An Interview with Susan Rife, on behalf of Jack Rife
Jack Rife was born in 1941 in Graham, Texas, where he spent his youth. As a boy, he milked cows, helped in his father’s wrecking yard, and spent summers doing seasonal labor with his family in the cherry orchards of Michigan. In high school, he was a track and football star. On a whim, he enrolled at UT Austin, financing the tuition through stints in the oil fields of west Texas. He studied literature and ancient languages. In Austin, he married, renovated houses to support his growing family, and wrote his novel, In the Heart of the Beast. He died in 2009, surrounded by his wife and four children.
This is not an “author” interview per se, because Jack passed away seventeen years ago. So, unfortunately this is not his experience of the publication of a novel he worked on for over twenty years and never tried to publish. These are the experiences and thoughts of his wife of forty-five years, Susan Rife.
Tell us the story of your book’s title. Was it easy to find, or did it take forever?
The title of the book refers to an excerpt of a quote from Che Guevara from a 1964 speech in Havana. Jack chose that for the title, though in the beginning it had a different title. Titles don’t come easily, unless they do.
How did it feel when you first saw your book cover? Or when you first held your book in your hands?
The feeling when I held the book in my hands was one of great joy, the kind that brings tears to your eyes. The kind that makes you want to dance. Seeing the cover and book was the fulfillment of my dream to leave this legacy to my children, friends, and readers of the world.
Who/what made you want to write? Was there a particular person, or particular writers/works/art forms that influenced you?
Jack was an avid reader and read every book in his small-town library as a child. He loved literature, ancient and modern, and I know great authors of our time influenced his desire to write. He was writing by his mid-twenties, poetry at first, then he conceived this novel. He was also interested in history, especially the Middle Ages, and political and economic theories.
What other professions have you worked in? What’s something about you that your readers wouldn’t know?
Jack worked in the oil fields of West Texas, had a renovation business in Austin, worked as a high school substitute teacher, wallpapered, worked in a scene shop for the theater department at the university. What readers might not know about him, from reading his rather serious historical novel, is he was often wonderfully funny and silly. Another interesting fact is when he was doing his revisions of the novel, I would watch his fingers moving up and down over each word, almost like he was reading a piece of music and hearing the movement of the sounds.
What was the most rewarding/meaningful part of publishing your book?
The most meaningful thing about publishing Jack’s book for me is to have honored my husband by seeing that his work was published. I felt so like John Kennedy Toole’s mother who spent ten years trying to publish her late son’s work, and finally hounded Walker Percy personally, putting the bedraggled manuscript in his hands, and saying “read this.”
“Why?” he asked.
“Because it’s a great novel,” she said!
His subsequent foreword to A Confederacy of Dunces should give all aspiring writers hope.
If your book had a soundtrack, what are some songs that would be on it?
Where is Jack when we need him for this good question? We deleted many songs from the text due to copyright issues. Among them were:
Townes Van Zandt’s “Pancho and Lefty,” Bob Wills’ “Rose of San Antone,” and “The Wild Side of Life – Honky-Tonk Angel.”
But the right song? I would have to think long and hard on that one!
What is one thing you hope readers take away from reading your book? How do you envision your perfect reader?
I can’t really answer this question for him, but I know Jack wanted the novel to be a good read, with elements of a political thriller, mystery, tragedy, and historical fiction all in one big, action-packed book! Jack gives voice to a broad spectrum of characters in his novel. They see things differently, coming as they do from diverse backgrounds, and often don’t understand other points of view, as they attempt to find their way in this world. He portrayed these characters with both their flaws and endearing traits. Perhaps he wanted to document the disjunction between man’s nature and his intellect and hoped it would encourage real thought about how to stop history from repeating itself, again and again, ad nauseam. I know he hoped for a less fragmented and divisive society.
His ideal reader would be one who enjoys atmospheric writing, layered character-driven novels, which include social and pollical thinking, and a study of the human condition.
What creative projects are you currently working on?
Jack had in mind a companion novel about Michael’s deceased father Lawrence, which would have taken place in the ’30s through the time of his death in the ’50s. As for me, I write for myself, as a way of turning grief into art, but I do have other beloved ghosts with unfinished work … so who knows!
How was working with Atmosphere Press? What would you tell other writers who want to publish?
I think the most wonderful part of the publication process was working with my developmental editor, who understood and admired Jack’s work, and “got” it! What a great and encouraging way to start out an excellent experience with all at Atmosphere Press. I had no idea how to get a novel published, all of our influential friends had died, and I was not up to going the traditional route. I finally tried a university press and had some real interest there, but was seeing what a long process that would be, so went with Atmosphere. A good choice, I must say!
Are you a writer, too? Submit your manuscript to Atmosphere Press.
Atmosphere Press is a selective hybrid publisher founded in 2015 on the principles of Honesty, Transparency, Professionalism, Kindness, and Making Your Book Awesome. Our books have won dozens of awards and sold tens of thousands of copies. If you’re interested in learning more, or seeking publication for your own work, please explore the links below.