Forgotten Hollywood

Manny P. here…   (reporting from Hoffman Estates, Illinois)

   As my wife (and personal photographer) Laurie and I are ready to return from ten days of golden memories during our trip to the Midwest, I’m reminded that my last seven blog posts haven’t included some really fun activities. I failed to note these little gems:

~ Los Angeles Dodgers vs Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park – This is a rad stadium! And, my team… Dem Bums.. did something they rarely does against a fine Brewers squad… THEY WON!! The final score was 9-2. Plus, thanks to Peggy and Tony Christina for outfitting Laurie and me in Dodgers‘ gear…

~ Safe House in Milwaukee – A restaurant decked out in spy motif. It’s a covert way to enjoy a steak or burger. While you’re waiting for dinner, you can explore the facilities… which we did! Among the treats: Tributes to James Bond; and Cold War memorabilia. One more thing… you better know the password to enter the premises; and I ain’t saying what it is…

~ Museum of Scence and Industry in Chicago – Maybe, the finest interactive museum in the country. We got to venture down a coal mine shaft; Laurie got to ride a John Deere; and we learned about a litany of other technical items in the field of science. With respect to my wife, the photos below can’t capture the majesty of this amazing location. This isn’t your dad’s museum.

~ Milwaukee Art Museum – I wrote about our League of Guardians Dinner held at this iconic location. And, this museum is top-notch traditional in its presentation. The works of art rival any collection found in Europe.

~ Shedd Aquarium – A collection of sea creatures in displays from their geographic habitat. A true learning experience for young and old. Laurie and I had a ball. It’s located just north of Soldier Field, where the Chicago Bears play football, right in the heart of Grant Park.

~ The “L” Train / The Loop – Taken for granted by the natives, it was a blast to ride around The Loop to get from Point A to Point B. At selected stops, we also enjoyed eating deep dish pizza, Chicago-style hot dogs, and Italian beef sandwiches. And, you would be surprised what  clever items we found along our travels on The “L”… Cinema-related tributes though the Windy City.

   We also traveled past the personal home of President and Michelle Obama; we visited the Adler Planetarium; and we walked down Navy Pier. And, you cannot beat the Chicago skyline. Laurie and I had a great vacation. Now, we’re ready to head back home to California.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…   (reporting from Hoffman Estates, Illinois)

   Today was the culmination in a four year-effort to generate charity funds for MOOSEHEART Child City and School. The League of Guardians Dinner was held at the #1 cultural spot in Wisconsin: Milwaukee Art Museum overlooking Lake Michigan. Laurie and I spent the afternoon walking the grounds of a most special museum, investigating the traditional and post-modern artifacts. This was truly delightful.

   After 5p, the 2012-2013 donors who represent the League of Guardians arrived for a special dinner, and a chance at fellowship with folks committed in keeping MOOSEHEART and MOOSEHAVEN (a senior-friendly facility in Florida) running . To our surprise, we sat with the outgoing Loyal Order of Moose Supreme Governor James Henderson Sr., and the Executive Director of Moose Charities International Inc., Jan Fregulia. At the next table was Shawn Baile, the Moose Director of Activities. I’ve participated in his annual Texas Hold-Em Poker Tourneys in Las Vegas. Sitting with these unselfish top officials who have spent decades in devotion to the Loyal Order of Moose and Women of the Moose was a welcome surprise.

JAMES HENDERSON SR.       JAN FREGULIA          MANNY PACHECO     SHAWN BAILE

   During the ceremonies, Fregulia asked me to speak for the 600+ League of Guardians and share what I accomplished through the sale of first edition copies of Forgotten Hollywood Forgotten History paperbacks over the last four years. I thanked my local Governor of the Buena Park Moose – Matthew Bryden – for giving me the idea to start a charity campaign; and I also offered the appropriate accolades to our local chapter for all of their efforts. Our contribution of $2400 was modest in comparison to other members in the audience, but my personal message was met with enthusiastic applause of appreciation. I also donated Son of Forgotten Hollywood Forgotten History to the MOOSEHEART Library, to sit side-by-side with my original work.

   The League of Guardians was entertained by a string quartet, and the Milwaukee Art Museum provided a stunning setting. The incoming board of Moose Charities thanked God for the charity provided by the folks in the room, and I realized my efforts were well worth the journey into Forgotten Hollywood…

   To be sure, it was a blessed experience!

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…   (reporting from Hoffman Estates, Illinois)

   The city of Chicago has spent the entire weekend saluting our military during their many campaigns to protect our country. Among the locales  paying homage to our veterans in service include the Navy Pier, the Museum of Science and Industry, and a parade that took place on Saturday along State Street. Here are photos from the Windy City as Laurie and I honored our fallen heroes…

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   Son of Forgotten Hollywood Forgotten History has been added to it’s 41st library. It’s  housed just outside of Cook County in Park Forest, Illinois. This is the 102nd overall branch to carry one of my works in the Forgotten Hollywood Book Series.

   Park Forest was designed in the tradition of planned communities around the nation that provided housing for veterans returning from World War II. Notable residents have included David Mamet, the author, playwright, screenwriter, film director and a winner of the Pulitzer Prize; actor Tom Berenger; and Berry Oakley of The Allman Brothers Band.

   In 2003, a meteor exploded over the Midwest, showering the area with dozens of fragments. These meteorites are currently on display at the Field Museum in Chicago; one of the historic landmarks Laurie and I visited last week.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…   (reporting from Hoffman Estates, Illinois)

   Crime and punishment in Chicagoland is today’s topic. Thanks to the Hop On-and-Hop Off Tour and the Untouchables Tour, Laurie and I took today, we were able to enjoy cinematic and very real historical sites with gangster-themes. As usual, my wife was the expert photographer providing vivid reminders of our trip.

   We drove down the shopping area known as the Magnificent Mile in the afternoon, when we passed by a marquee used in the Academy Award-winning musical, Chicago. We were informed the production that starred Renée Zellweger, Richard Gere, John C. Reilly, Queen Latifah, and Catherine Zeta-Jones was actually filmed on location in Toronto. The film is based on the 1975 Kander and Ebb Broadway musical. It was to have been the next project for legendary stage and film choreographer and director Bob Fosse, who developed the original play. Though he died before this motion picture was made, his distinctive jazz choreography style is evident. He’s thanked in the End Credits. The screenplay explores the themes of celebrity, scandal, murder, and corruption in Jazz Age Chicago. It was critically lauded, and was the first musical to win Best Picture since Oliver!

   The Untouchables Tour was a lively look at Chi-Town during Prohibition, and centered on locales where gangsters were snuffed out. The names that popped up most frequently were, of course, Al Capone and John Dillinger. The bus traveled through the West Side and the South Side of Chicago, famous for Chinatown, Little Italy, and curiously, Harpo Productions. We stopped by historic locations as the garage where the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre took place, and the Biograph Theatre, where Dillinger was killed in 1934 by G-Man Melvin Purvis, after the famed bank robber enjoyed Manhattan Melodrama, the MGM classic starring William Powell, Clark Gable, and Myrna Loy. The guides were giddy in their presentation, which made the two hours very entertaining. I endorse this particular tour if you decide to visit the area.

   Here’s a link to their website:

http://www.gangstertour.com

   Now, will someone please bail me out… I had nuttin’ to do with da crime… I was framed!

Until next time>                               “never forget”  

Manny P. here…   (reporting from Hoffman Estates, Illinois)

   Laurie and I enjoyed a super evening at the Drury Lane Theatre in Oakbrook Terrace, one of the Burbs of Chicago. A production of Oliver! was the bill-of-faire and it was really good. The facility opened in 1984, and named after the historic Theatre Royal Drury Lane, originally built in London’s Covent Garden in the 17th century. Part of a chain of locales built by Tony DeSantis, an American entrepreneur who was opposed to Mafia involvement in Chicago show business.In 1958, he was involved in an FBI sting against the Chicago mob.

   Charles Dickens wrote Oliver Twist to draw attention to the grotesque inequities between the classes, and as a protest of England’s Poor Laws during Victorian England. Lionel Bart adapted a musical, premiering in London’s West End in 1960. A motion picture was produced eight years later, starring Ron Moody as Fagin, Shani Wallis as Nancy, Oliver Reed as Bill Sikes, Jack Wild as the Artful Dodger, and Mark Lester as Oliver. The Academy Award-winning movie was directed by the iconic Carol Reed. It won six Oscars, including Best Picture.

   The local production was magnificent; with crisp direction, intriguing renditions of the musical numbers, and imaginative choreography. The children in the ensemble were really great, as was Heidi Kettenring who played Nancy, and John Reeger as Fagin. The standout was Brady Tutton as Oliver. He’s a Wisconsin native, who had a strong resemblance to Mark Lester when he was a tot. Oliver! is playing through June 2nd.

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   Earlier in the day, we spent lunch with the Rotary Club of Chicago O’Hare. FYI – Rotary International has its roots in the Windy City, when it was formed just after the turn-of-the-century. My 30th opportunity to chat with Rotarians had a special feel, due to the amazing  historic nature of the origins of this charitable organization. (Above: Rotary Club of Chicago O’Hare President Chuck Henschel, Laurie Pacheco, Manny Pacheco)

   Here’s a link to the website for info on this wonderful event:

http://www.rotarychicagoohare.org/

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…   (reporting from Hoffman Estates, Illinois) 

   On Tuesday, Laurie and I visited Chicago-proper, mostly traveling by train. The Metra is an outlying railway that gets you to downtown’s Union Station; while The Loop helps you make your way to Millennium Park, Grant Park, Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower), and other tour stops along Michigan Lake.

   The trip along the tracks reminded me of iconic movies featuring this mode of transportation into the Windy City. Four films come to mind: Recently, While You Were Sleeping, starring Sandra Bullock; and North By Northwest has a steamy love scene between Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint (below) in a bed cabin on a train. Since Grant’s character was on the run, he ends up masquerading as a Red Cap in Union Station.

   The Silver Streak crashed into the historic location, through the walls, and the train finally rests within the depot. Gene Wilder, Richard Pryor, Jill Clayburgh, and Scatman Crothers survive the impact. Crothers boldly proclaims: Hello Chicago… indeed!

   The Sting features a chase through The Loop. The actors involved are Robert Redford and Charles Durning. This was the singular motion picture in which Redford received an Oscar-nod for Best Actor; while the film received seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture of 1973…

   Hollywood-and-Vine moments even exist throughout the Midwest!

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…  (reporting from Hoffman Estates, Illinois) 

   Laurie and I took a trip to Mooseheart, Illinois, (outside the quaint suburb of Batavia) for a visit to MOOSEHEART Child City and School to see our charitable dollars at work. It’s heartwarming to know $1 in contributions from each 1st Edition copy of Forgotten Hollywood Forgotten History sold was earmarked for 2013 facility upgrades, according to a friendly spokesperson. Our total was offically $2400.

   Here are photos we took:

   It’s a good day to be an author and a contributor to such a wonderful charity…!

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…     (reporting from Hoffman Estates, Illinois)

   Laurie and I are in the Burbs of Chicago… Hoffman Estates. We’re here for a variety of reasons documented in a recent blog. But, to give you a sense of this iconic city, let me remind you about it’s fabulous ties to cinema.

   Several classics come to mind. The opening scenes of Some Like it Hot, when Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon witness the famous St. Valentines Day Massacre. Of course, Frank Sinatra’s rat-pack classic, Robin and the 7 Hoods is another gangster-related film; and it features the wonderful Standard, My Kind of Town (Chicago is), written by Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen. Other more recent movies we’ve enjoyed… The Untouchables with Kevin Costner and Sean Connery, and The Blues Brothers.

  However, let me share some recent history of the movies made in and around the suburbs of Chicago by the director of the brat pack genre… John Hughes. A majority of Hughes’ films were set in the North Shore suburbs of the Chicago metropolitan area. In some of his work, the setting is specifically identified as the fictional Shermer, Illinois, a nod to the original name of Northbrook… Shermerville. He directed or scripted some of the most successful celluloid stories of the 1980s and 1990s, such as Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Weird Science, The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Some Kind of Wonderful, and Home Alone. The films made stars of Molly Ringwald, Rob Lowe, John Cryer, Anthony Michael Hall, Emilio Estevez, Matthew Broderick, Demi Moore,  James Spader, Mare Winningham, Andrew McCarthy, Macaulay Culkin, Judd Nelson, and Ally Sheedy. Cinema replicating the premise include Risky Business and Adventures in Babysitting; popcorn flicks starring Elizabeth Shue and Tom Cruise. In 1994, Hughes retired to his beloved Chicago…

   As we begin ten days in the Midwest, this is my tribute to Burbs-area.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

   The FORGOTTEN HOLLYWOOD Pilot Documentary (Development) online funding campaign officially concluded on Saturday. What a finale at Westminster Lanes, with a day of bowling for cash and prizes. In our final week, we reached  84% of our goal, for a GRAND TOTAL of $4200.

CONTRIBUTIONS

~ WESTMINSTER LANES – Thanks to Mike, Ben, Paul, and the entire staff at Westminster Lanes, our fundraising day of bowling was a complete success. I’d also like to thank Karaoke Scene Magazine, Laurie Pacheco, Lisa G. for their prize donations. The bowling center let us have the run of the place. A total of 23 folks participated. Winners were Lowell Huber, Laurie Pacheco, Ron Sargent, Ray Jordan, Katelyn Walter, Gina Bazurto, and Phill Cross.

   Thanks to all who attended, including the above mentioned folks, and Gary Beebe, Kenny Walter, Darren Jones, Butch Labossierie, Phil Brent, Cindy Dutch, Bernie Greenberg, Ken Cox, Gary Coultas, Alex Dutch, Rick Sargent, Isaiah Gonzales, Lorraine Hodges, Rick Gruensner, and my cousins Robert and Sandi Pacheco.

~ TOM OKU ($60) – The owner of Budget Blinds of South Bay, Tom Oku is also a former lead singer in cover bands around Southern California. His franchise specializes in curtains, shutters, shades, blinds, and drapes. In fact, he works in the same business as my dad.

   Located in Redondo Beach, please visit their website for further information:

http://www.budgetblinds.com/

~ VINNIE CISNEROS ($20) – Vinnie is a bartender at Mr. B’s, and a former bartender at the Starting Gate, both at Los Alamitos. Well known for donating his services, he has contributed his time for Casa Youth Shelter to help at-risk children. He also has read both books in the Forgotten Hollywood series.

~ KURT KISSINGER ($5) – Kurt is studying to be a legal clerk. Currently, he works at Macy’s in Laguna Hills. During his spare time, he engages in karaoke all over Orange County. Kurt lives in Cypress.

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   During this 2013 campaign, I’ve asked friends, family, and supporters to help us achieve our 120+ day (19-week) goal of $5000. A total of 114 individual and business contributors want to support quality family-friendly television programs, intelligently presented.

   Indiegogo placed monies raised on their site into my Forgotten Hollywood LLC account, I’m please to say.

                                                                                     LIONEL BARRYMORE

   YOU can still contribute ANY AMOUNT. This step ensures Development, and we’ll be able to:

1. Hire a research archivist to track down footage and photos; and secure licensing
2. Hire a consultant / casting director to book actors and behind-the-scenes folks from Hollywood’s Golden Age; plus cinematic historians for original interviews. Margaret O’Brien and Scott Essman are our first subjects
3. Set up a production shoot to tape these candid moments

   All participants will warmly receive screen thanks at the conclusion of the Documentary.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

   Events at the Cannes Film Festival were taken out of the screenplay of a Pink Panther film, or a Hitchcock thriller starring Cary Grant and Grace Kelly. Round up the usual suspects…!

   From an Associated Press report:

   Thieves ripped a safe from the wall of a hotel room near the Festival de Cannes, and made off with around $1 million worth of jewelry, in a brazen late-night burglary, just hours after the screening of a film about break-ins at the homes of Hollywood celebrities. The apparently well-planned robbery at the Novotel Hotel took place in the room of an employee of Chopard, the Swiss-based watch and jewelry maker, and festival sponsor, that was hosting a splashy event around the same time. The gala was running late into the night at the 5-star Hotel Martinez across town, where the company has a suite during the festival. Chopard has loaned jewelry to A-list stars who walk on the festival’s famed red carpet. Already this year, actress Julianne Moore have walked the carpet in Chopard gems.

   The theft was believed to have taken place sometime between 7 p.m. Thursday and 3 a.m. Friday. News of the robbery sent journalists scurrying to the Novotel, a business hotel about a 15-minute walk from Cannes’ seafront promenade. Dozens of detectives are involved in the investigation, and police vehicles could be seen outside the hotel Friday afternoon. Authorities were going over hotel surveillance cameras and questioning potential witnesses who might have seen any culprits.

   On Thursday night, the festival screened Sofia Coppola’s The Bling Ring — a drama about celebrity-obsessed teenagers in Los Angeles who break into the homes of Paris Hilton and other stars. It’s based on a true story about high-school students who, after seeing online when certain stars are expected at a premiere or other event, take the opportunity to steal items from their homes.

   Chopard manufactures the crystal and gold Palme d’Or trophy awarded each year to the festival’s top film. Festival organizers would not disclose the Palme’s whereabouts Friday, but said it was kept in a safe place. They had no comment on the robbery.

   Cue the Mancini score, and call out Inspector Clouseau…!

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

   Another Summer of Hollywood Golden Age gems are on tap beginning next month. Oscar’s Outdoors is in its second year, and promises iconic screenings in the middle of Tinsel Town.

   Tickets will be on sale starting May 22nd online and by mail at the Academy Box Office. For a complete listing of movies, dates, and times, click on the link below:

Manny P. here…

   The afternoon after our Westminster Lanes / Forgotten Hollywood Documentary fundraising event, Laurie (my wife) and I are headed for a whirl-wind ten days in Chicago. We have a lot planned, culminating with a special dinner in Wisconsin honoring Moose International, Inc. members (including me) for contributions made to Moose Charities in 2012. I’ll document our trip via the Forgotten Hollywood blog.

   Some of the activities include:

~ A trip to Miller Park to watch the Los Angeles Dodgers take on the Milwaukee Brewers (05/22)

~ A lunch and book signing with members of the Rotary Club of Chicago – O’Hare (05/23)

~ A visit to MOOSEHEART CHILD CITY AND SCHOOL to personally witness my charity dollars in action. I’ll also donate a copy of Son of Forgotten Hollywood Forgotten History to their library (05/23)

~ A chance to see a Broadway-style production of Oliver at the Drury Lane Theatre and Conference Center, located in the Burbs of Chicago  (05/23)

~ A three-day Memorial Day weekend tour of Chicago, with visits to the friendly confines of Wrigley Field; and Sears Tower. We’re also taking g a historic gangster tour with stops at  the Biograph Theatre where John Dillinger was gunned down, and the garage where the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre was carried out (05/24 – 05/26)

~ A Moose International – League of Guardians Donor Dinner at the historic Milwaukee Arts Museum. In my latest literary work, I wrote about the actor who was considered a favorite son from Milwaukee, but who was actually a Canadian – JACK CARSON (05/27)

   Time permitting, we plan on traveling to Waukegan, the childhood home of Jack Benny; and enjoy opportunities to try some famous Chicago-style pizza and hot dogs, and Milwaukee beer.

   Bulletins as they break!

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

   Charles Strouse is one of the great living composers and lyricists… And, you probably never heard of him! A favorite son of New York, the Dix Hills Performing Arts Center is committed to celebrating his life with the return of an off-Broadway retrospective. Originally presented in 2011, TOMORROW celebrates the music of Charles Strouse. He’s an esteemed member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He also received the ASCAP Foundation Richard Rodgers Award and the Oscar Hammerstein Award.

   A long-time collaborator with lyricist Lee Adams, Strouse composed a string of Broadway hits, beginning with the smash hit Bye Bye Birdie in 1960. For this show, Strouse won his first Tony Award. Strouse’s next show in 1962, All American, with a book by Mel Brooks and lyrics by Adams, produced the standard Once Upon a Time. Other Broadway shows include Applause, the musical version of All About Eve, which starred Lauren Bacall (the first live production I  saw in my youth); and Annie, the acclaimed work that won Strouse another Tony, and two Grammy Awards.

   Strouse’s film scores include the classics Bonnie and Clyde, There Was a Crooked Man with Henry Fonda and Kirk Douglas, The Night They Raided Minsky’s, and the animated movie All Dogs Go to Heaven. He and Adams also wrote the theme song Those Were the Days for the television show All in the Family, and sung by Carroll O’Connor and Jean Stapleton. His song Born Too Late was #1 on the Billboard charts in 1958.

   Tomorrow will feature the talent of Marie Danvers and Rob Gallagher. Danvers starred as Christine in the Broadway and national touring productions of The Phantom of the Opera. She has performed all over the world as Maria in West Side Story, and appeared in the National and international tour of The Fantastics with Robert Goulet. Gallagher is best known for playing Javert in the Broadway production of Les Miserables.

   Upcoming works by Charles Strouse include an adaptation of the Paddy Chayevsky classic, Marty, starring John C. Reilly; and a musical version of The Night They Raided Minsky’s. Tomorrow has been expanded, and is being filmed as a pilot for a national television series!

   The Dix Performing Arts Center is located at Five Towns College, 305 N. Service Rd., Dix Hills, New York.

   Remember the name… Charles Strouse!

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

   Dr. Joyce Brothers was a psychologist, television personality, and advice columnist. She went on to do syndicated advice shows on both television and radio, during a broadcasting career that lasted over four decades. In addition to The Dr. Joyce Brothers Show, she had a monthly column in Good Housekeeping magazine, and a syndicated newspaper column she began writing in the 1970s. At the height of her popularity, it was printed in over 300 newspapers.                       DR. JOYCE BROTHERS —————->

   She gained fame in late 1955 by winning on The $64,000 Question game show, which she appeared as an expert in the subject of Boxing. In 1959, allegations that the quiz shows were rigged, due to the Charles Van Doren controversy on the quiz show, Twenty One. Brothers insisted she never cheated, nor had she ever been given any answers to questions in advance. Subsequent investigations suggested she had won honestly. And, her major success on The $64,000 Question earned Brothers a chance to be the color commentator for CBS during the boxing match between Carmen Basilio and Sugar Ray Robinson. She was said to be the first woman ever to act as a boxing commentator.

   In addition to being called upon for her expertise in psychology, Joyce also appeared on a number of television shows, including Saturday Night Live, CHiPs, Simon & Simon, Taxi, Ellery Queen, Mama’s Family, Happy Days, Night Court, The Nanny, Moonlighting, Frasier, One Life to Live, WKRP in Cincinnati, Married… with Children, The Simpsons, Melrose Place, ALF, The Larry Sanders Show, and Suddenly Susan. She appeared as an occasional celebrity guest on game shows such as Match Game, the 1968 revival of What’s My Line, The Gong Show, and Hollywood Squares. She was the ninth-most frequent guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Later, Dr. Joyce branched out into cinema, playing herself in more than a dozen movies, such as Analyze That and Dear God.

   As a psychologist, Dr. Joyce had been licensed in New York since 1958. She would go on to write 15 books. She also became an advocate for female issues. In the 1970s, she called for the removal of sexism in textbooks, noting that non-sexist cultures tend to be less warlike.

   Dr. Joyce Brothers was 85.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

   What a thrill it was for me to present the Forgotten Hollywood Book Series and a copy of my Forgotten Hollywood Radio Program to song stylist Michael Feinstein. The singer was honored Friday by the Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters for his untiring efforts to preserve the Great American Songbook in conjunction with the Library of Congress.

   Among the folks who honored Feinstein… television producer Norman Lear, Debbie Boone, Florence Henderson, and the iconic songwriting team, Marilyn and Alan Bergman. In the audience was veteran actress Jane Withers. Michael is well known for his renditions of tunes written by George and Ira Gershwin (S’Wonderful); and Standards made famous by Frank Sinatra. His journey to salvage our American Songbook has been well documented on PBS.

   MICHAEL FEINSTEIN

   Michael met me on stage, so I could personally give him a CD copy of a recent program Gary Lycan and I recorded, capturing the story of the Great American Songbook Initiative created by Feinstein. He was clearly moved by my gifts. The program aired in March on the Financial News and Talk Radio Network. The hour long show is on each Saturday at 3p (pst).

   Kudos to the Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters for such an appropriate honor. By the way, I joined the PPB in 2010. Hall of Fame broadcaster Art Laboe put my name in consideration to become a member.

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   Forgotten Hollywood Forgotten History is now owned by over 2800 readers. In its second printing, most of my sales have come from Rotarians from all over Southern California, and a number of computer clubs that took place in Glendora and Long Beach. I was invited to share my success as a self-published author, and to conduct several book signings.

   My first paperback is showing no sign of slowing, in terms of sales. Great news indeed!

Until next time>                               “never forget”