The Official Page ONE Literary Newsletter Website

PageOnelit.com: Where did you grow up and was reading and writing a part of your life? Who were your earliest influences and why?

David Truskoff: I grew up in a very tough, mostly Polish town. The workers were brought in by the recruiters to work in the rubber and textile mills. My biggest influence was, of course, my mother who was an organizer for the International ladies Garment Workers Union. On my tenth birthday my older sister Jerry gave me two books, Jewels from the Poets and Short Stories by Charles Dickens. I read them many times and thought about being a writer then.

PageOnelit.com: Why do you write?

David Truskoff:I write because I have enough ego to think that I have something important to say.

PageOnelit.com: In your new book "What The Hell Is A Liberal" you open the book with a poem titled 'What The Hell Is A Liberal' - When and where did you write this poem? Did the poem spark the book or did the book spark the poem?

David Truskoff: The poem is part of the introduction to the book. I thought the reader should know a bit about the guy that writes such stuff.

PageOnelit.com: What is your personal definition of a 'liberal'? And why do you think the media has turned the word ''liberal' into a 'dirty word'?

David Truskoff: A liberal is simply one who is honest with ones self. The instinct to belong and stay safe in the middle of the herd makes liars out of many. The media is only the mouth out of which emanates the lies of the greedy and powerful. Liberals speak of equality and justice, but as the British actor Richard Burton once said, "It is no fun having money if everybody has money." That truism is the very station of our society.

PageOnelit.com: "What The Hell Is A Liberal" is a wonderful variety of thought provoking essays. Over what time span were these essays written? Have any of the essays been printed or published elsewhere? Example: Newspaper, magazine etc...

David Truskoff: I chose them from some of my works over the last year. Yes, they have appeared on many Internet outlets and in books.

PageOnelit.com: In "What The Hell Is A Liberal" you discuss Vietnam and say that "many believe that Nixon, Kennedy, and Johnson all knew they were wrong, but they were powerless..." Please explain.

David Truskoff: There is much documentation to show that Kennedy wanted to get out of Vietnam. David Halberstam called it " the wrong war at the wrong time in the wrong place." I think all three presidents agreed with him, but the political strength of the anti-Communist military complex that President Eisenhower warned America about was just too formidable for even a president to overcome.

PageOnelit.com: In your personal opinion, how is the Iraq War the same as the Vietnam War, politically? How are they different? How will the Iraq war be viewed a decade from now?

David Truskoff: In his book ex Secretary Robert McNamara said about Vietnam. "We were wrong, terribly wrong." Writers will be saying the same about Iraq.
To keep the military machine humming Americans were told that the Communists would take over the world and we would be enslaved. Today they are saying the same thing about terrorists. The only difference is military tactics.

The lie is the same and the fear is the same. Young men have to have some reason to go and kill and be killed. They can't simply be told it is for oil or empire building. In America, although we speak of separation of church and state there really is very little separation. The factor of religion played a big part in the Vietnam War and is playing a big part today.

PageOnelit.com: What's your view on the upcoming election? What does the next President need to make happen immediately and why? What should be his/her priority list of things to do if he/her asked you?

David Truskoff: I did a piece some time ago, well before the primaries narrowed down to three. I drew a hypothetical meeting in the White House with Carl Rove presiding. He wanted to see the half Black guy and Billy's wife chew each other and then present a real war hero and a white Commander-in-chief. Republicans can not run on the war issue. They certainly can not run on the economic issue. They can run on Race and without even speaking of it that is what they will do.

I think all three candidates will be as helpless to do anything as most of our Presidents since FDR have been helpless. At any rate they sure wont be asking me, but if they do I will suggest as a first step to go back to 1935 and reinstate the FDR constraints on the robber barons.

PageOnelit.com: In "What The Hell Is A Liberal" you write that your favorite bumper sticker is "The more people I meet, the more I love my dog." Explain.

David Truskoff: As I get older I must admit to a growing pessimism. I see the northern schools getting more segregated. Workers being shoved aside in favor of lower wages overseas, Robber barons once again stealing the pocketbooks of the American people. Where are the people? Will they simply go down without a whimper?

My beautiful dog "Lola" I can trust and revel in her generous love always

PageOnelit.com: What do you hope "What The Hell Is A Liberal" will accomplish?

David Truskoff: Writers write always with the hope that someone will read it. I hope that someone will be moved to action.

PageOnelit.com: What's next?

David Truskoff: I don't know. I hope I can continue to write. Perhaps not a book, but I still have something to say.

PageOnelit.com: What was the last book you read?

David Truskoff: Dahr Jamail's book Beyond the Green Zone. I like to think of myself as a realist and that book is for real.

PageOnelit.com: Do you have any hobbies? What are they? How do they enhance your writing?

David Truskoff: I like sports. I always did, but now I am just a spectator. They enhance my writing by washing my brain. We all have to do that sometime.