Features

Perspective: Toure

Toure
Author/Journalist/TV host
Soul City
Brooklyn NY


Job History
I taught tennis at a summer program in Boston. (I loved the camp and the kids but somehow I made a mistake and got fired.)
I worked at a restaurant in Atlanta during college as a busboy. (The days I read about slavery in Af/Am it was really hard to come in and wash dishes. Beyond that it was fun enough.)
I worked at a copy shop in Atlanta during college. (That was after I got fired from the restaurant for somehow pissing off the manager. I also got fired from the copy shop for running off 100 copies of a 30-page book of poems I wrote. That was unfair, I think.)
I worked at the Coffee Shop in Union Square as a runner on the night shift, from midnight to five am. Maxwell was a waiter on the dinner shift and he was just like he is now as a famous person. Everyone knew him, everyone liked him, but no one really knew that much about him. What's his last name? What's he really like? Is he straight or gay? No one knew. (I got fired from the Coffee Shop because of this stupid little incident with the manager that really wasn't my fault.)
I did a little story for The Source and then another which led to a little story in the Voice, which led to more there, which led to a little record review at Rolling Stone, which led to more there, then I wrote for the Times, the New Yorker, Playboy, and other places. Rolling Stone hired me in 96, I think.
Before I was hired at Rolling Stone I was a news writer at MTV News, during the golden era I got fired. No, I don't want to talk about it.)
I started writing my first book the Portable Promised Land in graduate school. That one took five years to finish.
I finished my latest book, Soul City, a novel, after three years of work.

I like writing because you can't get fired.

Three words to describe yourself.

I make my own rules.

What are you currently working on? What is your day-to-day responsibilities?

I'm currently working on a long, juicy profile of Russell Simmons for Playboy and a novel about the son of God, a black boy born nowadays. Every day is different for me. I have TV stuff to do, I have book stuff to do, I have magazine work to do, every day is a new adventure and sometimes that can be just sitting on the couch all day and getting lost in a crazy book so you get that mind journey.

What made you decide to pursue this career?

I couldn't not be a writer. It's the only thing I could do and I kept getting fired from everything else.

How do you balance your personal and professional life?

I don't think I do balance them. I think I'm happily lacking a personal life. I love to work.

What career achievement are you most proud of?

My novel, Soul City. It was a long journey to the finished version, and harder than I would've expected. Writing a novel there's got to be a point where you're about to lose your mind because by definition, a novel is greater than you can hold in your mind at one time, but at some point in the writing, the writer kind of does have to hold the whole thing up in your mind just to see if it really works. And that's really hard. I remember the night I held up my whole novel in my mind and figured out that it was going to work out. But writing a novel is putting together a massive puzzle.

How did you overcome any roadblocks?

I try to remain positive no matter what. I know I can do it. Whatever it is, I know I can do it. You couldn't convince I couldn't.

Was there ever a time where you thought you would not succeed? Please explain.

I would never allow myself to think like that. I have to be my biggest fan, I have to know I'll find a way or make a way. Even when I could see no way, you've got to believe there will be.

Is there a down side to your position?

No. Writing is the best job there is. I work at home, I interview the people who are creating modern culture, and I try to create a little art. There's nothing about it I don't love.

What are your Guiding principles?
Don't worry about getting fired.
Also don't worry about offending people.
Say what you really believe and never be inhibited by some sense of decency. The other day on the Dennis Miller show I said I hate the President. People emailed me saying how could you say that? I'm not like how could you not?

What are the personality traits you think a successful person in this industry should have?

You've got to be tenacious and resilient. No matter how many doors get closed in your face, keep coming.

What advice would you give someone who is just starting out?

Read as much as you can stand. Reading real stuff (from a great Rushdie novel to a Rem Koolhaas breakdown of modern urban architecture to Joseph Campbell's the Power of Myth or the 48 Laws of Power or anything that stretches your mind into new journeys and new paths of thought) is like going to the gym for your mind.

When is your Birthday? Where did you grow up? Where did you go to school?

March 20, the last day of the zodiac calendar. I grew up in Boston and always hated the Sox because they were known as baseball's most racist team, the last one in the majors to add a black player. They have plenty of black men now, but by age six I was a hater. And that's hard in Boston because those fools live and mostly die by the Sox. Seeing them suffer is half of why I love the Yanks. I went to Milton Academy for high school, Emory for undergrad (didn't finish), and Columbia for the graduate creative writing program (didn't finish).

For more info visit Toure.com or buy click here to buy his last book, Soul City!

Message Toure and tell him what you think

Ray Tamarra

« The Ru Report #144  AAPRC Weekly: Florence "Flo" Anthony »

The 2-Way

Replies: 4

Archives: