by John Bear
Daily Lobo
Davy Rothbart stood on a rooftop in San Francisco, the wind streaking past the receiver on the phone, causing his voice to fade in and out.
He was hanging out at a friend's house, taking a moment to talk about "The Lone Surfer Tour," on which he is promoting his book of short stories, "The Lone Surfer of Montana," and Found Magazine, a publication that is in essence a collection of handwritten notes, lists and letters lost by one person and found by another.
The magazine, now in its fourth year, is published once yearly. People can submit material they find through the Web site, www.foundmagazine.com. There is also a Found book.
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"The tiniest scrap of paper can tell a story," he said.
He gave as an example a note written by a woman trying to choose between two men, Steve and Paul, listing the pros and cons of each one.
"Bad things: Steve, crazy. Paul crazier. Good things: Steve, I married him. Paul has great child. Steve has always been good friend. Paul, good house. Steve, sex. Paul, money."
Rothbart received a monthly budget, typed up and lost, that lists rent, cell phone, telephone, cable, food, liquor, crack, attorney and savings. He was amazed the person had money left over to put into savings.
He said someone gave him a "Lord of the Rings" journal the other day that contained a boy's detailed plans to eliminate his older brother.
"'How to destroy Matt,'" he said. "It was basically a four-step plan. 'Step one: Wait till asleep. Step two: Make sure asleep. Step three: Warm water. Step four: Total humiliation.'"
He said there is no way to tell if people are sending in fake stuff but added most people respect the integrity of the project. He said it would be bizarre for someone to take that much time to make something up, and truth is stranger than fiction anyway.
Rothbart has taken to writing fiction, however. His book "The Lone Surfer of Montana" and its title story, for example, follow a similar mode of production as the magazine. He said he came up with the idea for "Lone Surfer" when he was driving through rural Kansas and saw a kid with a surfboard strung up between two posts, a thousand miles from either ocean.
"It was just mesmerizing," he said. "I drove away, wishing I had talked to him."
Instead he wrote what may have happened had the two met.
Rothbart is also working on a couple of documentary film projects. He is eager to begin writing a novel based on a strange murder case out of Kansas City involving a Goth kid. Whenever he has time, he wants to work on hip-hop music geographically specific to Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, both in Michigan and comparable in size and location to Albuquerque and Bernalillo, he said.
When Rothbart takes the stage at the Guild Cinema, he will talk about "Found," and his brother will perform.
"My brother Peter has written songs about 'Found' stuff," he said. "Amazing and ridiculous songs."
One song is based on a love letter, and another came from a cassette tape of homemade rap anthems. Peter took one of the songs and made it into an acoustic ballad that goes something like "Damn, the booty don't stop."
"It is usually the highlight of every show," Rothbart said.
He said the show tends to get rowdy. Everyone who comes should leave with a smile.
"It's the most dazzling 90 minutes since 'Trading Places' with Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy," he said.
