An Interview With Rolf Gompertz
By Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Carolyn Howard-Johnson: As I recall, you were born in Germany in that nation's worst historical moment. How do you think your childhood/youth affected you as a writer?
Rolf Gompertz: I believe it affected me on the deepest level. For one thing, it turned me towards a spiritual search for meaning and for involving myself with the "big" questions: Who am I? What's it all about? Why am I here? I always felt that, since I survived, I had to make my life mean something. I found my purpose through my writings. My first book, for instance, a biblical novel entitled My Jewish Brother Jesus, was written to set the record straight about the Trial and Crucifixion of Jesus. It deals with human and divine Love, the most central theme of my writings. I wrote this book to create understanding between Jews and Christians, so we could live together, side by side, respectful of one another, in dignity and peace. The book is my answer to Hitler. My new biblical novel, Abraham, the Dreamer — An Erotic and Sacred Love Story, continues to deal with human and divine Love, as I explore the turbulent love triangle between Abraham, his wife Sarah, and Hagar, "the other woman."
C.H.J.: Can you share a bit about your move to the United States? How you felt?
R.G.: Hitler came to power in 1933 as I was growing up in Krefeld, Germany. That's where we experienced Kristallnacht, Crystal Night, November 9, 1938, when, all over Germany, the Nazis invaded our homes and destroyed them in the middle of the night, burned the synagogues to the ground, demolished Jewish establishments, and the next morning rounded up the Jewish men and sent them to concentration camps, where they were held for a few months. It was the dress rehearsal for the Holocaust which followed. We were still fortunate to get out and flee to America, where we arrived June 11, 1939. World War II started two-and-a-half months later, with Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland on September 1. We had been saved by a distant relative, Anna Coffee, who brought us to Los Angeles. How did we feel? Grateful beyond words, to her, to America and to God.
C.H.J.: Who are the people most instrumental in your growth as a writer and businessman?
R.G.: Marian Keyes, my high school English teacher, turned me on to English and American literature and made it come alive for me. She gave me my first sense of what I wanted to be — a writer. I became an English major in college, receiving a B.A. and M.A. from UCLA. I loved the poets — from Beowulf and Chaucer to Wordsworth and Whitman. Herman Melville became my favorite author and is, to this day. I started out as a poet while still in college but shifted to prose to reach a larger audience. After college, I spent four years as a newspaper reporter and editor. The journalistic influence, with its stylistic emphasis on clarity, economy, and simplicity, also affected my style as a writer. I've made my living as a writer, rather than a businessman. What business knowledge I have had to use, I have gained from books on publishing, professional organizations and lots of good information available now on the Internet.
C.H.J.: You teach public relations at UCLA Extension and have been active in the business world. Would you like to share your experiences in these arenas? How did they affect you as a writer?
R.G.: After my four-year stint as a reporter/editor, I went to work for the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), publicizing many of the major TV series, specials, movies-for-TV and award shows, first as a publicist, then as a publicity director. After 30 years with NBC, I set up my own PR consulting and writing firm, Rolf Gompertz Communications, involving entertainment and non-entertainment clients. What was most valuable for me as a writer was that I had to write constantly. While this was journalistic writing rather than literary writing, it was writing. It kept me working with words and developing a respect for language. It called for an understanding and appreciation of structure. You must know structure, whether writing a news release or a novel, a feature article or a short story, prose or poetry, non-fiction, or fiction. Journalistic and PR writing helped me hone my writing skills and become a disciplined writer. I learned to write on demand and against deadlines, whether I felt like it or not. I am currently in my 28th year teaching Public Relations and publicity writing at UCLA Extension. Teaching others to write helps clarify and reinforce my own writing.
Hollywood is not only about entertainment, but it is also about business. That's why it's called show business, just as book publishing is not just about literature but about the book publishing business. The arts are also about making money and about profit. If there is no profit, there soon won't be a business, and, if there is no business, there is no show. There is a built-in tension between art and commerce. They make strange bedfellows. I found this sobering. The reality cannot be dismissed. I realized that this tension is true in the purest, loftiest form of art and in its most crass, commercial form. The bills must be paid.
C.H.J.: I know you are most passionate about Abraham, the Dreamer, but I know you have written other books, too. Can you tell me a bit about them? Might they be used by fellow writers or the readers of your fiction?
R.G.: Yes, to both questions. I have written books in two distinct areas: l) publicity and 2) spiritual matters. I have earned my living for more than 40 years as a publicist and public relations practitioner, involving entertainment and non-entertainment clients. I spent four years as a newspaper editor and reporter and 30 years as a publicist and then publicity director for NBC. Since 1987, I was an independent PR consultant. I have written two books which are highly regarded and still in print: Publicity Writing for TV and Film and Publicity Advice & How-To Handbook.
In the spiritual area I have published several books, besides those already mentioned. One is a play, a comedy-drama, The Messiah of Midtown Park, which deals with the question, What would happen if the Messiah came today but wasn't quite sure how to make himself known? Another book is called A Celebration of Life and contains my poetry and the text of my one-man show of the same title. I hope to reissue these soon.
I've also written a spiritual self-help book that is still available entitled Sparks of Spirit: How to Find Love & Meaning in Your Life 24 Hours a Day. It is a spiritual training manual that is non-denominational in approach. It uses spiritual phrases and concepts as mind-conditioners. It is simple to understand and to put into practice.
C.H.J.: You've been married to the same woman for many years. How has she supported you in your careers, especially as a writer?
R.G.: My wife, Carol, has supported me in my writing in several ways. First of all, she is a good sounding board. She has good sense. She has a very practical, realistic outlook on life. If she doesn't understand something, she says so. If she doesn't like something, she says so. She is honest and direct in judgment and opinion. I go to her for that, when I need it. I, of course, also like her approval. When I get it, I know it is honest.
My wife understands my need to write. She has always allowed me the time to write. She does not bother me when I write. She does not interfere with my writing. If I want to talk about it with her, she listens and, if asked, offers her thoughts. She does not try to influence my choice of topics to write about, but lets me trust my own instincts and judgments and inner voice. Otherwise, she waits until I'm done with my project, whether it's a short story, article, or book. Then, when I give it to her, she will read it. She's a good proof-reader, too, and so I benefit from that, as well.
In turn, she knows that regardless of how much I have always been compelled to write, I have never done so at the expense of the marriage or the family. I have always felt a very strong sense of responsibility, in both regards. While my goal has always been to become a full-time writer, I made sure that our economic and emotional security would never be placed in jeopardy. In other words, I made sure that I was there for my wife and our three children. I also kept my day job, and wrote in my spare time. It's amazing how much writing you can accomplish with a bit of self-discipline.
Since the beginning of our marriage, Carol has also handled our bills, bank accounts, tax preparation for our accountant, and book keeping. This definitely provided me with valuable writing time.
Carol was the inspiration for one of my books. After I had written My Jewish Brother Jesus, she turned to me and said, "It's all very nice that you have such a spiritual outlook on life, but how can other people get it?"
The question startled me, and then intrigued me. I realized how intangible spirituality is. How, indeed, can you help someone else see the world in spiritual terms? How can you train someone to live with a spiritual point of view?
The result was Sparks of Spirit: How to Find Love & Meaning in Your Life 24 Hours a Day. It is dedicated "To Carol, Who Asked How."
C.H.J.: Rolf, you are what I call 'an independent author'. By that I mean that your novel, Abraham, the Dreamer, is subsidy published. Perhaps you would care to share the hurdles you have had to overcome by choosing this path in the publishing world, or why you chose to publish this way.
R.G.: I became an independent author and publisher in 1977. It was the year I turned 50, which brought the matter to a head. In 1966, I had finished My Jewish Brother Jesus, the biblical novel which I had felt so compelled to write. I had been afraid to write this book yet I had known for 16 years that I had to write it. I had tried to run away from it, but I couldn't. When I finally faced it, wrote it, and finished it, I felt a tremendous exhilaration. I also thought that I had written a really good book. I sat my wife down on the couch, presented her with the manuscript, and announced, "This will be a best seller within a year."
Well, it didn't become a best seller. It didn't even get published that year. It took 10 years and went to 30 publishers and still, it was not published. By 1977 I had had it with traditional, commercial publishing. I was also facing my 50th birthday without having published a book. I decided to celebrate rather than despair. I had heard of the small press movement — how other frustrated writers had become self-publishers and started their own publishing companies. It was just what my soul needed! I decided to become a publisher!
I published all my subsequent books through my publishing company, The Word Doctor Publications. However, I decided to go a different route with my newest book, Abraham, the Dreamer. By now, a new technology had come about: print-on-demand publishing. It was now economically possible to keep costs down, avoid inventory, and literally print books instantly on an as-needed basis. Even one-copy orders could be filled at a reasonable price, competitive with the cost of books published by traditional, commercial publishers.
I also realized that I really preferred writing to publishing. My publisher, iUniverse.com, handles all the technical stuff, as well as the fulfillment, shipping and book keeping. I, as the writer, am responsible for the promotion and marketing of the book.
I consider this a wonderful breakthrough for writers. We no longer have to be at the mercy of agents and traditional publishers. We can take charge of our lives and our books. We can make things happen. We can make our dreams come true.
C.H.J.: As an author myself, I find one of the most difficult things that I face is the marketing of my books. That was unexpected because I always thought that one's publisher did that. What do you feel is the most effective marketing tool in your box?
R.G.: You are so right. I used to think that writing a book was the hard part. Then I realized that finding a good agent and a good publisher was the hard part. Now that I've gone this new independent, print-on-demand publishing route, I find that it is my responsibility, not the publisher's, to market my books.
By the way, even with traditional publishing, it is still pretty much up to the author to promote and publicize his or her book if it's going to be a success. Most publishers do only a minimum amount. Then, if the book doesn't catch on quickly, it is dropped — it is pulped or remaindered. You have limited time there to make it. With independent, print-on-demand publishing, you have unlimited time.
C.H.J.: I know you like to travel. Didn't you just return from a trip? How do you find travel effects your work?
R.G.: Yes, we just spent a couple of weeks in Barcelona, Spain. It's a fascinating place. I usually consider traveling "vacation time" and allow myself to relax. I go out of my writing mode then. I wish though that I could have gone to Israel first before writing either of my biblical novels. That certainly would have helped and made the writing easier. As it is, I had to rely on research and imagination. But there is another form of travel that I am constantly involved with: inner travel. That's the journey that we're all on. Soul travel!
C.H.J.: The world is in turmoil and right now Israel is at the center of it. How do you feel Abraham, the Dreamer fits into the current events of 2002? Is there anything in Abraham (in terms of theme, perhaps) that a reader today can bring into his/her own life and time in order to deal with the state of the world?
R.G.: Let's look at this from a short term and long term view. There are two elements here that apply. The book deals, ultimately, with a profound human question, as symbolized by the akedah, the Binding of Isaac. Abraham believes that God wants him to sacrifice his son, to demonstrate his faith in God. I challenge that view, as not worthy of either human beings or of our view of God. I believe that Abraham, in his attempt to serve and understand this new God, actually misunderstood God. I believe something else was at work here, which comes out in Abraham's final show-down with his wife, Sarah. What results is a much more humble and humbling view of God and understanding of God's will. This, for one thing, is crucial today, when some seek to justify cruelties and brutalities in the name of God and as the will of God.
The other thing we need to remember is that Abraham is the First Patriarch of Jews, Christians and Muslims. There have been times in history where all of us have lived together, respectful of one another, in peace and harmony. Jews see themselves as the descendants of Abraham, through Sarah and Isaac. Muslims see themselves as the descendants of Abraham through Hagar and Ishmael. Sooner or later, the tragic, current conflict must and will end, and the descendants of Abraham will remember their common bond and choose to live together in friendship and in peace.
C.H.J.: Thank you so much, Rolf, for taking the time to talk with me. Is there anything else you would like to add?
R.G.: Yes, for those who struggle to make their dreams a reality, keep the faith.
Abraham, the Dreamer, An Erotic & Sacred Love Story is a fast-paced, provocative biblical paperback novel by Rolf Gompertz. Browse and order at iUniverse or amazon.com, any bookstore, or call iUniverse's toll free number: 1- (877) 823-9235.
Carolyn Howard-Johnson is the author of This is the Place, an award-winning novel about a young journalist who writes her way through repression into redemption. For a free first chapter, send an e-mail. For a free Cooking by the Book, or to learn more about Carolyn Howard-Johnson, visit her online. She is also the author of Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered.