Pimp

I'm now reading Iceberg Slim's Pimp: The Story of My Life. Very similar to Shot In The Heart, yet very different.

This is from Popsubculture.com's The Biography Project:

Iceberg Slim, also known as Robert Beck, was born as Robert Lee Maupin in Chicago, Illinois on August 4th, 1918. He spent much of his childhood in Milwaukee and Rockford, Illinois before returning to Chicago as a teenager.

His father having abandoned them, Slim's mother supported the family by working as a domestic and operating a beauty shop. He credits his mother for having prepared him for the pimp lifestyle by pampering him during his childhood.

Iceberg attended Tuskegee Institute briefly in the mid 1930's, at the same time Ralph Ellison was there, however they did not know one another.

At 18, Robert began his initiation into "the life", adopting his nom de guerre, "Iceberg Slim" and remained a pimp until age 42, predominantly in the Chicago area. He was incarcerated several times in conjunction with his crimes, including a stretch in Leavenworth and spent a 10 month prison sentence in solitary confinement at Cook County House of Corrections in 1960. It was this last stretch that finally motivated Iceberg to "square up", and take to writing about his life experiences rather than pursuing a life of crime.

Slim moved to California in the 1960's to pursue the a normal life, and changed his name to Robert Beck, using the last name of the man his mother was married to at the time.

He published his first autobiographical novel, Pimp: The Story of My Life in 1969 published by Holloway House. He found his book being shelved next to other black authors of the angry 60's like Eldridge Cleaver's Soul On Ice and Malcolm X's The Autobiography of Malcolm X. As the climate shifted to the more militant black political movements in the 1970's, Slim had an opportunity to meet Huey Newton and other members of the Black Panther Party, whom he admired greatly. He considered his success as a pimp as a blow against white oppression. The Black Panthers, however, had little mutual regard for Slim, considered his former profession as little more than the exploitation of his people for personal gain.

Slim's books were met with great success and immediately garnered widespread attention. The film rights to Pimp were purchased by Universal Pictures following the success of The Godfather, however the project was considered "too hot" and put on hold indefinitely. However, in 1973 Trick Baby was made into a film directed by Larry Yust. The cast included Kiel Martin as "White Folks"; Mel Stewart as "Blue Howard"; and Ted Lange as "Melvin the Pimp". [NEWSFLASH: I just found out that this was recently released on video - check your local (cool) independently owned video store, or buy it. ].

There have been rumors that a film based on Pimp is now in production, with both Ice-T and Ice Cube vying for the leading role. By the way, both "Ices" cite Iceberg Slim as an early inspiration, and paid homage to him by adopting his name. UPDATE: It looks like Ice Cube has gotten the part for the upcoming film, check out this article from MTV.com, though since this is dated May 2000, the production may have been postponed. Here's another (undated) blurb from Rolling Stone.

Iceberg Slim passed away April 28, 1992 at age 73