Playing Marilyn Monroe by Naomi Hirahara

JENN McKINLAY: Many conferences ago, I was lucky enough to make the acquaintance of a delightful woman named Naomi Hirahara, whose fourth Mas Arai mystery had just come out. Being a series reader, I had to go back to the first title, Summer of the Big Bachi, and once I read it, I was hooked. Recently, I saw pics pop up on Twitter of Naomi being inducted into Vroman's walk of fame, and I knew I had to ask her to come and share her insider's perspective of this amazing honor. Congratulations, Naomi! And thanks for joining us today!

NAOMI HIRAHARA: So honored to guest blog for the Reds! I’m a big fan of every single one of these writers and I’m wearing a red plaid throw as I compose this post.

The most remarkable thing happened to me this year—I got a chance to play Marilyn Monroe. If you’ve seen me in person, you are definitely calling my bluff right now. I’m 4’10” and my measurements will remain a secret. But my local hangout, Vroman’s, the oldest and largest independent bookstore in Southern California, made it all happen.

Vroman’s, established in 1894, owns the Pasadena property extending from its bookstore on Colorado Boulevard to an art movie house. As a result, the store management has decided to create a Walk of Fame, sporting handprints and signatures of authors cast in concrete a la Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.

I actually witnessed the ceremony in the past and thought it was the coolest thing ever. In this age of digital book reviews, e-books and online sales, sometimes I feel like I’m living in a virtual world. To see something literally in concrete celebrating writers seem anachronistic, in the best possible way.

So when Vroman’s came calling this year to invite me to participate, I was completely floored. In fact a couple of days before the ceremony, I was feeling a bit sick to my stomach. I’m not a household word. I’m not worthy. But then my wise husband told me, “None of us really deserve any of it.” In other words, whatever we manage to receive is a gift. 

Jenn: You absolutely deserve it, but I adore your husband's wise words!

The event was a blast and after I cleaned off my hands, I did a Q & A with the wonderful Nancie Clare, a kindred spirit who is a writer of both history and mystery.

The wet cement was covered by a wood platform to protect it and for several days orange cones and yellow tape were placed around it to ensure that no dogs left their footprints. (Although it would have been cute if my Jack Russell was able to leave his.)

Since my husband and I often frequent that block in our neighborhood, he always tries to get us to stop at my square. Somehow it’s too embarrassing and I decline and usually keep walking.

The other day when my husband was away, I went to the movies on my own at the art movie house. After the film ended, I did stop at that square of concrete. Looking down at my signature and hand print, I had to smile and laugh. It was a gift. For a day, I was Marilyn Monroe.

Happy holidays, everyone!

Okay, Reds and Readers, if you could see the handprints of any author, dead or alive, on a Walk of Fame, whose would you want to see? And would you compare your hands to theirs? (Yes, I totally would).

***

Naomi Hirahara is the Edgar Award-winning author of two mystery series set in Southern California and numerous short stories. Her Mas Arai series ended this year with the publication of the seventh, Hiroshima Boy. The first in her Officer Ellie Rush series won the T. Jefferson Parker mystery award. A consultant for TV cable series and historic books/exhibitions, she is currently working on a mystery with a new character, Leilani Santiago, set on the island of Kaua‘i. Iced in Paradise will be released in September 2019.  She is also writing a historical standalone mystery based in 1940s Chicago. For more information, visit www.naomihirahara.com or her blog http://naomihirahara.com/blog/.

The Island Where It Happens

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Nantucket changed my life. Truly. It’s where Jonathan and I met, and my every memory of the place is wrapped in gossamer happiness. So when I heard about Steven Axelrod, who sets his mysteries (from the amazing Poisoned Pen Press) on the island, I was instantly hooked. 

So—welcome Steven! And I laughed and laughed when I heard about his main character--a bad poet! Brilliant.

HANK:  Your protagonist, Henry Kennis, has to be the world's most literate police chief, bar none. How did you decide to create a cop who writes poetry on the side? 

STEVE: First of all, I write poetry myself -- very much like the accessible reality-based verse that Henry composes, which is not really in fashion now. The wife of one of my MFA program professors, a very prominent modern poet, read Nantucket Five-Spot (which was written as my creative thesis) and remarked. "I love the fact that hero is such a bad poet! So charming." I guess I couldn't resist the urge to let some of these "bad" poems see the light of day. 

But it's an appropriate hobby for a detective. Crime solving and poetry require the same leaps of intuition, the same ability to make and recognize odd connections and relationships. Beyond that a poem is a good x-ray of a character's heart and soul. The poems help the reader get to know my Police Chief a little better.  

HANK:  The backdrop of your new book is the backstabbing world of local theater, in this case Nantucket's. The vicious confrontations between the characters who populate this  novel feel quite authentic... Have you yourself participated in local theater and experienced this level of drama?

STEVE: I did a fair amount of community theater acting when I was Henry's age, and I saw my fair share of high drama and low comedy in that milieu. The theater scene on the island seems much more serene these days. But  that's okay -- inventing conflict and setting crazy characters at each others' throats is part of my job description.

HANK:  You spent a portion of your childhood in a Hollywood environment, with your father being the famous writer/director George Axelrod. (Listen to this, reds and readers. His father is  best known for his play, The Seven Year Itch, which was adapted into a movie starring Marilyn Monroe. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his 1961 adaptation of Truman Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's and also adapted Richard Condon's The Manchurian Candidate.  MY total FAVORITE. ) Anyway. So cool! 

STEVE: My Hollywood ties have frayed somewhat over the years though I remain a member of the WGA(w) thanks to a development deal some years ago with a big TV producer. There is currently some interest in the Kennis books as a series from different "content providers" I guess I should call them, to be as vague and cryptic as possible ... but it's hard to tell how serious any of them are. I keep my fingers crossed, though it tends to interfere with my typing.

HANK: I know the feeling!  So--When you prepare for a new novel, do you first outline everything from soup to nuts? Or are you a write-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of guy?

STEVE: I'm a combination of the two. I've always envied writers like Stephen King who apparently just charge into a book and let the plot details sort themselves out, with what Nabokov called "the velocity of intuition". 

HANK: Oh, I’ve never heard that. I love it. Is that what you do? 

STEVE: I tend to be more cautious. I need to know the ultimate outcome before I start -- who done it and why, and at least some of the clues red-herrings and detours that will lead Henry to the culprit. You're always telling two or three parallel narratives in a mystery, with several of those scenarios throwing  suspicion on the wrong people. The links between these versions of reality are the clues, which can be interpreted different ways -- the RACHE written on the wall in blood that Gregson and Lestrade assume to be an almost completed name -- Rachel. But Sherlock Holmes knows it's the German word for revenge.

HANK: Oh, we have to talk. More I cannot say. But wait til you read my new book The Murder List. J  But we digress.

STEVE:  So ... within that macro-structure, the big picture of the novel, I attack the story one chunk at a time, carefully outlining the piece I'm working on and usually emerging from it with only the vaguest idea of where I'm going next. So I read through the notes, refresh my memory about the larger story and start outlining the next bit of the plot. 

This gets simpler as the story goes on. Tales narrow down and pick up speed as they approach their climax and the writing becomes easier as more and more decisions have already been made. 

My father always told me, "If you have a problem with act three, the real problem is in act one." He referred to those final blissful writing days that sweep to the end of the story as "picking the daisies" -- flowers you meticulously planted many pages ago. All that being said, the actual content of each scene remains wildly improvisational. Except for a few essentials, I really have no idea what my characters are going to say to each other, or which way their conflicts will go. 

And that makes every writing day fun.

HANK: We are the same! But you are so eloquent about it. I just freak out and cross my fingers. Last question:

With Nantucket being so tiny, is it a challenge to come up with new plot concepts that don't tread on the ground already covered?

STEVE: I wrote a thriller twenty years ago and my agent at the time warned me "You better know what your next couple of thrillers are going to be. I'm branding you as a thriller guy." That scared me. I had literally used every idea, gimmick, action set-piece and plot device I had ever come up with in that book. I had been pebble collecting for it since high school. Now I was supposed to write another one? I had nothing, and told her so. Maybe I should have faked it -- the book never sold. Anyway, it's just the opposite with Nantucket. The little resort island teems with stories, plots, feuds, grudges, history and conflict. I'm always learning new things, from the existence of secret cock fighting clubs (Which I used on the first page of the new book) to the fact that the dump was built on an Wampanoag Indian graveyard. Spooky! The material seems inexhaustible. 

Nantucket is America in miniature, with all the wealth inequality, immigration issues, opioid addiction, gang crime and bureaucratic malfeasance a crime writer would wish for. The island is experiencing massive tectonic social changes. The larger aim of my books is to chronicle those changes  -- and try to make sense of them.

HANK: Yes, yes, this is so thought provoking! Reds and readers, have you ever been to Nantucket? Would you like to? What’s your image of it? Or where’s one place that changed your life?

 

Nantucket Counterfeit by Steven Axelrod 

The fifth Henry Kennis mystery takes us into the closed, gossip-riddled, back-stabbing world of Nantucket’s community theater.            

Horst Refn, the widely disliked and resented Artistic Director of the Nantucket Theater Lab, has been found stuffed into the meat freezer in his basement. Most of the actors, all the technical crew, and quite a few of the Theater Lab Board members, whom Refn was scamming and blackmailing, are suspects in his murder. The island’s Police Chief Henry Kennis has to pick his way through a social minefield as he searches for the killer.

At the same time, Henry’s daughter’s new boyfriend, football star Hector Cruz, has been accused of sexting her. Carrie knows the offending pictures didn’t come from him, and Henry has to prove it before the boy gets suspended, which means probing into the family secrets of Hector’s father, a firebrand agitprop playwright, who happens to be a prime suspect in Refn’s murder.

Every story is a fiction, every identity proves false, and every statement a lie. The counterfeit bills found at the scene of the crime are the most obvious symbol of the deceptions and distractions that obscure the investigation. The truth lies buried in the past, in Refn’s earlier crimes and the victims who came to Nantucket seeking revenge.

When the culprit has been revealed, the last masks torn off, and final murder foiled—live, on stage, during the opening night of Who Dun It, the eerily prescient opening drama of the Theater Lab Season—Jane says to Henry, “Is everything counterfeit?” He smiles. “Almost.”

Steven Axelrod holds an MFA in writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts and remains a member of the WGA, despite a long absence from Hollywood. His work has been featured on various websites, including the literary e-zine Numéro Cinq, where he is on the masthead; Salon.com; and The Good Men Project; as well as the magazines Pulp Modernand Big Pulp. A father of two, he lives on Nantucket Island, Massachusetts.

Marilyn Monroe Sells out!

ROSEMARY HARRIS: Would you buy hairspray from this woman?
A hot dog? Pantyhose? The folks who purchased the late star's estate think you will.

Marilyn Monroe's Q score is one of the highest on record. (Who's higher...keep reading.)

Apparently "delebs" as deceased celebs are sometimes called, can be better at influencing buyers than living, breathing people. Why else would Princess Diana be on the cover of Vanity Fair's September issue? No disrespect, but has she bought anything new lately? Done anything lately? Put her on the (imaginary) Style Icons issue, but are they so devoid of ideas that they need to resurrect that poor dead girl every time circulation dips?

It's been a while since a celebrity has influenced my decision on anything. I think it's a positive thing for the world that George Clooney has repeatedly shone a spotlight on Darfur. I think it's great that the NBA has all those local kids' programs (whether or not LeBron James is actually the one mentoring young readers is immaterial.) But buying decisions? Stuff?

Okay - I'll give you Jennifer Hudson for Weight Watchers. The woman looks phenomenal, but does it matter if Brooke Shields uses Latisse? If Sally Field takes Boniva? Do we trust her more because she's been a nun and a labor activist?
So let me ask - have you ever been swayed by a celebrity endorsement?
And the highest Q score - Lucille Ball. Go figure.

LUCY BURDETTE: Oh yay, Lucille Burdette--another Lucy! I'm so out of this loop it isn't funny. Maybe back when I subscribed to MORE magazine, I would look at the profiles of celebs over 40 and check out their secrets. The problem is even if I end up buying the beauty product they recommended, it usually ended up gathering dust on a shelf in the closet.

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN:  Jamie Lee Curtis for yogurt? I have to say, it makes one hundred per cent no difference if a product has a celebrity endorsement. It's actually--sad. To see Jennifer Aniston for body lotion? Does she NEED the money? Is that stuff gonna make me look like her?  Um, lemme think. :-)  It's just all made up, and all for money. So--I don't care, I'm not swayed, and it's just as phony as it can be.
 (I did used to watch what Princess Diana wore, I must say. She always looked great. "Delebs?" I've never heard that word, yeesh, and wish I still hadn't)


ROSEMARY: Yeah...delebs...even worse than cronuts.

RHYS BOWEN: No, I've never seen a celeb using something and rushed out to buy it. I've seen Cindy Crawford doing an infomercial for face products and known instantly that I'd never look like that however much I spend. Maybe if one of my idols--Maya Angelou, for example, endorsed an orphanage I'd send cash.
Mind you, I am absolutely in love with the gecko. He is so cute. But I still don't have Geico insurance.

HALLIE EPHRON: Gecko/Geico - you know, I'm just getting the joke. On that subject, I do love Flo though I have no idea what brand of insurance she's pushing.
I really can't think of a celebrity sales person who's swayed me. And it really annoys me to see Alex Trebek or Ed McMahon selling some smarmy sounding insurance for old people.

Just free associating: we all want the biggest names in the business to blurb our books. Why not dead ones (deauthors)? Raymond Chandler! Agatha Christie! Stieg Larsson!

ROSEMARY: What about the rest of you..will you be buying Marilyn jewelry? 
 

Fifty Dresses

JAN BROGAN - At my book group Christmas party each year we all have to bring a book we've already read and wrap it up for a Yankee swap. The swap last year reduced me to quite a bit of scheming to grab and then hold onto a book that caught my attention.

Yes, I was willing to play dirty to get Fifty Dresses That Changed The World -- from the Design Museum. Once I got it home and actually read it, I had to laugh. Nabbed by book title hyperbole. Did I really think that dresses could change the world? Like the UN or Mother Theresa or Adolph Hitler? Still, it's an interesting list of fifty dresses. Maybe not that changed the world, but reflected world changes. Or likely, but not always, changed the fashion world.

At any rate, what attracted me to the book was the cover: Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly wearing that classic "little black dress" with the long black gloves. We all remember that dress, so clearly it had some impact on our world.

But I thought it might be interesting to see if my fellow Reds and our blog readers could guess some of the forty-nine others. Some are really insanely obscure -- which I'm pretty sure means they had no real effect on anything other than the fashion world and probably for a limited amount of time - but others you can probably figure out.

I'll give you some hints. A couple of Oscar awards dresses made the list. A few important wedding dresses (but not Kate Middleton's which came too late for the book) as well as dresses that changed the style we were wearing at the time. At least three are associated with specific designers with names we actually know, and four come from television shows or movies. Some involve new technology, and others reflect a Japanese influence.

Now try to use your actual memories before going straight to Google. (And no googling the actual book, that's cheating!)

RHYS: One that immediately comes to mind--Marilyn Monroe's dress with the skirt blowing up.Jacqueline Kennedy was such a fashion icon that her look had to be part of a list. Dior's "new look" after World War II. And since my new book features Chanel, I think that the Chanel look, especially the tailored masculine look she invented, definitely changed the world. Presumably Kate Middelton's wedding dress would be part of a future list!

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Scarlett O'Hara's curtain dress, maybe? Oh,this is so fascinating. Cher's ridiculous Bob Mackie at the Academy Awards? Princess Diana's wedding dress, certainly. Oh, Grace Kelly's lace-bodiced wedding dress? So there must be an Issey Miyaki, although I never understood those clothes. Gosh, Sharon Stone's Gap outfit at the Oscars? Liza Minelli in red Halston? Diane Keaton in Annie Hall? (But that wasn't a dress.) Michelle Obama's green dress and coat at the inauguration? Twiggy in Mary Quant's mini-dress? Oh, the Diane Von Furstenburg wrap dress! I have a photo of me in that, somewhere, from--1972? Jannie, this is so interesting, I can't wait to hear.

HALLIE EPHRON: There's gotta be an outrageous Rudi Gernreich (of the topless swimsuit) and Pucci (pink psychedelic) from the 60s. Yes Jackie Kennedy's sack dress (with the pillbox hat). Someone must have started the shirtwaist, the June Cleaver look (maybe something Grace Kelly wore?). A mini of Twiggy's? YES, of course, the von Furstenberg wrap dress which is still going strong. The flapper dress (though I don't know which). Remember the maxi look? And of course, a Chanel suit (though it's a suit, not a dress - does that count?) Defniitely Diana's bridal gown, and if that book were coming out now, Pippa's Maid of Honor.

ROSEMARY HARRIS: Hmmm...all the good ones are taken! Lady Gaga's meat dress, Bjork's swan dress at the Oscars, JLo's plunging neckline at the Grammies, Streisand's see-though outfit at the Oscars, the credit card dress from the Oscars, Calvin Klein slipdress, Ally McBeal suit (thinking tv here....)

JAN: So I'm truly impressed by your world-changing-fashion knowledge. Yes, Rhys, Chanel, Marilyn Monroe's 7 Year Itch dress and I'm really blown away you got the "New Look" by Christian Dior after WWII - which if you don't know it - and I wouldn't- looks like one of the dresses Lucille Ball used to wear on I LOVE LUCY with the simple short sleeve top, cinched waist and full skirt three quarters down the calf. Maybe that's what Hallie was thinking of when she mentioned June Cleaver because I think she wore it too.

ALthough Scarlett O'Hara's dress did not make the list (and I think it should have) Hank still gets a bunch of gold stars for guessing Cher's ridiculous Bob Mackie dress at the Oscars, the Halston halterneck dress, Mary Quant's mini-dress and the wrap dress. Hallie gets additional points for Twiggy's mini, the flapper dress, Diana's bridal gown (I think Hank got that one too). While Jackie Kennedy's sack dress and pillbox hat, surprisingly, did not make the list - but another one of her outfits did.

And Ro, congrats on the Calvin Klein slip dress!

Everyone else, put on your thinking caps. There are still are few more that you might guess including another Oscar gown, two more from television and a wedding dress or two.

Answers will be announced on the comments page later today! And tomorrow I'm going to preempt our regularly scheduled programming to post pictures of some of these dresses.

Costumes we covet...

HALLIE: This week, the incredible collection of iconic movie costumes that Debbie Reynolds had collected over a lifetime went on the auction block. Marilyn Monroe's white dress--the one from Seven Year Itch with the pleated skirt, billowing in a gust of air from a subway grating--went for a record $5.6 million.

"Oh do you feel the breeze from the subway? Isn't it delicious," MM said in the movie. Supposedly her then husband (Joe DiMaggio?) looked on, seething in stony silence.

I love this photo of Debbie (I still think of her as Tammy) with a poster and two costumes from her collection. So sad that the collection had to be liquidated to pay creditors.

Reading abut the auction got me thinking about my favorite costumes from stage and screen. Here are some I'd love to have collected.

Do you know them ? Did I pick ones you remember? What other costumes you covet??

(Could you identify them all? I posted a Who's Who in the first comment!)

Thoughts on Fame

RHYS:
I've been thinking recently about fame, because it's a strange characteristic, not linked to human survival. Why do some people have a need to be famous? Why do other people go ga-ga over a person because he or she is famous? What, exactly, is the point of fame?

What got me thinking about this was observing my grandchildren. I have Meghan and Lizzie, equally talented. Meghan enjoys showing off her singing and Irish dance skills. Lizzie hates to perform or be noticed. And then I have Mary Clare, who is a born star. She comes into a room and she's the immediate center of attention. . She interacts with strangers everywhere she goes. She gets the lead in the kindergarten play. Is this just a case of introvert versus extrovert or is there really some kind of fame gene? Haven't we all been to plays and there is one person on stage we can't stop looking at? Not always the most handsome person or the best actor but they just have something that fascinates us.

I was a movie buff as a child. I remember standing for hours in a crowd in London for a chance to glimpse Joan Crawford. She was an awful old woman in those days with make-up caked like a mask and false eyelashes a mile long, but I was so thrilled that I really saw her--it was almost a religious experience, as if she was a reincarnation of the Buddha or something.

I have to confess that when I was a child, I dreamed of being a movie star. I loved to perform. I still enjoy speaking in front of a crowd. So that fame gene has to be there, doesn't it? On the other hand, I am intensely embarrassed when fans come up to me and stammer and gush over me. I never know what to say. So I don't want fame to be adored. That's obvious. So what do I want? Why do I keep plugging away at my writing, hoping for the bestseller one day? It's not the money--although a few million would be nice. Is to know that I'm good at what I do? That I'm close to the top of my chosen profession? that I've achieved my goal in life?

Why do people like us keep striving while others are content to accept a paycheck and desire nothing more than no stress, a quiet life, a few beers and a godo retirement at the end?

The whole fan culture is strange to me. Some musicians whip fans into a frenzy and yet they are not as good technically as lesser known musicians. Some of the best actors never make it to the top. So what defines star quality?

I'd appreciate any enlightenment on this subject. Also I'd be curious to know: who is the most famous person you have met? With me it's a toss between the Queen, The Pope and the Beatles.


HALLIE: What I've observed is that when people get really famous, then they become a lightning rod for sneers. Others take great glee in knocking them down a peg. That famous I don't need to be.

Most famous person I ever met? Gotta be Marilyn Monroe. My parents were screenwriters and six-year-old me got to go on the set at 20th Century Fox while they were shooting the Heatwave number ("We're havin' a heatwave, a tropical heatwave. The temperature's risin', it isn't surprisin', she certainly can can-can") for NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINESS. Marilyn danced and sang -- you can see the amazing results on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qe-45dj-aGo

Afterward Marilyn came out looking like nobody wearing black pedal-pushers, a white blouse, sunglasses, and a scarf tied around her head. I also met Danny Kaye (my parents wrote a movie he was in called On the Riviera), Katharine Hepburn (Desk Set), and Fred Astaire (Daddy Long Legs). Groucho Marx once came from the house and smoked a cigar. I got the very strong impression that he didn't like kids. And I once answered the front door and there was Ray Bolger singing "Once in Love with Amy" to me (my sister's name is Amy.)

RHYS: Hallie, you definitely have an unfair advantage! I would have been in heaven if I'd met Danny Kaye or Fred Astaire.

HANK: Rhys, you met the Queen, The Pope and The Beatles?? And people stammer and gush over you? Yikes. You win. :-) But Hallie, you're in another name-dropping league altogether.

I interviewed Prince Charles. (Very cute. And truly charming.) And I did long interviews with President Carter, and Warren Beatty and Cybill Shepherd and Dustin Hofffman and Ansel Adams, and I worked closely with (and toured with) Hunter Thompson and Richard Avedon.

Fame. Yeah, I sometimes wonder it's what happens to kids when their parents don't praise them enough. Or when the kids think they don't. If they say--"watch me dive!" and the parents don't.

RHYS: This is no measly list either, Hank. Do you find that being a TV personality makes you visible when you're out in public? Do people treat you differently because "you're on TV?" Does it interfere with your normal life?

JAN: I met Patty Duke once. She'd been famous since childhood and you could tell. There was this protective shell around her. It was as if there were a couple of feet of celebrity shield between her and the humanity around her. Not that I blame her, but I think it would be a burden. I think when I was young, I dreamed of being famous. But to tell you the truth, I don't think I could live that way. It even makes uncomfortable when people think its a big deal I'm a mystery writer. I keep wanting to set them straight.

ROBERTA: I was going to say that Hallie was the most famous person I've met:) but my husband reminded me that George W, George Sr, and Jeb Bush once played through us on the golf course. While we waited for them to finish the hole, Barbara Bush came up to watch. I introduced myself and my mother-in-law to her and offered condolences about Millie the dog. I said we'd recently lost a beloved guinea pig so we understood the loss. She was gracious but not certain at all that a rodent could be compared to her Millie.

RO: I would hate to be famous. I can't imagine people going through my garbage or staking out my home hoping to catch me in an unguarded or unmadeup moment.

Famous people I've met...I've bumped into a number of famous people at parties and events..no great meeting of the minds - and no one's ever sung to me (like Ray Bolger...very cool.)Okay, included with the soap opera, classic movie stars, athletes, wrestling and porn stars I knew in the video business there were three first ladies, two presidents, and one olympic gold medalist, Brian Boitano, whose thighs were as big as Emmett Smith's. William Hurt, Christopher Walken, Ron Jeremy and Governor Hugh Carey all, um, chatted me up (in my younger days)and I sat in the back of a limo with Frank Gifford who let me try on his Hall of Fame ring. I did shake hands with the Mick - Mantle, not Jagger. But no one made my heart beat faster than Bryan Brown, who must have thought I was a complete stalker when I met him at a party at the Australian consulate.

I haven't mentioned any women by name..that's terrible. I did meet Jeanne Moreau once. She was extremely cool.

RHYS: Hey, between us we've pretty much covered famous people in the latter half of the Twentieth Century, haven't we? My observation has always been that the really famous people, those who have made it to the top, are extremely nice, but those who have just brushed with fame--new stars, new wannabe stars, are objectionable. But of course we six Jungle Red babes have remained humble and loveable.
And nobody has enlightened me on why we crave fame. Is it as the song says, "I want to live forever?" Are our books just a quest for immortality?