Charles Koehler 0:00 Hi, I'm Charles Koehler, and this is Lambda Reports, a program by and for the St Louis lesbian and gay community. Our guest today is St Louis author and composer Jerry Rabushka. Jerry recently authored the book The Omega Boys. It's billed as a tale of love and violence and contains a cast of rather colorful characters. Jerry, welcome to Lambda Reports. Jerry Rabushka 0:28 Hello. Charles Koehler 0:30 Great. This book really is about St Louis, you name places, streets and businesses. Do you have to be from St Louis to appreciate it? Jerry Rabushka 0:31 Probably not. It's pretty specific as far as who goes where and what's going on, but it's … Charles Koehler 0:44 So the reader can identify and recognize different things that you write about. Jerry Rabushka 0:48 Yeah, if you're from here, you'll understand a lot of things, but if you're not, it's just a name and still interesting, it'll be interesting. Yeah. Charles Koehler 0:56 Well, what would you say is the central theme or message in this novel. Speaker 1 1:01 Well, the basic plot is a bunch of men are getting together and trying to put on an original play that one of the guys wrote about a guy dying of AIDS and discovering his true self in the midst of this disease. And also the main character, Terry Starks, gets involved with an air conditioner repairman who kind of likes to beat them up every now and then. And those two things kind of intertwine with each other, Charles Koehler 1:26 and I might add rather interesting ways too. Just, just who are these Omega Boys, and what were you trying to say about theater gay and theater in particular? Speaker 1 1:38 Well, the Omega theater is what they've called their organization, and I kind of use that for the title, which I thought was rather catchy. And I guess I'm a little bit tired of AIDS plays. I think this. I've never really seen one, but there just seem to be so many of them. And this guy is more or less banking on the fact that no matter how bad the play is, the fact that it's about AIDS, it's going to bring people out to see it. Charles Koehler 2:05 So in short, you're saying that he's he's using, he's capitalizing on the the fact that that no matter, like you said, no matter how bad the play is, they're going to see it. Jerry Rabushka 2:06 Yeah, it's more or less. So he's been told he's got better work, and he's decided that this is the one that's got to go, Charles Koehler 2:24 because it talks about AIDS. Jerry Rabushka 2:25 Right. Charles Koehler 2:28 That's a trend that seems to have appeared at least a couple years ago in some films, which it seemed like you couldn't have a film that came out that dealt with gay issues unless it also had something about AIDS in it. There seems to be more violence in this novel, The Omega Boys, than in your last novel, Vandeventer Nights, which was also about life in St Louis. The character in Vandeventer Nights. His name is Terry, keeps getting beaten up by another character whose name is Reed, yet Terry keeps on returning back to Reed. What? What were you trying to say? Jerry Rabushka 3:09 Well, Terry hasn't had anybody important to him in his life in a long time, and he's finally got this guy, and he kind of figures it's better than nothing at all. It He gives a lot of respect, because reads like, you know, Mr. Total Hunk. He's big, strong, good looking and all that. And everybody who doesn't know what's really going on just thinks Terry must be something really wonderful to get this guy in love with him. It's kind of like that. And you know, Terry doesn't think highly enough of himself at the moment to break off and be his own person. Charles Koehler 3:47 Speaking of that, some of the characters in the novel seem to have a problem with their own self-esteem and issues surrounding self-esteem. Were you trying to make a point about that? Speaker 1 3:59 Well, it was something I noticed as I was writing the book that, God, these people just don't like themselves very much. Charles Koehler 4:07 Do you think that's a comment on the fact that they are gay? And it might be, let's say, a form of internalized homophobia. orsomething else or a combination. Jerry Rabushka 4:18 Well, it could be, I personally don't have that problem of internal homophobia, but I think a lot of people possibly do. I think a lot of it's imposition from outside, of people telling you that you're not good enough because you're gay. And a lot of it's just people, whether they're gay or not, just tend to not think very much of themselves, and they look outside instead of inside to improve their lives or how they feel. Charles Koehler 4:44 Well, I'll say this much. It made made for very, very interesting reading. Another character, aside from Terry Starks, that I found particularly interesting is John Ridgeway. What can you tell us about him? Jerry Rabushka 4:59 Well, John. Is the guy that wrote the play, and John is the novel. Is the novel's about, yeah, the play doesn't have a name. I couldn't think of one, so that's no big problem. But John is kind of into this play. Terry thinks he is for self-aggrandizement, that he really enjoys getting all this attention because he wrote the play. He's very good looking very you know, everybody thinks he's wonderful, and John starts falling for Terry, because Terry is the only one who is really giving him the attention about the play that he wants to get. He's got a lover of his own that is too into his own thing, and doesn't really support John putting this play on, and neither does anybody else really. Charles Koehler 5:43 Sounds like a catastrophe waiting to happen, which is, well, let our readers read the novel. When you were writing the Omega Boys, and also your previous novel, Vandeventer Nites, what did you find to be the most difficult part of the whole process, from getting the original idea to sitting down and writing to publishing and marketing the novel? Jerry Rabushka 6:12 Well, proofreading, it is really unpleasant. I mean, as far as that goes. Charles Koehler 6:14 Now, you did this on word processing? Jerry Rabushka 6:15 Right. Charles Koehler 6:15 Thank God for word processing. Jerry Rabushka 6:19 Yes. I mean, you just reread it and reread it until you think it's horrible because you've read it like five times in a week. But as far as the actual writing of it, pretty much just making sure everything fits together, that something just doesn't happen because you want it to happen, it has to have a good reason for happening causal effect. Yeah, a causal effect to try to at least tie everybody together in the end and make sure that you get to the end of your book through the beginning of the book, and not just because that's where you want to wind up. Charles Koehler 6:54 I think that it does it very successfully and has a few surprise twists in it along the way, might add, what other characters or events in the Omega Boys, did you find particularly interesting? Or you think that our readers, our listeners might find I find interesting? Jerry Rabushka 7:17 Well, gosh, I guess meeting Reed. When Terry meets reed on the street, it was kind of Read's … I like talking about Reed because I just invented somebody that, I guess is, if I had my pick of whoever I could have, this is what I take to a point. And I got kind of explicit with some descriptions that was kind of neat. And I got a character named Mark, who's about 21 and now that I'm 29, 21 seems real young. Charles Koehler 7:21 It was just a century ago. Jerry Rabushka 7:52 Yeah. I mean, I kind of made him the way I saw myself, which is just, you know, looking at all these older guys thinking, gosh, they're really neat. And if only I had a lover like you have, and some people even stay together for three weeks at a time, and all that kind of stuff that, Charles Koehler 8:10 As the play points out, the majority of people don't really stay together just for three weeks. I mean, some of your characters have been together for quite a while, Jerry Rabushka 8:19 Yeah, Charles Koehler 8:19 which, again, reflects real life. What advice would you have for some of our listeners out there that aspiring might be aspiring writers? What would you say to them? I Jerry Rabushka 8:38 Well, I guess the best thing is to go ahead and write it. I had an instructor who says you need to just type a note that says, a writer writes and put it up where you can see it, and sit down and write it and show it to as many people as you can. And if you've got a way to get it out, get it out, more or less. Charles Koehler 8:58 Well, aside from writing the printed word. You also are quite talented, quite talented musician and composer. And as a matter of fact, Jerry wrote the theme music for the Lambda Report series that we hear every week. Can you tell us a little more about your work in composing and performing music? Jerry Rabushka 9:19 Well, this last year, I've written music for group called the Imaginary Theater Company, which is based with the Repertory Theater. And they're a touring group that does shows for mostly like children up through high school. I did three shows for them, and it's all these little bitty, like minute two minute long pieces, and I thrown them all together on a little self-produced album … Charles Koehler 9:44 Oh, okay, Jerry Rabushka 9:45 which is on the table at the moment, but you can't see them right in Charles Koehler 9:49 right in front of me, Jerry Rabushka 9:50 right in front of him, Charles Koehler 9:51 says the what's the title? Jerry Rabushka 9:53 It's called the Ricky and Sonia album. Sonia was a character whose theme got cut from the show, one of the shows we did, and Ricky's a long story that I'd rather not go into, but at this point or ever. Anyway, it's just got all, most of the music I wrote for the theater and some other things. And it's not out anywhere, but it will be shortly, I guess. And I really like it. It's some of my best stuff. Charles Koehler 10:19 Great. Well, you've done music for other events in the past too, if I understand correctly, ballet. Speaker 1 10:25 Yeah, I did a ballet for a group called dancers. We put on the story of Prometheus back in June. And I've written for a group called the Radical Movement Dance Company, which is supposed to be going on in March, if the dancer doesn't sprain her ankle like she did the last time she was supposed to go on. Charles Koehler 10:44 Part of the hazards of the whole whole area, right? Well, what are your future plans as far as writing and what sort of feedback have you gotten from Omega Nites? Jerry Rabushka 10:56 Well, those who have read it seem to like it pretty much. It hasn't really been through that many sets of eyes yet to get a total feedback, so that I know, but it's Charles Koehler 11:08 Hot off the press. Jerry Rabushka 11:09 Hot off the press. Yeah, more or less. Charles Koehler 11:11 And what about other future plans as far as music goes? Jerry Rabushka 11:17 Well, I'm always looking nothing immediate, but I always play, so I'm always out there somewhere Charles Koehler 11:25 Great. Well, that's that's about all the time we have for now. But I'd like to thank our guest today, St Louisan Jerry Rabushka, Jerry Rabushka 11:37 Thank you. Charles Koehler 11:37 and his book, The Omega Boys, as is available at Our World Too and Left Bank Books and also Pages, Video and More or through Post Office Box 16844, St Louis, 630105. Let me repeat that. That's Post Office Box 16844, St Louis, 63105. As we listen to Jerry's music, I'll remind you that this has been Lambda Reports, a program by and for the St Louis gay and lesbian community. Join us again next week, same time, this has been Charles Koehler.. Transcribed by https://otter.ai