With Rain scheduled to come out on the 15th of May, I thought getting Gerry to sit down and talk with me might be a good idea. He agreed to answer a few questions. Here's a partial transcript. l apologize for a few of the words. Gerry can come up one now and then if pushed. I didn't edit them out.
Partial Interview Transcript- Gerry StClare
How would your best friend describe you?
I have to laugh. Tom has described me to others in several
ways. I won’t say I agree with him on all of them, but he’s described me as
“tall, too good-looking for his own good”, “Hard-headed”, and “a secret
mensch”. Generally all three in a sort of light-heartedly disgusted way.
How would your enemy (or least favorite person) describe
you?
I never thought I had enemies until recently, but, yeah, I
know how they describe me. Privileged. Arrogant. There were a few more words. I
won’t say them in polite company.
Do you agree with either (or both) of those
descriptions? Why?
I’m not sure I agree with Tom or not. I do tend to get on a
track and stay on it, until someone or something really knocks me off of it. So
I’ll go with the “hard-headed”, though I’d prefer “persistent”.
The first description? I know I’m tall. That’s kind of hard
to ignore. The other half? Try growing up male with nothing but sisters. They
never thought or told me I was anything but average. They quickly squashed
anything else.
The “secret mensch”? I’m not Jewish, Tom is, but I
understand the word. That is not something many know, I don’t go around sharing
it, but, yeah, I probably am.
Were the others right? Some would say yes to the first. I
did grow up in what some would call a rarified bubble. My grandfather owned his
own construction company and helped to establish the local country club. My
godmother is highly regarded in “society” circles. So, although my immediate
family could be considered “middle class”, I grew up with certain
expectations–learning to dance and attending cotillions at the country club,
going to college, and all that sort of thing.
Do I agree with them? I’m sure they saw it that way–the
“privileged” part anyway. To me it was just home and family. The “arrogant”
part? There were things I had to do I didn’t enjoy doing. but they had to be
done.
You’re working with a group of people on some kind pf
object. What role do you play? (Leader, strategist, laborer, etc.) Do you like your role?
I would say leader. Actually that’s what I do for a living.
I’m a supervising architect at my firm. I do have an original job from time to
time, but I supervise construction most of the time right now. I grew up
following my grandfather around when he was running his construction company,
worked for him, and supervised jobs for him when I was older.
Do I like it? Yes. There's something very satisfying about getting a group of people to work hard and produce something you know is going to be around for years. Centuries, if it's the right project, and the job is done right. I like it a lot. Pretty sure it will become even more satisfying when I can do more of my own stuff.
What kind of baggage do you carry around?
Excuse me? Baggage? It depends on how far I’m traveling for
and how long I’m going to be gone. My briefcase almost always.
No, Gerry, not that kind of baggage. The other kind--memories--regrets--that sort of thing.
Oh, that’s what you’re talking about. Kind of an invasive
question. You’ll forgive me if my answer is short.
Yes, I have memories and regrets. Who doesn’t?
Okay, a silly question then, as people seem to enjoy
them. Boxers or briefs?
You have got to be kidding me! No? Damn. Okay, okay. I’ll be
brief. Son-of-a. . . I can’t believe I just said that.
I’ll answer the question. Boxers. Just don’t ask me why.
Why?
Enough!
Please note that is not a photograph of Gerry up there. I declined to take one. He is not shy, but I wanted you to form an opinion from his answers, not his face.
