This article details a lunch interview with bestselling author David Baldacci at Bambini Trust Restaurant and Wine Room in Sydney. Baldacci discusses his writing process, publishing history including a near name change, his health and fitness routines, and his family's trip to Australia.
Let's start with a spoiler alert. The plot of the Lunch With column often rests on the restaurant chosen by the dining subject. As with Chekov’s gun, an interviewee doesn’t pick a takeaway sandwich shop unless they want to show how salt of the earth they are; or a nose-to-tail restaurant if they don’t intend to espouse the virtues of sustainable farming practices. But novelist David Baldacci has never been to Australia before, so it’s up to me to frame the story.
Where’s appropriate for one of the world’s top-earning authors who has sold so many novels that biographies seem to have reached an unspoken agreement that it’s always “more than 150 million copies”? A man who counts American presidents as fans, and some as friends (more on his wild boat ride with George Bush senior later). I consider a deli, as Baldacci writes so frequently at one near his home in Northern Virginia, about 30 minutes outside of Washington, DC, that the owners have installed a plaque above his usual seat that reads, “David Baldacci’s Remote Office”. Perhaps a dive bar, where I could imagine some of his thriller leads, like Amos Decker, John Puller or Will Robie, trading information. Or, perhaps, a bookshop café as Baldacci is a passionate campaigner against the book bans sweeping the US and established the literacy foundation Wish You Well.In the end, I settle on Bambini Trust Restaurant and Wine Room, a white tablecloth Italian restaurant on the ground floor of the historic St James Trust Building, opposite Sydney’s Hyde Park. I explain my reasoning when we sit in a cosy window seat, looking out on a city still shell-shocked by storms, as gentle piano chords play in the background. The building, in the heart of the court district, is home to the chambers of legal bigwigs. Baldacci was a trial lawyer in Washington for nearly a decade. The cuisine also speaks to Baldacci’s heritage; his dad, a mechanic, was the son of Italian migrants. Plus (and I concede this one is a bit of a reach), Bambini Trust opened in 1997, the year Baldacci’s debut novel Baldacci graciously accepts my reasoning, and expertly weaves together the threads with a story about the Italian publication of which he wrote over three years while working as a lawyer. “The publisher’s problem was that everybody wanted American thrillers, so they thought with ‘Baldacci’ readers would think, ‘he is Italian’ and the thriller wouldn’t be first-tier. So, they wanted me to change my name,” Baldacci says. “Luckily, we had just bought a car. I was on the phone and I looked out, and I said, ‘OK you can call me David Ford.’ They were like, ‘Oh my god, that’s so American.’ So number one bestseller, David Ford.” His second novel was published under the name David B. Ford; his third as David Baldacci Ford. The book covers weren’t wide enough to fit any more names, he jokes, so he has since been published as David Baldacci in Italy. Yet, he still meets readers who know him as “the car guy”.Baldacci says people mostly recognise his name, rather than his face. He goes undetected at Bambini. Indeed, a couple seem to request to move to a table away from us, confused by the recorder and the photographer, even though I feel assured the well-to-do mister has picked up a Baldacci or two for his business-class trips. Wearing a bright mandarin knit polo and a Florida tan (he lives there during winter), Baldacci stands out against the dreary weather. For entrées, we both order the buffalo mozzarella, which arrives with the perfect amount of wiggle. As he sips a tall glass of Coke Zero with lemon through a candy-striped straw, Baldacci jokes that he could be in a soft drink advertisement. When he turned 61, he quit drinking (despite having built an impressive European-style wine cellar in his main house in Virginia).“I’ve always worked out and been very healthy, but it was time to take back control of that. I never drank to excess, but I feel a lot healthier,” he says. Baldacci, now 64, has an aura of longevity to him, like the Tom Brady of letters. He played sports as a young man including baseball and football (he wasn’t the quarterback) and wrestling helped him get a scholarship to Virginia Commonwealth University. Now, he uses a workout app, but mixes it up with the bikes, rowing machines and elliptical. “When I tell people I stretch 45 minutes every day, they’re like, ‘Oh, my God, it’s crazy.’ But put this in perspective. That means for 23 hours and 15 minutes every day, I’m not,” he says. Plus, he’s walked more than 450 kilometres since he arrived in Sydney on December 21. He’s never been to Australia before, but his wife, Michelle, was keen to celebrate a birthday so it turned into a family affair. His two children, daughter Spencer, who is following her father’s footsteps into law, and son Collin, who works in advertising, came too. They’ve been staying in a rented house in Darling Point in Sydney for nearly a month
DAVID BALDACCI AUTHOR INTERVIEW LUNCH WITH AUSTRALIA SYDNEY WRITING PUBLISHING HEALTH FITNESS FAMILY
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Traveller Letters: Backpackers, no one wants to see your bum at lunch“This is for backpackers: please dress according to the local customs when visiting countries.”
Read more »
Traveller Letters: Backpackers, no one wants to see your bum at lunch“This is for backpackers: please dress according to the local customs when visiting countries.”
Read more »
Dutton Promises Work Lunch Tax Break Amid Coalition TurmoilPeter Dutton, the Australian opposition leader, unveiled a plan to offer tax breaks for work lunches, aiming to bolster the Coalition's support among small businesses. However, his party faces internal divisions following a contentious preselection battle in a crucial Sydney seat.
Read more »
‘Homeless people given free lunch’ to attend Trump Jr event in GreenlandPeople in Maga hats at meal last week did not know Donald Trump’s son and were invited off the street, hotel boss says
Read more »
Teen Dies After Drinking Dozen Alcoholic Drinks at Christmas LunchA 16-year-old boy in Australia tragically died after consuming over a dozen alcoholic drinks at a family Christmas lunch. Despite pleas from his mother to moderate his intake, the teen continued drinking throughout the day and evening, ultimately leading to his death from acute alcohol intoxication.
Read more »
Teenage Boy Dies After Consuming Lethal Amount of Alcohol at Christmas LunchA 16-year-old boy tragically died from acute alcohol intoxication after consuming a large amount of alcohol at his aunt's Christmas lunch. The coroner's findings revealed that the boy's death could have been prevented with timely medical intervention.
Read more »