Rudolph Valentino: The Silent Idol
His Life in Photographs

At long last I am very proud to announce the publication and availability of
Rudolph Valentino: The Silent Idol His Life in Photographs. 

The book may be ordered directly from the publisher here:

Rudolph Valentino The Silent Idol at Blurb.com

Blurb's preview widget is not working on my website at this time.  Clicking the link above will allow you to preview 20+ pages of the book before purchasing.

The feedback on the book has been overwhelmingly positive. I'm so happy that people are thrilled with it!  I hope to be posting more feedback here from emails I have been receiving.  I can only state that they have been 110% positive. 

Here's sample email:

Dear Donna,
Margaret M., has always thought your calendars have been beautiful. your Newsletters marvelous, but your new book has even surpassed them. She has the book and is just savoring it . The photographs are just amazing. She asked me to tell you how much she is enjoying it. Thank You so very much. - Steve M.

Blurb.com allows posting of comments, here's a most beautiful expression:

What a beautiful, touching tribute to an amazing man....I felt as if I was watching a silent film, filled with images I hadn't seen before and Rudy's life was unfolding before me. The simplicity of the pages showcases each photograph as a precious work of art....and captures his bittersweet life so poignantly, but more important, captures his vibrant essence that will carry on forever. - Kimberley T.

 To read more comments on blurb, please click here.

It has taken many years for this project to gestate and morph into the book as it is now published today.  For those who have been visiting and emailing waiting, I know it has been a long time.  I hope in the end you will find the wait well worth it.  I feel your (and my) patience has paid off.

In many respects the length of time it has taken the book to come to fruition has been a real benefit.  Ideal, in fact,  as so many wonderful images became available only recently.  This has all been beneficial and added immeasurably to the depth and quality of the book.  Originally intended to have approximately 200 photos, the finished book now boasts 400 images.  Many of the images are previously unpublished.  Many other images have not been published since they were originally in the 1920s in newspapers and fan magazines.

Numerous fellow collectors and fans of Valentino contributed to this volume.  I've also had the blessing of Valentino family with this project in the form of some rare and previously unpublished candid snapshots of Valentino. 

The Foreword is by Emily Leider, author of Dark Lover: The Life and Death of Rudolph Valentino.  It's an honor to have her name associated with this project.

You may well ask why will this book be so expensive since the book is a soft cover format.  The answer to this lies with the choice of publisher and in the quality of the publication.  Please believe I researched many options for self-publishing a quality photo book before making the final selection of blurb.com.  Many of the "vanity press" publishers that are, in reality, offshoots of the major publishing houses cost multiple thousands of dollars to get your book in print.  The services they provide offer very limited perks with regard to design, page count and number of images allowed.  They were also inflexible on price, nearly three times the price from blurb.com.  In the end, blurb.com has proven to be the best choice for me and what my goal was for this "coffee table book" on Rudolph Valentino.  blurb.com is most flexible with regard to book design and images and, affordability. 

The pricing structure at blurb.com is indicative of the cost of production since it is a print-on-demand format.  The base cost for the book at blurb.com is $50.95 for a soft cover between 201 and 240 pages in length.  The $2 on top of that will be my commission as the author.  If you have any question about the pricing blurb offers, please pay a visit here.

Once again, to everyone who has helped with this book, those who have written many emails inquiring about the book and encouraging me to complete it, I cannot thank you enough.  This has been a labor of love, truly.  It's a way to share some wonderful photos and shed a little light on a figure that still has a mystical appeal, even in today's cynical world.  It's heartwarming to meet so many fans of Valentino, even virtually through this website.  I think he'd be flattered so many still have an interest and I think he'd be amazed.