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Monday, November 27, 2017

The Writer's Life 11/27 - This n That

In an op-ed piece in today's NY Post, F.H. Buckley offers a few telling though unsurprising stats. These days liberal college instructors outnumber conservatives by a margin of 12-1. In History it's 30-1. He believes the trend will continue even further, as the ratio among new hirers is 20-1.

Before the NFL season began, the NY press predicted the Jets would win no more than one or two games. Now the team is being bashed for its failure to stay in the playoff hunt. How typical of sportswriters.

Last night Movies!, 113 on Cablevision in NYC, continued its Sunday Night Noir series with Vicki (1953), a so-so murder mystery notable for Richard Boone's turn as a cop on the edge, and one of Aaron Spelling's appearances in front of the camera. He played an oddball hotel clerk. Of course, he went on to a fabulous career in TV, producing shows such as The Mod Squad, Dynasty, Charlie's Angels, Beverly Hills 90210, and a host of others, 229 titles in all. He had only 30 credits as an actor, 21 as a writer and, surprisingly, only one as a director. He passed away in 2006 at 83. The director of Vicki, Harry Horner, was unfamiliar to me. Born in what is now the Czech Republic, he worked in theater in Berlin, and fled Germany in 1933 as the Nazis came to power. He became a U.S. citizen in 1940 and worked both in theater and film. He won two Oscars for Art-Direction-Set-Decoration, for The Heiress (1950) and for one of my favorites, The Hustler (1962). He died in 1994 at 84. Here are the lovely stars of Vicki, Jeanne Crain, who passed away in 2003 at 78, and Jean Peters, who played the title role. She died in 2000 at 73:

 

With parking spaces scarce near my regular book nook, I took the show to Bay Parkway and had a decent day. My thanks to the woman who bought books on ADD and sports nutrition, to the gentleman who overpaid for a paperback that contained both The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells, and Hannibal by Thomas Harris; and to the elderly woman who bought two books in Russian; and to the middle age one who purchased Intensity by Dean Koontz. Jack from Chase approached and asked if I wanted a box of books he had in his trunk. I felt guilty about having turned him down so many times that I agreed to take them. They are a mix of marketable fiction and non. Once I got back to the neighborhood I squeezed the old Hyundai into a spot behind a truck and horse trailer with Louisiana plates that has been parked at the corner of E. 13th for more than a week - to the consternation of many. I have only a few inches of space front and back to maneuver. It was as close as I could get to my regular nook. I'll have to work a little harder than usual tomorrow.
Vic's Sixth novel: http://tinyurl.com/zpuhucj 
Vic's Short Works: http://tinyurl.com/jy55pzc
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