The seeds of this book first took root more than a decade ago when we imagined we could tell Richard Pryor’s story within the confines of a three-act screenplay for a feature film. An evening’s entertainment. The universe knew better. What we at first believed to be a triumphant arrival turned out to be a mere resting place. Once we’d caught our breath, the view from there was daunting. We could see that we had barely begun our ascent of Mount Richard. What we must write, we decided, was this book.
On that first leg of our journey, we were assisted and encouraged by T Bone Burnett, Bruce Heller, and Jennifer Lee Pryor, who gave us rare access to volumes of Richard’s unpublished writings.
We are indebted not only to a number of cultural historians but to the generosity of many eyewitnesses—these friends, family, and cohorts of Richard Pryor’s—whose unguarded reflections brought the past vividly forward and called flesh and blood out of abstraction. We offer our sincere thanks to:
Franklyn Ajaye
Michael Ashburne
Harry Belafonte
Sandra Bernhard
Jimmy Binkley
Kathleen Brennan
David Brenner
Cynthia Dagnal-Myron
Cabral Franklin
Janis Gaye
Angie Gordon
Brian Hyland
Tom Jones
Richard Lewis
Phil Luciano
Stuart Margolin
Kathy McKee
Kres Mersky
Elizabeth Stordeur Pryor
Daryl Mooney
Penelope Spheeris
Lily Tomlin
Robert Townsend
Rocco Urbisci
Fred Weintraub
Charles Weldon
For their early encouragement and good advice, we offer special thanks to Sue McNally, Eve Bridburg, and Amy Cherry. We feel a deep and abiding appreciation for the staff of Wild and Woolly Video and the Louisville Free Public Library, particularly those associated with the Western branch.
We are forever beholden to Bob Miller, former group publisher at Workman Publishing, both for his initial interest and ongoing support. Our champions at Algonquin Books—Kelly Bowen, Emma Boyer, Jamie Chambliss, Brunson Hoole, Debra Linn, Lauren Moseley, Craig Popelars, and publisher Elisabeth Scharlatt—invigorated us with their infectious enthusiasm and cajoled us with their kind patience. We were most fortunate to have as our copy editor the ever-vigilant Jude Grant. Finally, our venerable editor, Chuck Adams, wholeheartedly embraced our project from the get-go, giving shape and discipline to our oftentimes rambling narrative. He deftly and with good humor guided us back onto the main road whenever we pulled over to browse some yard sale or flea market, convinced we could find the ideal spot to display every curio or shiny bauble that caught our eye. (We come by it honestly.) Our book’s defects and shortcomings are entirely our own and stand here despite his better judgment.