J.D. Salinger ( 1919-2010 )

My good friend Dave Gergani rushed to see me today with news that he had my next story, and man was he right. J. D. Salinger, author and recluse, passed away late Wednesday evening at the age of 91. Salinger, author of the classic novel "CATCHER IN THE RYE", and the creator of the immortal character Holden Caulfield. There are over 60 million copies in print. Released in 1951, it had an immediate impact both positive & negative. The novel touched on themes that would strike a nerve with teenagers (innocence & alienation, a world of fakes and adults who can't be trusted). Many disillusioned youths have felt a connection and sense of place with "Catcher". However, it was his personal life that I found so interesting. Salinger chose to live a solitary life at his home in Cornish,N.H. for over 50 years. He refused interviews, fan letters and made no public appearances. During his years of isolation it has been rumored that he has continued to write & has completed some 15 novels. Now we will wait & see. I'll be fascinated to see if any posthumously books are forthcoming for the man who brought youth rebellion & angst to the forefront. Salinger, to the end, turned down all requests to have "Catcher in the Rye" made into a motion picture. My wife and I once took a 23 day rode trip through the East Coast & the only regret I have, was we passed within 10 miles of Cornish and I didn't detour and stop. Their are several books available on J.D.Salinger, two that I've read that were very interesting were Joyce Maynard's "At Home in the World" and Margaret Salinger's (his daughter) "Dreamcatcher". Salinger is survived by his two children, a son Matthew & daughter Peggy or "Margaret". His children often did not see him in a very flattering light. So... now we wait ! As Salinger's estate is passed on (possibly to his children) will we see those hidden novels forthcoming & will they finally sell the film rights literally "over his dead body"?

The whole purpose of my site is to pass on to you (the readers), things you most likely may not have heard about. Child prodigy, KIERON WILLIAMSON is probably one of those. Kieron,a 7 yr. old from Norfolk, England, is being compared to Monet & Picasso and his most recent gallery of 16 paintings sold out in 14 minutes for over 17,000 pounds. His watercolor paintings sell for over 900 pounds each and their is a waiting list of over 680 people. So... if you have an extra 1,000 dollars handy you might want to invest in something that one day may be worth 10 to 100 times that. If I had the money I would, because he truly is that good.

Just in case you missed it.. BANKSY (one of my fav's), a world renowned graffiti artist struck at the Sundance Film Festival this weekend. I thought it was pretty cool, as did others, but not everyone in Park City, Utah was as enamored. You can go to the Sundance web site to check out the photos.

Is That Even Possible ?

I just devoured this book! Allison Hoover Bartlett's, true life tale of book thief (John Charles Gilkey) & the bibliodick ( Ken Sanders), who helped to bring him down. As a self confessed bibliophile I found this book both fascinating & intriguing. I also found it personally enlightening & thought provoking about why we collect what we do & for what purpose. Allison looks into the field of rare book collecting through virgin eyes and is transfixed by the world she finds. Ive been a collector since I was about 7 years old. It started with baseball cards and comic books. The baseball cards ( some 500,000 plus ) I still have & the comics went the way of the burn barrel via my Mother. My mother is a saint & in fact it's the only thing I have on her & I still like to remind her from time to time. During my teens I started collecting autographs & sports memorabilia. Later, I began to amass a collection of coffee cups, Pyrex dishes, magazines, documents on S.Ill. history and original historic newspapers. I still have all the aforementioned, but in later years I moved on to 3 specific areas: roughly 7,000 books ( signed & 1st edition ), 5,000+ original movie posters & 6,000 movies (VCR,DVD,Laser Discs). My passion for book collecting really amped up after reading John Dunning's, "Booked to Die". I've spent many a day on an exciting quest by myself, with my wife & mother, and with my friend Tyler Renshaw looking for the next prize to add to the collection. At times its exhilarating, at others its frustrating as theirs only so much time & money available. When you have a limited amount of both, you have to work harder & wiser than the next guy,( without stealing ) so...that's my point. It can be done without resorting to the ways Gilkey does in this book. However, I will say I definitely understand his passion for obtaining. Is it a sickness, or addiction...probably. Like Gilkey says "Every collector seems a little obsessed, a little mad". Advise for future collectors or those already bitten by the bug, remember one thing, "We do not own our collections, our collections own us".....Happy Hunting !

ROBERT B. PARKER 1932-2010

I was saddened to see this morning that Robert B. Parker, had passed away of an apparent heart attack. Mr. Parker,77, was one of the true giants in the field of mystery writing. Robert B. Parker published 65 novels to date, and had published 37 Spencer novels, of which he was most known for. Spencer was an ex-boxer, turned Boston P.I., and was the basis for the 1985 TV Series "SPENCER FOR HIRE" featuring Robert Urich. He also had another popular mystery series with Jesse Stone. It was also a basis for films starring Tom Selleck. The 9th Jesse Stone novel,"SPLIT IMAGE" will be out on Feb 23rd. Mr. Parker was on my list of authors that I most wanted to meet and I had always admired his late start ( 1st book published at age 42 ) into the world of literature. He will be sorely missed.

Colton Harris Moore....catch me if you can !

A story that recently caught my eye, is that of 18 yr. old Seattle native Colton Harris-Moore. Moore escaped from a minimum security juvenile facility in April of 2009. Since then Colton has gained notoriety as a thief who breaks into homes (over 50) to eat ice cream & take bubble baths and then flee into the woods. From there the crimes have escalated to cash, stolen boats and airplanes. Nicknamed the "Barefoot Bandit" Moore's escapes are becoming something of a legend. He has flown away 3 planes & safely crash landed all 3 of them with no formal training. Already T-shirts are being sold with his picture & the words "FLY COLTON FLY", and a song "THE BALLAD OF BAREFOOT HARRIS" has been penned. He also has a FACEBOOK fan club with over 8,000 members and a documentary film crew have been to his hometown of Comano Island,Wa. He has been featured in Time Magazine & ABC NEWS. To this day he is out there on the run, continuing to allude authorities, hiding out in dense forest's. Colton has been in & out of trouble with police over petty crimes since he was 8. While the story sounds romantic, a modern day Robin Hood or Jesse James as some call him, you just know the story's not going to end well. I have feeling either he ends up dead, or gets put away for a long time. That's the cold hard reality of it all. A local law authority commented "He is an adult felon, I will not have him made into some kind of folk hero" This story reminds me of Frank Abagnale Jr's story which was made into the film, "Catch Me If You Can" ...(they could & they did). Fortunately, Frank went to work for the good guys (the FBI) & is one of the leading authorities on check fraud & identity theft in the world today. I had the pleasure of making Mr. Abagnale's acquaintance at the St. Louis Speaker Series a few years ago and I found him to be highly intelligent, personable and had completely turned his life around. I can only hope Colton gets that same chance to one day use his misguided adventures for something positive. I'll keep you posted of any new developments. For now, Fly Colton Fly !

NOIR@BAR3 ?

One of the coolest events to come along in awhile is called "Noir at The Bar". It was founded in 2009 by (Hardboiled Wonderland's) Jed Ayers, and Scott Phillips, the author of several novels, including "THE ICE HARVEST". The idea I believe originated out East and was brought to St. Louis by Scott. The concept is a night of crime noir book readings in a bar. The first two have been held at The Delmar Lounge on Delmar in the Heart of U City. I missed the 1st N@B1, which featured Anthony Neil Smith, whose books include "Yellow Medicine" & "Hogdoggin". I was really bummed at having to miss the inaugural event but I had made several trips to St. Louis that same week. N@B2 though was a different story though, as Judy & I both got to go & we loved it. The Bar on Delmar was the perfect setting to listen to these Hard Core crime writers reading their latest works. Jed Ayers kicked off the night with one of his new short stories & then was followed by Chicago native, Theresa Schwegel. Theresa read from her newest book "Last Known Address" & is the author of 4 wonderful books including "Person of Interest" "Probable Cause" and her white hot debut novel "Officer Down". Then it was Scott Phillips turn to get down & dirty with his latest short story. About 30-35 people were in attendance, including one of my favorite authors, Robert Randisi, who's penned over 500 books. Mr. Randisi, has written crime novels, westerns, you name it and has a wonderful mystery series set in St. Louis (In the Shadow of the Arch, Blood on the Arch, East of the Arch, Arch Angels.) There was something that just felt right about it all. I talked to Jed recently and he says N@B3 is in the works, so as soon as I get a date I'll post on here & CONSIDER YOURSELF INVITED.