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New Valentino BookUpdate: March 2009 A good bit of progress is being made. I am writing, happily the muse is helping me along and words are flowing with greater ease for a change. I do suspect that this partially due to the fact that the pressure of full scale biography is no longer there for me. No need to reinvent the wheel, in particular since two other books are forthcoming as you know. What I am writing will frame the images, so please do not be dissapointed that this will not be a biography in the most detailed sense. I should have a new video teaser posted very soon. In the meantime, here's a very close to final draft on the cover art. The photo may or may not change. Some might complain that the image is not rare enough, particularly since it was the "trademark" image from the previous design on this website. However, it is an iconic image and that is important.
It is also my pleasure to announce that the Introduction to the book will be written by Emily Leider, author of Dark Lover: The Life and Death of Rudolph Valentino. For me this is pretty exciting stuff and I'm thrilled to receive emails regularly from people who seem to be as excited as I am.
Update: February 2009 Well, the cover art will likely change again (for what feels like the 90th time). The book is coming along and should be on schedule for late summer 2009. I'm very excited, things are coming together as never before. Please keep watching this space for news! Update: November 2008
Update: April 2008 The progress on the book is moving a little slower than I'd like, but, I can only blame myself for the slower than snail's pace. Hopefully I will have word by the end of the summer on a publisher. Keep your fingers crossed! In the meantime, here is a little sneak peek I put together. It was a good excuse to play with my video editor and use some vintage tango music. Enjoy!
Update: November 2007 First off, the final tally on the cover votes has been updated below. The clear winner was option 1, the portrait from the Hooded Falcon. Thank you to everyone who voted on the cover choice, we'll see how it all plays out in the end. The work is going on, albeit a bit slower than I'd imagined. Writing sometimes is very much like pulling teeth, without novocain! Until the next update, the beat goes on! Update: October 2007 The first tally for the cover votes can be seen below. Cover Option 1 is followed closely by Cover Option 12. Please keep voting! Although it is clear some are just completely out of the running! Just for fun, here is a sample layout. Keep in mind, this is just for fun, the experimenting will continue!
Previous News: Update: September 2007 I am now actively working on the book and the goal is to have it finished by the end of 2007. This is quite a reasonable goal for me. Publication will hopefully happen in the first quarter of 2008. At this point the plan is to self-publish both a soft cover and hard cover edition. Updates on the progress will happen a bit more frequently now. As I have been scanning photos for the book, it occurred to me that some of the people waiting for the book might want to have a hand in selection of the cover image. Because of my affinity for photos of Valentino at the time he was preparing for the film The Hooded Falcon, the bearded photo above is but a single option. Ideally, we're looking for a cover that will "pop" and get people interested. Some choices are shown below and please do cast your vote. Some of these photos you will recognize from the old version of this website. Of course, there are many many more options, many rare images to choose from that are not shown. This exercise is to get an idea of the cover art that would appeal and grab not only the seasoned Valentino fan, but the person who has never heard of Valentino and compels that person to pick this book up. Cast your vote or tell me of another photo you love by sending me an email. Votes will be tallied after October 31st and the results will be published on this page. As they used to say in the old days, vote early and vote often!
New Valentino BookOctober 2007 Update: The first tally for the cover votes can be seen below. Cover Option 1 is followed closely by Cover Option 12. Please keep voting! Although it is clear some are just out of the running!
October 2006 While I've been talking about doing this project for years, it is finally going to happen. The book will cover Valentino's life and career, but will not be a full-fledged biography, that has been done by others far more capable than I. Valentino's life and films will be the framework for the photographic biography, showing Valentino throughout his all too short life. The basis for the book is my personal collection of photos of Rudolph Valentino, collected over the last 20+ years. In addition, the book will be further enriched because several other collectors have made their own collections of rare material available for use in this book. The goal is to use photos that have never been published in book form. Many photographs have not been seen since they were published in the daily newspaper back in the 1920's. When published, this will be a book for Valentino fans to treasure for years to come (at least I hope it will be). The cover illustrated above is merely a mock-up and the final product may not look exactly like this. Tentatively titled Rudolph Valentino: His Life in Photographs, the book is projected to be published in late 2007. |
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