AdamPitluk
Editor
I
tdidn’t take long.
WhileIwasreading theproofs
of this issueof
AmericanWay
, I
immediatelyrecognized that it
wasspecial.Forme, anyway.The
issuenaturallywove itsway throughout
eachdecadeofmy lifeand touchedseveral
stations, triggeredmyriadmemoriesand
reproducedreflectionsof thegoodol’days.
Hopefully,by theendof thiscolumn, you’ll
beaching todive into thecontentandwill
findasimilarcausal link toyourown life.
So let thememory-laningbegin.
Back in theday, Iwanted tobearock
star. Itwasrightaround the time thatSony
released taperecorderson themarketplace
—rememberwhenyoucouldput inablank
cassetteandrecordyourself?I’dblastThe
DoobieBrothersonmy
father’srecordplayer,
press“Record”andsing
intomySony. If Istood
in therightpartof the
den, Icoulddrownout
MichaelMcDonaldand
hearmyvoiceover the
Doobies’music.Reading
KenWysocky’sstory
aboutparticlerecord-
ings (page81)brought
meback tomychildhood
houseonWashington
Boulevard inUniversity
Heights,Ohio, andmade
meregretnotkeeping
those tapes.Mydaughters,who like tore-
cord themselvessingingTaylorSwiftsongs,
wouldhaveundoubtedlyenjoyed them.
Rightaround thesame time thatIwas
rockingsuburbanCleveland, amoviecame
out thatcompelledeveryadolescent to
huntaround theirattic for long-lost trea-
suremaps.Ofcourse,when
TheGoonies
wasreleased in1985 (Isaw themovieat
theSunsetDrive-InTheater inChambers-
burg,Pennsylvania,wheremygrandfather
worked), Iwanted tobe likeMikey (Sean
Astin).Thirtyyears later, Isurewould
like toknowhowTruffle-ShufflingChunk
turnedout.Ourprofileofmodern-day
Chunk (akaJeffCohen)onpage83answers
all thosewhat-ifquestionswe’vebeen
askingourselves for30years.Whathe’s
doingwill surpriseyou.
Timepassedandmymusical tastesgrew
edgier. Inhighschool, justasIwascrushing
onKatePierson fromTheB-52s, thesinger
teamedupwithpunk-rockerIggyPopon
asongcalled“Candy.”ImemorizedIggy’s
lines,mysistermemorizedKate’s, andwe
werea teenagerockduowithadecidedly
vonTrapp twist. I’mstillahugeIggyPop
fan, andas it turnsout, so isourwriter (and
my formerstudent from theUniversityof
NorthTexas).WegaveCalebDowns the
assignmentofa lifetime.Readhisprofound
Q&Awith thepunk legendonpage32.
Ofcourse, asrock-staraspirations
go,noprophecycouldself-fulfillwithout
doing time inLosAngeles.Everydayofmy
tenure thereproduced
anewstory, andI tell
them to thisday.From
sneaking into theMTV
MovieAwards— twice
— towaiting tablesat the
HardRockCafe inHol-
lywoodtowritingmusic
on thebalconyofmy
StudioCityapartment
asawayofcopingwith
my long-distancerela-
tionship, Iwasalways
happy.Mygirlfriend fell
in lovewithme falling
in lovewithL.A.when
shecame tovisit.AndI
fell in lovewithher.L.A.has thateffecton
people, asyou’ll see inJordanRane’sstory
onpage60.Now thatgirlfriend ismywife,
andweoften talkabout leaving thisplace
andmoving toL.A.Wealsoknowwecan’t.
Wegrewup,moved to theDallas
suburbs, andsettled.WhenIwentdown
toMexico toprofile the lifeand timesof
conservationistWayneBisbee (page68), I
hadmyold-man-and-the-seamomentas
Iwasreeling in thebiggestfishofmy life. I
realizedIwasaging, just likeHemingway’s
Santiago, asI foughtmymonsterof the
deep.Serendipitously,JudyCantor-Navas’
profileofHemingway’sgranddaughter
Marielonpage50 isan insightful look into
Havana. Indeed,oneofErnest’soldhaunts
EDITOR’SNOTE
ByAdamPitluk
maysomedaysoonbeanAAdestination.
Whichbringsus topresent-day.All
these lifeeventswouldn’thavehappened
were itnot for lovingparents.Asa thank-
you tomydad foreverything (and for
not tanningmyhidewhenIblewouthis
speakerswithDoobies tunes), Iwanted
tobring theworld’sbiggesteverything-
Cleveland fan toachampionshipgame.He
wasn’talive the last timeaCleveland team
wasworldchampion (the1948Indians: I
don’tcount thepre-Super-Bowl-era1964
Browns), soIcalled ina favorandscored
us tickets to theJune11,2015,Finalsgame
between theCavaliersand theGoldenState
Warriors.TheCavswereup twogames to
one.They lost thatnight, then they lost the
following twogamesand lost theFinals.My
dad isstillchampionship-less, andwehave
themanon thecover to thank for it.Check
out thenewsmakingstorybyJanHubbard
onpage52.At thevery least, anydie-hard
sports fanout there— including longtime
Warriors fans,whose2000-01 teamwon
only17gamesand lost65—canrelate to
heartbreak.Takeareadof theaforemen-
tionedstoriesand tellmeyoucan’tsee
yourself large in them.
Itwon’t take long.
APerfectCircle
FollowAdamonTwitter
@adampitluk
12
APRIL2016
AMERICANWAY
Adam’s andhis dad’s smiles turned to frowns after
StephenCurry kicked in theCavaliers’ teeth.
