Fill out this form to email this article to a friend
Author not content to rest on family's laurels
A Tampa billionaire's daughter is forging her own life away from her dad's malls by writing novels.
By JAY CRIDLIN
Published October 7, 2005
A handful of customers were sitting in Brandon's Barnes & Noble on Saturday, sipping mocha lattes, when up over a shelf popped the head of mall magnate Eddie DeBartolo Jr., the former owner of the San Francisco 49ers.
"You used to interrupt my interviews when you were a little girl," he said, smiling, to his daughter Tiffanie, who was sitting across from a reporter. They laughed, and Eddie walked off.
Tiffanie DeBartolo wasn't hiding from her father in the store's coffee shop. But she is trying to make it on her own.
DeBartolo, 34, has just written her second novel, How to Kill a Rock Star, a look at the record industry viewed through a love triangle between a young music writer and two rising rock stars.
Her books and a brief stint as a Hollywood auteur - she directed Jennifer Aniston right before Friends took off - are Tiffanie's attempt to forge an identity beyond being the daughter of Eddie DeBartolo, who lives in Tampa and who is, according to Forbes, America's 235th-wealthiest man.
Before her Brandon book signing, she talked with the Times about rock music and her life in a family worth more than $1.4-billion. Here are excerpts:
You're young, very attractive, your name is "Tiffanie," and your father is one of the richest men on the planet. Why should people take you seriously as a writer?
Because I've got to make a living just like everybody else. People always have that attitude, like, "Why do you even bother?" But what am I going to do with my time? I've got to do something with my days, and I've got a lot to say. It doesn't occur to me that I wouldn't have to work to prove myself. I sort of feel like I have to prove myself more, because people do have that attitude.
Do you ever fret that people might view you as Paris Hilton?
No. I don't have that kind of lifestyle at all. I really have a pretty basic life. I get up early and run, then I'm at my desk by 9 a.m. I spend all day working, and six days a week, that's what I do. I guess when I was younger, I did sort of feel that I had a lot more to prove. I had to do what everybody else has to do when they want to be a writer: Beg agents to read my work, beg agents to represent me, pray that somebody will buy the book and publish it. Nobody ever says to me what their parents do for a living, so why would I mention it? Unless somebody recognizes the name and asks, I don't really talk about it. It would be different if I wanted to build malls or something, but there's no connection, you know what I mean?
My one complaint with the book is the name of the band: "Bananafish." That's right up there with Limp Bizkit and the Ass Ponys.
I know! It's a terrible name. All the greatest bands in the world have bad names. Come on, my favorite band is U2. Can you get any dumber than U2? Or another band that I love so much is called Ours. You can't even Google that. What were they thinking?
Speaking of U2, you thank them in the book. I can't decide whether to love or hate Bono. Convince me one way or the other.
All I can say is, Bono is my hero. I have been the most fanatical U2 fan since I was 12. I give him a lot of leeway because he does move me so much, musically. I went to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony this year, because U2 was being inducted, and I had to sell my soul to get a ticket to this thing, but I just had to be there. It was one of the greatest days of my life. I stood, for three hours, this close to Bono. But I couldn't say a word to him. What can you say to him? Nothing a million people haven't said to him already.
Your Internet Movie Database page says you were an intern on Four Rooms. Is Quentin Tarantino as crazy in real life as he is on TV?
Passionate is the way I would describe him. That guy loves his job more than anyone I've ever seen. It was really inspiring to see him work, despite the fact that on that job, I was cleaning toilets and bringing Madonna water. It wasn't the most glamorous job.
You wrote and directed a movie with Jennifer Aniston. Did she say anything about Brad Pitt? You can tell me.
No, that was pre-Pitt. Way pre-Pitt. She was single. Pre-Counting Crows man, too.
Do you have a favorite mall of your dad's?
To be honest, I haven't been to that many of them.
Does he know this?
Yeah. (Laughs) The one in the town where I grew up, I probably spent the most time in, because there was nothing else to do. But I don't spend that much time in malls. I like thrift stores. I like one-of-a-kind pieces. I collect vintage concert T-shirts. I have a really cool Styx one from 1978, and a cool Rush one. A Moving Pictures T-shirt.
Growing up, did you have a favorite 49er?
Ronnie Lott was my favorite player. He was a tough guy, but it was all about the passion. That guy was so dedicated to what he did. He had his finger cut off once because he wanted to play in a game. The guy had passion. I respect that in anybody.
Any other books in the hopper?
Yep. I'm about 30 pages in so far. We'll see. I don't even know what it's about yet. It's definitely going to be the most autobiographical thing I've ever written.
Jay Cridlin can be reached at 727 893-8336 or cridlin@sptimes.com
[Last modified October 6, 2005, 08:26:07]
Share your thoughts on this story
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
|
News
Fifty years ago, they were screwed-up kids sent to the Florida School for Boys to be straightened out. But now they are screwed-up men, scarred by the whippings they endured. Read the story and see a video and portrait gallery.
Print
Email story
Comment
Email editor