The Writer's Life 7/20 - Big Names

RIP Garry Marshall, 81, prolific Hollywood veteran. Born in NYC, his real last name was Maschiarelli, his dad a goombah. He was involved in so many iconic sitcoms, starting as a writer, then branching into production. Here are a few of the shows he made a mark on: The Odd Couple, Mork and Mindy, Laverne and Shirley, and Happy Days. At IMDb he has 38 credits as a writer, not counting multiple scripts he did for many series, which runs the count into the hundreds; 29 as a producer; 83 as an actor; 30 as a director. He was at the helm of one of America's favorite films, Pretty Woman (1990). He was married to the same woman since 1963, father of three. He is the brother of Penny Marshall. Here is a quote attributed to him: "In the education of the American people, I am Recess." Well done, sir.

Through two days of the RNC, no reports of violence. Whew! The right has struck back against the charges of plagiarism against Melania Trump by posting on social media word for word rip-offs Barack Obama has done, which, of course, the mainstream media has missed.

There is a color picture of a Chicago Cub sliding into a base in today's NY Post. His name, stitched on the back of his jersey, leaped from the page: Szczur. He is an outfielder batting .291, 3 homers, 19 RBI. I'm sure Vanna and Pat would be willing to sell him a couple of vowels.

It was another picture perfect day. My thanks to Barry Spunt, author of Heroin and Music in New York City, who overpaid, giving double what I asked, for four Hollywood bios: Grace Kelly, Rita Hayworth, Tony Curtis and Barbra Streisand; and to the gentleman who bought two Vince Flynn thrillers; and to the blonde beauty who purchased Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (say that three times fast). I got a kick out of the young beauty scrounging around in her well-stocked, wheeled carry-all, which housed a new Apple laptop and plenty of stuff to help her survive an emergency. She came up twenty-four cents short. I let her slide -- no ulterior motive, of course.

Vic's Short Works: http://tinyurl.com/jy55pzc

Vic's 5th Novel: http://tinyurl.com/okxkwh5Vic's 4th novel: tinyurl.com/bszwlxh

Vic's 3rd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3

Vic's Short Story on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/k95k3nx
Vic's Short Story Collection: http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tiny.cc/0iHLb Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/kx3d3uf
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tinyurl.com/l84h63j

Website: http://vicfortezzaauthor.my-free.website/