I researched that book, I discovered that the story of the Hunts of Texas was truly larger than life. H.L. Hunt, the patriarch of the clan, started life as a degenerate gambler, a womanizer, a bigamist, and worse when he finally struck black gold in Texas and made his fortune. He had so much money rolling in from oilfield royalties that he couldn't possibly gamble it all away fast enough. Then his sons Bunker and Herbert came along and almost managed to blow the family fortune on their silver futures. So my book on the silver crash turned into a three-generation family saga going back to the time right after the Civil War. The book sold well, so a publisher asked me to write a book about Donald Trump, who was not yet a superstar. I got lucky there since he emerged as the golden boy of real estate just as my book came out. That led to Murdoch, the Cliff White memoir, and finally to Greenspan. As far as which type of writing is easier, none of it is easy. But fiction is most difficult because you're essentially making up a story as you go along; biographies are next because you're using the techniques of a novelist but the story is laid out for you; memoir is difficult but more fun because you get a chance to write about yourself. For me, essays and political writing are least difficult since you get a chance to spew your brilliant insights from the pulpit with no restraints.
Sunni: I didn't realize when I reviewed Heretic that It Usually Begins with Ayn Rand is also something of an autobiography. Dare I confess that I've not read it yet? [laughs] Has its enduring popularity surprised you?
Jerry: Shame on you for not reading that book, Sunni. [laughs]
Sunni: [laughing] I know, Jerry!
Jerry: I think it would be right up your alley if you like political fun and games. The book is considered a somewhat fictional political memoir, although I left out the sex that I put into Heretic. No, I never thought it would become a perennial seller when it was published, particularly since sales were underwhelming in the beginning. But as the years wore on I kept getting letters and later emails from new generations of libertarians who claimed it turned them on. It became something of a gonzo phenomenon, compared with Hunter Thompson's books, and took on a life of its own. My son J.D. Tuccille alerted me to that about 10 years ago, when he told me it was still being read and discussed in chat rooms, etc. It's always a great feeling for a writer to discover that one of his books has become a cult classic. Who knows what I'll be remembered for 50 years from now, but for the moment I'm enjoying it. The book is a favorite of mine since I was a young writer at the time, still unsure of what I was doing, and I decided to let it all hang out and go crazy having fun with that book. And it worked. To some extent, Heretic is similar except that I was a grizzled old writer when I wrote it and, presumably, had learned a few things about writing over the years. I think those two books are the funniest ones I've written.
