Phil Wood of Ten Speed Press

Phil Wood, publisher of Ten Speed Press, died last Saturday. 25 years ago, Phil gave me my first publishing job, and what a wonderful and strange ride it was.I was hired to answer phones and during one busy day, when I was supposed to be saying, "Good morning, Ten Speed Press, how may I direct your call?" -- instead, I pitched White Trash Cooking to a producer at the Letterman show.Phil," I said, walking in to his then round office filled with books, manuscripts, and Asian art, "I just booked Ernie (the author) on the Letterman show. I have to go to New York." With that, he promoted to publicist.So I went to New York, and Ernie cooked chicken feet on the show, toenails and all. I worked on so many other amazing books: Flattened Fauna, Mushrooms Demystified (I got an unmarked package containing psilocybin with no return address one Christmas as a thank you), How to Shit in the Woods, Barbecuing with Bobby (Bobby Seale that is), Still Life with Menu, What Color is Your Parachute, and so many more.I took Phil out to lunch a few years ago to thank him. I worked on some brilliant, warped books at Ten Speed, and it was Phil who gave me that opportunity. He was a brilliant, odd bird and I was grateful to know him.