About the Author: “Born in New Orleans, Tom Scanlon spent his formative years in Pittsburgh, and has a vague recollection of–the day after his tenth birthday–listening to the Steelers first playoff appearance in twenty-five years, which had an ending that was highly enjoyable (except for Raiders fans). He graduated first from Mt. Lebanon High School, then–despite an April Fools student newspaper that was ill-received by the school’s administration–Duquesne University. After a brief stretch as an advertising copywriter, he tipped his toes into journalism as a high school sports stringer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Pittsburgh Press (RIP). He continued writing for newspapers in the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Seattle and Phoenix. Along the way, he wrote plays such as If Jesus Had a Rumsfeld and The Superhumans; the latter was nominated for four L.A. Weekly awards. His novels include Feed, Atlantis City (I and II) and Ocean Shores Tourist Killer, the tale of an 80-year-old serial killer.
He maintains strong ties to Pittsburgh, which he visits annually. And, every fifteen years or so, he moves back there–until late fall hits, and he scurries to warmer climates.
Though he physically wrote The Immaculate Jagoffs of Pittsburgh over an intense, nine-month period, he has been writing it in his head for forty-nine years.
As he likes to say, ‘I left Pittsburgh–but it never left me.'”
More Info
What’s your book called and what’s it about?
It’s called The Immaculate Jagoffs of Pittsburgh and it’s about 230 pages.
Ha! But seriously…
It’s about the comical adventures of three Pittsburgh jagoffs (Clay, Scan and Lore) during the historic last week of 1972, with the action (including bar fights, petty larceny, illegal gambling, heavy drinking and adultery) goalposted by The Immaculate Reception and Clemente’s death.
What inspired you to write this?
In February of this year, I was (finally) reading Joyce’s Ulysses, and I thought, “Pittsburgh jagoffs are way funnier than Joyce’s Dubliners! I’m going to spend the next 10 years writing an epic novel set in Pittsburgh.”
How’d that go?
Not too good. I was stuck on the idea of these guys who were such jagoffs they left the Raiders playoff game early to beat traffic…and missed The Immaculate Reception. Then I realized the 50th anniversary of Franco’s catch is this year, so I sped up my timeline from 10 years to 10 months.
Tell me about the language of the book, which requires a “Pittsburghese-English” translation guide. Cliches like yinz and n’at, of course, but also things like past tense (“turnt” for “turned”) and the “let/leave inversion.”
At first, I was just going to have the characters talking with Pittsburgh accents, and a “normal” narration. Then, I realized the narrator had to be a yinzer, and just went all in on the Pittsburghisms.
A key recurring image in the novel is the character of Scan’s participation in a rowdy, rude April Fool’s newspaper edition while he was a senior at Duquesne University. I understand that you had a similar experience?
My attorney has advised me to neither confirm nor deny that.
Hmmm…You grew up in Mt. Lebanon, but after graduating (barely) from Duquesne and starting your “career” as a sports stringer with the Pittsburgh Press (RIP), you fled from the ‘burgh in 1985. So why write about Pittsburgh?
Actually, I did move back twice, circa 1994 and 2014. I had every intention of re-rooting in the ‘burgh… until it got cold.
Where do you live now, and what are you doing?
I live with my wife, Desiree’, in north Phoenix, not far from Harold’s Corral—a Wild West bar that calls itself “Heinz Field West.” I’m a journalist and I spend most of my days chasing woodpeckers from our hummingbird feeders.
>Sounds exciting.
Thank you.
Anyone you’d like to thank?
Absolutely! The great poet and even better teacher Dr. Sam Hazo. Paula, Morgan and “Joizy Jerry” Hogenmiller. Cathy Scanlon. Pete, Linda and Connor Scanlon. Jim, Sean and Nadine (“Get Awt!”) Luther. And all my jagoff friends.
You say “jagoff” like it’s a compliment.
It can be—“jagoff” is the “aloha” of Pittsburgh. It all depends on how you say it.
For excerpts from The Immaculate Jagoffs of Pittsburgh and more, see immaculatejagoffs.com or harkvalley.substack.com.
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