31 Sunday Dec 2017
Posted in Anniversaries, Profumo Affair, Updates, Websites, Writing
≈ Comments Off on Happy New Year To All My Readers
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As the curtain falls on 2017, this blog also approaches its tenth anniversary. I’d like to thank everyone who has read (and hopefully enjoyed) my posts. This month I’ve been thinking a lot about Christine Keeler, who inspired my first novel and so much more. Wishing everyone a beautiful 2018 – and whatever this new year may bring, keep a dream in your hearts.
06 Monday Jul 2015
Posted in Art and Photography, Jeanne Eagels, Websites
≈ Comments Off on The James Abbe Archive
This portrait of Jeanne Eagels, taken by James Abbe in 1919, was chosen for the cover of the Saturday Evening Post. Kendra Bean (author of Vivien Leigh: An Intimate Portrait) talks about her work at the Abbe Archive – and shares some restored photos – in a new blog post, ‘James Abbe: Capturing the Silent Screen.’
Abbe is also featured in David S. Shields’ recent book, Still: American Silent Motion Photography. On his Broadway Photographs website, Shields introduces an autobiographical essay by Abbe, first published in the Oakland Tribune from 1961-62.
Down in Philadelphia the Saturday Evening Post and Ladies Home Journal got wind of my success and perhaps remembering the brief contact I had with them that day I stopped en route to New York, asked me to submit some of my photographs to them. I did.
One of those I submitted was of actress Jeanne Eagels, and became a Post cover. For that picture I received $75. It was the first time the Post had used a photograph on its cover.
Months afterward, a poet called upon me in my New York studio with some of the prints I had sold the Post and the Journal. He had been assigned to write verses around them I had never heard of him previously, but got to know him later. His name was Christopher Morley.
20 Monday Feb 2012
You can read my profile of author Carson McCullers – born on February 19, 1917 – at For Books’ Sake
27 Wednesday Apr 2011
My review of Purge, the brilliant new novel by Finnish-Estonian author, Sofi Oksanen, is published today at For Books’ Sake
08 Tuesday Feb 2011
My profile of Kate Chopin – born on this day in 1850 – is published at For Books’ Sake, ‘an intelligent but irreverent website featuring books by and for independent women.’
31 Monday Jan 2011
Posted in Art and Photography, Books, Film, Marilyn Monroe, Non-Fiction, Websites
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Banff, Brian Wallis, Canada, Cindy Sherman, Dover Publications, Great Depression, Immortal Marilyn, Jayne Mansfield, Joe DiMaggio, John Vachon, Look Magazine, Madonna, Marilyn August 1953: The Lost Look Photos, Marilyn Monroe, River of No Return, Stanley Rubin
Dover Publications is a US company, founded in 1941, that reissues classic literary works in value-priced, paperback editions. In 2010, Dover broadened their remit by publishing Marilyn, August 1953: The Lost Look Photos, a hardback, coffee-table book featuring John Vachon’s photographs of Marilyn Monroe in Canada, while filming ‘River of No Return’, most of which had never been seen before. It was released under their Calla Editions imprint, using paper from sustainable forests, and presented in landscape format. On the grey front cover, under the dust-jacket, is a silhouette of Monroe. Continue reading
30 Thursday Sep 2010
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Brighton Writes is a new blog from me, in association with Creative Future, a charity for marginalised artists and writers. I’ll be covering news from the region – and beyond – on the arts, with a special emphasis on literature, getting your voice heard and also mental health and related social issues.
If this sounds like something you’d be interested in, please subscribe to Brighton Writes and invite your friends.
And this website will continue as usual, of course!
22 Thursday Jul 2010
Posted in Profumo Affair, Updates, Websites
≈ Comments Off on Rambling Rose
I’ve recently set up yet another blog, this time on Tumblr – an informal affair, where I post snippets of the words, pictures and music that inspire me on a daily basis. This morning I was thrilled to discover this rare photograph of Christine Keeler in The Guardian, part of an exhibition dedicated to the iconic British model, opening in London later this year.
Regular readers of this blog will know that Keeler’s adventurous life was the inspiration for my own debut novella, Wicked Baby.
All updates from ‘Rambling Rose’ will be posted to my Twitter account, which you can also read to the right of any page on here, my main website. And loyal subscribers please note, two new articles will be posted very soon, ahead of my long-awaited jaunt in the Northwest next month.
Happy holidays, here’s to a long hot summer!
03 Saturday Jul 2010
Posted in Art and Photography, Marilyn Monroe, Updates, Websites
≈ Comments Off on Four Days in New York
My profile of photographer Ed Feingersh is featured on the Immortal Marilyn website
20 Sunday Jun 2010
Posted in Books, Film, Interviews, Websites, Writing
≈ Comments Off on Moon in the Gutter
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Donna Tartt, Emily Bronte, Frida Kahlo, Jeremy Richey, Madonna, Marilyn Monroe, Moon in the Gutter, Tara Hanks
Jeremy Richey has interviewed me about my influences – books, films, movies and more – over at his wonderful ‘Moon in the Gutter’ blog. Well worth checking out for Jeremy’s insightful reviews, ten of which are published in a new book, Directory of World Cinema: American Independent.
