Nick Tosches (1949-2019) in conversation with Richard Wolinsky and Richard A. Lupoff, recorded October 19, 1994.

Nick Tosches, who died on October 20th, 2019, three days shy of his 70th birthday, was the quintessential professional writer. He wrote everything from record reviews to biographies to essays to novels. His career, which began as a rock journalist for Creem and Rolling Stone magazines, eventually took him into biographies of Jerry Lee Lewis and Dean Martin, various works of non-fiction, novels, poetry and journalistic essays.

On October 19th, 1994, Richard Wolinsky and Richard A. Lupoff sat down with Nick Tosches while he was on tour for his novel, “Trinities,” which is about an underground war for world-wide control of the heroin trade and is based, in part, on research for another book, “Power on Earth,” published in 1986, which is the biography of Italian banker Michele Sindona, who was linked both with some of the world’s largest financial institutions, the Vatican and the Italian underworld.

After the interview, Nick Tosches published five more books of fiction and poetry, biographies of boxer Sonny Liston, minstrel singer Emmet Miller and gangster Arnold Rothstein, and three other works of journalism. He also appeared on Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations in 2009. Trinities appears out of print but used copies are easily available on line.

The post Nick Tosches (1949-2019) appeared first on KPFA.