One of the greatest radio voices of all time died this morning and it was not a surprise as he had told us almost a year ago of his diagnosis for Stage 4 Lung Cancer. No one survives such a diagnosis, but if anyone had a chance of overcoming it with pure will, Rush was that man. He was that unique.
I was living in Santa Barbara, California when Rush came on nationally. I heard his first broadcast as well as nearly every one thereafter. At that time the Internet was new and we were both on Compuserve. He would post ideas and we would respond. This was all rather new and a small number of people were involved interactively. I was one.
After a few weeks he sent me a piece he had written for the Sacramento Bee when he was on the air there. It was entitled "24 Undeniable Truths" all in the typical Rush bluster. It was excellent, thoughtful and fascinating, having all the charm and curiosity of his broadcasts.
I responded, "Do you have any idea how easy it would be to turn this into a best-selling book?" His response was his phone number, time to call and this began a series of phone calls about the publishing business and the process of producing a book.
Rush was then in New York. Given the difference in times and his being on air at 9:00 AM my time to call him was 4:00 AM my time for our discussions.
I had done two books in New York for two different publishers and had a third optioned by yet another publisher all without an agent! I had an agent for screenplays in Hollywood and another for episodic TV. At a point Rush's lawyer brother got into the calls as I explained the intrigues of the publishing business. Then he announced that he was coming to Sacramento to do a speech and promote his show so I said, "Great, I'll drive up and we can meet."
Rush said I should not as he would not have time to spend with me which I thought was strange and having Hollywood savvy, or paranoia, felt he was cutting me out and said as much as politely as I could. I felt he and his brother had no need of me as I had well tutored them in the quirks of the publishing business. Well....
Rush blew up that I would accuse him of skullduggery and that ended our friendship right there. Later Sean Hannity, whom I had known in Santa Barbara while he was at UCSB when we were both on-the-air on different stations and talked on the phone often; met with Rush in Florida and somehow my name came up and Rush "went up!" He was still angry! It was just a simple misunderstanding, but in matters of integrity Rush was absolutely brittle and the real cause of his anger was a challenge to his integrity, destroying what would have been a great and entertaining book, "24 Undeniable Truths by Rush Limbaugh."
I did not have a chance to heal the rift with Rush as there was no more interaction with him, but I remained a loyal listener and fan. I have had a lot of contact with talented people in several media and found that many are "quirky." I had previously observed often great talents are missing something most people have and if you hit that trigger, "Wham!" Being around such people requires adjustments. Rush was one of the great talents of our time and regardless death Rush is forever.
Adrian Vance
So sorry you had that break-up, Adrian. I listened to him for
ReplyDeleteyears and tried to get in touch but by that time he was too
big and I think his main contact, Kit Carson, was ill so it came
to nothing. I feel actual sorrow for his passing; he was a true
"mensch"...jd
It would have changed my life to have done that book with him and join his team as all these guys have staffs "birdogging" for them and writing bits, but I just could not bring myself to try as I did learn from this, and other such incidents, that very talented men always have some quirks as a result of so seriously having focused on one thing. I really cannot complain about my life as much of it has gone well and my tragedies have been few, but looking back is always 20/20.
ReplyDeleteYou certainly are prolific and you don't have "all your eggs
ReplyDeletein one basket"! My reference to the Rush incident was
meant on the personal level. Listening to him regularly
I came to love him and would have been unhappy were
we on the "outs".
I come from two lines of people who approach life as an experimental process. My dad was a jazz trumpet player who evolved into a college band director and my mother an RKO contract dancer in theaters, movie promotion tours and productions. If you have see any of those Buzby Berkely extravagances with 40 dancing girls coming down a huge staircase you have seen my mother. She became a Latin scholar and college professor. I was the only kid in my elementary school who could not outrun my mother and got several spankings in front of all my friends when we were caught smoking. Those were the days of the "party line" phone and all the mothers kept sharp eyes on their little boys. I document all this in my memoir "A Long Way From Normal" on sale at Amazon.com
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