Julian and I became quick friends on the elementary school playground. Isn't that where all great friendships start? Her son and my son are in the same grade, and they both love Lego's. So, we got to talking, and found out that we are both writers.
Though Julian's success has been far greater than my own, she has always been there to read a chapter, or suggest an agent. She rocks as a friend, a mother, and an unbelievable writer! You go, Julian!
I love her, and I assure you, after you read this interview, you will fall in love with her too.
The book is due out June 4 by Grove/Atlantic.
Ken Auletta, author and New Yorker media critic, has said this of
Julian's book:
“From the opening scene in this book – and
scene is the appropriate word for its cinematic beginning – the reader is swept
along on heart-thumping rides on swift, dueling sailboats, past an assemblage
of characters worthy of Dreiser, past the shoals of deceit worthy of Dickens,
and coming to rest on the formidable character of billionaire Larry Ellison,
who has the will-to-win of his best friend, Steve Jobs, and of a mechanic, who
made winning possible. Julian Guthrie writes so vividly that the reader is held
spellbound, from page one to the end.”
Below are the questions I asked her:
1. What are the three top reasons people need
to read your newest book?
You will learn something. You will be
entertained. And you will be inspired.
2. How did you land Larry Ellison?
With difficulty. I had interviewed him more
than a decade ago for a story I did for Forbes magazine. But since then, he has
walled himself off from the press. I would say he's harder to get to now than
the president - no kidding.
I sent emails explaining the great story I wanted
to tell. I pleaded my case with the chief marketing officer of Oracle. Still I
heard nothing, except that he had stopped doing interviews. I was starting to
get extremely anxious (I already had the book deal), when I got an offer from
Mandalay Pictures (Peter Guber's film company) to option my book, I sent
more emails. I only had a year or so to report and write this, so I had a true,
hard deadline. The book needed to come out timed to the start of the America's
Cup, which begins the first week of July with the Louis Vuitton Cup.
Finally, fearful that this wasn't going to happen with his participation,
I got an email from Larry. It was all of three words, but it was all I needed
to hear. He wrote: "Happy to talk."
3. What's Mr. Ellison like in person? Is he
funny? Is he shy? Is he the guy next door, or does he seem untouchable?
He is very different from the public persona,
which is almost a caricature, a take-no-prisoners, win-at-all-costs warrior
image. Of course he wants to win. Of course he's competitive. But he wants to
win ethically and fairly, and certainly not at all costs.
He is funny in an
irreverent, I can't-believe-you-just-said-that kind of way; brilliant (with a
near photographic memory); original in his thinking (in the same way his best
friend, the late Steve Jobs was); extremely well read (especially of
biographies and military history); and never one to rest on his considerable
laurels.
Forbes recently listed him as the world's fifth wealthiest people
(the third wealthiest in the U.S.), with a personal net worth of $43
billion. The amazing thing, considering this, is that he remains CEO at
Oracle Corporation, which he co-founded in 1977 (the precursor to Oracle was
called Software Development Laboratories), and Oracle remains his number one
priority. His life is about the next great chapter, the next big challenge. He
always looks ahead.
4. What about the Mechanic? What's his name,
and what's he like in person?
The mechanic of this story is a Marin resident
(he and his wife live in Larkspur), who runs a radiator repair shop in San
Francisco. His name is Norbert Bajurin, and he was commodore of the
blue-collar yacht club, the Golden Gate, along the San Francisco waterfront,
when he learned that a tentative partnership between the more blue-blood St.
Francis yacht club and Ellison's Oracle Racing had fallen apart.
It was the
summer of 2000 and Larry had said he was going to form a syndicate to compete
in the America's Cup, the Holy Grail of sailing, begun in England in 1851. You
need to be sponsored by a yacht club to race in the event, so Larry had a team
but needed a yacht club. Norbert read about the falling out with his
neighbor, the St. Francis, and thought, "Why can't the little old Golden
Gate be Ellison's sponsoring club?"
Everyone told Norbert he was
nuts and that he was way out of his league. Norbert refused to listen.
Norbert's story is really rich and textured. His life was changed - for the
better, and for the worse - by the America's Cup and his partnership with
Larry. It's a very personal portrait of Norbert, whom I adore.
5. What are your thoughts on these two most
unlikely people becoming friends, and working together?
It says a lot about both men. They have become
unlikely friends and great supporters of one another. Larry inspires Norbert
and Norbert grounds Larry.
Norbert is a kind of everyman who dares to dream and
makes that dream come true. Larry was reared in the South Side of
Chicago with adoptive parents who liked to tell him he would never amount to
anything.
Larry admires Norbert for the life he leads: Norbert owns a business,
he is an upstanding guy, and he's a straight talker. Larry says that dealing
with Norbert is like going back into the Wild West, when a handshake was
all that was needed to seal a deal.
6. Where's the best place for a cup of Joe in
SF?
Zuni cafe. The latte in the bowl
is amazing.
7. Why do you write?
I have been a journalist with the San Francisco
Chronicle for more than 15 years. You get to go into a different world several
times a week. Some of what you see is really beautiful and inspiring. Some of
it is sad or awful. I love learning, and I love bringing what I learn to the
public.
Writing is an art form, whether fiction or nonfiction. Writing books is
grueling. I had my full time job at the Chronicle while I was writing this book at
night and on the weekends. But just last week I received an early copy of my
finished book. Holding the book - which looks beautiful - brought tears to
my eyes. Truly. All of that struggle, sacrifice, and work paid off. The
book is my little piece of immortality, and I just love the story.
8. You have an agent. Why? How has he helped
your writing career?
I have an agent in New York. While there are a
lot of people who self-publish and can find great rewards and success that way,
my path has been the more old school one, which requires an agent to pitch your
proposal to editors at the big publishing houses.
My agent, Joe Veltre, has
been instrumental. He has worked closely with me on my proposals, offering
feedback and editing.
What most non-writers don't know is that
it's difficult to even get an agent. Then it's difficult for your agent to
sell your idea. But I still think this is the best path if a writer is trying
to get the attention of the publishing world.
Also, my agent is negotiating my
film deal. You want someone who knows everything from royalties on e-book sales
to what to ask for in consulting fees if your book is turned into a screenplay,
and so on.
9. Do you belong to any writer's associations?
If so, which ones?
My writer's association is the San Francisco
Chronicle :-) I love my colleagues, and feel like I'm always learning from
them. And I have great editors at the paper.
10. What time do you get up and what do you eat
for breakfast?
While I was working on this book, I got up at 5
a.m. and worked until 7, when I had to get my son, Roman, up and ready for
school. I'm a creature of habit for breakfast: coffee, water, vitamins,
granola, fruit.
11. What's a day in your life like at the
Chronicle?
I worked in the news department for more than a
decade. That was crazy, as I'd arrive at work not knowing my assignment for the
day. (I learned very early on to keep a pair of running shoes in my trunk.) I
could be dispatched to cover a flood (I have floated in a canoe above the
flooded streets of Guerneville), or do a piece on a gang shooting in Bayview
Hunter's Point.
Fortunately, I am now in the features department, so I have a
set number of assignments I try to do in a week. Right now I'm working on a
piece about the Dream Act (immigration reform); a profile on San Francisco
District Attorney George Gascon; and a piece on Chris Columbus, a director (who
did some of the Harry Potter movies, as well as Home Alone). My son Roman has
given me questions to ask him about the Harry Potter films...
12. You've won multiple awards for writing. Is
there a special one, close to your heart?
I used to care a lot more about awards. I
did enjoy writing stories that exposed corruption and fraud and sending a
couple of bad guys to jail (I got a big award for those stories).
But now I
just want to write great stories that people love, or at least that leave
them feeling like they learned something or even entertained them for a
bit. I want to write beautifully and compellingly, and get all of the
facts right :-)
13. Who is your biggest cheerleader?
My mom. She has drawers full of my stories
(print copies!). It's interesting to re-read some of the stories and see how
inconsistent I was when I started, and how writing is a discipline like
anything else. The more you do it, the better you get.
14. You also wrote The Grace of Everyday
Saints: How a Band of Believers Lost Their Church and Found Their Faith. What
did you learn about yourself while writing it?
That book made me think about the places I hold
sacred. I'm not Catholic, but I was writing about a group of Catholics who
fought for more than a decade to try to save a place they loved - St. Brigid
Church in San Francisco. I treasured the time I had with those amazing
people. They were unassuming and humble and yet they took their
battle to the Vatican. Their story made me think about where one finds
peace and what one holds sacred.
15. What would you say to a newbie writer just
starting out?
Write, write, and write. Do everything:
journalism, blogs, fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and short stories. But, don't
expect it to be easy. It's really really hard, but oh so rewarding.
When Philip
Roth, one of the giants in American literature, retired recently at
age 80, he happily placed a post-it on his refrigerator that said, "The
struggle with writing is over." He was among the best, and writing was
still a struggle.
16. When you interview people for your books,
are there times when they give up information that they do not want in print?
How do you handle that?
This happens a lot in my day job (at the
Chronicle), and has come up in reporting for my books. There were a couple of
things that both Larry and Norbert asked me to leave out of the book.
I think about the request. I will ask why something is off the record. If
I feel strongly, I'll fight to keep it in. But in the end, I will
always honor the person's request. I feel a big sense of
responsibility when people let me into their lives.
17. Do you have to sign a confidentiality
agreement before interviewing such highly known individuals?
No.
18. What's the funniest thing anyone has said
about your writing?
I get strange emails all of the time at work.
But I can't think of anything really funny.
19. How can my readers help you to become an
even bigger success?
Preorder "The Billionaire and The
Mechanic" on Amazon now. Or, it will be in bookstores in coming
weeks. Adopt the book for your book club. Tell your friends about it. Buy
copies as gifts. It's an especially great Father's Day gift! Come to one
of my events, which will soon be posted on my Web site, and say hi.
20. Any interesting tidbits you could share,
that did not make it in The Billionaire and the Mechanic?
I have a lot of great insider stories of my
time with Larry. We have become what I would call friends through this process.
He respects my writing and he now trusts me.
One memorable vignette: The
first time I was at his house in Woodside, for my first interview for this
book, I draped my jacket over the sofa in his Great Room (the public part of
his estate). He was late, as always, so I got up to walk around and look at the
breathtaking landscaping. As I turned back to sit down, I nearly stopped
breathing. My jacket was draped over a painting that was just casually propped
up against the back of a sofa. It was a Monet. I was like ...OMG; my
jacket is touching that Monet! Larry arrived just as I was carefully
lifting the jacket off the painting. I feared I would be 86'd out of his home
before the interview began. Fortunately, he laughed.
21. What one word best describes you?
Determined.
22. What are you working on now?
Publicity :-) I need to spend the next
three to four months promoting "The Billionaire and The Mechanic." It
looks like there's a good chance for the book to become a feature film, so that
would be fantastic.
But, I have to confess: I'm already thinking about a couple
of ideas for my next book. I must be crazy or a masochist, but I love this
process of turning an idea into something tangible. It's a very cool thing.
23. Any
big news?
Fortunately, we have a lot of good momentum
around this book. We've been invited on The Today Show, CBS This Morning, and
Charlie Rose, among others. (I have to see what Larry is willing to do in terms
of publicity.)
I'll be going on a national tour in June, hitting a city for 2
days, flying back for a few days, then off again. It's going to be fun. We'll
also have lots of events around the Bay Area. Parties and readings big and
small.
Writers so appreciate friends who show up to multiple events (hint
hint). You spend years toiling away in obscurity until one day, the book is
done and making its debut.
(Oh - I'll be there Julian - rooting you on! I believe in you!! Have I told you, you rock?! Thanks for the interview!)
"Hey, Angie... I'm not sure if you've
seen the flood of annoying posts from ... me... about the short film I'm
working on. We've got 6 days left on our Indiegogo campaign and a CRAZY cast
and incredible crew... So I'm just trying to make a final push on this thing.
Any chance you could/would mention us on your blog? If not, no biggie... I'm
just trying to overcome my inability to ask for help! I hope you're well...
Peace!"
