Longtime NSNC member Dave Lieber recently published a biography of Ross Perot and his family called Searching for Perot – My Journey to Discover Texas’ Top Family. I asked him some questions about the book as well as his newspaper coverage of the Perots over the past 30 years.
Interview by Curtis Honeycutt
CH: What intrigued you about Ross Perot and his family in order to write Searching for Perot?
DL: It’s hard to explain how beloved he is in Dallas-Fort Worth. When he died in 2019 our newspaper servers were serving the news to the entire world. It drew a massive amount of traffic. I had always kept files on the Perots because they fascinated me. I realized his life and his family would make a great play. The play “PEROT! American Patriot” is scheduled to open on February 11. The book SEARCHING FOR PEROT – My Journey to Discover Texas’ Top Family came out in September. They’re very different pieces of work. The play is about him on his way to heaven, justifying his life. The book is a journalism memoir of what it was like on the journey to discover the family’s greatness. But a portion of the book is highly critical, a retelling of the most important story I’ve ever covered. It was a land grab that was stunning in its ferocity. If I didn’t tell it, it would be lost to history. But it took me years to recover from what I saw, and that’s part of the “journey” I had to make to forgive but never forget.
CH: You have followed the Perots from your seat at the Dallas Morning News and before that at The Fort Worth Star-Telegram for almost 30 years. Have you written about them prior to writing your book?
DL: I wrote my first Perot story when I got to Texas in ’93 and Ross Perot Jr. opened a Nestle factory on his industrial land. We both walked out with giant cans of candy.I have written more about the son than the father because I live in the son’s primary development region called ALLIANCE. I realized in my research that the father’s run for president was not the most important part of his life. It wasn’t even the most interesting.
CH: What lessons from Perot’s business career still apply to entrepreneurs today?
DL: He was ahead of his time in so many business ways. He believed the company was family. He put his people first, even going to Iran during the revolution to help rescue two employees who were held hostage. He was a creative genius who did not believe that as CEO he should be separate from his people. He ate in the company cafeteria and knew his employees’ names and about their lives.
CH: What hesitations did you have about writing about Perot and his family?
DL: They don’t much care for me. I’ve written critically and satirically about them for decades. I kept hearing that they couldn’t believe Dave Lieber wrote something nice about them. But this was not a newspaper column. This is a book and a companion play that honors his status as a true folk hero.
CH: Dave, you are a chronically curious person. How do you use your curiosity as a springboard for book ideas?
DL: I look for the dramatic stories and then research the hell out of them, and then figure out how to tell them in the most fun and memorable way. Writing two plays and two popular books to go with them has helped me improve as a columnist. My storytelling abilities were sharpened.
CH: What surprised you in your “search” for Perot?
DL: How much I didn’t know about him. The stories about him are endless and quite wonderful. The public adores them. I’ve lived with Perot for about two years, and I’m not tired of him. I keep learning more and hearing wonderful personal stories from readers.
CH: How have you been promoting the book?
Speeches. Get the audience emotionally caught up in the stories. It feels like an opera when I present it. Also, the book’s website features a quiz on his life that leads you toward buying the book. I’m selling to Perot lovers around the nation, many of them his employees. When the play opens book sales will jump, uh, dramatically. This is the second book/play combination I’ve done in the past two years. It’s a winning combo for me. And it also points people to my newspaper column, so it’s a good way to meet many more potential readers. www.amonplay.com
Here’s a recent video of one of my talks:
CH: Where can people buy the book?
DL: I don’t sell it on Amazon. I explain in talks that I’m at war with Bezos … but he doesn’t know it. The reason is that he doesn’t treat authors fairly. Also, I’m not letting them discount it and undercut my pricing.
It’s only at www.PerotBook.com
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Find Dave Lieber’s column here: www.dallasnews.com/watchdog
