Arts and Entertainment Books

Thanks to Nick for writing such a comprehensive book on Yma Sumac. If only I had it to read before I became a part of the story. Full of life lessons, I think everyone should read it no matter if you are a fan or not. enjoy

Finally, a definitive history of one of the world's most beloved musical treasures. Nicholas E Limansky has written a bold and fascinating book - an exhaustive study on Yma Sumac - the Queen of exotica.

-Jeff Chenault - Staff writer for Tiki Magazine and author of the forthcoming Book of Exotica

Nick Limansky's wonderful biography of Yma Sumac is finally available and I really enjoyed it. Begun in 1980, it is full of fascinating interviews with musicians and key players who have not been around for years. It is brimming with great pictures. It is of course a biography and documents her whole career and its backstory, but Limansky also documents the Yma of pop culture: Thomas Meehan's wonderful Yma Dream,5 years of the wild YmaRama festivals in Santa Cruz, etc. Yma had such a unique place in between a few music genres and in so many ways what made her famous also destroyed her credibility as a serious artist and talent. After 27 years of collecting info and writing, it all could not be contained in the book so there is an additional CD-ROM available that contains 120 more pages, 140 more photos and better reproductions of all the photos included in the book. On the CD, Linmansky gives a track by track critical discussion of all of Yma's recordings. Because the book is written by a singer, it adds a perspective and understanding of her talent and craft that makes it a particularly good read for a non-singer, but a fan like me. Did I mention the glorious cover?

"If anyone ever deserved the sobriquet "Legendary" it is Peruvian diva Yma Sumac. Her mysterious Andean background, ravishing beauty and thrilling voice of many octaves made her the absolute empress of the Exotica craze of the 1950s. Anyone seeking to understand her unique magic needs to look no further than this book. In a monumental undertaking of love, research, intuition, understanding and first-rate detective work, Nicholas Limansky has laid before the reader all the facts and all the fictions that continue to surround this remarkable artist. One of the singular careers in international show business is completely examined in a book so complete, thorough and well-written that it can only be called exhaustive. Limansky's deep knowledge of the technical and psychological components of singing - and his clear and incisive writing - enable him to explain the intricate details of her performances in a way that both reaches the experienced listener and is also completely comprehensible to the novice. In fact, to read his descriptions while listening to the referenced selection is to fast-forward one's total understanding of the mysteries of the singing voice. This is a remarkeable achievement and Ms. Sumac is one fortunate diva, indeed, to have such a sympathetic and accurate champion. Bravo!"

Freeman Gunter (former editor of Michael's Thing, Mandate, Soap Opera Weekly, and Classical Singer Magazines)

There have been countless stories published about Yma Sumac since she first burst upon the scene in the 1940s but nearly all have been filled with the hype and mistakes of her original marketing campaigns. However, Mr. Limansky has come up with this definitive tome after many years of extensive and thorough research that dispels most of the myths and provides the first true look at her life, music and vocal techniques.

Don Pierson, Yma Sumac Homepage and Archives - SunVirgin dot com

Fabulous Book. If you want to know the inner-workings of the star-studded Hollywood Machine in the 1920's then this is the book for you. An insider's account with all the trimmings. Cari Beauchamp does it again. BRAVA!

Valeria Belletti was an energetic, intelligent young woman who came to Los Angeles from New York and worked as a secretary to some of the most powerful and interesting people in Hollywood in the late 1920s. During this period, she wrote dozens of letters to her best friend, describing not only her experiences at the movie studios, but her personal feelings and day-to-day life in southern California and on an extended trip to Europe. These letters make up the bulk of this short book, which left me liking Valeria very much and wishing there had been more. Well-written background notes are provided by editor Cari Beauchamp.

While Beauchamp supplies some valuable padding-out of the events and personalities Valeria described, she tends to give the compilation a modern feminist point of view the author of the letters did not seem to have in mind. In contrast, the letters indicate that rather than being the victim of an "iron ceiling" (Beauchamp's term), Valeria, although a high school dropout, had opportunities to grow professionally beyond being a secretary, but chose not to pursue them. Furthermore, rather than half-heartedly marrying a man she was "only fond of" (Beauchamp again) as a sort of economic expedient in an oppressive patriarchal society, Valeria was an independent woman who went where she wanted to go and did what she wanted to do. She had no trouble supporting herself comfortably, and she enthusiastically married a man of modest economic means, of whom she wrote, "The more I'm with him, the more I love him."

I have the paperback edition and find it odd that the name of Valeria Belletti, the delightful author of the letters comprising this book, does not appear on the front cover or the spine, while Beauchamp's name is displayed in large print. For enthusiasts of early Hollywood or 1920s southern California, Valeria's letters are well worth reading, while taking her editor's feminist leanings with a large chunk of salt.

This is a very fascinating book if you're into Hollywood history, specifically of the 20's. Although written as letters to a friend, they a lot like a diary, and as such it's a look at Hollywood of that era from a viewpoint we've never seen: the regular employee. There are plenty of books by and about the stars, directors, executives, etc., but this is the first one from a secretary, and while that may not sound as exciting as, say, a book about Buster Keaton, it really is interesting.

What's great is that these were just casual letters, not something their author (Valieria Belletti) expected anyone but her friend to read, consequently she speaks her mind with an openness and honesty you just won't get from someone who's expecting to be quoted. The letters are full of comments and incidents about major stars and directors, but are presented in a casual way, not jazzed up as they would be upon later reminiscence or if they were being told in an interview.

The only thing I didn't like, and this is to be expected from the private letters of one young woman to another, is that the "search for a husband" stuff gets a bit tiresome. It's still interesting in terms of being a window on the mores and social life of the time, and therefore some readers might find it better than the movie studio parts, but I came at the book through an interest in the movies not an interest in how women dated in the 20's. (As I said though, I did find this stuff interesting, it's just that it started to occupy more space than the studio stuff. And in Valieria's defense, it sounded like she was wearying of it after a while too.)

So I'm glad I read the book and I definitely recommend it, just don't expect wall-to-wall insights and revelations about Hollywood. Not that I expected that, but just be sure you don't either.

This book is not only for film buffs, it is a window to a world that is long gone. It is a bird's eye view of Hollywood at the end of the silent era and transitioning into the age of the talkies.

Aside from the great Hollywood dish, of which there is plenty, Belletti was remarkably candid and refreshingly not star struck. Although, I must confess that I can totally relate to having a crush on Ronald Colman. In the end it is the delightful, matter of fact, take no prisoners Valeria Belletti that you come so much to admire in reading her letters. She was a wonderful letter writer and these letters are, indeed, treasures. At the turn of each page you are delighted anew with some insight or adventure. She was one spunky girl and wrote letters that are filled with details of her days and nights in Hollywood. We need to bless her beloved friend Irma for saving these letters and presenting them to her many years later.

We must also thank Cari Beauchamp for bringing these letters to light and annotating them carefully with her own delightful and informative prose. As I said before, this is a window to a lost world. More than that, it is a celebration of an independent young woman making her way in a man's world and celebrating her life at the height of the jazz age. This will be a volume I will turn to again and again. Don't miss it, this will brighten the gloomiest and dampest spirits on a rainy day.

Let me just say one thing: I'm completely in love with this book. It's amazing and full of breathtaking pictures that will take you right away to the very heart of Africa.

The funny thing is that I got it for a very good price as well. The best purchase of my life!

Don't miss it if you're interested in Kenya and its surroundings.

This was bought as a gift, my dear friend who is also my mom had this on her wish list and I bought it for her birthday.
I didn't really know what to expect of the book, since it was not I who wished for it.
When it came, I was completely delighted with it. Not only is it a beautiful, big, coffee-table size volume, but the photographs inside are wonderful! Something else--the text of the book is written in a font that appears to have been written by hand, straight out of the explorers journal. A nice touch when accompanied by these wonderful photos.
A beautiful book, indeed and the price is very fair, in my opinion.

It makes a great gift, too! :-)

This is something of a `summing it all up' book for this photographer of Africa. With four books and an entire lifetime behind her, she is looking back over the path of her days and trying to clarify for herself what her relationship with the land of her birth has become. "I am a child of Africa," she begins by saying, and yet as we wander through the pages of her life it is clear that it is never so simple as that.

The journey that Ricciardi takes us on is made up of long passages of text and an equal abundance of beautiful photographs. This was my first introduction to this talented photographer, and some of her work took my breath away. The photographs each have descriptions and comments written along side them, and I ended up reading these before working through the sections of text.

Ricciardi's life has been vibrant and is fascinating to read about, though her tone is somewhat melancholy. She is looking back on the Africa that was, the Africa of her youth that has disappeared. She is also looking at it through her `white man's eyes', and realizing that although she may be rooted in the land she has always been a foreigner.

The photographs moved me and Ricciardi's words challenged me. As a white woman who loved Africa she has in interesting view point, caught between what her people have done to Africa and what Africa has done for her. Sorrow and pain and regret are unavoidable when it comes to the Africa of today, but they are bound up with incredible beauty. This book doesn't so much show us the heart of Africa, but the heart of a woman who has been effected forever by the two faces of this land.

Although Ricciardi writes eloquently about Africa and shares herself and her deepest thoughts with the reader in a personal, searching way, it is her photographs that tell her story best. She has captured both the last days of the Africa she knew and the beginning of its new life, in this collection of some of her best and favorite work. A beautiful book.

This book contains images of modest nudity, including nursing mothers and children, that would probably earn this book an "R" rating if it were a motion picture.

Having known of Ms. Mirella Ricciardi's work as a photographer in Africa, I expected this book to be the typical photography book. What I found instead was far more interesting and rewarding. The book combines brief essays about her life in Africa with captioned photographs of her family and friends, and of the scenes she visited, studied, and photographed. Extending from a privileged childhood in what was then colonial British East Africa to recently in Kenya and neighboring nations, you see the collapse of a fantasy-like way of life, the rise of a troubled new one, vanishing wilderness, and the reflections of an intensely self-critical woman. If you are like me, you will be moved by what you see and read.

First, you will be impressed by Ms. Ricciardi's frankness. "I was a bad mother, a discontented wife and a frustrated photographer." She blames herself for the death of her older daughter, Marina, at thirty-six. "To this day, I am convinced this tragic event was my punishment." Personally, I think she is too hard on herself. Her story shows a warm heart and an eye for beauty that have enriched all those who have seen her work. I hope she finds self-forgiveness in the future.

Her mother was quite remarkable, as well. Coming from an influential and wealthy French family, she studied sculpture with Auguste Rodin and lived life as an artist in Paris before meeting the author's father, who was an exile from Italy. Relying on her mother's wealth, the couple soon set up a dream-like existence on a vast estate in Africa based in a "vast pink Italian villa" they built there near Lake Naivasha.

Ms. Ricciardi grew up with great wealth, hunting and enjoying the wilderness, and appreciating the native Africans. Later, she learned how to be a photographer while working with her future husband, and produced her well-known photographic work, Vanishing Africa. You will find many examples of that book as well as the details of how it was shot. Married to this adventuresome man, you get a sense of their time together as well as their discontent. As part of this, Ms. Ricciardi recounts her years with a young black lover, and how they handled the social challenges this presented in the class conscious society. Her two daughters were raised in an unself-conscious way with African children, often cavorting together nude as many young children do. You will enjoy seeing these scenes of carefree youth. Ms. Ricciardi's love of nature is matched by her love of the African people, and you will especially enjoy her images of the Maasai.

Moving forward in time, you see photographs of white Kenyans who fought the Mau-Mau, farmed and studied wildlife, the destruction that war brought to Africans, and the retreating wilderness. I especially enjoyed her profiles of people who have found a continued life in Africa whose family roots go back to colonial days. Ms. Caroline Roumegeure was especially interesting to me, with her background as the daughter of a Maasai warrior and a French woman in a family with 6 wives and 26 other children. She seemed to blend the best of both cultures together. Ms. Ricciardi eventually became estranged from Africa and has left it.

The photography captures breath-taking beauty that will stun you with its mystical appeal. You will feel like you are looking at something that is beyond your own understanding, but which will beckon you forward. Ms. Ricciardi's openness to the people, land, and animals will become your own, and you will be the better for it.

After you finish contemplating this deep and self-critical view of another way of life, I suggest that you think about where you are divided from other people and nature in your community. How can you reach out to bridge the gaps in a loving way?

Share your love with all around!

Foley, Jack, editor. "All: A James Broughton Reader". Lethe Press, 2008,

"Long Live Gaiety for all the Laity"

Amos Lassen

James Broughton was quite a man yet to many he is basically an enigma. He was on top of the list in poetry and cinema and those that were familiar with his work adored both it and him. Now we have James Foley who has collected and edited the "best of Broughton" and we are able to look at his genius.
Broughton was a complex man and very talented. He reads like his nickname "Big Joy" and this wonderful anthology of Broughton's work gives you a look at the mind of a man who never achieved the status he deserved, His place in the canon of GLBT literature is secured by "All" and it will probably have you looking for more Broughton to read.
Broughton strongly believed in the power of laughter. His poetry abounds with whimsy and humor and it is evident that he never took himself seriously. He was innovative and never afraid to try a new idea.
The book is a great introduction to James Broughton and I feel the work of Jack Foley is perfection. Not many can laugh ay both themselves and G-d and Foley has found the best of Broughton doing both.
Aside from Broughton's writings which include his poetry, his journals, pieces about his films there is an interview with the man himself which is loaded with insight and am introduction by the editor which frames the selections. There is also an appendix entitled "Reflections: James Broughton's Films and the Art of Poetry" which is absolutely amazing.

Jack Foley has done a masterful job of collecting the very best of James Broughton's poems, plays, and prose and made them again accessible to a public in need of Big Joy.

While I was not very familiar with James Broughton's work, I had heard how much people liked him as both a poet and filmmaker. Poetry is not my first choice of reading but I can be induced to try out anything unfamiliar to me as it was with this book. The book was very engaging and let the reader immerse themselves in the author's personality. Broughton comes across at times, a happy and care free person and then there are times you can sense a bit of unhappiness or depression. All in all the reader gets a chance to see all facets of the author as a person and a great poet/filmmaker. The book somewhat serves as a primer on some of the collected works of James Broughton. It does this job admirably and I was intrigued to keep reading all the way to the end in one sitting. I highly recommend this book. The book can also serve as a literary work that needs to be added as a permanent fixture into the annals of gay literature for the GLBT community to have as a piece of their own history. Bravo to Jack Foley for putting this book together.

With the release of this important book on filmmaker and poet James Broughton we are handed a unique experience, for it is "the very first book to allow the various aspects of Broughton's complex personality to 'sing' to one another." Broughton, or "Big Joy," was so vastly talented and led such an extraordinarily interesting life, that one comes away from this gorgeous and excellently structured book wondering how we did without it. Foley knew Broughton personally; perhaps this is one of the reasons he brought the book to perfection. If you are familiar with James Broughton's work, you already know you must have this book. If you have not experienced Broughton's poetry, film or journals, treat yourself -- you're in for "Big Joy."

This is one of the most thoroughly researched film biographies I have ever seen. This book relates the life story of Tom Mix, the silent movie star who dominated Hollywood in its early years. Jensen has provided extensive documentation of all the information contained in this work, including material from original sources stored in the back rooms of libraries and museums. Due to the research and reliance on original documents (personal letters, court records, etc.), there is a considerable amount of material contained in this book that has never been published before now. This book is a true tribute to Tom Mix, and will serve as the definitive biography of his life and career for many years to come.

One of the better books on Tom Mix.I really enjoyed this one,it
tells the Mix story warts & all.Apart from spelling errors & some incorrect facts Mix fans will go for this one.A good proof
reader would have helped!!!
John,"B" Western fan.

"The Amazing Tom Mix" reads like a novel but it's a biography, which to me made it all the more enjoyable. I only knew a little about Tom Mix but my parents remembered him, so I read it and then gave it to them to read. All of us agreed that the book was fascinating. There is so much detail in the book, but you don't get bogged down in it. It's just a great book.

I loved this book and agree with these two reviews that were on the back cover:

"Here is Tom Mix as he really was ... captivating ... enchanting ... a splendid book."
- Richard S. Wheeler, five-time Spur Award winning author of "Trouble In Tombstone."

"...the most complete biography of Mix's life of trials, tribulations and victories."
- John Duncklee, author of "Bull By The Tale."

I'm enjoying Jesse Schell's THE ART OF GAME DESIGN--A DECK OF LENSES.
They are useful for much more than game design. For example, my husband , a professional square dance caller, says he can use them to design square dance arrangements/dances. They will be helpful to me as I create picture books. Obviously they are splendid for game design! And frankly, I enjoy "looking at the pictures" and reading the text and just thinking about it all.
Diana Patton artist/writer

While specifically designed to complement the book, "The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses" I have found that these cards are of value for projects beyond game design as well. Any product development or creative process can benefit from this toolkit in that the cards succinctly outline what the issues may be, and provide direction via leading questions on how the issues may be resolved in a remarkably straightforward manner. This deck enables well defined problem statements and solutions.

This product is brilliant on any number of levels. The idea of applying "lenses", or different ways of looking at design issues is wonderful all by itself, but it is very clear that Professor Schell has given a great deal of thought to each of the lenses in the deck, and designed approaches and questions that really force the designer to look hard at her/his work, probably in a way that never occured to him/her before. I am VERY impressed.

this deck of cards goes with _the art of game design_ book. the book does a great job discussing how each lens helps you consider the design of a game, but the cards actually enable you to apply these ideas while you're designing your game. definitely worth getting both the book and this deck of cards.

I really enjoyed this book it was funny and helpful.
The only book out ther that I found equally or even a little more helpful was Twelve Step Plan To Becomming an Actor by Dawn Lerman.
If you want to laugh and develop self confidence and audition skills.
Read these two books.

Miles Paul
LA

You must read this book. Along w/ Michael Shurtleff's book "Audition" on theatre auditions, a book which Hooks recommends, this has been one of the best audition tools I've come across. The book will definately pay for itself if you take Ed's advice to heart and into action!

In a very honest and inspiring approach, Mr. Hooks paints a picture of the experience involved in auditioning for various media (theatre, film, commercials). Every beginning actor should read this book.

This book is on of the best I have ever read. Not only does it make you extremely confident about your acting ability, but it's hilarious. Hooks has made such an amusing book that I would even suggest it to people uninterested in acting. The book gives you a feeling of, "The casting directors can take me or leave me. I'll just get famous with someone else. Hooks tells you all the facts, like what to wear to different auditions, how to relax yourself before one, and how to choose an agent. Any time you start to lose hope in acting, read this book!

To people who do not accept the idea that we are being "visited" by alien beings this will probably be a laugh. However, to open minded people and those who have studied the subject it is very interesting and believable. I was particularly impressed with the fact that this abductee did not need hypnosis to remember his experiences. Hypnosis in the right hands is a valuable tool to recover memories blocked by the aliens, but is often doubted. Here is a man who remembers without needing it. If you have any interest at all in this type of subject, I highly recommend it.

Paul Sharp

An extremely good read! It is fast paced, to the point, and very believable. At times it gives you chills. It truly does leave you waiting for the next book by the author.

I just published a book and happened to come across this book on the publishers website. I could not put this book down. I give the author a tremendous amount of credit for coming forward with this information. I recomend it to everyone!

I personally haven't read the book yet but I plan to asap. However, I have contacted Craig via email before the publish of this book and he told me all about his experiences. Although I am already a believer in this phenomena it should be known that the type of activity that this book describes does happen very frequently. Craig is one person in thousands who has had these experiences including me. Enjoy the book, I know I will.

This would have been much better if its author had limited his story to his adventures in Paris in the twenties, as did Hemingway in "A Moveable Feast". (Hemingway appears in "Bad Boy of Music" by the bye.) Still this is very entertaining. Its author exaggerates and invents and lies through his teeth--you might learn something.

Also recommended: PENTATONIC SCALES FOR THE JAZZ-ROCK KEYBOARDIST by Jeff Burns.

My interest in reading George Antheil's autobiography came from admiration for his music and what he could relate about Paris in the 1920's. Mr. Antheil was a very good writer and wrote quite a lot during his life, particularly for Esquire magazine. He gives his writing a conversational style that flows nicely. I liked the fact that he began his book with stories of his brief career as a pianist and how hard it is to be a traveling musician. Must amusing is that he had a gun concealed in a silk holster when he perform - except once in Budapest when he placed it on the piano. His performances had been greeted with so many riots that he felt he needed the option to shot his way out of the concert hall.

Mr. Antheil's book is more the story of his life than a review of his musical life and compositions. He does discuss the writing of his operas, sometimes in rather tedious detail, but he rarely talks about his compositions with any detail. One interesting comment in the book concerns his Fourth Symphony which had been compared to the music of Dmitri Shostakovich. Mr. Antheil revealed that a good portion of the music came from his opera "Transatlantic" and so pre-dated all of the Shostakovich symphonies. Therefore, any similarities in style are coincidental.

We learn a lot from Mr. Antheil about his life and loves and money worries, and there are some interesting anecdotes about Stravinsky, Hemmingway and James Joyce but Mr. Antheil seldom focuses on his realtionships with other famous people. The chapter about Mr. Antheil and Hedy Lamarr inventing a radio controlled torpedo is very interesting but one is left wondering how they set about designing such a thing.

The book also provides an interesting look at Europe, particularly Germany, after the First World War. "Bad Boy of Music" is entertaining if sometimes a bit rambling at times but if you have an interest in Mr. Antheil's music this book is a must read.

If you like the legendary "Autobiography of Edwark Bok" I think you will like this. It is a wonderful and witty book by a man who had a meteoric career and then was, strangely, forgotten. Extremely entertaining, very well written. One of the top 100 books I've ever read.

This book is thoroughly entertaining. From tips on how to control and unruly audience(a pistol works well) to patents on guidance systems for torpedoes this book covers the gamut. Oh yes, he does talk about music. Get a copy of Ballet Mecanique and you will understand Mr. Antheil, bright mind, brilliant technique, tongue firmly in cheek and willing to be audacious 24/7. His music is really quite intriguing. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra played Symphony no. 5 'Joyous' during the 2000-2001 season and introduced me to this under-appreciated, under-performed American composer.

Richard Buller's knowledge seems to have no bounds. With clarity and confidence, the author presents key moments in the life of Lois Moran. He also spends a third of the book exploring her relationship with F. Scott Fitzgerald. Buller had a vast amount of information at his disposal: Moran's journal and autobiographical notes, her son Tim, and Moran herself. Plus, he researched numerous books and contemporary newspaper articles. Intimidated? Don't be. Buller pulls all the pieces of the puzzle together for us, in a seemingly effortless flow of historical events. Don't know the works of Moran or Fitzgerald? Buller provides clear summaries. Then, he takes us to the next level by analyzing how Moran influenced Fitzgerald. In addition, the book provides many pictures with helpful captions. Even if you've never heard of Lois Moran, this is a "must have" for anyone interested in F. Scott Fitzgerald, movies, or the Jazz age.

I suppose I first encountered Lois Moran as most people did, via Scott Fitzgerald's portrayal of her as Rosemary Hoyt, the ingenue in his tragic 1934 romance TENDER IS THE NIGHT. Since Arthur Mizener identified Lois Moran as Rosemary's "original" in his 1950s biography of Fitzgerald THE FAR SIDE OF PARADISE, her name once again became recognizable, and we began to think of her as a silent film star who must have beeen cute, but surely without talent otherwise wouldn't her performances have survived? Now Richard Buller steps forward with this biography of the actress herself, both in and out of her relationship with the great novelist, and his book shows us that she's perhaps even more interesting when considered as an actress alone, and not just a Lolita-like playtoy.

Buller explores the bond between Gladys (Lois Moran's mother) and her daughter, and rebuts the myth that Gladys was a conventional stage mother who disliked her daughter's interest in married men. Gladys is worthy of a book all of her own! She took Lois from their settled life in Pittsburgh and brought her to Paris as a teen to escape the repressive US climate of the day, and to show her daughter life in big beautiful capital letters.

Stardom in the movies was only a sort of lagniappe to Lois, who abandoned Hollywood when she married in 1935. And she was signally a free-lance player, one who evaded the contractual obligations of any one studio (except for a brief and not too happy contract with Fox). That may have precipitated her withdrawal from cultural memory, however, for I think in the classical cinemaa the studio really built their stars up, and the ones who played it free-lance aren't as well remembered today. (We know Clark Gable, for example, better than we know, say, Irene Dunne.)

Buller has uncovered three short stories that Lois Moran wrote about Scott Fitzgerald, it's a shame that his publishers couldn't have authorized their publication in an appendix, for the excerpts he quotes are fascinating. Just as tantalizing are his descriptions of some of Moran's movies. I for one am going to go on a hunger strike until Turner Classic Movies schedules a showing of WEST OF BROADWAY with John Gilbert--the ultimate "bad luck" movie from Buller's description.

Lois Moran went to Broadway and starred in two Gershwin musicals (OF THEE I SING and LET 'EM EAT CAKE), then married an industrialist who ran Pan Am, Clarence Young. In the Youngs' luxury apartment here in SF's North Beach, on Vallejo Street, they hosted a secret wartime conference with FDR, Lindbergh, and other luminaries. I'm going to go there later today and try to talk my way into the graces of the current owners of the building and photograph the room where it all took place. After Clarence and Gladys died, Moran's later struggles with alcohol make for sad reading. What a story! And what a woman!

Lois Moran's life and body of work, so carefully portrayed by Richard Buller, are a living tribute to the wonderment of Lois Moran, the person. Here is a portrait of some eighty years of giving without reservation to the people of this planet.

The author's insightful and diligent research, coupled with some memorable findings in her journals, papers and photographs, have made this book a true and masterfully constructed literary achievement.

I had never heard of Lois Moran - now I am a fan! Richard Buller's fascinating account of this remarkable woman is brilliantly researched and beautifully written. Why more has not been made of this shining Hollywood star is a curious mystery. Happily, Mr. Buller fills us in with style. He describes the era adroitly and offers surprisingly intimate historical nuggets, sly humor, and a deep poignancy that moved this reader to tears. I felt as if I were walking with Lois every step of the way. Like meeting an old friend for the first time. Her gleeful, almost childlike kinship with life attracted sparkling people and events; yet her "grown-up" values guided her to always hone her gifts and to help others. A unique example that despite our heartaches, we can indeed create a "beautiful fairy tale" of our lives. A delightful, revelatory read. Inspiring.