Norman Mailer

I lived in Brooklyn Heights years ago. Norman Mailer lived there too and I would often see him out for a walk on Clark St., shopping at Barnes and Noble or leaning over the railing on the Promandae looking at Manhatten (pre 9/11).

I didn't read much mailer, but what I did (Executioner's Song, The Fight) blew my mind. I loved listening to him talk in interviews and always appreciated that he had built a tough guy persona for himself.

One of the romantic notions I always talked about while living in new york City was the fact that I was walking the same streets, past the same brownstones as some of the most important writers in history. Norman mailer could be the last literary hero of our times with no one really waiting in the wings.

All those time I saw him I never spoke to Norman Mailer.