; and published biographies of boxer Sonny Liston, gambler Arnold Rothstein, corrupt financier Michele Sidona. He also wrote a bilingual children's book, I came to know Nick in 1995, when I was a New York-based publicist at Geffen Records. He had learned that I was in possession of a copy of Joe Pesci's 1968 album — recorded under the name Little Joe Ritchie and released by Brunswick Records, a label that allegedly had connections to organized crime.
Our conversations varied widely – including why he loved the Rolling Stones and not the Beatles, who he would complain had the same outfits and stupid haircuts. He had a tendency to casually mention names like Keith Richards, Johnny Depp, and Patti Smith, and I was skeptical as to how well he knew them until one day he called me at 3am, clearly drunk, and told me that he had been with Richards at the Stones show and "he's going to play a few songs for you tomorrow night.
Tosches had A-list friends, but they weren't his only ones – or even his favorites. He loved characters – the stipper getting a degree in American literature who was an expert on Faulkner ; the speed addict who was, hilariously, a mattress salesman; the waiter who liked to play the tough mafioso.
Fifteen years ago, I was asked, at the last minute, to introduce Tosches at a poetry reading. Not knowing quite what to say, I found something he hadn't done. "Our next reader is Nick Tosches, who has done a lot in the world, met a lot of people, and had ten lives' worth of experience," I said. "But one thing Nick has never done: Nick Tosches has never eaten a cheeseburger.
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