Oh The Places You'll Go - Indy Author Meets Indy Wrestlers

Back in 2009, my unemployment odyssey took me into a temp position with Moen answering consumer phone calls. Basically, the job entailed verbally assisting people with installing or fixing their Moen faucets, i.e. being a plumber over the phone. Training consisted of an eight week school that covered everything from installing and repairing Moen faucets to navigating the company's various computer systems. On the first day of class, I met a guy named David Wilson, and given our similar age and shared experiences we became fast friends. Over the next few weeks, David and I exchanged our biographies and outside interests. I told him about my aspirations as a writer, and he filled me in regarding his dual identity - David Powers - past experiences and ongoing passion for professional wrestling.

Now I know I strike many as an intellectual & cultural snob, what with my incessant prattling about jazz and classical music, the literary canon, history, science, philosophy, theology and craft beers. But pro wrestling - like comic books, Cleveland sports and prime-time television - formed a large part of my childhood worldview and still remains a not-so-guilty pleasure to this day. Needless to say, meeting an honest-to-goodness ex-pro wrestler who could not only talk grappling greats like Abdullah The Butcher or Larry Zbyszko but actually knows them was a huge kick. Even to this day, whenever David and I grab a beer, I always end up pumping him for anecdotes about Tully Blanchard, Paul Orndorff or Mr. Wrestling II. Anyone who knows me well knows I eat up "road stories," be they from the back of the Buddy Rich Big Band bus or a high school gymnasium on the southern Ohio-West VA wrestling circuit.

Of course, like any writer, I can't be content with just knowing interesting people or hearing great stories. Those long conversations with David ended up impacting my creative life and actually inspired the development of a character in my forthcoming novel Stalking Mule. When David mentioned his involvement with a local independent wrestling association, The UXWA based in Brooklyn, Ohio, I jumped at the chance to help sponsor their latest show on May 16th, meet some of the guys and do a little first-hand research on the world of independent professional wrestling. And that's how I found myself at the Dr. Martin Luther Church in Brooklyn last night, rollicking to some bone-crushing take-downs and hawking copies of Cat & Cat at a vendor table.

One day later, writing this blog entry, I can't help but consider last night one of those unexpected lessons you just stumble across in life. As one of countless unknown struggling writers trying to gain traction, it's impossible to know where or when you may end up meeting potential readers and hopefully making new fans. While libraries, bookstores, cafes and artsy pubs are definitely the lifeblood of any writer looking to be heard, sometimes you need to wander out of the comfort zone and go meet folks outside the standard demographic, Maybe you sell some books, or maybe you don't. That's not the point, really. The Experience is the point, the sound of new voices, the ambiance of hitherto unexplored worlds. Like the noted twentieth-century philosopher Theodor Seuss Geisel once said, "Oh, The Places You'll Go!"