What Legends Are Made Of
by Robert Banfelder
Frank: Yes, and the IGFA (International Game Fish Association) didn’t have to verify the catch, either!
Robert: You spoke with me quite candidly, last year, followed up by my back-and-forth New York to Hawaii marathon e-mail interview that I conducted with Jenny back in August of ‘07; I learned that she is quite instrumental in your literary endeavors. How long did it take the two of you to compile and hone “Fifty Years a Hooker?” How many hours a day, a week, or whatever, on average, did you labor over the project?
Frank: It took about six years. We got started in 1998, after Jenny graduated from college and had more time to spend on the manuscript. We worked six to eight hours a day some days, but had to put the book aside for months at a time when I had medical illnesses (heart surgery) in 1998, and an abdominal aortic aneurysm repair in 2000.
Robert: What was the setting like in which you both worked on the manuscript? Was it outdoors on that beautiful Big Island as it’s called—perhaps taking long walks and having long talks on your 20-acre farm as you reminisced and fed Jenny anecdote after anecdote, adventure after adventure, story after story, covering the span of 80 remarkable years? Or were you two cooped up indoors, sitting at a desk or table while staring at a computer screen?
Frank: Yes, we mostly worked indoors and sat at the computer in our home office, but yes, we did do a lot of talking about the manuscript during our hour-long, daily morning walks. I took up walking for exercise after my heart surgery in 1998. These days, my feet are too bad to walk long distances, so I work out each day for about 30 to 40 minutes on my elliptical trainer.
Robert: With such name recognition and astounding accomplishments, how is it that you wound up with a subsidy press for Fifty Years a Hooker as opposed to a traditional publisher such as Macmillan, as you had back in 1971? How hard did you try to seek that sort of representation? Are you happy with Xlibris?
Frank: Jenny and I didn’t bother approaching any big publishing companies such as Macmillan with our book Fifty Years a Hooker, because the publishing process would take too long. Another reason is that although my other book, Sportfishing for Sharks, was picked up by a traditional publisher, it didn’t do well. We—me and co-author Bill Wisner—didn’t have much distribution, so Jenny and I felt we had nothing to lose by self-publishing Fifty Years a Hooker.
Jenny and I are happy with Xlibris because they have distribution channels through companies such as Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.
Robert: These days, how often do you take select customers and special friends out fishing, and is the targeted species still “Jaws for Sport,” in other words, do you still hunt for monster sharks, or do you seek out other pelagic game such as blue marlin, dolphin (mahi mahi), yellowfin and bigeye tuna as well as the occasional swordfish along the southern coast where you reside?
Robert: You spoke with me quite candidly, last year, followed up by my back-and-forth New York to Hawaii marathon e-mail interview that I conducted with Jenny back in August of ‘07; I learned that she is quite instrumental in your literary endeavors. How long did it take the two of you to compile and hone “Fifty Years a Hooker?” How many hours a day, a week, or whatever, on average, did you labor over the project?
Frank: It took about six years. We got started in 1998, after Jenny graduated from college and had more time to spend on the manuscript. We worked six to eight hours a day some days, but had to put the book aside for months at a time when I had medical illnesses (heart surgery) in 1998, and an abdominal aortic aneurysm repair in 2000.
Robert: What was the setting like in which you both worked on the manuscript? Was it outdoors on that beautiful Big Island as it’s called—perhaps taking long walks and having long talks on your 20-acre farm as you reminisced and fed Jenny anecdote after anecdote, adventure after adventure, story after story, covering the span of 80 remarkable years? Or were you two cooped up indoors, sitting at a desk or table while staring at a computer screen?
Frank: Yes, we mostly worked indoors and sat at the computer in our home office, but yes, we did do a lot of talking about the manuscript during our hour-long, daily morning walks. I took up walking for exercise after my heart surgery in 1998. These days, my feet are too bad to walk long distances, so I work out each day for about 30 to 40 minutes on my elliptical trainer.
Robert: With such name recognition and astounding accomplishments, how is it that you wound up with a subsidy press for Fifty Years a Hooker as opposed to a traditional publisher such as Macmillan, as you had back in 1971? How hard did you try to seek that sort of representation? Are you happy with Xlibris?
Frank: Jenny and I didn’t bother approaching any big publishing companies such as Macmillan with our book Fifty Years a Hooker, because the publishing process would take too long. Another reason is that although my other book, Sportfishing for Sharks, was picked up by a traditional publisher, it didn’t do well. We—me and co-author Bill Wisner—didn’t have much distribution, so Jenny and I felt we had nothing to lose by self-publishing Fifty Years a Hooker.
Jenny and I are happy with Xlibris because they have distribution channels through companies such as Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.
Robert: These days, how often do you take select customers and special friends out fishing, and is the targeted species still “Jaws for Sport,” in other words, do you still hunt for monster sharks, or do you seek out other pelagic game such as blue marlin, dolphin (mahi mahi), yellowfin and bigeye tuna as well as the occasional swordfish along the southern coast where you reside?
