Big Tuna Revealed: An SJ-Exclusive Interview with Parcells Biographer, Carlo DeVito
By Trey Hill
SJ Contributing Author, Blogger, Jabberhead
A couple weeks ago the wonderful people here at Sports Jabber asked me if I would be interested in conducting another interview for the website and then writing another story from what I learned. I imagine it took me about 2 seconds before I replied that of course I was willing to take on another special project for the people that have been so good to me. So I did my research and tried to think of a handful of questions that I thought would both give all of us an idea of just who Carlo DeVito is and also let us know just a little bit about his upcoming book, "Parcells: A Biography".
What I’ve found though in trying to figure out how exactly I should go about writing this story to help promote the book is that while I could do the story the same way that I did with the movie "Chasing 3000", that would be a great disservice to Carlo DeVito. In answering my questions, he took the time to give long, detailed answers and in doing so, I got the exact information that I was hoping to learn.
DeVito is an accomplished writer, but rather than sticking with just one broad topic (whether it be sports, politics, or science fiction), he writes about the things that really grab his attention. When someone really cares about what they are writing about, it always shows through in the details and as you’ll read below, DeVito definitely took the time to get all the details that were out there. This biography about Parcells is going to be the most in-depth one ever done on the Big Tuna and it’s going to be an excellent read. But rather than take my word for it, read the entire interview yourself word for word. And when you do, you’ll agree that DeVito is an excellent writer with a lot of drive to make sure this is a top notch biography about a legendary football icon.
Trey/SJ: While it seems from what I've found you like to write about sports figures, you also seem to have quite a few books that are far from being classified as that. What motivates you to write those books and which style would you say you're more comfortable with?
Devito: I like writing about different things. Lately, I am writing more about wine and sports than anything else. Being a trade book editor, there are a lot of things which draw my eye, but my favorite things to write are historical sports and biography. I find writing about Wayne Lukas, the Maras, Yogi, Scooter, or Parcells inspiring. They are all human beings - they have their foibles, their failures, their inadequacies - but they also have drive, determination, and dedication. I find in the end that those qualities are in fact not just fun to write about, but also personal intriguing. And I love the slightly more historical aspects. I really love delving into old newspaper archives, or getting on chat boards and asking about the old neighborhood, and getting into who the people are and where they come from. History isn't just statistics, one needs to find the era from which someone comes from to even begin to understand them. So many things go into seeing what makes a person, and I love finding those small things.
Trey/SJ: What made you decide you wanted to write a biography about Bill Parcells and what would you say makes this one unique to the other books about him out there?
Devito: Firstly I am a Giants fan. Always have been. And he had such an incredible aura about him - his whole "Jersey guy" thing. he felt like he would have been in the stands with us, if he wasn't the coach. But seeing how successful he was, in so many places, made him a very intriguing target. Once you start to look further, there's a lot more there, there. One of the things about my book that I think is different from all the others, is that, firstly, it's a more complete and definitive book than any other out there.
Secondly, I have a lot more about his personal life in there. His father, Chubby, was a standout football player at Georgetown (still holds records there for football - held some NCAA records for a while as well), he worked for the FBI and Uniroyal (where he was a top executive). he fathered three boys - al of whom are incredibly accomplished - Bill, Donald (highly noted football player at WestPoint; decorated Vietnam vet; President First Fidelity) and the youngest, Doug Parcells (there's a whole sports complex named for him in north Jersey). These four men all grew up in the same 20-25 mile radius, and really never left (even though they traveled far and wide).
Read the whole interview at:
http://sportsjabber.net/forums/sjforums/showthread.php?p=408778
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