Author Archives: maedez

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About maedez

Writer, biographer, poet. History nerd, silent movie maven. Punk rocker, amateur baker, bookworm. Cricket fan, Scotch drinker, craft beer snob.

A Year in Books/Day 108: On the Other Hand A Life Story

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  • Title: On the Other Hand A Life Story
  • Author: Fay Wray
  • Year Published: 1989 (St. Martin’s Press)
  • Year Purchased: ??
  • Source: Unknown
  • About: Fay Wray was much more than the beautiful blonde love interest of King Kong. She was multi-talented, whip-smart and determined; she made the tough transition from silent films to talkies while still in her early twenties; she fell in love with men of true intellect and ability (including the tragic Academy Award winning writer John Monk Saunders, her first husband). She was as ridiculously lovely at 90 as she was at 20, which I think speaks to certain rare inner qualities. She was working on a follow-up autobiography at the time of her death on August 8, 2004.
  • Motivation: If you’ve ever seen Fay Wray on film-or even a still photograph (see below)-you have the answer.
  • Times Read: 2
  • Random Excerpt/Page 56: “I rode a supposedly runaway horse and lay across the saddle, my head hanging down on one side of the horse, one foot tied to the stirrup on the far side. A crew member behind the camera shook his head, asking me silently not to do it.”
  • Happiness Scale: 9 1/2
    Publicity photo of Fay Wray for Argentinean Ma...

    Publicity photo of Fay Wray for Argentinean Magazine. (Printed in USA) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

     

A Year in Books/Day 107: Redheads

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  • Title: Redheads
  • Author: Joel Meyerowitz
  • Year Published: 1991 (Rizzoli International Publications, Inc.)
  • Year Purchased: 2000?
  • Source: Edward R. Hamilton Bookseller Company
  • About: This photography book is a visual declaration of love to all redheads. The subjects are real people-male and female, of all ages. No models, no insane airbrushing. There are freckles, wrinkles, imperfections and wildly different personal styles. The images are easily dated to the period of publication but are otherwise lovely.
  • Motivation: Ahem. I’m a natural ginger.
  • Times Read: Several.
  • Random Excerpt/Page 17: “Photography quite often overturns preconceptions. In this burst of curiosity about what a portrait is and how to go about making it, I discovered that, out of a hundred or so portraits I had made during an intensive month’s work some summers ago, thirty-five were of redheads. How had that happened?”
  • Happiness Scale: 7

The Dead Writers Round-Up: 22nd-24th April

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  • Ellen Glasgow was born on 4/22/1873. Glasgow won the Pulitzer Prize in 1942 for In This Our Life. Bette Davis and Olivia de Havilland starred in the film version.
  • Vladimir Nabokov was born on 4/22/1899. “A masterpiece of fiction is an original world and as such is not likely to fit the world of the reader.”
  • William Shakespeare died on 4/23/1616. “He does it with better grace, but I do it more natural.”
  • William Wordsworth died on 4/23/1850. “To begin, begin.”
  • Anthony Trollope was born on 4/24/1815. “I have no ambition to surprise my reader. Castles with unknown passages are not compatible with my homely muse.”
  • Willa Cather died on 4/24/1947. “Every artist makes himself born. It is very much harder than the other time, and longer.”

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All images are in the public domain and are courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

 

A Year in Books/Day 106: Observatory Mansions

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  • Title: Observatory Mansions A Novel
  • Author: Edward Carey
  • Year Published: 2000 (Crown Publishers)
  • Year Purchased: 2001/2002
  • Source: Edward R. Hamilton Bookseller Company
  • About: Eccentric, engaging fiction at its best! The bizarre world at the center of the novel is oddly, disturbingly irresistible. What happens when a thirty-something street performer who has never left the nest mixes with his lonely neighbors, when not amassing stolen pieces for his ‘museum of significant objects’?
  • Motivation: I’m picky when it comes to fiction, especially contemporary fiction. I don’t like most of it, for a variety of convoluted reasons. I happily make exceptions for works of great imagination or originality guided by strong, firm voices. I could tell from a one paragraph blurb that I would love, love, love this book.
  • Times Read: 1
  • Random Excerpt/Page 32: “The new resident would be encouraged to leave the next day. Everything would be as it was. No one was going to touch my glove diary.”
  • Happiness Scale: 9

 

A Year in Books/Day 105: Truly Wilde

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  • Title: Truly Wilde The Unsettling Story of Dolly Wilde, Oscar’s Unusual Niece
  • Author: Joan Schenkar
  • Year Published: 2000 (Basic Books)
  • Year Purchased: 2002/2003
  • Source: Edward R. Hamilton Bookseller Company
  • About: Only five when her famous uncle died, as an adult she blossomed into the spitting, female image of Oscar. She was an It Girl of epic proportions, with a life and end even more complicated than his. If she never approached his creative genius, it’s largely due to the wanton neglect of her talent (which those who knew her insisted she had an excess of) in favour of fast, impulsive living. She was a scintillating, thorny, frank and witty woman: she would have made an ideal Wilde heroine. Instead, hers was a real-life tragedy.
  • Motivation: The Wildean pedigree + a decidedly strange, strong woman in her own right=a heady combination.
  • Times Read: 1
  • Random Excerpt/Page 51: “A single photograph of Dolly’s mother, Lily Wilde, with her infant daughter has survived the dissolution of the Wilde family. It is notable both for the attractiveness of its two subjects and for the fact that Dolly’s father, Willie Wilde, though ‘out of the picture’, signed it, dated it, labelled its contents, and dedicated it, inscribing himself for posterity on what is the only image of the ‘second’ Wilde family.”
  • Happiness Scale: 10

My Love of All That is Bizarre

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“I know, my dear Watson, that you share my love of all that is bizarre and outside the conventions and humdrum routine of everyday life.”-Sherlock Holmes, The Red-Headed League (by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle).

Sherlock

Sherlock

Yes, I know that Sherlock is a surname here. That doesn’t stop me from giggling every time I walk by this grave at my favourite hiking spot. I’m such a hopeless LitGeek.

The Dead Writers Round-Up: 19th-21st April

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  • Lord Byron died on 4/19/1824. “A celebrity is one who is known to many persons he is glad he doesn’t know.”
  • Bram Stoker died on 4/20/1912. “I shall cut off her head and fill her mouth with garlic, and I shall drive a stake through her body.”-Dracula, Chapter 15.
  • Charlotte Bronte was born on 4/21/1816. Charlotte, dying just short of her 39th birthday, outlived all five of her siblings.

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All images are in the public domain and are courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

 

Shopping for the Bookworm: Edgar Allan Poe Edition

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The Raven, a thriller starring John Cusack as Edgar Allan Poe, arrives in theatres later this month. In anticipation, I’ve collected the best and weirdest Poe-themed goodies from Etsy. Enjoy!

Edgar Allan Poe-Handpainted Wooden Kokeshi Doll by Licoricewits

Edgar Allan Poe-Handpainted Wooden Kokeshi Doll by Licoricewits. $17.00.

I have no idea what I would do with him but he is adorable!

Edgar Allan Poe Painting-1-inch Scale Dollhouse Miniature by Particularly Unusual

Edgar Allan Poe Painting-1-inch Scale Dollhouse Miniature by Particularly Unusual. $7.00.

I do not own a dollhouse but I want this anyway. Is that creepy?

Scrabble Tile Pendant-The Works of Edgar Allan Poe by Missing Pieces Studio

Scrabble Tile Pendant-The Works of Edgar Allan Poe by Missing Pieces Studio. $6.95.

What a quirky, bookish piece of jewelry!

Edgar Allan Poe Pillow by Old Village Hall

Edgar Allan Poe Pillow by Old Village Hall. $60.00.

Your guests will think twice before settling on your couch.

Zombie Edgar Allan Poe Poster Print by Erika Jane

Zombie Edgar Allan Poe Poster Print by Erika Jane. $10.00.

What an inspired combination!

Tales of Mystery and Imagination Book Purse by Novel Creations

Tales of Mystery and Imagination Book Purse by Novel Creations. $47.00.

A new way to carry your favourite book with you.

Edgar Allan Poe-Pop Art Spray Paint Canvas by Mr Slappy

Edgar Allan Poe-Pop Art Spray Paint Canvas by Mr Slappy. $30.00.

You can call me morbid, but I really want this for my studio.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Words Mean Things

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DISCLAIMER: This rant is not directed at our wonderful followers or their lovely blogs. We love you!

Words mean things. Although the English language is highly malleable-giving us an exceptional amount of leeway in how we use it-there are still basic rules to follow, if you enjoy being taken seriously and don’t want to look like a twit. In my fight against imprecision in language, I’ve adopted the term “words mean things”. It’s short, easy to remember and to the point. I’m not ashamed to shout it at myself whenever I feel my writing is too mealy-mouthed.

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I’m in the habit of reading blog posts on my smart phone while still in bed. Call it what you will, but I like to think of it as laziness. Continue reading →