No More Trouble in the World: PJ O'Rourke

 

Sad news. PJ O'Rourke passed away yesterday. I saw this and thought to dust off an old tribute I wrote a few years ago. I cleaned it up a little and added here and there. But mostly it's the same as it was.

Anyone who knows me well knows I love P.J. O’Rourke. 

 Most writers can do either stories or facts but not both. PJ O’Rourke is great at both; it’s what attracted me to his books early in my life. I’ll admit a lot of the history and references went over my head at first. I discovered PJ while in Army. I found myself in the library perusing the shelfs for interesting finds. 

Yes really. 

I used to like picking an aisle at random and just grabbing books a couple at a time. If an image or title caught my attention I’d pry it open and read the summary or introduction for a sense of the thing. It was in this spirit that I came across “Give War A Chance” and fell in love. I recognized his talent even though a lot of the references were to people or institutions I had never heard of.

After college I enjoyed him a lot more. I picked up on the references with more education.

The book was almost 10 years out of date but I loved it. Also I got a sense of what people thought during that time. Or at least I got a sense of how journalists and pundits thought. Mostly I just wanted to write like him, funny and smart. He can tell a funny story down to a granular detail and explore the larger implications to the world and culture. It’s the Economist meets National Lampoon, a magazine PJ wrote for in the seventies.  A lot of his journalism was with the Rolling Stone before he started on books. He wrote for some car magazines as well. Some of his early books are collections of essays he wrote driving across the country. Always with an eye for the larger picture, he writes the way I think. He writes the way I wish I thought.

I don’t know if I intentionally copy this technique when describing an occasion or if I’m so accustomed to reading that type of stuff that it flows naturally. I won’t say it’s brilliant like O’Rourke but I hope it’s at least familiar. We all have motivations for what we love and chances are a person we admire showed us how good it could be.  

Sometimes we need a reminder of why we love certain things. It has a way of resetting out passion, for breathing life into worn out projects. O’Rourke reminds me of what great journalism looks like. I never cared for Hunter S Thompson even though both men did the same kind of writing. Thompson is too self absorbed and mean for my taste. P.J. is appropriately caustic and cynical but also managed to become an adult, which is what we are supposed to do.

He had become a bit of a bore in his later years though. On the Ricochet podcast he called Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the Maricopa County top cop, a “Big Fat Slob”. For what exactly PJ? Keeping illegals off the streets when the federal government refused to do its job?

There were a slew of articles in magazines where he went full elite snob. It wasn’t that funny anymore either. He’d lost his understanding of what made the country great and sounded like a snarky brat. A lot of writers I used to admire changed stripes when Trump got elected. Or maybe they didn’t change as much as we saw through their act. 

He came to Tulsa a few years back and I went to see him with my then girlfriend. The first thing I told her is that there would be a lot of people in their middle 50’s and up. He is a classic Baby Boomer who grew up a 60’s radical and mellowed out enough to become a Republican. Not a conservative Republican but a squishy sort of moderate with libertarian leanings. After the show, which was a little sluggish I thought, I got in line for a signature and my girlfriend took a picture (See above). I had him sign my copy of “All the Trouble in the World”. I didn’t say much except the usual ‘big fan’ kind of stuff. I’m not great at the chit chat.

 I do remember thinking “What a great way to make a living”, writing and lectures.

I’m sure it isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, but it comes with a certain air of importance I always found attractive. Someday maybe I’ll be doing the same as my favorite author.

He signed my copy "No Troubles" which I'm sure he does frequently with that book.

Well same to you PJ...no troubles.