Eric: It's been almost 20 years since Bruiser Brody died yet he still has this legend about him. I was wondering if you can tell me why people still care about him after all these years?
Larry: That's a good question that to some extent even amazes me and his wife, Barbara, who helped write the book with me. For one thing, he was an incredibly dynamic performer. He was not playing a role. It was part of his personality which he let loose as Bruiser Brody. He had a certain drive, a certain energy, that you can't make up. You either have it or you don't Willie Mays wanted to be the best and a lot of other people didn't want to be the best. They might have had the same ability as Willie Mays or Michael Jordan, but because they didn't have that drive they didn't get there. Brody had that drive and I think he had the ability to translate that drive in front of a television camera or before a live audience, and it really caught people's attention. That's part of it.
The other part is that he stood up for himself. Wrestling is different today as a business and somewhat in the ring, although not as much as people would like to think it is. He stood up against the problems of the promotions. Back then, basically you had a lot of small businesses. Many of those small-business owners were less than honest. They lacked somewhat in integrity and they would mess around with money and Brody would stand up to them. A lot of wrestlers said they would stand up. Brody actually did. And he earned a reputation because of that. It wasn't always a good reputation. A lot of people were angry. A lot of people have been very bitter at him over the years, because he refused to be used as a pawn. That and his in the ring performances were part of it.
Sadly, another part of that legend is his death. We are all going to die, but the story of our lives is not how we die. It's how we live, that's true about Frank Goodish too. It's how he lived, that really mattered. Unfortunately because of the controversial nature of what happened in Puerto Rico that always will be a part of his legend and mythology. There have been so many twists to this story over a period of time. As I mentioned in the book, for anyone that's ever been at an accident scene, there might be six different witnesses, and you get six different versions of what happened. Parts of his legend are shrouded in mystery. I think everybody that saw him recognized that he was a different breed that most of those that have gone through this crazy business over the decades.
Eric: Why did you decide to write the book now and what you have written it without the input of Barbara?
Larry: I knew in 1990 that this was something to do, but at that time, the idea of anyone writing a wrestling book, and anyone paying attention to it was virtually nill, and it wasn't going to happen. I have a good friend of mine who is a lawyer, and he has been saying for years that this is a tremendous video project. I mean, look, what a presence. I had a lot of tape of him in action. So the idea has always been floating around.
As various books started popping up, it kind of came alive. I did the Wrestling at the Chase book, which was a look back at St. Louis. It's kind of funny. We talk about Bruiser Brody being a cult figure in wrestling. St. Louis has almost a cult status for what it was in the wrestling business, because it was one so different under Sam Muchnick. I wrote that book and had great success with it. ECW Press and Michael Holmes, my editor, were very encouraging, when I mentioned the idea of a Brody book.
Off and on over the years, because of my friendship with Frank, I talked with Barbara. It came up in passing that we ought to tell this story. This was something that was very difficult for her. Would I have written it without her? Yeah, probably, but I wouldn't have felt right. And I feel I would have missed something. By including her and by helping her tell her story, I hope that this book gives people the chance to see that this wrestler, this so-called crazy man, this rebel, was also a human being. He was a husband. He was a son. He was a brother. I think that's often forgotten about wrestlers across the board. They actually have lives. There actually human beings.
One of my big gripes, and I've told it to Bob Costas, who is a good friend, and others over the last year is that you guys all looked the other way in the media. When wrestling was having its problems with steroids building up and people died, you just said it’s wrasslers. Like hell, it's just wrestling. These are real human beings, and hopefully with the Brody book and Barbara’s input, we were able to get across. The idea that Frank Goodish, Bruiser Brody, was a real human being.
