Leroy 'Hog' Cooper on Sax can RIP soon

2008 International Blues Challenge in Memphis

with the Smokin' Torpedoes (talking to a fan)

Writing Leroy 'Hog' Cooper on Sax has not been easy. The best part was sitting in his home listening to him tell me the stories of his life, dating back to about 1936. Stories about growing up in Dallas through hard times in a middle class black neighborhood, learning to play reed instruments as a child, attending high school, college and joining his first big band. Being drafted interrupted his musical career until he auditioned by the Army Band where he played baritone sax and became the bandleader.

Not long after leaving the service, he became a member of the Ray Charles Band, a small group at the time that wasn't getting much respect. It took years before the country recognized the blind, musical genius and his supporting cast, one of which was Leroy Cooper.

His life took many twists and turns and I enjoyed hearing every single story. I wish I could say the same about the work involved in writing the book. It has been a rigorous undertaking and a labor of love. Leroy and I had no signed contract, but as was Leroy's nature, we shook on the deal. Now Leroy has left us behind to listen to his music and read his story. He kept his end of the bargain by telling me his stories. Now I am honoring him by completing this labor of love.

I am delighted to have received some amazing photos of Leroy to use in the book; some with Ray Charles, others with the Dixieland Deltas from his 20 years strolling the grounds of Disney World entertaining guests. Pictures of Leroy being Leroy, with a cigar in his hand, a drink in front of him and empty dishes -- all of which he was known for, especially the empty dishes since his self described addiction was to food more than anything.

I'm still adding stories told to me at our last meeting. Then the manuscript goes to the professional editors, I go to the publisher's with the photos and work on the cover art. There is still plenty of work to be done before I hold the finished product in my hand but momentum is building.

Leroy Cooper knows I'm a woman of my word. I made a promise and I am keeping it.

Missing recordings -- ARGH! (sound of banshee screaming)

Use your imagination (I didn't have to). You are writing a memoir and you are a victim of the infernal April 1st Conflictor virus which happens two days before April Fool's Day. Now there's an April Fool's joke to rival any you've endured in the past! The hard drive in your computer has been eaten by some invisible gremlin. You are certain that you've backed everything up. What rational person wouldn't back up all files when working on a book?

You have a deadline looming for your memoir. Most of the book is complete and you run into a snag. Some questions are unanswered, some gaps unfilled. Your subject has died six months ago so you can't call and ask him to fill in the blanks. You search your multiple flash drives, hoping, hoping, that you will find the data hiding somewhere but it seems to be lost forever.

Your photographic memory is trying to envision your subject sitting in his chair telling you stories that will elicit your audiographic memory. Bits and pieces are returning, but it's not enough. The struggle is whether to delete passages that give only fragments of stories or work them into a place where the suspense seems intentional.

Suddenly, in addition, you realize that one of your supporting celebrity interviews is also missing. You try to call that person and get voicemail to do a repeat interview and get voicemail. You find out later that he was on tour in Germany and his cell phone service was waterlogged under the Atlantic somewhere. What does a writer do?

The answer is so obvious; why didn't you think of this before? You ask your spouse! He or she insists that you backed up the data and says to keep looking. The first flash drive was created after the crash. Then you insert the second, searching every little file and folder. And then, you drill down, folder into folder, down another folder and another -- and there it is! A folder with the missing files. Guess what, there aren't one or two. You find eight files, some over three hours long, that need to be listened to and possibly transcribed completely.

Remember, the deadline is hanging over you like a storm cloud. You can see what appears to be just a hint of a funnel sliding downwards from that cloud. There's only one thing you can do now. Take all your pillows, cell phone, flashlight and laptop, go in the closet and hope there's not a tornado about to rip your roof off and destroy everything. Secretly you hope it will, because then you'd have a good excuse to miss the deadline, abandon the project and get on with your life after a two and a half year investment in it.

An hour goes by. You pass your time playing Mah Jongg on the laptop when you see the battery is almost dead. The thunder has ceased. No tornado. No excuse. Time to get back out of the closet, go to your desk, plug in the computer and start listening to recordings.

Sure, you only have ten more days, but what's one day to listen, and possibly transcribe, hours of recordings? The book is almost done. The sky has cleared. The phone rings. It's the guy whose interview you thought you had lost. He apologizes for not getting back to you right away but he was in Germany playing keyboards with B.B. King. You chat with your friend as if nothing had happened. By now, you have his two hour interview and life will go on.

Another fantasy shattered. Time to get back into bed and take a nap.

10 Questions to ask yourself before ghost writing a memoir

People seem obsessed with telling their life stories. That's a personal decision. Have you thought about writing someone else's memoir? If so, you might want to consider answering these questions first.

1. Who is your subject? Does anyone really care about his/her life?
2. How old is your subject? The older, the more difficult. An older person has a lot of memories (if they're lucky enough to be of sound mind). Also, be prepared for an unexpected death.
3. Does the person have an unusual story with a twist that will appeal to a reader or even a niche market?
4. If the person is a celebrity, is he/she A-list? If so, why would they want you to write their memoir instead of a professional memoirist?
5. If the person is a B-list celebrity, are you prepared to do a whole lot of marketing to reach your target audience and let them know the book is out there for them?
6. Do you have a plan? Going in to interview someone for an article is not like writing a memoir; I found out the hard way. Interviewing someone for a memoir illicits memories that stray from your questions but are critical to their story.
7. Are you willing to do a lot of transcription, or pay someone to do it?
8. Once you have a transcript, how many hours do you have available to edit the material?
9. Does your subject have enough photographs to accompany the text and illustrate what makes his story unique?
10. Are you a perfectionist? If so, stop right there and go find something else to do. Getting someone else's story perfect is not like writing your own story, especially if they pass away and you can't call them up to ask questions.

I learned the answers to these questions the hard way. Fortunately, my subject passed away after I had finished all of the work and we were just getting together as friends. Even so, during conversation over lunch, a new tidbit would dribble out of his mouth, causing me to push the red button on the recorder that was always always in my hand. I can't call him up if I have a question about something he said but I have a vast number of resources, including his wife and colleagues, who are able to verify facts for me.

My advice? Think twice.