Lou Holtz, who died this week, gave me my first jolt of publishing reality.
When I was collecting blurbs for my first book, “Clutch: Why Some People Excel Under Pressure and Others Don’t,” the Penguin Portfolio publisher Adrian Zackheim emailed me with great news. Lou Holtz, the Hall of Fame football coach, had provided a blurb.
It read: “Everyone knows that it’s difficult to work under intense pressure, but what Paul Sullivan explains so well in this book is that there is a certain art to it that anyone can master. Clutch is an engaging and insightful read that will help you overcome even the toughest challenges.”
I was over the moon. Lou Holtz!
My grandfather, an Irish-American postal worker, was a lifelong Notre Dame fan. The Fighting Irish – it resonated. And Holtz, who successfully coached a half-dozen college programs, led the Irish to the national championship in 1988.
I called Adrian, just so excited.
Me: “This is amazing! Lou Holtz wrote a blurb for my book. I can’t believe he read it. This is amazing.”
Pause.
Me: “How did you get him to read my book and write a blurb?”
Adrian: “I worked with him on one of his books.”
Pause.
Adrian: “And I wouldn’t go so far as to say he ‘read’ it. He selected a blurb.”
Selected? Even my enthusiastic, thirty-something self got the message. Thinking a famous coach would read every book he was asked to read was hoping too much. Be grateful for the blurb.
And I was.
