A New Testament Guide to the Holy Land

Book Description

He was the world's biggest singing star. She was the most renowned female journalist of her time. They had fame, power, money, connections. The last thing they needed was love.

Customer Reviews:

Repressed Catholics Sell Books -- No One Ever Went Broke Underestimating ..........2005-10-12

[...]

"Johnnie and Dorothy met on the show [What's My Line mystery guest segment]." Co-authors Larry and Bonnie Hearn Hill have their characters meet that way, but the Hills' premise demonstrates their ignorance of Hearst news reporting. I will explain.

The reason Johnnie Ray appeared on What's My Line for the first time was to plug his first movie: There's No Business Like Show Business. The year was 1954, and it was a Hollywood creation. It started production two years after Johnnie first became famous, and that initial fame happened on the Broadway circuit and in jukeboxes. He sold a record number of tickets at the Copacabana nightclub (a mile away from Broadway but part of the Broadway club circuit) in April 1952 followed by a stint at the Paramount, then a major part of Times Square.

The point is, Johnnie Ray and Dorothy Kilgallen had at least one conversation in the spring of 1952, long before What's My Line united them. Part of her job was to interview every singer who sold a lot of tickets at those clubs. Had she neglected this job duty in 1952, her bosses would have lost all faith in her.

Catholic Dorothy's bosses were the Catholic sons of the recently expired William Randolph Hearst Sr., and they hadn't started mismanaging their empire yet. In 1952 Hearst plus those nightclubs plus Toast of the Town had absolute control over which recording artist became a teen idol. Johnnie Ray became one; Merv Griffin didn't. They were almost the same age.

So why would Dorothy Kilgallen pass up a Johnnie Ray interview until he'd toured the world and finished a movie shoot on the Fox lot? No way. The authors screwed up this initial incident in their plot. Selling many tickets at the Paramount by itself warranted interviews with Kilgallen, Sullivan, Winchell, etc. Were the Hearsts that dumb in 1952? They had a monopoly on entertainment journalism then.

My reasoning supports the claim of Miami - based comedian George Hopkins. Nobody has published his eyewitness account of Johnnie and Dorothy meeting at a press party for his new 45 single that sold more copies than any 45 single on the Columbia label up to that time. Party took place at the old Astor Hotel across the street from the Paramount marquee that shouted "Johnnie Ray." Also present: Vic Damone, Tony Bennett, Kitty Kallen and many others who passed long ago.

The Hills paint Dorothy's search for Lee Oswald's delusions/accomplices as an obsession that started in November 1963, blocking every other story within her reach. In truth, she devoted an entire column to the kidnapping and rescue of Frank Sinatra Jr. just weeks after Oswald died. You don't see any traces of her feud with Frank Sr. in it. She lambasted TV reporters for asking police officials the wrong questions. She wanted them to ask why the kidnappers set up the ransom drop at a highway overpass that was well - lit at night.

I'm well aware the Hills always write fiction. You can see a list of their titles. Why did they devote their very first novel to transforming a smart, worldly woman into a horny Catholic who sees paths to paradise and conspiracy everywhere? Bonnie Hearn Hill proves what Shirley Chisholm said about more people picking on her for being a successful woman than for being a successful African American.

Ms. Chisholm and Ms. Kilgallen were New Yorkers and contemporaries, and Ms. Chisholm made her famous observation just a few years after the Voice of Broadway expired. Sadly, the reality of sexism trumping racism burns brightly in 2005. When was the last time you read in the Sunday New York Times that James Baldwin was ugly with bulging eyes? His looks don't matter, but Ms. Kilgallen's weak chin does.

Dorothy referred to James Baldwin during her testimony on behalf of Lenny Bruce's First Amendment rights, but that's yet another episode the Hills ignored while they painted their Kennedy / Marilyn / bisexual chic portrait. No one ever went broke underestimating ...

Crying Time and Guessing Games.......2005-10-02

A relationship between Johnnie Ray and Dorothy Kilgallen sounds almost absurd. He was one of the most acclaimed pop singers of the early 1950s, best known as the "Cry Guy" due to his huge #1 smash, "Cry." She was the proper and overly mannered journalist who wrote the influential New York gossip column, "Voice of Broadway." Today's readers, however, are more likely to recall her 1950-1965 stint as the rather humorless panelist on the long-running game-show "What's My Line." The Game Show Network has been re-running that show for a few years; that's how I become aware of Dorothy Kilgallen, or "Miss Kilgallen" as the host John Daly generally referred to her.

Johnnie and Dorothy met on the show; he was the mystery guest (the panelists had to blindfold themselves during this portion of the show), and I saw this episode a few months before reading this book. Apparently, an affair soon blossomed between the two, which caused scandal for both of them. The fact that Johnnie was bisexual and arrested several times for solicitation didn't help matters. Their affair probably hurt both of their careers, although the rise of rock probably signaled the end of Johnnie's career as well.

"Johnnie Ray and Miss Kilgallen" is a fictionalized account of their relationship. The married authors, Bonnie Hearn Hill and Larry Hill, apparently did extensive research, but the book is clearly more novel than biography. The writing is quite good, and the topic is interesting. Johnnie and Dorothy were celebrities during a fascinating time period, and they were pals with icons like Marilyn Monroe and Ava Gardner. Frank Sinatra also came into their lives: as an enemy, after Dorothy wrote critical items about him in her column. To the public, the much older Dorothy presented herself as a mentor of sort to the troubled Johnnie. Out of the limelight, they lived a life flitting from one celebrity party to another, usually flaunting their affair and totally drunk from too many martinis. Toward the end, Dorothy's career careens toward oblivion as she becomes increasingly involved in chasing JFK assassination conspiracies. How much of this book is fictionalized is never completely apparent, but I suppose it's fruitless to quibble or wonder at this point.

Although I enjoyed this novel, there are a few flaws, particularly the structure. Each chapter contains sections told through the characters' eyes - not really a "he said, she said" novel per se, but along those lines. What I dislike is that Johnnie's sections are told in the first person, whereas Dorothy's sections are second-person narrative. I suppose that choice makes sense - Johnnie was a swinging, ring-a-ding kind of guy, and Dorothy was remote. However, it's simply jarring at times. The other problem concerns Dorothy herself. On television, Dorothy was an icy woman, and although handsome in a patrician manner, she is hardly the type of woman around whom a fairly sexually explicit novel probably should be based. Nevertheless, I mostly enjoyed this novel, and it's strengths far outweigh any misgivings I had. If you're interested in Johnnie Ray or Dorothy Kilgallen or celebrity life during this time period, then you'll probably enjoy "Johnnie Ray and Miss Kilgallen."

A good read.......2003-08-24

A good read. Kilgallen was a looker though it is hard to tell from watching the old kinescopes of What's My Line? She was a great reporter who had many successes but is best remembered for her Voice of Broadway column in the old New York Journal American. Johnny Ray was a so-so singer and never could believe the rumors of his affair with DK. Anyhow, not a bad read for those who remember Kilgallen, Ray, and What's My Line?

Fiction Stranger Than Truth.......2003-08-14

Mr. and Ms. Hill are vivid writers, but the logic they use when they create fiction leaves something to be desired.

Let's see if I understand the scene at the Washington, DC fundraiser on the night before John F. Kennedy took the oath of office. Would the next reviewer please tell me if I got it right ?

Dorothy Kilgallen became physically ill while she angrily accused her boyfriend Johnnie Ray of cheating on her. Dorothy was shouting and wailing into a coin telephone inside a Washington, DC building where Frank Sinatra, Peter Lawford and their many friends were singing and laughing and drinking. Dorothy had the right to be angry because a few moments earlier Frank Sinatra had uncharacteristically treated her nicely.

Kilgallen and Sinatra had been enemies for several years at this point, and he regularly told his audiences in Las Vegas that she was as ugly as a chipmunk, but he decided to be nice to her at the inaugural celebration. Dorothy figured out that the reason he was being nice was that his ex - wife Ava Gardner had forced him to act that way after Johnnie Ray had issued the order while having sex with Ava. They had that roll in the hay on his New York City hospital bed where he was emaciated and deathly ill with cirrhosis of the liver. And that's why Frank Sinatra's good manners made Dorothy so angry that she got sick.

Say what ? Even John Charles Daly never used such feeble - minded logic on the many occasions that he answered Dorothy's intelligent questions. It is true that reading well - written books can enhance one's verbiage more successfully than basic cable TV can. But there is also such a thing as truth. You will get more of it by tuning in to the Game Show Network on which Dorothy Kilgallen does her job every morning at 4:30.

Gripping and Sexy.......2003-08-02

This one really surprised me. I was intrigued by the pairing of Ray and Killgallen, but didn't figure on such a well-written treatment of the unlikely duo. Tough to put aside. Very cinematic.

...

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The Zodiac Series: Fire
Rebecca Williams, Susie Charles, Rae Monet, Jodi Lynn Copeland, Leigh Wyndfield, Blaise Kilgallen
Manufacturer: Atlantic Bridge Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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I'd love to hear more....

This Book Was Awful

Vanity Fair April 2006 Leads You To These Hard Covers

Interesting Book But Poorly Written

Enjoy A Mysterious Autopsy AND A Mysterious Love Affair

Kilgallen
Lee Israel
Manufacturer: Delacorte Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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Customer Reviews:

I'd love to hear more...........2007-08-22

Lee Israel did a one-woman investigation into the life and death of columnist Dorothy Kilgallen, and found some extremely interesting bits of information. Every answer seemed to raise two more questions, however, and like many other mysterious deaths in the entertainment community, I suspect that this one will also go unsolved. I'd love for someone to pick up where Lee Israel left off and see if there's more that can be uncovered now that there are few identities to protect. Who was the "Out of Towner," for instance? The only family member who would cooperate with her was Kilgallen's younger son, and that was because he was so small when she died that he wanted to know more about his mother. Kilgallen's father, sisters and other children were still alive at the writing of this book, but declined to participate.

Having only ever seen Dorothy Kilgallen on What's My Line? and having never read any of her columns, I was fascinated by her investigations into the JFK assassination, and not terribly surprised that she was found dead when she was getting too close for comfort for those who had something to hide. She is one of many who have gotten too close to the truth about the JFK assassination, and the price she paid is not an unusual one.

This Book Was Awful.......2006-05-28

The writing in this book was at the level and honesty of a trashy novel. Dorothy Kilgallen did not deserve this kind of disrespectful examination of her innermost secrets or exploitation of her quirky yet harmless behaviour. Israel sensationalized her every movement that he mostly based on conjecture.

Vanity Fair April 2006 Leads You To These Hard Covers.......2006-02-20

I'd like to echo praise of the book. I like it for the same reasons as the other reviewers. Mr. Nolen, you are right on target except for your identification of Dr. James Luke. When the NYC medical examiner's office handled Dorothy Kilgallen in 1965, Dr. Luke was associate ME, not chief ME.

But you are right about the strangeness of her death certificate. Why would Dr. Luke ask the man in charge of Brooklyn deaths to sign out a Manhattan death as "undetermined pending further investigation ?" Dr. Luke hardly had the day off. He visited Kilgallen's house while her body was still there.

Lee Israel did a great job investigating this by herself. When Anthony Summers investigated Marilyn Monroe several years later, he had the help of the BBC and the entire staff of "20/20" including the legmen for Barbara Walters and Geraldo Rivera. But Lee Israel worked almost entirely alone. She did such a great job that her text makes me sad that nobody picked up where she left off.

In 2006 Dominick Dunne is reviving the Kilgallen mystery in the April issue, but he's saying it's too late to know more than Lee. He says too many sources are dead. I hope he's wrong. Dominick is a great guy but he forgets that any of us can query his old friend Phyllis McGuire. I do thank you, Mr. Dunne, for showing Lee Israel's hard work to a new generation of young people. I mean that *sincerely* the way the McGuire Sisters expressed it in 1955.

It is likely that Dominick Dunne has never met Dr. James Luke. The good doctor probably never heard of Mr. Dunne's erstwhile company Four Star Pictures that he ran in the 1960s and 70s. Dr. Luke, who worked in Oklahoma for much of that period, lives today.

Also still alive are Dr. DiMaio (that Brooklyn deputy ME), Ms. McGuire and retired NYPD detective Jack Doyle along with God - knows - who - else. I hardly expect Mr. Dunne to investigate how much power and privilege they have in 2006, but I do thank him and I do thank Lee Israel.

Interesting Book But Poorly Written.......2005-07-26

This is an interesting and informative book about Dorothy Kilgallen's life and gives a good flavor for the times in which she lived. The author's writing style leaves something to be desired, as it detracts from the information she is conveying to the reader. Two excerpts: ". . . her breasts seemed finally to be self-governing." And "Her tart and contumelious views were not noticeably affected . . . " The language is somewhat affected as well. Nonethless, I would recommend the book to anyone specifically interested in Dorothy Kilgallen. Another author might have been able to provide a more modern perspective and, thus, more insight into the life of this very intesting woman who was full of contradictions.

Enjoy A Mysterious Autopsy AND A Mysterious Love Affair.......2004-08-27

The previous reviewer, Mr. Nolen, wrote:

"That Brooklyn deputy M.E., Dominick Di Maio, is still alive."

[Dr. Di Maio signed Dorothy Kilgallen's death certificate even though she died in the borough of Manhattan. That's one of many mysteries surrounding her death that might have something to do with Kennedy's assassination.]

I'd like to add that not only is Dominick still alive, but a book he co-authored with his son Vincent, also a medical examiner, is still in print three years after its publication.

The title is "Forensic Pathology, Second Edition."

I can't really fault Lee Israel, author of the Kilgallen biography that I'm reviewing here, for not interviewing Dr. Dominick DiMaio. She had a tough job. Her publisher couldn't have advanced her all that much money because the market for biographies of female journalists was small in 1975 when she got the job. Stuff about Kilgallen's journalistic colleagues Theo Wilson, Clare Boothe Luce and Dickey Chappelle didn't come out until long after 1975.

While Ms. Israel's access to Dorothy Kilgallen's mortal remains was limited, she did a great job of communicating with the living. Newspaper colleagues and criminal defense attorneys opened up to Ms. Israel. In the book you will get fascinating stories of the demure, beautifully dressed Kilgallen doing her job in male - dominated courtrooms. I particularly enjoyed one man's description of Kilgallen: "She's a newspaperman in a 500 dollar dress."

Lee Israel also did a great job of documenting Kilgallen's love affair with pop singer Johnnie Ray that the Beautiful People of New York witnessed starting in 1957. Lee interviewed Johnnie in his home in 1976. She respected his privacy. Who cares what he did when Dorothy was busy covering a murder trial?

Dorothy Kilgallen and Johnnie Ray were an unlikely match in the Eisenhower era. It's wrong to judge this man based on what he said at press conferences. Back then record company executives and TV producers ordered celebrities to say nice simple things. Let's just say Johnnie's public persona and Dorothy's public persona were out of synch in 1957. He came across as a passionate gentle boy from a farm below a cloudy sky. Her image was that of a pushy reporter demanding to know what a total stranger did for a living or why a rich doctor would cheat on his wife with a tramp at 10 Downing Street in London or with a stripper in Dallas, Texas or what have you.

Lee Israel proves these two public figures loved each other nonetheless. Johnnie was permanently traumatized by Dorothy's death. Lee wisely avoids speculating why. Only they knew.

Antiquamania: The collected papers of Professor Milton Kilgallen, F.R.S., of Ugsworth College, elucidating the difficulties in the path of the antique ... methods of meeting and overcoming them

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Antiquamania: The collected papers of Professor Milton Kilgallen, F.R.S., of Ugsworth College, elucidating the difficulties in the path of the antique ... methods of meeting and overcoming them
Kenneth Lewis Roberts
Manufacturer: Doubleday, Doran & Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0006D8Y6I

A Brief Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles

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A Brief Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles
John J. Kilgallen
Manufacturer: Paulist Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback