Former University student Clay Eals recently published a biography of Steve Goodman, a folk music singer/songwriter who died in 1984 after battling leukemia for more than 15 years. The Emerald sat down with Eals to talk about his new book.
– Matt Sevits
First, I hear you’re a former University student. When did you attend the University?
I attended from fall 1969 to summer 1974, when I graduated with a B.A. in journalism. Took me five years instead of the usual four because I kept falling behind in classes thanks to the Emerald. I ate, slept, lived and breathed the Emerald all of that time, holding every editorial position but editor-in-chief (tried twice) and worked in production as well.
Do you ever come back to Eugene from time to time?
Yes. My wife was born and raised in Eugene, and she and I met on the Emerald. I also lived in Eugene 1969-81, the last eight years as the Eugene reporter/photographer for The Oregonian. Over the years we have had many connections with family and friends in Eugene. It’s one of my favorite places, second only to my hometown of Seattle.
For those who might not already know, who is Steve Goodman?
He was the most engaging and inspiring musical entertainer I’ve ever seen and probably ever will see. Many people know of Goodman but don’t know that they know him. They assume “City of New Orleans” was written by Arlo Guthrie, they assume “Banana Republics” and other Jimmy Buffett recordings were written by Buffett, and they know “You Never Even Call Me by My Name” (aka the perfect country-western song) via its hit version by David Allan Coe. But all of those songs were written by Goodman. Plus, many fans of the national pastime consider Goodman’s “A Dying Cub Fan’s Last Request” to be the best baseball song ever.
Have you always been a fan of his?
Yes, ever since I was first aware of him. As a UO student, I had all his albums, starting with his first in 1971. I was galvanized by his performance on an episode of the Chicago-based PBS series “Soundstage” in late 1974. When Randy Newman toured on his “Short People” hit in November 1977, I made a point to see him at Mac Court, not because of Newman but because Goodman was opening for him. In 1981, I saw a solo Goodman show at the WOW Hall at Eighth and Lincoln. I wooed my wife with his songs, sending her Goodman tapes. The guy was mesmerizing on stage, and his songs – romantic, political and laugh-out-loud funny, sometimes all at the same time – were stellar.
How and why did you decide to write a biography about him?
I was back in Seattle editing a weekly newspaper in 1984 when Goodman died here. I wrote an obituary/tribute on Goodman for the entertainment section, and I suspect the seed for the biography was planted then. As posthumous recordings kept surfacing and as my own interest in biography intensified, the idea of doing a bio of Goodman crystallized. A former boss of mine tells people, “What you gotta understand about Clay is that he likes to write about the nearly famous.” That’s not far off the mark. Why write the 50th book on Elvis?
Is this an official biography?
Not at all. “Official” conveys “sanitized,” and such a label can be the kiss of death for your journalistic integrity. From the beginning, however, I sought to interview members of Goodman’s family. Some assented, and some did not. I ended up interviewing 1,067 people for the book, including celebrities from Kris Kristofferson and Steve Martin to Studs Terkel and Hillary Rodham Clinton (Goodman’s high-school classmate). The cooperation from 99-44/100 percent of sources was overwhelming and speaks to Goodman’s gregarious nature and the impact he had on countless friends, musicians and fans.
Why should today’s students be interested in a dead ’70s singer/songwriter?
Most of today’s college students straddle the age of 20, and that’s the age that Goodman was diagnosed with leukemia, in 1969. He wasn’t supposed to last another few months, let alone a year or two. It’s a miracle that he stretched his life another 15-plus years. While music suffuses this biography, the theme throughout is how do we live in the face of death? It’s a horrible gift to have a death sentence, but it is a gift, and would that we all – including college students – could live our lives with the greater awareness of our mortality, as Steve Goodman was forced to do.
Is this your first book?
No. In 1996, I cut my teeth on biography by writing, designing and self-publishing a 250-page biography of Karolyn Grimes, who as a child played Zuzu in the 1946 film classic “It’s a Wonderful Life.” She appeared in 15 movies as a child. She is now 66 and living in Fall City, east of Seattle. She’s become a close friend. Also, in 1987, I edited, designed, co-wrote and managed production of “West Side Story,” a 288-page history of West Seattle and White Center, the Seattle neighborhoods covered by the weekly newspaper that I edited at the time. Sometime down the road, I will complete a biography of big-league baseball pitcher and manager Fred Hutchinson, a project for which I have conducted 100 interviews.
How much time and research went into writing this book?
My wife and I attended a huge Goodman tribute concert in Chicago nearly 10 years ago, and I was taking notes then. I started the Goodman bio in earnest in early 1999 when I got permission to go half-time at my day job (publications editor at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center) so that I could travel to do interviews and dig up research materials. I quit the Hutch entirely in April 2003 to finish the book. So in total, it took more than eight years of work. In that time, I amassed nearly 200 Goodman concert tapes and videos and more than 1,000 news clippings. Plus, most of my interviews were taped and required transcribing.
How are biographies different than other types of nonfiction, and do you prefer writing biographies over other kinds of writing?
Biographies, to me, are the ultimate nonfiction because they let readers identify with a subject and imagine what they would do in the subject’s shoes, all while being immersed in the greater context of the subject’s life. For that reason, biographies are fertile ground for vivid storytelling and can resonate in our minds much longer and more deeply than other nonfiction. They’re the ultimate in human interest, so yes, when I’m in a bookstore I gravitate to the bio section.
What kinds of difficulties come along with writing about someone else’s life?
A biography is a funny animal. You could have 10 biographies written about the same subject, and you’d get 10 different biographies. A biography tells as much if not more about the biographer as it does the subject. In my case, I’m no stranger to writing long, as anyone can tell from the book (800 pages, 400,000 words, 4,700 index entries, 540 photos). But the bulk of the book also reflects my approach to the subject. Goodman is not a household word, and it is not likely that another biography will be done on him, so I had the mantle on my shoulders of doing a comprehensive job. If this was to be the only book on the guy, I wanted to do it right, to aim to make it definitive. That’s a heavy responsibility. It puts you through a plethora of soul-searching tests.
What kinds of positive things came out of the experience?
The homily “The product will be good only if the process is good” applies here. I’m grateful that, after 70-plus rejections, I found a publisher who was not afraid to take on a subject whose name alone wouldn’t guarantee success. I have made innumerable new friendships and deepened my awareness of my own purpose in this life. Not to sound morbid, but this book, I discovered, is what I needed to write before I die, and I can die much more peacefully now. I also am happy to report th
at my marriage survived the project, and my wife and I are celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary today.
How did you get started with a career in writing?
I got my true start thanks to my mom, who read to me constantly during the first three years of my life. I wrote a neighborhood “newspaper” when I was 11 during the summer of the Seattle World’s Fair in 1962. I lived and breathed my high-school paper, and during those years I also wrote for the local weekly. I also credit the UO School of Journalism, as it was called at the time. My experiences there, inseparable from the Emerald, were formative, and some profs, such as Dean Rea, were truly inspirational.
What advice would you give to other aspiring writers/biographers?
Write. That sounds trite, but it’s true. Also, read. Read the kind of thing that you yourself would like to write someday. Be curious. Don’t be afraid to learn about others, to listen to others. Get the technical skills down (note-taking, typing, grammar, sentence structure, etc.) so that they don’t get in the way. Embrace the delicious characteristics (concrete, sensory description, and impact words placed at the beginning or end of sentences) that make writing sing. Most of all, wear your passion on your sleeve. Nothing happens without it.
Where can people buy your book?
Bookstores and events. (There will be a combination reading and concert on Saturday, June 2, from 2 to 4 p.m. on the second floor of the University Bookstore.) The easiest place, however, is my Internet site, www.clayeals.com. There’s a discount, and you get a signed postcard.