Joseph A. Tunzi
| Joseph A. Tunzi | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Joseph Anthony Tunzi July 25, 1953 Chicago, Illinois |
| Occupation | author, publisher, self-publisher, producer, researcher, archivist, historian |
| Notable work |
Elvis Sessions III The Recorded Music of Elvis Aron Presley 1953-1977(2004) '68 At 40:Retrospective (2008) |
| Website | http://www.jatpublishing.com/ |
Joseph Anthony Tunzi (born July 25, 1953) is a renowned Chicago, Illinois based author, publisher, and producer. He has been described as "one of the foremost authorities on Elvis Presley," authoring, self-publishing, and producing over fifty titles about Presley for the past twenty-nine years. Tunzi has also compiled a massive photo archive, from which he licenses photographs of Presley.
Adam Victor referred to Tunzi in his 2008 publication, The Elvis Encyclopedia as "one of the world's most prolific Elvis authors, with more than twenty books to his name, specializing in photo books about specific events and tours through his own publishing operation, J.A.T. Productions." Victor went on to write in The Elvis Encyclopedia that "many of Tunzi's books feature exclusive interviews and recordings and that he has also published a number of DVD titles, including the Elvis Presley Hot Shots And Cool Clips series."
AMICI Journal wrote of Tunzi, "deciding to focus purely on his writing and publishing, building a huge archive of photos, every book Tunzi has released has included a plethora of rare photographs. With their beautiful layouts, and accurate information, Tunzi quickly built a reputation as a top writer and archivist."
Tunzi is listed under American Authors on NobelAuthors.com .
Additionally, Tunzi has been interviewed by several television and radio programs as well as for several newspaper articles and websites throughout his career. Between 1972 and 1977, Tunzi routinely was a guest commentator on Roy Leonard's radio program on WGN, often offering opinions on Elvis Presley's latest record releases and Elvis' personal concert appearances, films and television specials he had recently witnessed, amongst other subjects. Tunzi also regularly appeared as a guest on Jay Gordon's radio program Elvis Only. Tunzi has been a guest on Sirius Satellite Radio's Elvis Radio (Channel 19), having been interviewed while in Memphis as well as via the telephone.
Tunzi worked at several radio stations in the Chicago area between 1972 and 1982 as an account executive in charge of selling radio advertisements. He also owned Records For A Song, a Chicago area record shop in the late seventies. In 1982, he formed his own publishing company, which up until 1987 strictly dealt with direct mail advertising. By 1985, Tunzi had stopped working for radio stations and began focusing his efforts towards becoming an entrepreneur in direct mail advertising.
By 1988 his company, JAT Publishing (name derived from his initials), diverted its efforts towards self-publishing books that eventually evolved to primarily featuring rare photographs of Elvis Presley throughout his life and career. His first self-published book, though, The First Elvis Video Price And Reference Guide, was a parody of the various price guides that were coming into the collectibles market at the time. As Mike Eder noted in his article, A Look At Joseph A. Tunzi in AMICI Journal (National Italian American Celebrity Magazine), "Feeling many of the values to be arbitrary, and also amused by the huge amount of publications, Joseph decided to do a parody price guide on Elvis Presley's videos." As Eder further elaborated, "Tunzi deliberately used subtle humor to test out his theory that these guides were being given too much relevance in collectors' circles." Steven Opdyke wrote in 1999 that "Tunzi had another claim to fame. In 1988, he compiled the first Elvis Presley video guide. It contained listings of movie prints, promotional tapes and foreign releases as part of its lengthy presentations. It also had pricing information, which was especially useful for obtaining items with limited distribution."
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