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ArticlesShades of Green: From football to fantasy, restless Green finds successCostco Connection, May 2005 By Richard Deitsch Here's a personal story that reads like the stuff of great fiction: The protagonist starred at Syracuse University in football (where he earned All-American honors as a defensive end) and the classroom (he was the valedictorian of his undergraduate class and an honors law-school graduate) before graduating to the National Football League (he played linebacker for the Atlanta Falcons for eight years and is now a football commentator for Fox Sports) and a prolific literary career (Exact Revenge, which debuts in May, is his 12th book). And we haven't even mentioned that Tim Green is a practicing lawyer, a commentator for The Bob Edwards Show on XM Radio, an occasional contributor to USA Today and the host of a new version of the TV show A Current Affair. It begs the following questions: When does this author/lawyer/television commentator sleep? "If the normal workday is eight [hours], I try to get 16 hours a day of productivity," Green tells The Connection,, perhaps the only person who can boast that he studied under both Tobias Wolff and George O'Leary. "This is what I love to do. I went to school and had a successful athletic career. People said there was no way you can do that and be a serious student, but I was co-valedictorian of my class. I was as serious in my studies as I was in my athletics." "When I played in the NFL, I was getting my law degree and writing at the same time. It's easy for me to be prolific as a writer because it's a joy for me. I've used my writing career as kind of another educational experience. Writing and being a writer is a big part of who I am and what I always wanted to be." Green's latest novel, Exact Revenge, is a story of Raymond White, a rising political star who is framed for murder and becomes a one-man band of payback after spending nearly two decades in prison. For Green, revenge is a literary dish best served repeatedly. "My last three or four novels really kind of started to take on a revenge element," says Green, whose nonfiction football memoir, The Dark Side of the Game, was a New York Times bestseller. He is also the author of a memoir titled A Man and His Mother: An Adopted Son's Search; the movie rights have been purchased by CBS. "I thought the greatest tale of revenge was The Count of Monte Cristo and I see Exact Revenge, as a modern-day Count of Monte Cristo. The setting of the novel is Green's hometown in New York, and the writer spent time at nearby Auburn Prison to authenticate his story. "What I try to do is try to get as close to the source as I possibly can," he says. "The prison was a place I wanted to know and feel, because a quarter of this book takes place in a prison. So I spent time in the prison with the guards and I met inmates. It was an unbelievable experience to be there, to see it, to smell it." Now Green will get to see and smell and experience what it's like to host a daily show. He says the updated version of A Current Affair (which debuted in March) will feature stories that are "tragic, comic and run the human experience." It's yet another gig for a man who has already achieved more careers by the age of 41 than most of us ever will in a lifetime. "The first explanation is I have been extremely fortunate," says Green, who lives with his wife, Illyssa, and their four children. "In all the things I've done, I've had great people to teach me and help me become better. Everything that I have undertaken, I have undertaken with a healthy amount of humility, and an understanding that I'm just smart enough to know that I'm not that smart." 
Pennie's Pick Pennie Clark Ianniciello, Costco Book Buyer Raymond White appears to be on the fast track to success as an attorney and budding politician. Then, out of the blue, he's framed and convicted for murder, resulting in an 18-year prison sentence. There he spends his time plotting revenge against the people who put him behind bars. That's the plot of this month's Book Buyer's Pick, Exact Revenge, by Tim Green. I don't like to admit it, but I'm a little envious of the multitalented Green. He's found success in sports, the classroom, on television and as an author—most people would consider themselves lucky to excel in just one of those areas. Green's skills as an author are unquestionable. He writes in a confident voice through which he tells a fast-paced and riveting story.  |
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