Developer’s debut book mixes humor with a message

By Tina Fischer, Mainebiz

Reveler Development founder Tom Watson has authored a memoir about the early, difficult and dirty — some might add crazy — days of renovating Portland apartment buildings in the 1990s, when much of the city was more gritty than pretty.

In his debut book, “Your Turn,” Watson shares the humor in the calamitous. He tells his tale in a series of short vignettes, with chapters entitled: “Rats and Worms,” “Stink Pipe Gladiators,” “Nobody Move and Nobody Gets Hurt” and “Barf Bag.”

Watson started his company out of the back of his pickup truck and lived in the unfinished buildings he was rehabbing, many of which were in such poor condition that they needed to be gutted.

Soldiering on through it all, Watson and his “Radio Crew” went on to launch Reveler on a path to eventually develop over 2,000 apartments throughout Maine and North Carolina.

Watson was honored as a Mainebiz Business Leader of the Year in 2023.

The book also touches on Watson’s serious health crises, involving multiple strokes, and — most importantly — his recovery.

Read the full article.