Episode 85: Wright Thompson
Wright Thompson is a senior writer at ESPN, and the author of Pappyland: A Story of Family, Fine Bourbon, and the Things that Last. That book just came out earlier this week. It\u2019s published by Penguin Press.\n\nPappyland had a strange route to publication. It was initially supposed to be a book Thompson ghost-wrote for Julian Van Winkle. Van Winkle is a bourbon genius who found a way to rebuild a business that was built by his grandfather and lost by his father. \n\nIn the process, he\u2019s created a bourbon that people pay more than $3,000 a bottle for.\n\nBut ultimately, Thompson saw the book become something more, a book about a man who makes bourbon, and one who drinks it.\n\nThe book is also about fatherhood. It\u2019s about both Thompson\u2019s father, who passed away several years ago, and Thompson, who in the book, is in the process of becoming a father. \n\nIt\u2019s almost magical that just five days before Pappyland was released, Thompson\u2019s second daughter was born.\n\nPappyland is actually Thompson\u2019s second book. His first, The Cost of These Dreams, is an anthology of his best work from ESPN. He\u2019s still writing longform narrative pieces for ESPN. He\u2019s also producing the TV series True South, which focuses on southern food and culture. The show airs on the SEC Network.\n\nThompson was a guest in the early days of the podcast. He was featured on Episode 11 in October 2013. At the time, we talked about his profiles of Michael Jordan and legendary wrestling coach Dan Gable.