Football is for Lovers: Interview with Bob Brooker and Kaye O'Dougherty
Dorothy Thompson
October 09, 2009
Bob is an old saloon singer who, as Bobby Brookes, recorded for Victor and Capital back in the day. Kaye has trouble carrying a tune in a bucket. Nevertheless, over the years, as Brooker and O'Dougherty, the two have collaborated on a variety of theater projects, performing, writing, directing, managing, and producing. In keeping with the changing times, they have even created a cyber alter-ego named eBobb.
Recently, Bob and Kaye both took long-overdue turns at being rather mature college kids. Kaye now holds a Bachelors Degree in the Humanities from St. Peter's College in Englewood Cliffs, NJ. Bob was graduated magna cum laude from Montclair State University with a BA in Theater, and is a member of Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society.
You can visit their website by going to FootballforLovers.com.
Where are you from?
(Kaye) I was born and raised in Whitestone, on Long Island.
(Bob) I grew up in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Better known as South Philly.
When and why did you begin writing?
(Kaye) Writing has always been a natural part of me. I began writing – stories and poems and whatever – as soon as I knew how to write.
(Bob) Actually, I've always been more a performer than a writer. Although of course performing is really a way of bringing words to life. Singing them. Creating characters through them. But actually putting them down on paper pretty much started when I began collaborating with Kaye.
When did you first consider yourself a writer?
(Kaye) I guess I always did.
(Bob) Seeing us actually write the darn words down on paper made me start feeling like a writer/performer. No. It's always been a performer/writer. Even now, when I've had a stroke and can't sing anymore, it still is. In my heart, anyway.
What inspired you to write your first book?
(Bob and Kaye) When we met – in a recording studio on 42nd Street – Bob was a well-established entertainer. Kaye was still looking for her voice as a writer. The chemistry was instant, and we began a collaboration – writing songs and scripts and skits – that lasted for decades. It wasn't until Bob had that stroke a few years ago, and the performance aspect of our writing came to a screeching halt, that we made the move from writing for the stage to writing for the page. So I guess you could say that Bob's stroke inspired us to write our first book.
Do you have a specific writing style?
(Bob and Kaye) As collaborators, we fell into a division of labor early in our partnership. Kaye has always preferred the behind the scenes role of researching and drafting ideas. Bob, as a performer and director, has always seen what will and will not 'play.' So Kaye splats down the raw material. Bob shapes it into the final sculpture.
How did you come up with the title?
(Bob and Kaye) The title simply describes the book. Football is for Lovers . . . if you let it be. We show you how.
Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
(Bob and Kaye) This is a non-fiction book. But, yes: it has a message. Like the song says, "Love is the answer." To just about everything. And like the books says, sharing is the key to one heck of a good time. And an easy antidote to what we see as self-inflicted 'football widowhood.'
How much of the book is realistic?
(Bob and Kaye) Since it's non-fiction, all of it is.
Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?
(Bob and Kaye) Although it's non-fiction, the anecdotes are either real, or analogies for what is real.
What books have most influenced your life most?
(Kaye) Thomas More's Utopia. I hope always in what this world can be. And it would really mean a lot to me to be a part of making that happen.
(Bob) Taylor Caldwell's Captains and the Kings woke me up to the ugly underbelly of politics. Kaye and I have become political junkies, and we plan to write on the subject in a future book. For now, all I can say is that the active work going on in the Halls of Power to manipulate the people so that the powerful can keep their power . . . well, it's some pretty scary stuff.
If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?
(Kaye) Tom Wolfe. His Bonfire of the Vanities makes it clear that there are at least two ways we can be perceived, and that a mirror is definitely only one. As Robert Burns wrote,
"O wad some Power the giftie gie us
To see oursels as ithers see us!
It wad frae mony a blunder free us,
An' foolish notion:"
Okay. He was Scottish. But I think you get the point. Anyway, I think both Wolfe and Burns help us to understand how someone can honestly believe in an ideology that is a hundred eighty out from our own. And I think that's an important thing for a writer to know.
(Bob) Langston Hughes, the Poet Laureate of Harlem. Being a performer, the action generated by the words has always been my focus. When we were working on a musical based on Langston's works, I learned that he would write by walking through Harlem, listening to the people, and writing them down, so that much of his poetry is actually conversation. It's almost as if, rather than his writing being a static script, it has somehow become the living, breathing performer. You've heard the expression, "He does it with mirrors." Well, that seems to me to be exactly what Langston does: he truthfully and accurately reflects life itself.
What book are you reading now?
(Kaye) I'm re-reading James Redfield's The Celestine Prophecy.
(Bob) Mississippi Sissy by Kevin Sessums
Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?
(Bob and Kaye) No one in particular. Maybe because our reading tastes are pretty eclectic, with a lot of non-fiction on our reading lists.
What are your current projects?
(Bob and Kaye) We're working on another humorous non-fiction book with the working title He's Not the Guy (God Didn't Do It!). It bothers us when we hear those stories about things like, say, a building collapsing and ninety-nine people being killed. And the sole survivor says, "It was a miracle! God saved me!" So - uh – exactly what does that mean? God killed the other ninety-nine? We think not. And we intend to set the record straight.
Name one entity that you feel supported you outside of family members.
(Bob and Kaye) Well, of course, we have always supported each other. But we would like to give special thanks to Annie and the gang at Liberty Rehab in Meadowlands Hospital. Their support after Bob's stroke was beyond priceless. And our friends – Gene, Hali, Dan, Frank, Shirlee, Les, Rindy, Lilly, Massimo, Kathy, George, Kylie and the gang were all there for us. And then some. No: they didn't help us to write the book. But they did help us to keep going on so that we could write the book.
Do you see writing as a career?
(Bob and Kaye) Absolutely.
What do you think makes a good story?
(Bob and Kaye) Understanding people. Who they are. What they want. What they hope for. That is, in a good story, however far from our own lives it may be, we should be able to recognize the people. That is, we need to believe that they are possible.
Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?
(Bob and Kaye) Since this is our first book, and since it was a departure from the performance-oriented writing we had done in the past, the question was: would we find it as complete, as satisfying as the writing we did together before Bob's stroke. The answer is: we've already started writing our second book.
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