Meet Mr. Paul Leslie!
Hi Paul;
First of all, I want
to thank you for taking the time to talk with me today. As you know, I’ve become a huge fan of your
work and truly feel that what I’ve learned through working with you to
transcribe some of your many amazing interviews has certainly enriched my
world. The way you seem to find just the
right question to ask your guests, putting them at ease instantly, is a talent
I admire. You have a unique way of
getting each of them to open up and really let the listener get to know that person,
their work, what inspires them and so on.
Thanks for being willing to answer a couple of questions for me!
1. Now…this one I have to give you full credit
for: Who is Paul Leslie?
Paul Leslie is a person who although is
flawed, tries very hard to be altruistic.
Paul Leslie is someone who believes that everyone has the same job, but
it is achieved in different ways. We are
all supposed to be of service and whenever possible help others. He is someone who sees the value in people
and wants to share the essence of people who have created something beautiful
and by creating something beautiful they have decreased suffering a little bit
and made the world a better place to call home.
I am someone who helps people tell their stories and I hope to do that
for as long as I am physically and mentally able to do so. I’m just trying to enjoy life and not think
too much.
2. When
did you know that what you wanted to do in life was to delve deeper into the
lives of some of our greatest musicians, composers, lyricists, actors/actresses
and even authors? Was there an artist or
moment in particular that you remember that led you to follow such a
calling? You’re so at ease with even
some of the most famous names there is so it is apparent you’re doing what you
were meant to do.
First of all, thank you very much
for saying that this is what I was meant to do.
It certainly feels “right.” I
don’t know if there was an exact time that I learned I wanted to delve deeper
into the lives of these artists, it has been getting stronger over the past 12
years. It probably developed a little at
a time. People will sometimes ask me
about who I have interviewed that was the most interesting and many
understandably want me to talk about people that they know the name of—celebrities.
I’ve certainly met some very fascinating famous people, but they are rarely the
most interesting.
The person who most strengthened this calling of mine is a lyricist named Marty Panzer. Marty is beautiful. He wrote so many of the lyrics for Barry Manilow and also Kenny Rogers, Julio Iglesias, and even Disney cartoon characters. He is passionate and encouraged me. He made me feel like what I do is important.
Many times the names in parentheses
after a song title don’t get enough attention. They are the people who bring songs into the
world. Music means so much to me and has
been the companion to so much in my life.
I want to share the stories of the people who write the songs. To me, people like Luigi Creatore, Bob
Gaudio, Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, Mike Stoller, Ervin Drake, Sid Tepper, Alan
& Marilyn Bergman and so many more are heroes. If you don’t know who they are—then it means
there is even more purpose in my work.
3. Did you
always just sort of “know” that there were people out there who would want to
hear what you had to say or did you just decide that doing such interviews was
your passion and that you knew you had to just take that chance and put
yourself out there? If so, how did you
know?
I don’t really have much to
say. I usually leave that up to the
person who I’m speaking with. I’m the
conduit that they speak through. To
answer your question though, it’s more that it is my passion and I just knew I
had to take the chance and try to interview these great people. I know that I am doing a service and it is
what I am supposed to do. I follow my
heart and try to learn from the great interviewers. I get a decent amount of rejections, but
really it rarely bothers me. I enjoy it
and am too sincere to care. I could not stop doing this if I tried.
4. Is there any one artist in particular that
you would say was your favorite to interview?
The most influential? The most
inspirational?
I try not to pick favorites because I find in general that making comparisons tends to decrease your enjoyment of things. If I really had to pick a favorite artist that I have interviewed it would perhaps be the legendary Gene Wilder. I asked him about his passion for writing. He has such a positive, loving presence and this came out in the interview.
The most influential person I
interviewed to me is a toss-up between Woody Allen and Fats Domino. Woody influenced filmmaking so much and Fats
Domino helped create rock ‘n roll. I was
honored to meet them both.
The most inspirational person I
have ever interviewed? That one is
easy. The legendary Captain Tony
Tarracino is no longer with us, but made a great impression on me. His perspectives and outlook on life helped
me so much and I will never forget Tony.
Now that’s a character for you!
5. How do you go about determining exactly
what questions to ask during one of your interviews? Do you have them written down or do you have
a general idea of the direction you’re wanting the interview to follow and then
just go with the flow?
The questions are based on my
research. I try to learn a lot about the
person I am interviewing. There are also
questions I ask of every guest—my signature questions which include the “Who
are you?” question.
Sometimes I write the questions
down and sometimes I am completely in the moment and go with the flow.
6. Where do you see yourself in 5 years? What are your aspirations (aka hopes and
dreams) for the future?
In 5 years I see myself having
interviewed a lot more people. It would
be a dream come true if I could have interviewed 1,000 people by the year
2020. I have no expectations of doing
this. I try whenever possible to not
have expectations. Expectation is a
resentment waiting to happen. Whatever
happens is what I will do my best to embrace.
I don’t care if I become famous or ever get recognized for what I
do. I’m just happy to help people when I
can.
7. As an aspiring, new author myself, I’m
always looking for words of advice or inspiration to get me through the rough
spots…the doubting and the fear of the unknown.
I don’t know if you’ve ever experienced those emotions but I know that
we all have to start somewhere. What
would you like to say to anyone out there who has a big dream or who could use
some words of encouragement? It’s
apparent to me after working through so many of your interviews that you’ve got
a true talent for doing your interviews with integrity, honesty, and a
positivity that’s highly contagious. If
you could offer one lesson, what would it be?
We all experience fear of the
unknown. For someone who has a big
dream, I would tell them that if they are doing it for the right reason, they
cannot fail. If your desire is to be in the creative process, you can achieve
that. The internet has made it possible to share almost any kind of work. I
would caution people against trying to become famous. It’s largely an illusion
that it will somehow make life better. I
appreciate you saying that I’ve done my interviews with “integrity, honesty and
positivity.” It means a lot to me, and I
am hesitant to give anyone a lesson, but I would say this. Try to embrace and latch on to any bit of
positivity you can. Try to feed your mind with something with nutritional and
spiritual value. Find people who are
really “nice.” Nice is an underrated
word. Get away from people who are
selfish or don’t want the best for others and you’ll be fine.
Well, I want to take
a moment to thank you again, Paul, for being my first interview ever! As I work on developing my author site and
build momentum for my own work, I thought it would be great to talk to those
people who have been an inspiration to me.
You, Mr. Leslie, are at the top of my list. Thanks for your time (and for being my guinea
pig)!
These questions are
fantastic. I’m very honored you chose me
to interview. It warms my heart, I hope
you know.
I can't say enough about Paul Leslie and how much I enjoyed reading his answers to my questions. The man truly tops the list of those people who have inspired me to follow my passion and chase my dreams!
Check out Paul's amazing website to see the interviews I've transcribed as well as many others!
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