Interesting…

You may recall that the death of Hunter S. Thompson last spring inspired me to reminisce about a colorful character I once knew — or knew of, to be more accurate — a writer by the name of John Pecorelli. You may further recall that I was subsequently contacted by some acquaintances of Pecorelli’s (see this entry and this one if you want to refresh your memory).

Well, it’s happened again. Earlier this afternoon, someone calling themself CAY stumbled across my little corner of the InterWeb and left a comment about the legendary Pecorelli in the previous entry. I’ve decided not to let the comment publish there, since it has nothing to do with the entry’s actual topic, but I’ve reproduced it in its entirety here, along with my response:

Jason,

 

This comment refers to your article about John Pecorelli. I’ve known him since ’94 or so–worked with him, talked at length as friends. You’ve got him wrong. He IS that angry–or I should say annoyed–at the structures and habits of the world, it’s not a facade, AND he doesn’t have an arrogant bone in his body. He only pulls out his guns if he thinks someone is being mean or arrogant toward someone else. He’s a protector–as dedicated to his friends as anyone I’ve ever seen. I’ve known him to consistently be the most compassionate individual I’ve ever met. He’s a fucking genius–I have yet to meet anyone as intelligent–and that can be intimidating, but he doesn’t intimidate intentionally. In fact, he goes out of his way not to intimidate, if he’s talking to a decent person. He’s compulsively honest and genuine, which is sometimes painful to anyone listening. But never for self-aggrandizement. If anything, he’s terribly self-deprecating. I’ve seen him around people with far-inferior intelligence, and he enjoys them as he would anyone else, if they’re kind or at least sincere, and never tries to talk above them. That being said, if they were to ask his opinion, he would give it, in all its amazingly beautiful complexity.

First of all, I’d like to tell CAY thanks for his (or her?) insight into a man I never really knew and haven’t seen in almost 20 years. Sincerely. I’ve greatly enjoyed hearing from people who actually know him, and it surprises and amuses me that this subject keeps re-surfacing. To be honest, I keep expecting Pecorelli himself to show up on this site eventually. I’d certainly welcome his take on things.

CAY’s impression of John Pecorelli is very different than my own, but then I don’t recall that I ever actually spoke with him. My impressions of John were formed from afar, by reading his newspaper columns and observing a couple of classroom situations in which he stood toe to toe with a tenured professor and told the man he was full of shit. That teacher very likely was full of shit, and these days I’d probably stand up and applaud John for having the guts to say so. But way back in 1987, my freshman year of college, I was uncomfortable with his bluntness and his willingness to confront those he disagreed with, both in person and through his columns. I wasn’t exactly timid myself and I was certainly no great fan of authority, but I often felt uncertain of my own opinions, and I’m not too proud to admit that I wanted to be liked by those around me, students and faculty alike. I tended to keep my thoughts to myself rather than rock the boat or get into a position where I might look like an ass or be forced to back down. John gave the appearance of being the sort who never backed down if he thought he was right, and I’m pretty certain he never cared what others thought about him, either. At the time, I didn’t know what to make of that behavior, which was so different from my own, and so I judged it negatively. And yet… I have to admit I also thought it was kind of cool. I both admired and resented Pecorelli’s self-assurance, his independence of thought, his courage to stand up to people, and his skill with language, all qualities that I was searching for in myself.

Maybe I misunderstood him back in 1987 and maybe I misrepresented him when I wrote my reminiscence. But in my own defense, I was writing about the situation as I remembered it and possibly even as I imagined it, not necessarily as it actually was. In 1987, I had a certain opinion of John Pecorelli based on a certain set of experiences. I could’ve been wrong about him. Of course, it’s equally possible that Pecorelli really was a jerk in 1987 but had mellowed by the time CAY met him in 1994. I can’t say either way because I never knew the guy. I knew only the image he presented to the public, and the way I reacted to it. My feelings about Pecorelli’s image were ambivalent, to be sure, but it must say something about the man that I’m still thinking and writing about him some 18 years after the fact…