So what inspired you to write Riff, Ram, Bah, Zoo? Well, in the old stadium there used to be signs up on the scoreboard that said: National Champions 1935 and 1938. So I knew there had to have been glory years in the past. So for years, I would go online to Amazon or Ebay or go into libraries thinking that I would eventually find the history of TCU football. It has got to be out there! And one night it occurred to me that the reason I could not find it is because it's not there; it does not exist, no one has written it. I decided if it wasn't in the library, I would be the one to put it there.
This is your first book. What was the writing process like? I had no idea what writing a book was. I knew it was going to be more work than I expected, but that's all I really knew. If you asked a group of my friends from TCU who would be the least likely to write thisbook, I'd be a popular answer.
When describing the book to your friends and family, is there any story that stands out to you? Actually, yes. At one point [TCU] hired the band director to coach the football team. And TCU has totally forgotten this. As I was going through, game-by-game, I would see the same name and read "Frederick Cahoon is going to lead the orchestra in the spring concert" and think, "Are there two Frederick Cahoons? This can't be," but it was the same guy! He coached all of the sports teams and he led all the musical ensembles: jazz band, band, orchestra, glee club, and choir – he did everything. The guy was a stud. He is the coolest guy that TCU has completely forgotten!
