New Lucy Books

[JoeySanJoaquin]

I know not of what you speak.....Edsel? as in Edsel-ivan?

 

Alright I have heard of it, but at least I didn't take my driving test in a brand new one like SOME people on this board.

You PEEKED!!

[C L A U D E]

I know not of what you speak.....Edsel? as in Edsel-ivan?

 

Alright I have heard of it, but at least I didn't take my driving test in a brand new one like SOME people on this board.

Remember when one had to crank a car to get it going?

[JoeySanJoaquin]

Remember when one had to crank a car to get it going?

 

I go as far back as a Stutz Bearcat and no further!

[C L A U D E]

Just REread some of my favorite parts of Harry Carter's Lucille Ball FAQ. I have to say, the parts on her awards, never knew she got that many, her residences, neighbors, and former dates are just one of the best parts of this great book, i could reread them once a month, just thorough, informative and loaded with actual facts instead of some of the bull we encounter on the net.

[LucyAuthor]

Hello out there in the Lucyverse! It's Michael Karol. I know it's been a long drought between comments, but I've been unemployed (for way too long...) until recently, and one tends to get occupied and obsessed with looking for work. But I recently began working at the New York Botanical Garden (writing, editing, a little marketing, a little everything), so now I can relax and do more of the stuff I really love to do. Like communicate with fellow fans.

 

I wanted let you know that I recently finished updating Lucy A to Z: The Lucille Ball Encyclopedia, in its Kindle version.

 

Here's what happened: I am a voracious reader myself, and with my Kindle Fire, it's only gotten worse (better?). I saw lots of mistakes in many of the eBooks I read -- most related to formatting the book and not the author's fault, but some word and grammar errors, too -- and I don't think I've come across one to date that hasn't had any mistakes. From an unknown author to Stephen King, the eBook conversion process has not been perfected. So... Even though my publisher converted Lucy A to Z several years ago, I didn't purchase it until this summer. Put simply, I didn't want to know about any errors, because my publisher had done the conversion of its best-selling books as a service to its authors, and I figured there was no way I could fix any mistakes I found.

 

Turns out I was right to have been concerned. I looked at Lucy A to Z on my Kindle Fire in July and was horrified at the number of formatting mistakes that had occurred during the eBook conversion process, mostly in the entries that had lists (which were many) that were numbered, bulleted, or highlighted in some other fashion, but also simply when the text turned from italic to boldface or underlined and back to normal.

 

As an editor by trade, and one who was looking for work to boot, I was upset that someone thinking of hiring me might look at the eBook version of Lucy A to Z and think that I'm a sloppy/horrible editor, or that I just didn't care to fix the mistakes, or both. Neither was acceptable to me, so I contacted my publisher, and once the head of its eBook publishing division saw the mess, he immediately agreed to work with me and update the Kindle version (the Nook version, for some reason, didn't seem nearly as bad -- note that I've only done the "Look Inside" feature for the Nook version of Lucy A to Z on the Barnes & Noble site, so I haven't seen the whole book in electronic form except for the Kindle). I guess every publisher or company has its own process.

 

After a grueling two months (ironically, it helped that I wasn't working!), we republished the Kindle version in mid-September 2012. Since I had to submit a new manuscript, I chose the most recent one I had on my hard drive, from late 2007 (the most recent paperback version was published in January 2008). And since I had to skim through every page and note the formatting problems, I figured I might as well update things where I could. So this is, in a sense, a very real update of the Lucy A to Z, the "newest" version out there.

 

Some caveats: I'm not claiming this version is mistake-free; I've already caught a handful, because I simply could not bring myself to read every word of the entire 450+ pages again as an editor and copy-editor, after seeing it so many times. I also did not update every entry, or take into account everyone who had passed away since 2008; I just didn't have the time.

 

But I can promise you that this version is much more reader-friendly, and the formatting mistakes are almost 100 percent gone. Plus, the pictures are way more vivid and actually look decent when you click on them to enlarge them. (In the previous version, many of the pictures were tiny and didn't get much larger when you clicked on them -- plus the captions were often attached to the pictures, making them very hard to read. Now the captions remain separate, underneath the pictures.)

 

If any of this interests you, go to Amazon and click on the Kindle version of Lucy A to Z (it should have the date 2012 on the copyright page) and take a look.

 

Thanks for listening, thanks for buying my books, and remember...laughter is the best medicine, and Lucy & Co. are still the best providers more than 60 years after their "little" sitcom revolutionzed TV.

 

My best,

Michael

[leenorman]

Hello out there in the Lucyverse! It's Michael Karol. I know it's been a long drought between comments, but I've been unemployed (for way too long...) until recently, and one tends to get occupied and obsessed with looking for work. But I recently began working at the New York Botanical Garden (writing, editing, a little marketing, a little everything), so now I can relax and do more of the stuff I really love to do. Like communicate with fellow fans.

 

I wanted let you know that I recently finished updating Lucy A to Z: The Lucille Ball Encyclopedia, in its Kindle version.

 

Here's what happened: I am a voracious reader myself, and with my Kindle Fire, it's only gotten worse (better?). I saw lots of mistakes in many of the eBooks I read -- most related to formatting the book and not the author's fault, but some word and grammar errors, too -- and I don't think I've come across one to date that hasn't had any mistakes. From an unknown author to Stephen King, the eBook conversion process has not been perfected. So... Even though my publisher converted Lucy A to Z several years ago, I didn't purchase it until this summer. Put simply, I didn't want to know about any errors, because my publisher had done the conversion of its best-selling books as a service to its authors, and I figured there was no way I could fix any mistakes I found.

 

Turns out I was right to have been concerned. I looked at Lucy A to Z on my Kindle Fire in July and was horrified at the number of formatting mistakes that had occurred during the eBook conversion process, mostly in the entries that had lists (which were many) that were numbered, bulleted, or highlighted in some other fashion, but also simply when the text turned from italic to boldface or underlined and back to normal.

 

As an editor by trade, and one who was looking for work to boot, I was upset that someone thinking of hiring me might look at the eBook version of Lucy A to Z and think that I'm a sloppy/horrible editor, or that I just didn't care to fix the mistakes, or both. Neither was acceptable to me, so I contacted my publisher, and once the head of its eBook publishing division saw the mess, he immediately agreed to work with me and update the Kindle version (the Nook version, for some reason, didn't seem nearly as bad -- note that I've only done the "Look Inside" feature for the Nook version of Lucy A to Z on the Barnes & Noble site, so I haven't seen the whole book in electronic form except for the Kindle). I guess every publisher or company has its own process.

 

After a grueling two months (ironically, it helped that I wasn't working!), we republished the Kindle version in mid-September 2012. Since I had to submit a new manuscript, I chose the most recent one I had on my hard drive, from late 2007 (the most recent paperback version was published in January 2008). And since I had to skim through every page and note the formatting problems, I figured I might as well update things where I could. So this is, in a sense, a very real update of the Lucy A to Z, the "newest" version out there.

 

Some caveats: I'm not claiming this version is mistake-free; I've already caught a handful, because I simply could not bring myself to read every word of the entire 450+ pages again as an editor and copy-editor, after seeing it so many times. I also did not update every entry, or take into account everyone who had passed away since 2008; I just didn't have the time.

 

But I can promise you that this version is much more reader-friendly, and the formatting mistakes are almost 100 percent gone. Plus, the pictures are way more vivid and actually look decent when you click on them to enlarge them. (In the previous version, many of the pictures were tiny and didn't get much larger when you clicked on them -- plus the captions were often attached to the pictures, making them very hard to read. Now the captions remain separate, underneath the pictures.)

 

If any of this interests you, go to Amazon and click on the Kindle version of Lucy A to Z (it should have the date 2012 on the copyright page) and take a look.

 

Thanks for listening, thanks for buying my books, and remember...laughter is the best medicine, and Lucy & Co. are still the best providers more than 60 years after their "little" sitcom revolutionzed TV.

 

My best,

Michael

 

 

WELCOME BACK, BUB! Loving you, JK

[Brock]

The Real Story of Lucille Ball by Eleanor Harris appears to have gone back into print (or has been "appropriated" for print?) for the first time in nearly 60 years:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Real-Story-Lucille-Ball/dp/1258505495/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1351994391&sr=1-2&keywords=%22Lucille+Ball%22

[Irene Kampen Tripp]

Just REread some of my favorite parts of Harry Carter's Lucille Ball FAQ. I have to say, the parts on her awards, never knew she got that many, her residences, neighbors, and former dates are just one of the best parts of this great book, i could reread them once a month, just thorough, informative and loaded with actual facts instead of some of the bull we encounter on the net.

Where do I get this book??? What is the name of it??? AND is it called I Had A Ball?? by Michael Stern?

[JoeySanJoaquin]

Where do I get this book??? What is the name of it??? AND is it called I Had A Ball?? by Michael Stern?

Amazon has both the paperback and Kindle versions:

http://www.amazon.co...Q%3A+Everything

 

http://www.amazon.co...52147363&sr=1-1

 

Either way, you can't go wrong! An infallible guide that no true "Lucy"/Lucy fan should be without!

[Magster]

The Real Story of Lucille Ball by Eleanor Harris appears to have gone back into print (or has been "appropriated" for print?) for the first time in nearly 60 years:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Real-Story-Lucille-Ball/dp/1258505495/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1351994391&sr=1-2&keywords=%22Lucille+Ball%22

 

Groovy! I have a vintage copy of this. It's a very interesting read. I'm glad it will be more widely available to fans!

[C L A U D E]

Where do I get this book??? What is the name of it???

Are you serious? You never heard us talking about FAQ the best new Lucy book the world has ever known??? What the FAQ?

[HarryCarter]

Thank you very much, Joey and Claude!

[Brock]

Are you serious? You never heard us talking about FAQ the best new Lucy book the world has ever known???

 

 

Bah, it's not so great.

 

 

!!!!

[C L A U D E]

Bah, it's not so great.

 

 

!!!!

Speaking of books that aren't that great . . . I was worried that the Radie Harris book would not be as it was a fluff piece written by a friend of theirs back in the fifties. Am I wrong? Magster seems to think it's a great book.

[Magster]

Speaking of books that aren't that great . . . I was worried that the Radie Harris book would not be as it was a fluff piece written by a friend of theirs back in the fifties. Am I wrong? Magster seems to think it's a great book.

 

I didn't say it was a great book, I just said it's an interesting read. In this book, for example, Lucy says it was a "car accident" that had her out of commission for a couple years when she was a teenager, not what she would later describe as a bout of rheumatic fever/rheumatoid arthritis. Hmm.

[C L A U D E]

I didn't say it was a great book, I just said it's an interesting read. In this book, for example, Lucy says it was a "car accident" that had her out of commission for a couple years when she was a teenager, not what she would later describe as a bout of rheumatic fever/rheumatoid arthritis. Hmm.

No, you distinctly said it was the best book you'd ever read but then you revised your post, LOL! Hummmmmmm indeed. I always suspected it might be a wire hanger, if you get my drift.

[Taylor]

No, you distinctly said it was the best book you'd ever read but then you revised your post, LOL! Hummmmmmm indeed. I always suspected it might be a wire hanger, if you get my drift.

 

Joan Crawford was there?

[C L A U D E]

Joan Crawford was there?

Maybe that was the reason Joan hated them so much.

[Irene Kampen Tripp]

Are you serious? You never heard us talking about FAQ the best new Lucy book the world has ever known??? What the FAQ?

Yeah.. I am serious.. sometimes I need a brick wall to fall on my head!

[Irene Kampen Tripp]

Maybe that was the reason Joan hated them so much.

HA!! HA!!... I kinda thought it was a wire hanger thing too.. never bought that arthritis story..

[C L A U D E]

HA!! HA!!... I kinda thought it was a wire hanger thing too.. never bought that arthritis story..

Well, my talking about wire hangers is not something i am proud of, but some people have said that a botched abortion WAS the real culprit here, i have no real evidence of course. Maybe that binder of topics NOT to be discussed that was handed to Dick Cavett before her appearance on his show had that and other unsavory parts of her life discussed in it, who knows? At least, her subsequent miscarriages were as one doctor said, a way for everything to get sorted out in there and then she finally, at great risk, give birth so late in life and got the two children she always wanted and simply adored.

[C L A U D E]

Yeah.. I am serious.. sometimes I need a brick wall to fall on my head!

I absolutely adored this book, so full of information on every part of her life, a terrific read from start to finish. As for me, it has the added bonus of supplying some answers to age old questions and giving us fans the truth AND letting us find out different aspects of every part of her bountiful life.

[Taylor]

Well, my talking about wire hangers is not something i am proud of, but some people have said that a botched abortion WAS the real culprit here, i have no real evidence of course. Maybe that binder of topics NOT to be discussed that was handed to Dick Cavett before her appearance on his show had that and other unsavory parts of her life discussed in it, who knows? At least, her subsequent miscarriages were as one doctor said, a way for everything to get sorted out in there and then she finally, at great risk, give birth so late in life and got the two children she always wanted and simply adored.

 

There was a quote in Kathleen Brady's book that Lucy told her friend Marion Strong that she'd had an abortion around 1930. And Marion later said of that period in Lucy's life, "Lucy did many things that she normally wouldn't have," and that she'd take to her grave about what exactly Lucy did. I'm paraphrasing of course.

 

I've always thought Lucy had an abortion too and that it was that Johnny Davita's (sp) baby. Johnny apparently had become physically abusive and perhaps Lucy knew he wasn't marriage material, and this being 1930 she had little options as a single young woman in the family way. It makes me sad but I don't judge her. I'm sure it was a hard decision but there's no way she could've taken care of that child financially by herself with the father maybe not being in the picture. And of course it would explain her later difficulty in carrying a baby. Maybe it took 20 years for her insides to heal up properly. :mellow:

[Luvsbway]

What were the years that she claimed the arthritis? Something makes me think it was a 3 year span. On the Ed Sullivan tribute in 1953 the auto accident is mentioned. I understood hiding arthritis under the guise of an auto accident, but when she suppodly came clean about it being arthritis I would think she would have talked more about having to learn how to walk again. If that is the true cause then maybe she was too embarrassed to talk about it.

[Taylor]

What were the years that she claimed the arthritis? Something makes me think it was a 3 year span. On the Ed Sullivan tribute in 1953 the auto accident is mentioned. I understood hiding arthritis under the guise of an auto accident, but when she suppodly came clean about it being arthritis I would think she would have talked more about having to learn how to walk again. If that is the true cause then maybe she was too embarrassed to talk about it.

 

I'm thinking it was between the years 1928 to 1931. And I've read in Brady's book that her friends later said that she did have a bout with arthritis at that time, but it wasn't as big a deal as Lucy made it out to be. Lucy was an exaggerator so the whole "learning how to walk all over again" was probably a bit of a white lie.

 

I don't think she'd be embarassed to talk about arthritis and being crippled for a couple years. If anything that makes her sound more admirable and headstrong that she'd taught herself to walk again. Methinks the real story is that she couldn't get her answers straight over the years because she was really covering up something that would've been unforgivable to the 1950s-1960s public -- an abortion.