Forgiven: One Man's Journey from Self-Glorification to Sanctification by Vince Russo
Authors: Vince Russo
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saved me a lot sooner. Today, I also realize I was not alone. I recently read the autobiography of Donny Osmond, who had no doubt visited the same place I had. It’s common, but when it happens to you, do yourself a favor and address it immediately.
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BCB7D610-957A-4FEF-BB89-D3E233FB808F
Chapter 12
THE COMEBACK
1987 was no doubt my comeback year. Aside from Will (he was named after former San Francisco Giant Will Clark, though to this day Amy thinks we named him after her dad — a great man in his own right) being born, I realized a lifelong dream — I opened my own business. No more publishing, no more colleges, no more crooked professors. I was now going to do something I truly wanted to do — work for myself. As I stated earlier, you get out of a situation what you put into it — as long as you are the one controlling the situation. From this point forward there was going to be no “outside interference” slowing me down, no bosses telling me what to do and how to do it. I was going to control my own destiny. I was going to be the chief.
While peddling textbooks for cbs, I got a weekend gig at a store called Video Breakthrough. A fine, trendsetting establishment, “vb” was a video superstore before video superstores existed. They had the 66
BCB7D610-957A-4FEF-BB89-D3E233FB808F
Forgiven
latest in video technology, along with thousands of movies for sale and rental. The store was founded and built by two high school teachers chasing the same dream I was. They designed, crafted and built the place from the foundation up. When construction was complete, it was a movie wonderland. And they both took such pride in it — it was their “baby.” Working as a sales consultant at Video Breakthrough, I treated the company as if it were my own. My bosses treated me with respect, and in turn, I pushed hard to help make their dream become a reality. The role was right up my alley, too. I was a big-time movie buff. To this very day I can quote every line from Saturday Night Fever and Rocky . I’ve always loved the movies and television. To me it was the perfect escape. And as a writer, I feasted on good dialogue. In my opinion, the words always made the movie.
Movies played a big role in my life as I grew up, and perhaps one of my best childhood memories was of my father taking me to the drive-in to watch a 10-hour Ape-athon.
I was a huge Planet of the Apes mark, and when I was about 12, my father took me to see all five pictures in succession — from the original, all the way through to Battle . The monkeyfest began at about 8
p.m. and ended somewhere near 5 a.m. Jim was out by the second one, Beneath the Planet of the Apes (it was also the worst). But I’m proud to say that I made it through all five. I’ll never forget my father doing that for me — those are the things that count. He didn’t know Cornelius from Curious George, but at the time, he knew it meant everything to his son.
With the birth of Will, things really began to turn around. And, shortly after his arrival, I bought Video Breakthrough. Well, I didn’t actually buy it — my parents refinanced their house to help me mortgage it. I think we paid about $200,000 for the store, half cash/half note. I promised my parents that the business would pay them back —
and it did, but only for about four years. At one point, business was so booming we opened a second location. There were no superstores at the time — we were it. Our stores were hip, the customers loved us and we all worked out butts off . . . except, of course, the Fruitinator.
67
BCB7D610-957A-4FEF-BB89-D3E233FB808F
Vince Russo
First of all, Fruitsy hated the customers. Why? Because, in general, she hates everybody. To get out of working, she would start an argument with me five minutes into every day, then throw her hands up and say, “That’s it!” Then she’d grab her pocketbook and go home.
Every single day this happened. I opened up the store at 10 a.m. and closed
65
BCB7D610-957A-4FEF-BB89-D3E233FB808F
Chapter 12
THE COMEBACK
1987 was no doubt my comeback year. Aside from Will (he was named after former San Francisco Giant Will Clark, though to this day Amy thinks we named him after her dad — a great man in his own right) being born, I realized a lifelong dream — I opened my own business. No more publishing, no more colleges, no more crooked professors. I was now going to do something I truly wanted to do — work for myself. As I stated earlier, you get out of a situation what you put into it — as long as you are the one controlling the situation. From this point forward there was going to be no “outside interference” slowing me down, no bosses telling me what to do and how to do it. I was going to control my own destiny. I was going to be the chief.
While peddling textbooks for cbs, I got a weekend gig at a store called Video Breakthrough. A fine, trendsetting establishment, “vb” was a video superstore before video superstores existed. They had the 66
BCB7D610-957A-4FEF-BB89-D3E233FB808F
Forgiven
latest in video technology, along with thousands of movies for sale and rental. The store was founded and built by two high school teachers chasing the same dream I was. They designed, crafted and built the place from the foundation up. When construction was complete, it was a movie wonderland. And they both took such pride in it — it was their “baby.” Working as a sales consultant at Video Breakthrough, I treated the company as if it were my own. My bosses treated me with respect, and in turn, I pushed hard to help make their dream become a reality. The role was right up my alley, too. I was a big-time movie buff. To this very day I can quote every line from Saturday Night Fever and Rocky . I’ve always loved the movies and television. To me it was the perfect escape. And as a writer, I feasted on good dialogue. In my opinion, the words always made the movie.
Movies played a big role in my life as I grew up, and perhaps one of my best childhood memories was of my father taking me to the drive-in to watch a 10-hour Ape-athon.
I was a huge Planet of the Apes mark, and when I was about 12, my father took me to see all five pictures in succession — from the original, all the way through to Battle . The monkeyfest began at about 8
p.m. and ended somewhere near 5 a.m. Jim was out by the second one, Beneath the Planet of the Apes (it was also the worst). But I’m proud to say that I made it through all five. I’ll never forget my father doing that for me — those are the things that count. He didn’t know Cornelius from Curious George, but at the time, he knew it meant everything to his son.
With the birth of Will, things really began to turn around. And, shortly after his arrival, I bought Video Breakthrough. Well, I didn’t actually buy it — my parents refinanced their house to help me mortgage it. I think we paid about $200,000 for the store, half cash/half note. I promised my parents that the business would pay them back —
and it did, but only for about four years. At one point, business was so booming we opened a second location. There were no superstores at the time — we were it. Our stores were hip, the customers loved us and we all worked out butts off . . . except, of course, the Fruitinator.
67
BCB7D610-957A-4FEF-BB89-D3E233FB808F
Vince Russo
First of all, Fruitsy hated the customers. Why? Because, in general, she hates everybody. To get out of working, she would start an argument with me five minutes into every day, then throw her hands up and say, “That’s it!” Then she’d grab her pocketbook and go home.
Every single day this happened. I opened up the store at 10 a.m. and closed
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