http://streetsense.org/2009/06/ivory-wilson/
short version: pimp, prison, family... writer.
his book A Player's World Manual: Wanna Be A Pimp? contains only 56 pages.
Her name was Renee and she hated seeing Wilson hanging around with Unc’s crowd. Wilson fell hard for her and after a month of dating told his family that he planned to marry her. When his friends in the army learned of his marriage plans they cautioned him. They told him that not only did Renee have a relationship with another soldier stationed in Germany, but also that she had become pregnant before he left. Timidly, Wilson said, he asked Renee if the rumor was true. She dropped the bowl of cereal she was eating and begged forgiveness as he walked away. “I had a pain in my heart,” Wilson said. “My thoughts about a woman, my feelings towards women, they got hard, real hard.” That night, he made the decision to be-come a pimp to “punish” women. Unc more than agreed, with this decision. Unc sent Wilson to Kansas City to pick out five double–breasted suits, all different colors, with matching shoes and hats, and a prostitute. All the items on Wilson’s list were easy to pick up. Wilson said his first prostitute was from Minnesota and handed over her earnings with little argument. When they returned to Junction City, Wilson was picked up by the police for running away from the army and spent three months in jail. He lost his prostitute, but there were many more to come. The next 12 years of Wilson’s life were a blur spent traveling from city to city, living on cocaine and cognac. “One became two, then five and soon 20,” Wilson said. “I wanted to be bigger than Unc.” Prison changed all that.
Wilson lived in Franklin Shelter in D.C. where he met a Street Sense vendor who encouraged him to sell the street paper as a way to make an income and possibly get his stories published. Since becoming homeless, Wilson had tried to keep a low profile in the shelter and with his new employers.
pimping and being a pimp is not the same.... the story of wonna-be-Berg-writer is ok but have some thoughts:
if he was a 'pimp' why he didnt went legit? just wonder: compering Magic Don, Fillmore Slim.... why he didnt think of his retirement (or just use connection to get money). its because fast 'ice' life? or maybe he didnt know how to play a long term game.