Chicken Soup for Tripp

By C.J. JANOVY

Here’s some New Year’s reading for anyone who really cares about Kansas City: Please Underestimate Me — The Blood, Guts, and Soul of Richard G. Tripp.

Probably best-known to churchgoers and synagogue attendees who’ve heard his story and KFKF 94.1 FM listeners who’ve donated to radio-thons in support of his efforts, Tripp is a formerly homeless cab driver who organizes massive potluck dinners and clothing giveaways a couple of times a year. (His next event, Spring Break for the Homeless, is scheduled for April 26 at the Levitt Warehouse at 21st and Central.) Full disclosure: Tripp’s an old friend of mine; I wrote a Pitch story about him in the early ’90s — so long ago, I barely remember what it was about, other than that it exposed some less-than-brotherly behavior at some area homeless shelters. (Tripp recaps the episode in a short chapter in his book.) And I’ve kept up with him over the years.

Once, when Tripp was driving his cab, he picked up a fare who turned out to be Mark Victor Hansen of the Chicken Soup for the Soul line of inspirational books. Moved by Tripp’s story of going from alcoholism to homelessness to forming an organization called Care of Poor People Inc. (COPP), Hansen wrote about Tripp in one of his Chicken Soup books. Soon Tripp was hooked up with Hansen’s confab of motivational speakers and authors. If you’re into that kind of thing, you’ll appreciate it in Please Underestimate Me; conversely, if the Chicken Soup shtick makes you want to gag (I’m in that camp), it’s easy to forgive here because Tripp doesn’t preach it too hard. His writing style is salt-of-the-earth conversational. His stories about life on Kansas City’s edges are hard-earned, and he tells them like the barroom regaler he once must have been.

At times, Tripp lays it on a little thick, but he’s earned that right as far as I’m concerned. Lots of people talk about writing a book someday, but few people actually do it — especially ninth-grade dropouts.

If you’ve seen Tripp at a metro church or heard him on the radio, do him a favor and buy a copy of his book. He promises it will bankroll more efforts on behalf of Kansas City’s poor people. He knows he’s not solving any big, systemic problems. But I’ve seen the guy in action, and he’s doing more than most of us.