To Catch a Trader Airing January 7th on PBS Frontline… I’m very excited to see this film – I did an interview with them for about 90 minutes back in July. Watch the trailer… To Catch a Trader
Pursuit of Happiness Everyone knows the most famous line from the Declaration of Independence… The Pursuit of Happiness. But I think for myself I didn’t really understand the true meaning of happiness. Aristotle wrote, “the happy man lives well and does well; for we have practically defined happiness as a sort of good life and good action.” Happiness is not, he argued, equivalent to wealth or pleasure. It is an end in itself, not the means to an end. It only took making and losing 10 million dollars, 2 rehabs, 3 outpatients, a broken relationship, a foreclosed house and several hundred AA meetings for me to figure that out… Even after I was 2 years sober, out of family court, had wonderful relationship with my daughter and ex girlfriend, all of my amends had gone flawlessly and just received a huge book deal from Random House… I still wasn’t happy. At that moment I declared that was an asshole… I would never be happy… I don’t even want to be happy… My goal was now serenity – – -screw happiness. And… ironically ever since that day – I’ve never been happier.
Chapter 3… July 1996 I’m surrounded by women. The bar, Cite is across the street from our office and is a fan favorite. I’d only recently begun going out after work with my peers. I’m not really all that comfortable with the suit-and-tie, Wall Street hangouts. Give me a pair of jeans and a sawdust floor any day. Cite is primarily a restaurant and, I must admit, with the curved bar and intimate space, the place has its merits. The wine glasses are gigantic and bartenders pour heavy. On a typical night at Cite, pronounced “sit-tay,” as in “par-tay,” there are ten to fifteen women from our floor at the bar and five to ten men from the trading floor. The spot isn’t a secret. Many a six-hour love stories have started here. A bunch of my ex-Morgan Stanley friends came to one of my book readings… Thank you for the support. Much Love…
Photos from The Buy Side I’ve had some request for photos from The Buy Side… It was a struggle to come up with these – but this is the best that I’ve got. Moving to NYC with Jayme 1994 Galleon Party… Before I ever tried cocaine Laight Street Bedroom I’m not proud… Random Night with Orange Prison Jumpsuit – oh god! The drugs were starting to kick in… trouble ahead… I meet Jenn right after her tour with Enrique. Laight Street view & Greece Lola is born Jenn and I on vacation I’m going downhill… Two dogs: Houdini and M.C. The house in Huntington Bay… Movie theater on 3rd floor From the porch
Dear Stephen King Dear Stephen King, Growing up in Maine in the ‘80s, there wasn’t a whole lot to brag about—or at least so it seemed. Sure we had the beautiful rocky coast, the best lobsters in the world and were one of the first states to initiate recycling! But who wants to stick their chest out about those things? By my teens, there was some improvement: Maine hockey, Cindy Blodgett and Joan Benoit. There was even a rumor that Judd Nelson, one of the stars from The Breakfast Club, was from Portland. But, in those pre-internet days, that factoid was hard to confirm. But the one, indisputable, bragging right we did have was Stephen King. For Mainers, the idea of you packing up your stuff and moving to Hollywood evoked as much fear as a night in Room 217. It would have been more tragic than Lebron leaving Cleveland. Maine was home to Stephen King and WE could call him our own. So from one hometown boy to another, here’s the reason for this letter: Being a fan, I always thought the scariest demons I’d encounter were the ones in your books. Then I tried cocaine. It was like a sinister butterfly-effect. I guess Nancy Regan did try to warn me, but obviously that never took. Thankfully, I’m now sober almost four years. The first book I read out of rehab (my second stint) was On Writing. I’ve since read it two more times. For me, the book is magic. It spoke to me. And its message was more than how to write, it was a why aren’t I writing? So I wrote and wrote and wrote. A little over a year ago, I received a book contract from Random House and in early June my book, The Buy Side, was published. It’s a coming-of-age/redemption story of my 15-year career on Wall Street. If you run into anyone who doesn’t believe in the miracles that can happen in sobriety tell them to call me. Enclosed please find a copy of my book and know that I send it without any agenda but because it feels like something I’m supposed to do. I don’t know why, exactly. Maybe it completes some kind of universal circle. But I do know that I’m sending it with enormous gratitude. You and On Writing helped change my life and I will be forever thankful. Sincerely, Turney Duff