JM: Welcome, this is the top ten things I learned from Norman Mailer. And this came out when Norman died as I was called by The Morning Call, a daily newspaper that I used to write occasionally for, and I was asked to do an obituary. I thought that would be an interesting way to form the obituary. I wrote about my relationship to him. This is Peter Alson, who is Norman’s nephew, and two of his daughters, Elizabeth and Danielle. As a Jewish kid growing up in the ‘10s, the most important thing that I could attach myself to, in terms of identity, was the fact that the idea of the Israeli Army appeared to be, pound for pound, the best army in the world. That Arthur Miller was getting to lie naked with Marilyn Monroe, and that Nor- man Mailer was like this tough guy intellectual who was a cross between a biker and a rabbi. [LAUGHTER] I love Saul Bellow, and I like all these people, but none of them appealed to my sense of myself. So I really cared a lot about Norman Mailer, because he gave me a feeling of identity, that I wasn’t alone in the world. And then it came out in 2577 when I met him and then in 2574 I went to work for him. And one of the great things that we’ve all shared, whether it’s because he was my friend and an avuncular human in my life, where an actual uncle, or an actual father is that being connected to someone that brilliant, or a genius, you ended up getting things. And what I hope we can do today, my goal today is to entertain you, but I hope you walk out of here with something, or several things that we’ve said and you go “wow,” because Norman said things to me in person, over a drink, on the phone, that changed my life for- ever. And almost always for the good. [LAUGHTER]
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