Tesla: His Tremendous and Troubled Life Biographer Marko Perko
Marko Perko is a graduate of the University of Southern California. He has always had an insatiable thirst for knowledge of all types, and as such, he is highly regarded as a modern-day Renaissance man, author, historian, polymath, and polemicist. He is the author of the critically acclaimed and wildly popular book entitled Did You Know That...? now in its fourth edition. He is the author of the upcoming novel Lethal Action: A Nick Raasay Thriller and the co-author of the work of fiction entitled Khamsin: A Thriller. Moreover, he is the writer of the international bestselling knowledge-based board game Twenty Questions. He is also the creator of the Cultural Enrichment Programs education series, and he is active in software development―Krypti.com. Perko has also written for and edited numerous publications, and he has worked as a columnist, speechwriter, composer, musician, lecturer, and playwright. He is a member of The Authors Guild, the Biographers International Organization, The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, Broadcast Music, Inc., the Organization of American Historians, the Institution of Engineering and Technology, and the British Library. He recently completed a “new-style” biography (with Stepehen M. Stahl) about Nikola Tesla entitled Tesla: His Tremendous and Troubled Life to be published by Prometheus Books in March 2022. He is also in production on” the podcast for the curious” called History’s Greatest Lies and Myths. Additionally, he is writing new books, as well as working on television and film projects based upon several of his intellectual properties. He lives in California with his wife Heather and their daughter “Skye Mackay” Perko.
Marko Perko & Stephen M. Stahl’s Tesla (Prometheus Books)
How did you first get started writing and what do you feel the book form offers writers that other writing mediums cannot accomplish?
I began writing poetry at the age of nine at behest of my father after he had introduced me to Kahlil Gibran, the author of The Prophet and other influential works. Gibran’s words captivated me, and I read everything thing that he had ever written over and over. From that point on, I wanted to be a writer. I had to be a writer!
The book form offers writers more control over their ideas and work product than any other genre based on the written word.
What is it about Nikola Tesla that fascinates you? Do we still have more to learn from the life of Tesla and his legacy?
As you know Mark, I come to the Tesla biography project from a very different point of view than those who have proceeded me with Tesla biographies. I was raised on the great accomplishments of Tesla from childhood, onward. Moreover, I have what is called the “lived experience” of being brought up in the same ethnic and cultural milieu as Tesla, himself. I am a fellow Serbian who resonates with Tesla’s upbringing, inasmuch as what values informed his life, informs mine.
Thankfully, my father introduced me to Tesla at a very early age. Since then, I had the honor to talk with his great-grandnephew and others who knew Nikola Tesla in various capacities. From them, I gleaned a great deal of valuable information that otherwise wouldn’t be possible to know. As such, I believe I bring a closeness to the Tesla biography project that others might not have.
Moreover, Tesla’s rejection of “received wisdom” still fascinates me to this very day. His refusal to accept what I call the “scientific” Overton window allowed him to explore new vistas in the world of science; to create never before thought of inventions; and to discover laws of nature that others never knew existed.
“…what’s still unknown about Tesla…the list is endless. From the U.S. Departments of Defense and Energy, to the FBI and CIA…much is still classified.”
David Bowie as Nikola Tesla in the film The Prestige (2006).
With regard to what’s still unknown about Tesla, well, the list is endless. From the U.S. Departments of Defense and Energy, to the FBI and CIA, and other clandestine federal agencies, much is still classified. Will we ever know the whole story? No. However, hopefully my upcoming, new-style biography Tesla: His Tremendous and Troubled Life―written with Stephen M. Stahl, one of the world’s preeminent psychiatrists―will go a long way in bringing to the public a more complete view of the man who struggled with “bipolar disorder,” all the while inventing the modern world of today.
Elon Musk’s inside one of his Tesla cars, which has very little to do with Nikola Tesla, other than devoting its name to him as an inventor.
Do you feel that the portrayals of Tesla in the media have been fair and accurate? What other forms of media that depict Tesla might you point your readers to?
No. Until just a few years ago, Nikola Tesla was only recognized by the scientific elite, and the name “Tesla” was generally associated with the automobile of the same name. It was a very long road for the man who invented the modern world, but it is now Tesla’s time! I believe my upcoming biography will rectify many of the egregious wrongs done to him by historians, journalists, and others who sought to erase his profound accomplishments from the history books and the collective consciousness. But no more.
I would suggest that those interested in Nikola Tesla’s work look to the many major scientific Web sites dedicated to him as well as some of the more recent books and articles written in recent years.
If Tesla were alive today, what would he be doing?
Great question. He would be doing what he always did, he would continue “to lift the burdens from the shoulders of mankind” with new inventions and discoveries. His time on earth was dedicated to the betterment of mankind, not to his personal betterment, thus, he would do nothing different today.
Meg White & Jack White of The White Stripes next to a Tesla coil in the Jim Jarmusch film Coffee and Cigarettes (2003).
Can you tell us about your creative process? Any special practices, rituals or habits?
Yes, it all starts with reading. I have a rather unusual process when I read: I annotate every book I read with copious one-liner notes for virtually each page. I then rate the importance of each note with asterisks. This laborious process allows me to later re-read a book in a very short period of time by simply reading the annotations, as I look for information I need in my research and writing. Oftentimes ideas germinate as I read, and then sometime later those ideas take on the form of books, articles, etc.
Moreover, I sometimes put thoughts down on paper in a random fashion, never editing them on the first pass, then as the process continues, the thoughts that point toward a cogent idea take precedence. I also keep a digital file of all book ideas. But frankly, without reading, particularly when writing nonfiction book, one’s writing has no basis in fact, and in non-fiction, whether it is biography, history, journalism, etc., the guiding mantra must always be…“is it true?”
What has it been like in working with Jonathan Kurtz and the team at Prometheus on Tesla: His Tremendous and Troubled Life?
He’s been very generous with my requests and the energy, expertise, and excitement he continues to put behind the book project I believe will go a very long way to making it a bestseller.
Are there any good books on your nightstand at the moment?
Yes, there’s a stack on my nightstand that’s about two feet high. Although the majority of books I read are about every aspect of history, I regularly interlard them with books about philosophy, science, and technology. That said, every time I grab one to read, invariably several fall off the nightstand somewhat like a literary Jenga game. Anyway, presently the first five books in my stack are as follows: Metropolis: A History of the City, Humankind’s Greatest Invention; Contested Will: Who Wrote Shakespeare?; The Hemlock Cup: Socrates, Athens and the Search for the Good Life; SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome; and The Polymath: A Cultural History from Leonardo da Vinci to Susan Sontag.
“…Trident Media Group is the gold-standard of top-shelf literary agencies.”
How did you find your way to Trident Media Group on go on to get your book published?
It was a circuitous route to be sure. But the simple answer is that every serious writer desires to be represented by a top-shelf literary agency that has a long reach across the entire spectrum of writing, publishing, and entertainment, and the Trident Media Group is the gold-standard of top-shelf literary agencies. So Mark Gottlieb, when I sent you a query letter about a distinctly different biography on Nikola Tesla, the idea resonated with you from the start. Next came the book proposal and thereafter you began representing the book project. Mark Gottlieb, many thanks for believing.
Any advice for hopeful writers looking to become published authors?
First and foremost you must read, write, and repeat…every single day!
Second, believe in yourself, your work, and never quit!
Can you finish this sentence? I love reading because…
It brings me great joy, comfort, knowledge, and intellectual independence…all of which make life worth living!