Each week, the Shreveport-Bossier Journal’s Tony Taglavore takes to lunch a local person – someone who is well-known, successful, and/or influential, and asks, “What’s Your Story?”
By TONY TAGLAVORE, Journal Services
He walked off a plane in New Orleans with two years of community college under his belt, not much in his back pocket, and two suitcases. One was plaid, and the other “looked like a saddlebag”.
“Here I am like country come to city.”
Mom had given him 50 bucks, which wasn’t going far. So, the 19-year-old Florida boy, who was transferring to Tulane University (“I applied to Harvard and Tulane, and Harvard said ‘No’), planned on moving right into a dorm room.
Problem was, he arrived on a Sunday, and the school was closed.
“I took a cab expecting to see banners and balloons and open doors. I had no place to go.”
He walked, and walked, and walked around campus, looking for somewhere to lay his head for the night.
Finally, around 2am and “totally exhausted”, he came across Tulane Stadium, which was being torn down.
“My first night in college, my first night in Louisiana, I slept in the rubble. I wound my way back into a cavern and thought, ‘I won’t get mugged here.’ I unpacked the little suitcase and made a pillow. That was my introduction to both college and Louisiana.”
Bill Sabo, Director of Economic Development for the City of Shreveport, told me that story – and his story – during lunch at a place he chose, The Missing Link. Bill, who seldom eats lunch anywhere other than in his office, had a Chicago Hot Dog and unsweet tea. I had the Greek Salad and a bottled water. Bill took most of his hot dog to go, not wanting to get mustard on his dress shirt. He emailed me after finishing lunch at his desk, saying he got mustard on his shirt.
“I would rather have a good hot dog than a mediocre anything else.”
Bill grew up in Fort Lauderdale, having moved from Ohio with his mother and two older brothers when he was three years old. Bill’s father died from leukemia just two weeks after being diagnosed, and Bill’s mother wanted to live close to her sister.
“She said more than once, ‘My job after your dad died was to raise you three.’”
Done.
“She worked at the high school that all three of us went so she could be close. We didn’t get into trouble. We were the first group of the family to go to college. She knew where we were. She knew how much money we spent. ‘You had five dollars. Where is it? Okay, that only accounts for $4.50, Where is the other .50?’”
Perhaps being held accountable for his money had something to do with Bill’s interest in economic development, but that came after 25 years in the newspaper business.
“I loved writing. When I got out (of college), the way I could make a living was being a reporter. It was less about reporting and more about writing. Then, it became more about reporting and less about writing.”
That’s when Bill found out how much the paper’s advertising folks were making.
“When I saw their commission checks, they were more than I made all month . . . . I was ready to move on with my life. I was ready to make a little money.”
Bill’s advertising career took him to five cities. In all, Bill and his wife of 34 years (Beth) have lived in 10 different cities.
“I think it’s done a lot for our marriage. You’re starting over in a new place. You have no friends . . . . Going through that journey and having somebody to do that with – you’re relying on each other and you’re making friends together.”
It was in New Orleans (city number eight) where Bill, who was in his 50’s and a magazine publisher, dipped his toe into economic development. Bill found it wasn’t that different from what he had been doing.
“It goes back to journalism. The best stories you write help people. They get things done. That’s what I find with economic development. It is helping people. It is helping neighborhoods. It is trying to make small businesses easier to open. It is helping someone fulfill a dream.”
When Bill isn’t working to streamline processes and bring new business to town, he’s in his kitchen. Bill loves his family. He loves economic development. He loves food.
“It was born from my mother maybe being the worst cook on the planet. She was an Irish-Catholic from Boston who basically put everything in an electric skillet with a little water. It didn’t matter what it was. In fact, she gave me food poisoning twice, because nothing ever really went bad in our refrigerator.”
While as a kid you and I were watching cartoons, Bill was glued to cooking shows. Remember
The Galloping Gourmet?
“I worked at IHOP when I was 14 as a dishwasher. I started experimenting there. Then, I worked at pizza places. I was a cook at an Italian restaurant. Cooking is my love language. I cook for people . . . . We love to entertain. We love to have dinner parties. That’s my favorite thing to do.”
Bill told me he has 100-150 cookbooks. He can whip up anything from a Paul Prudhomme dish, to Italian, or French. But Bill leaves the simple stuff to Beth.
“I will say, ‘Do you want me to make Kraft Mac and Cheese?’ She says, ‘No. You can’t make that. You mess it up every single time. You can make Beef Wellington, but you can’t do Kraft Mac & Cheese.’”
And all that chopping has taken a physical toll.
“You don’t want to have too much wine, because (Bill shows me his left thumb) I have lopped off that part of a finger. So, don’t drink and dice.”
The day Bill and I had lunch, he was not far removed from his 66th birthday.
“My mind is not comprehending that. My mind is saying, ‘We could go surfing again. We could play tennis like when we were 20. I go clothes shopping, put something on, and my wife will say, ‘You’re kidding, right? You think you’re Keith Urban? Is that what you’re thinking?’ I say, ‘Yes!’ I don’t see myself as getting older, although I know I am, and my ailments are starting to catch up with me.”
But age hasn’t damped Bill’s desire for helping people.
“I wish I was driven more by money. I really do. But that’s not where I get my fulfillment. My fulfillment is doing things that help people. For other people, their bank account is a scorecard. That’s great. It’s just never been mine.”
Age also hasn’t diminished Bill’s ideas.
“I told the mayor before he hired me that if you want somebody to tighten bolts that are already there, I’m not the person for you . . . . I don’t want to do something that somebody has already done. I am motivated by doing things that haven’t been done. I know I piss off people sometimes because I want to get things done.”
Not wanting to keep Bill any longer from doing what he can to boost the city’s economy, I asked my final question. As always, what is it from his life story that others might find beneficial?
“Keep learning new things. Keep trying new things . . . . Blink, and you’re going to be 65. If you’re 30, when you blink, you’re going to be 65. Think about the long term. When you’re 30, you’re bulletproof. You’re going to be rich. Plan, and put some money away. But also enjoy life. Go to Europe. Take a road trip to California. My daughter has a tattoo that reads you will never be younger than you are today. There’s something to be said for that.”
Notice Bill didn’t suggest sleeping in the rubble of a torn down stadium.
Do you know someone with a story? Email SBJTonyT@gmail.com.
The Journal’s weekly “What’s Your Story?” series is sponsored by Morris & Dewett Injury Lawyers.