Selling My Books on the Streets of Brooklyn 12/16 - Stars

Coach Mack Brown of Texas has resigned under pressure. He restored the Longhorns to glory during his tenure, going 158-47, winning the national championship in 2005. The program has struggled, at least against its lofty standards, the past four seasons, 30-20 overall, only 19-17 in the Big 12. Many fans believe championships are the Longhorns’ birth right. The recent success of Alabama has to be grating to proud Texans. The Crimson Tide’s legendary coach, Bear Bryant, had his own tough period, going 6-5 in both ‘69 & ’70. Would one more year of such mediocrity have doomed him? It’s not hard to see why many coaches are ruthless. The ax is always poised.
Also in college football -- hail Navy, which defeated Army for the twelfth consecutive time and finished the regular season 8-4. The Cadets’ faithful must be scratching their heads wondering why its arch-rival has found success while it has eluded them for more than a decade. The Midshipmen will play Middle Tennessee State in the Armed Forces Bowl on 12/30.
Also in sports: Sergio Garcia won his first tournament of the year, the Thailand Golf Championship. His girlfriend served as his caddy. He may have to hire her permanently.

Last night AntennaTV, channel 114 on Cablevision in NYC, ran back to back, black and white, gritty legal dramas from 1961: Town Without Pity, starring Kirk Douglas, and The Young Savages, starring Burt Lancaster, both men playing trial lawyers. The films hold up fairly well, whether or not one agrees with the prevailing opinions. The former introduced Austrian beauty Christine Kaufman, who plays the victim. She was the second of Tony Curtis’ six wives. He was the father of her two children. Kaufman, who speaks four languages, married four times herself. At 54 she posed for Playboy and was dubbed “Germany’s sexiest grandmother.” She has 109 titles to her credit at IMDb and is still acting at 68. Here is a picture:

Jody Fair, 27 at the time, had a small but pivotal role in The Young Savages as an Italian-American  teenager who involves herself in the aftermath of a heinous crime. She had a brief career. From ’58-’63 she amassed 20 credits, including the infamous High School Confidential, Hot Rod Gang and The Brain Eaters, all issued in ’58, and Sex Kittens Go To College (1960). I suspect she went on to something important, perhaps raising a family, after that. Here’s a picture: 

RIP actor extraordinaire Peter O'Toole, 81. Given his legendary drinking, it's amazing he lived so long. My favorites of his 94 titles listed at IMDb are Becket (1964), in which he spars with Richard Burton, and The Lion in Winter (1968), in which he goes toe to toe with Katherine Hepburn. In both those films he played Henry II. Born and raised in Ireland, he never won an Oscar, despite eight nominations. His body of work will endure and is worth more than a statuette that will serve as nothing more than a trivia question and answer.

It all went right for the floating book shop today. I quickly got a parking space in front of the bank, the grounds had been cleared of snow and were dry, and the sun was a constant, providing warmth, peeking past fast moving clouds. In the three hours I was there I didn't have to sit in the car even once to warm up. My thanks to the folks who bought books, especially Marion, a young male Ukrainian, who purchased Killing, and also to the Russian gentleman who donated five paperbacks.
Vic's 4th Novel: http://tinyurl.com/bszwlxh
Vic's 3rd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3
Vic's Website: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/
Vic's Short Story Collection (Print or Kindle): http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/6b86st6
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tiny.cc/94t5h
Vic's Horror Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3
Vic's Rom-Com Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/kny5llp
Vic’s Short Story on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/k95k3nx