There’s a line in a famous 1970s pop song composed and recorded by Neil Sedaka that goes something like, ‘I never met you Betty Grable’
Well, unlike Neil Sedaka, I did, several times over, and on the first occasion I got to shake hands with the 1940s icon which was an enormous thrill for a long time fan.
So, what’s shaking hands with Betty Grable got to do with writing?
Just this: I got to thinking about that momentous first meeting the other evening and it galvanized my brain into sketching out an outline for a new book, something I should have done years ago; something that’s been languishing in my subconscious for eons.
You see, I met many famous people when I travelled the world as a publicist from the late 1950s to the early 1980s. Apart from the delightful Betty G there were chance encounters with Rory Calhoun (Betty’s partner at the time), Frank Sinatra, George Raft, Stan Kenton, Dolores Del Rio, Fess Parker (Davy Crockett), Dusty Springfield, Cilla Black, Mike Sarne, and dozens more.
Oh yeah, (can I hear you say?) anyone could make a claim like that.
That’s true, anyone could, but could they also provide photographic evidence of each and every meeting; like pictures of the luminaries and me together?
That is the essential difference; I can…
So, considering that the majority of these famous people are now either dead or forgotten, will I get my book published by a traditional house?
Yes, I will.
No.
What it will do though is provide me with a sense of fulfilment and at the same time knock out sales of a few thousand copies in the nostalgia niche.
The secret lies in stringing together a chain of offbeat events with a similar pattern - and it occurs in everyone’s life.
Could you come up with such a pattern from your own lifetime experiences?
Think about it – there could be a book in it.
PS: The little girl in the picture sitting beside Betty back in April 1968 is my daughter Stacy (age 5)...
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