Books
A Reader Writes: What Happened to Golf Audiobook?
July 2, 2011. Recently I received this note from a reader: "I was wondering if the audio version of The Greatest Golf Shot Ever Made was ever digitized for CD? I know you mentioned it on your blog a few years back. I am a big fan of George S. Irving, and know someone who is a huge golf fan who would be so thrilled to have this, but alas, I no longer have a cassette player. Thanks."
The Greatest Golf Shot, now out of print, was a collection of golf stories and anecdotes made into two audiobooks, which were voiced by the highly honored Broadway actor George S. Irving. A few years back I received word from the publisher that they were going to turn the tapes into CDs, but that was the last I heard of it. You would think the author would know everything there is to know about his work, but the truth is, sometimes the author is the last to know. I frankly don't know what the state of this project is, but your letter has spurred me to look into it. I do still have a cassette player, but alas, I don't use it much. [end]
A Forging Work of Art: Greg Marino's Mantle
April 28, 2011 Having written a book about one of the best of the modern forgers, and arguably one of the best of all time, I occasionally hear from people who own corrupt autograph masterpieces created by Greg Marino. Marino forged perhaps a million autographs in his six-year criminal career, but without doubt his very best—his Sistine Chapel, if you will, the one that launched his career and that he truly mastered—was that of Mickey Mantle. Marino was a lifelong Yankees fan, and his Mantle forgery is a criminal consummation of passion, profit motive, and craft. The other day an email correspondent of mine, "Raiderman," sent me a lithograph he owns that was painted by Greg's father Angelo, and that bears Greg's famous Mantle. Here it is:
'The Social Network' and Operation Bullpen
[Here is an email I sent recently to the producer of the—someday, I hope—Operation Bullpen movie. A script based on my book has been finished and it is now being peddled around Hollywood although there are, as yet, no takers. I thought ‘The Social Network,’ the (relatively) new movie about the founding of Facebook by Mark Zuckerberg, has some parallels with the Bullpen story, as I say here…]
Hi L-
Saw "The Social Network" last night. I liked it and it spurred some thoughts on "Operation Bullpen," the movie. Give me just a minute or two to share them with you. "The Social Network" opened with a $24 million weekend box office and there's not a car crash or any violence to be found anywhere in it. That's reassuring, since I know that's one of the things you've heard from people about the Bullpen script: Not enough sex and violence.
Actually, "The Social Network" doesn't have much sex either, does it? No actual sex scenes, just party scenes and the suggestion of sex, but that's all. God knows the Bullpen story has lots more sex than that, with hookers and Vegas strippers and sex and drug parties on the Bada Bing boat. And it's got the criminal element to boot—the fact that all these formerly law-abiding guys are committing widespread fraud while being hunted down by the FBI. "The Social Network" has no big stars in it, unless you count Justin Timberlake, who's very good. Of course, it has a script by Aaron Sorkin, who's a superstar screenwriter and superb, and a hot director whose name I can't recall but who is clearly a hot property too. Interestingly, Kevin Spacey is one of the producers—isn't he Trigger Street Productions?—and clearly Kevin has a sharp eye for material, because he also produced "21." [ more ]
Remember "21"? I know you do. We talked about that one before. It was a sleeper hit that was No. 1 for two weeks in a row when it opened a couple or three years ago. It's based on the book, "Bringing Down the House," written by Ben Mezrich, who also wrote "The Accidental Billionaire," which was the book Sorkin used to write "The Social Network." Mezrich also clearly has an eye for stuff that Hollywood is looking for.
So both "The Social Network" and "21" were youth movies about gifted (and pampered and rich) Ivy League kids with some allusions to sex, very little violence (none in "The Social Network"), and lots of money. And of course "The Social Network has the glamour associated with being about the Facebook billionaire. But the story itself? It's basically about some legal proceedings and the makings of a Silicon Valley startup, founded by Mark Zuckerberg, the Charles Kane of his generation. The genius of Sorkin and the director is that they could make an entertaining movie of such thin material.
Okay, so hang with me, I'm coming to my point. The Bullpen story has many of the same elements as "21" and "The Social Network," except, of course, it's not about privileged rich kids. It's a working class story. But it is about young people, and it is potentially a youth movie. I've never seen the script for "Bullpen" (and I'm sure that's not the working title), but there is a clear potential story line in the character of Nate, the naïve young guy who starts as Wayne’s friend in the book. Wayne, the mastermind of the operation, takes him under his wing and basically teaches him to be a crook, brings him into the life, corrupts him, shows him how to rip people off. Nate makes millions of dollars selling fake memorabilia, buys houses, gets girls that he could never get before (just like Mark Zuckerberg), and basically achieves his corrupted version of the American Dream. And then, in the twist that makes the Bullpen story so powerful, Wayne ultimately betrays Nate and all his other friends and flips and goes to the FBI and turns in Nate and all the rest of his fellow crooks to save his skin.
So, again, I'm not trying to stick my nose where it doesn't belong, but if you tell the story from Nate's point of view—with Wayne as his slightly older Machiavellian mentor, along with the Marinos and all the other characters and stuff that are there—you have a youth-themed movie that teens and early twenties young people would really get into. You could potentially attract a bankable young star, as well as a late twenties, early thirties actor like Justin Timberlake who is playing the Wayne character. And the thing is, it's all in the story. You're not making any of it up. It's all there. That's what happened in real life. Thanks for listening-
Best, K
A Thanksgiving Message from Miss Sook
This is a passage from The Thanksgiving Visitor, by Truman Capote (a beautiful short story, by the way, that can be read as an adult and enjoyed or read with children, who will equally enjoy it):
"While I was eating, Miss Sook put her arm around my shoulders. 'There's just this I want to say, Buddy. Two wrongs never made a right. It was wrong of him to take the cameo. But we don't know why he took it. Maybe he never meant to keep it. Whatever his reason, it can't have been calculated. Which is why what you did was much worse: you planned to humiliate him. It was deliberate. Now listen to me, Buddy: there is only one unpardonable sin—deliberate cruelty. All else can be forgiven. That, never. Do you understand me, Buddy?'
"I did, dimly, and time has taught me that she was right."
Those italicized words in the text, incidentally, are as the author wrote them. The Thanksgiving Visitor is largely an autobiographical story by Capote, who grew up in Mississippi. He is Buddy. Miss Sook, who is speaking to him in this passage and who is pictured above with Truman, is a character based on the older woman who raised him. His best childhood friend was Harper Lee, who wrote To Kill A Mockingbird as an adult, and to whom the story is dedicated. The boy who stole the cameo—an old-fashioned piece of jewelry—was named Odd Henderson, who was a bully who torments Buddy. But in a twist of circumstance, it is Odd Henderson who emerges, as Capote writes, "as someone superior to me, even more honest." The story continues, with Miss Sook making sure Buddy understands what she's telling him:
"Do you Buddy? Understand?'
"Sort of. Pull,' I said, offering her one prong of the wishbone.
We split it; my half was the larger, which entitled me to a wish. She wanted to know what I'd wished.
'That you're still my friend.'
'Dumbhead,' she said, and hugged me.
'Forever?'
'I won't be here forever, Buddy. Nor will you.' Her voice sank like the sun on the pasture's horizon, was silent a second and then climbed with the strength of a new sun. 'But yes, forever. The Lord willing, you'll be here long after I've gone. And as long as you remember me, then we'll always be together...'"
As long as we're here, and we are all here, Happy Thanksgiving to all!
Things Not Going as You Planned? Drink, says the Poet, Drink!
Well, so much for experiments. My recent grand attempt to reshape this blog has caused about 20 percent of my subscribers to unsubscribe. If I were a politician steeped in my self-importance I would say these people are badly misinformed and need greater education. However, since I have respect for all of you who grace these pages with your time, I prefer to listen to what my constituents are saying and reform my ways.
Not everyone disliked my recent posts; I received lots of nice comments too. After my piece on Lagunitas IPA, Dan C. passed along the names of several brews he likes: Ranger IPA, made by New Belgium Brewing, makers of Fat Tire ale; Thunderhead IPA from Pyramid Brewing; and the colorfully named Moose Drool from Big Sky Brewing in Missoula, Montana. Did you know that IPA, which stands for India Pale Ale, originated in the 18th century; it was brewed in London to be sent to Her Majesty's soldiers serving in India.
Wheels of Change, my book on California car history, has enjoyed some recent stirrings, winning (as I mentioned last time) the Valentine Memorial Award for best car book of 2010 by the Society of Automotive Historians. Brad Bowling gave it a glowing review in the latest issue of Car & Parts Magazine, calling it "fascinating" and saying (in a line that sums up my approach to writing history), "If books such as this had been my required reading in high school, I definitely would have made better grades in history." In my view, history belongs to everybody, not just academics.
Joe F. asked me the other day what was happening with the movie for Operation Bullpen: The Inside Story of the Biggest Forgery Scam in American History. The short answer is, "Not enough." There is a script based on the book, written by an Oscar-nominated screenwriter, and he and the producer are peddling it around Hollywood. So far, no takers. The producer told me that the reaction they're getting is that the Bullpen story is "too indie (not enough sex or action) or not indie enough (not enough guns or dead bodies or dark enough)." He added, "I do find that these things go in waves and the film industry is going through all kinds of schizophrenic growing pains at the moment." "Schizophrenic growing pains" is an apt description of the Internet-tormented publishing industry as well.
Praise for The Runner's Book of Daily Inspiration came out of the blue the other day from Jaclyn Dionne, a "master trainer" with the North American Academy for Sport Fitness (NAASFP). "I personally use and love your Runner's Book," she writes. "Everyday there is some wonderful tidbit that just works. When teaching the certification, I recommend to the runners that they pick up a copy of your book." Adding, "There are references to things we touch on that just so perfectly express challenges a coach faces with a client. We are actually listing your book on our page of reference books recommended for coaches; it is a great tool for runners and the coaches." She asked if she could use excerpts in the NAASFP's certification manual for marathon coaches, and I of course said yes.
Let me finish with a literary reference inspired by the aforementioned Dan C., who, in thinking about beer, reminded me of the great poem, written in the late 1800s, by the French poet Charles Baudelaire, whose somber mug adorns this column. "Get Drunk" is the name of the poem, and it is anything but somber (or sober). Here it is:
"One should always be drunk. That's the great thing: the only question. Not to feel the horrible burden of Time weighing on your shoulders and bowing you to the earth, you should be drunk without respite. Drunk with what? With wine, with poetry, or with virtue, as you please. But get drunk.
"And if sometimes you should happen to awake, on the stairs of a palace, on the green grass of a ditch, in the dreary solitude of your own room, and find that your drunkenness is ebbing or has vanished, ask the wind and the wave, ask star, bird, or clock, ask everything that flies, everything that moans, everything that flows, everything that sings, everything that speaks, ask them the time; and the wind, the wave, the star, the bird and the clock will all reply: 'It is Time to get drunk! If you are not to be the martyred slaves of Time, be perpetually drunk! With wine, with poetry, or with virtue, as you please.'" [end]
A Writer With the Right Stuff
Deep into airplane literature these days, I am now reading The Right Stuff, a book that has—dare I say it?—the right stuff. Reading it makes me appreciate, anew, its author. I'm not as keen about Wolfe's later, fictional phase—Bonfire of the Vanities, A Man in Full—but I worship his earlier, groundbreaking, positively transcendant nonfiction phase: The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine Flake Streamline, Baby, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, From Bauhaus to Our House, and the remarkable people, places and things of The Right Stuff:
"Somehow Yeager [left] was like the big daddy of the skies over the dome of the world. There were even other pilots with enough Pilot Ego to believe that they were actually better than this drawliin' hot dog. But no one would contest the fact that as of that time, the 1950s, Chuck Yeager was at the top of the pyramind, number one among all the True Brothers."
"His wife was a brunette named Glennis, whom he had met in California while he was in training, and she was such a number, so striking, he had the inscription 'Glamorous Glennis' written on the nose of his P-51 in Europe and, just a few weeks back, on the X-1 itself."
"The X-1 had gone through 'the sonic wall' without so much as a bump. As the speed topped out at Mach 1.05, Yeager had the sensation of shooting straight through the top of the sky. The sky turned a deep purple and all at once the stars and the moon came out—and the sun shone at the same time. He was going faster than any man in history, and it was almost silent up here, and he was so high in such a vast space that there was no sensation of motion. It would take him seven minutes to glide back down and land at Muroc. He spent the time doing victory rolls and wing over wing acrobatics while Rogers Lake and the High Sierras spun around below."
Note to subscribers: In the next week or two I will be trying out a new concept for this blog, so you may get more postings from me than usual. Let me know what you think.
No Fear of Flying
August 8, 2010. Faithful readers of this column may have noticed that it has been missing of late. I have no excuses except to say that I will try to do better in the future. In any case, "Na furrie sana ku wanana na wewe." That is Swahili for "I am very happy to see you again."
No, I have not been studying Swahili while I have been away (from this blog); I lifted this translation from a beautiful book I'm reading, West with the Night. The writer, Beryl Markham (whom you see here, on the cover), grew up in Kenya and became in the 1930s an African bush pilot. Also, an extraordinary writer. Thoroughly recommended for those who wish to read a memoir and real-life adventure story from an earlier time
I am reading lots about pilots and airplanes because I just pitched a proposal for a book about California aviation and flying. God knows if it will sell or not. Early signs are promising; I remain hopeful despite a shipwrecked economy and being in a business—writing or, as it is known today, "content'—that is being completely transformed by the Internet. It is the greatest time in the history of the world to be involved in publishing—that is, unless you're looking to make money. Oh well. No complaints. When I became a writer I took a voluntary oath of poverty, and I remain true to this vow.
On the subject of flying, I took a field trip the other day to Hiller Aviation Museum at the San Carlos Airport, and it is also thoroughly recommended for a glimpse into aviation past and present. They have a Boeing 747 on display where you can go into the cockpit and see the incredible array of switches, dials and gauges that the pilot, co-pilot and navigator had to monitor in order to fly the plane. By the way, the people you see here are of no relation to me; my boys, being large sticks in the mud that day, stayed home.
Next is a prototype of what is called "a flying platform," which was devised by an engineer at one of the helicopter companies owned by the late Stanley Hiller, Jr., the founder and namesake of the museum. Hiller was the first person to fly a helicopter in the West, in the early 1940s, and is considered a modern genius of vertical flight. The flying platform (its original concept was called "Flying Shoes") is one of his company's wilder ideas; only six were ever made. But, powered by technology that if I lived another lifetime I would never understand, it did actually get airborne.
Finally, there is this—part of a tribute to the Nelson Aircraft Company of Livermore, whose contributions to modern aviation were, in the museum's words, "enormous." Nelson Aircraft made lightweight, dependable engines that were especially important for experimental aircraft, such as the Flying Platform which used a Nelson two-cycle engine for its power plant. And so why do I, ahem, call attention to Nelson? Did you know that a Nelson—Thomas Nelson, Jr., of Virginia—was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence? Aren't you glad this blog is back?
Ex-Bruins Turn out to Support Ex-Bruin at World’s Greatest Car & Plane Bookstore
Posted 2/1/10. The world’s greatest car and plane bookstore is located at 3524 West Magnolia Boulevard in Burbank in the heart of San Fernando Valley car country, not far from Warner Bros. studios and the Big Dog Garage, where Jay Leno houses his spectacular private collection of classic cars and motorcycles. Leno, who frequently shows up at car shows in the valley and who can be seen driving an antique steamer or some other rare and expensive vehicle of his around town, often drops in at Autobooks-Aerobooks to pick up a technical manual for an Olds Toronado with 1,000 horsepower or a Mercedes SLR McClaren or some other car that he and his staff of mechanics are working on.
Autobooks-Aerobooks, owned by the husband and wife team of Tina Van Curen and Chuck Forward, is the biggest and oldest (founded in 1951) car bookstore in the United States, and it draws car buffs from around the state, country and world. As such I felt a little sheepish driving up to my signing on Saturday, seeing a bunch of guys standing outside the store talking and showing off their rides in the rear parking lot. Feeling that my road-weary 11-year-old Toyota Camry might not be the most impressive set of wheels for a car author to roll up in, I discretely parked out of view on a side street and walked in the front door.
Not
that anyone would have cared; nobody really showed up to see me except
for my longtime friend and former UCLA roustabout Gary Grillo and his daughters
Maddy and Kate (pictured between Chuck Forward, left, and Gary on the
right).
Also making the scene was another ex-Bruin, Al Stamler, whom I
had not seen in decades. Here’s a story of how the Internet can make
connections: One day last month Al, wondering whatever happened to a mutual
friend of ours, Randy Breckenridge, googled his name. Up popped a blog I had
written about Randy, recalling our adventures on the Colorado River and the
fact that he had died.
Randy
was another UCLA pal; that was where we met. He lived on the same dorm floor
as Gary, Al and me. After (and during) college Randy and I rafted rivers and climbed
mountains and kicked around Yosemite together, and I dedicated Wheels of Change
to his memory. The book, sadly, is filled with the stories of daring young men
who, like Randy, died too young. (Though he did not die in a car accident, but other circumstances.) Al, who lives in the San Fernando Valley
(and is pictured here), had lost touch with Randy over the years and was
shocked to read what happened to him in my blog. 
He dropped me an email, I told
him about my signing at Autobooks-Aerobooks, and he swung by the store a few
minutes before noon. After concluding my authorial duties we stepped down the
block to Porto’s for lunch, catching up with each other and agreeing that yes, life can be a tough
proposition at times, and—to borrow the line of playwright and raconteur Wilson Mizner—"the first hundred years are the hardest.”
Where the Beautiful People Meet: Wheels of Change Launch Party in San Francisco
Wednesday night in San Francisco the California Historical Society hosted a launch party for Wheels of Change, attended by forty to fifty connoisseurs of cars, history, and fine literature. I gave a talk, and nobody in the audience threw anything at me so I guess I did okay. Afterward I signed books and chatted with people, which is always the best part of these book gatherings.
Below are photographs from the evening, picturing some of the people at the California Historical Society and Heyday Books who have worked behind the scenes to make this book happen. Please, allow me to introduce them to you:
That's Bob McNeely and me. Bob, the executive vice president of Union Bank in San Diego, is a trustee and former president of the board of the California Historical Society. It was Bob's idea to do a book about cars because he wanted the historical society to tackle a subject that everyone could relate to. Bob changed my life, and yet I had never met him until Wednesday night. As one might expect, he is a connoisseur of fine automobiles, particularly ones that are low, red, and fast.
What, you think only guys in suits came to the party? Chet hails from a Hayward car club, and the ink on his arms depicts two of his deepest passions: cars and women. He's not affiliated with CHS or Heyday, but he was out there representin', and I appreciate it.
This is Malcolm Margolin, making a point. Malcolm is the publisher and founder of Heyday Books, which has now published two of my books, Wheels of Change and The Golden Game. He is a friend and supporter of mine, as he is for countless other writers, editors, publishers, and booksellers. Every writer should be so lucky as to have Malcolm Margolin as his publisher.
Two executive directors of the California Historical Society, past and present: Stephen Becker, left, and David Crosson. Stephen was the head of CHS when Bob McNeely approached him with his idea to bring people together through cars. Stephen said, "Let's do it." After Stephen left the organization, David took over his spot, a position he currently holds, meanwhile taking over stewardship of Wheels of Change, which was then still a work in progress. Showing patience and faith, David helped steer the book to its completion. I owe them both a great deal.
Here are George Young and Jeannine Gendar, both of Heyday Books. George is a consultant and marketing and publishing guru with decades of experience in the business, and a former hot shoe guy to boot. (Vintage car slang: "Hot shoe" equals hot car.) Jeannine Gendar represents a rapidly disappearing species in the book industry: an editor who actually edits. She worked with me on Wheels of Change, helping turn it into a sleek and sassy Corvette of a book. At the risk of repeating myself, the same sentiment applies equally here: Every writer should be so lucky as to have Jeannine Gendar as his editor.
Here, Malcolm hugs Lillian Fleer, the talented and hard-working events and outreach coordinator for Heyday. If you’d like to hear a lively and entertaining speaker who knows cars the way Grey Goose knows vodka, call her at 510-549-3564. I talk at bookstores, libraries, garden and house parties, book clubs, and Rotary and other civic groups. I’m also available for bar mitzvahs, bat mitzvahs, christenings, baptisms, and bachelor parties. I'll be there for you, and I'll be representin’.
After rocking the house Thursday at the Oakland Rotary Club, I'm off to my next stops on the Wheels of Change Road Trip: Sunday, Nov. 8, 2 to 4 p.m. Signing. Bookshop Benicia, 856 Southampton Road, Benicia. 707-747-5155. And Tuesday, Nov. 10, 7 p.m. Talk and signing. Clayton Books, 5433 D Clayton Road, Clayton. 925-673-3325. Be there or be square!
James Dean’s Last Drive: Correcting the Record
“God,” said Mies van der Rohe, “is in the details.” If that’s true, then car people are very godly people because they love, and appreciate, and relish in, the details of automobiles. I experienced this yet again the other day when I received a letter from Steve Conlin, an ex-bartender at the Bar at the Hotel Bel-Air, one of Southern California’s most famous see-and-be-seen cocktail lounges.
As Steve says, he has “shaken cocktails for everyone from President Ronald Reagan to O.J. Simpson, from Clint Eastwood to Britney Spears.” Among his interests are automobiles and James Dean, seen above in a photo from Wheels of Change, probably at a race in Palm Springs in 1955, the year he died. Although the book is not out yet (but soon, very soon!), while perusing the Net Steve came across the excerpt from the book about Dean on my website. Enlivened by brisk detail, here is a piece of what he said:
Hi Kevin, Here’s wishing you great reviews and huge sales for your soon-to-be-released California auto book. I was browsing random Internet files when I came across an excerpt, your story on James Dean’s fatal drive in his 1955 Porsche Spyder 550.
As a California native and UCLA alumni you might be surprised to
learn that the gas station fill-up photo you referred to as being taken
at Blackwell’s Corner was actually snapped at the corner of Beverly
Glen and Ventura Blvd., in Sherman Oaks. This was perhaps two blocks
from Dean’s home at the time, and where he probably had a credit
account.
You are correct that it was the last picture of Dean alive [the
picture you see here], but it was snapped as his caravan headed from
Hollywood through the San Fernando Valley for the drive north on
Highway 99. Photographer Sanford Roth had taken a few action shots of
Dean driving along the Hollywood Freeway and along Ventura Blvd. just
prior to arriving at the station.
The old station office still stands, although it has been converted to a funky flower shop. The extended roof over what was once the pump bay is newer, heavier, and the two slender support columns that can be seen in the James Dean picture have been strengthened to hold it aloft. Interestingly, the footprints of the three red 1950s gasoline pumps are still preserved on their original concrete island. The fill-up photo you mention was actually taken by Rolf Wutherich, Dean’s mechanic and passenger, with Dean’s own Leica camera. The sturdy Leica survived the accident and Dean’s family had the film developed shortly afterward.
Kevin, most of this information is based on the research of my friend Warren Beath, author of The Death of James Dean. I can send along a few of my own photos of the station, if you’re interested. Best regards, Steve Conlin, Los Angeles
I thanked Steve for his letter and his desire to correct the record on some of the details about Dean’s fatal last drive. On his way to a race in Salinas, Dean smashed into another car near San Luis Obispo while speeding in that silver Porsche Spyder and was killed. The star of “East of Eden” and “Rebel Without a Cause” remains a top Hollywood earner despite being dead for more half a century. The Wall Street Journal said in a piece last week that Dean’s estate netted $5 million in licensing fees for his image.
Steve and I have exchanged e-mails, and perhaps we’ll meet at one of my speaking gigs for Wheels in southern California in November and December. Tomorrow I’m off to The Book Seller to talk about the history of cars in historic Grass Valley. My radio interview with Eric Tomb of “Booktown” of KVMR Radio aired on Monday; if you’d like to listen to it you can find it here on his blog. Just click on the link at the bottom that says “to hear this program.”
