Interview with John R. Powers
John Powers’ writing career began at the age of sixteen, when the Chicago Tribune published a column he’d penned. John has been writing and speaking ever since. Recently he took time out of his busy travel schedule to chat about his novels, Chicago, and life on the Southside.
Are your books autobiographical in nature?
Well, they are fictionalized memoirs. I move things around to make them fit – it’s FICTION so I can do that. Most of the characters are a composite of four or five people. I do have people tell me that they are a certain character and I say “yes” even if they are wrong, because people like to think they are important enough to be written about and they are.
Do you have certain messages or meanings behind your stories?
I sit down to write a book and I write it. I don’t want to sit down and write a stop sign. A stop sign is obvious. It means the same thing to everyone. I believe good literature is like a good painting – different people find different meanings all within certain parameters. When I wrote Unoriginal Sinner and the Ice-Cream God, it’s a bit darker than the other two books, but it’s about a guy in college who is dealing with tough issues. I tried to write from the age perspective that the character was. The Last Catholic was written from the perspective of a kid, Black Patent Leather Shoes was written from the teen perspective. You know those difficult years when you have an acid tongue and you’re lost and confused.
It’s funny. I didn’t like being a child, I didn’t like being small. If I did, I wouldn’t have written the books I did because The Last Catholic & Black Patent Leather Shoes were not written from the mainstream. I wasn’t in the mainstream. In Patent Leather Shoes there is a chapter about “fat & ugly” kids and I was that kid who didn’t fit in. Truth is that when we get older, we realize none of us really fit in.
Did you plan on writing a trilogy?
Well, it started as one book with the character going through college. When I finished Black Patent Leather Shoes, I decided to change the name of the character in the third book so it didn’t look like a trilogy… and I fooled no one!
Why write about the Southside?
I wrote about what I knew . My books are humorous commentaries on a way of life. They aren’t pro-Catholic or anti-Catholic. They are commentaries on how life was.
Being on the Southside is different. It’s much more direct – Southsiders have a slide from their brain to their mouth. You know, when I grew up on the Southside and I would see Cub games televised during the day I thought, “What kind of job do you have that you can leave at noon?” I just didn’t get it. Then again, Comiskey looked like a factory without a roof. And that’s the kind of team you had – it’s Southside life.
How have non-Chicagoans reacted to your books?
I remember when I turned in The Last Catholic in America and the editor asked me, “What’s a two-flat?” I said, “It’s higher than a one-flat and lower than a three-flat.” He said, “Well what’s a prairie?” I said, “It’s a vacant lot.” He said, “We don’t know what that is here in New York. We think of Montana.” I responded, “That’s too bad.” And I didn’t change a word because that’s how we talk in Chicago. Funny, if you write about Chicago, especially the Southside, you are called “Provincial.” If you write about New York you are called “Universal.” I’m sorry, but Chicago is much more representative of the world. In the end, even they understood the message of the books and they laughed as they read them.
John Powers at a glance...
If you could attempt another profession, what would it be?
I’d drive an 18 wheeler. It sounds like fun!
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Striving toward it.
What more would you like to achieve in your lifetime?
I’d like to read more books, be a great banjo player…but I’m happy. I mean for a miserable person I’m happy. (He laughs.)
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
I’d be a great singer. You get all the credit for other people’s poetry. The great poets of our society are the songwriters.
What do you fear the most?
What I don’t know. As a matter of fact, I’m afraid of everything!
What’s the best advice you have received?
I would say, “Listen to everyone’s opinion but take no one’s advice.”
What’s your favorite place to visit in Chicago?
Most definitely the house I grew up in. I used to think, “I remember the yard as bigger.” Than I realized they added on to the house.
What’s your favorite place to eat in Chicago?
I love BBQ food so I would have to say Carsons. I go there and eat myself into oblivion. (Hearty laugh.)
When you arrive in heaven, what will God say to you?
Nice try!
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