Customer Reviews (1)

For those who love Hollywood movies
Here is a refreshing change: a Hollywood autobiography (or sort of) written by someone who refuses to take himself too seriously. The result is one of the most engaging memoirs to have come down the pike in quite awhile. Robert Clarke is almost too self-effacing; he is much betterremembered than he thinks. Clarke was never a major star (not even close)but a true-blue working Hollywood actor -- and one with a keen sense ofobservation. Unforgettable as the dog boy in Val Lewton's Bedlam, Clarkewent on to appear in Tim Holt Westerns, played supporting roles (some merewalk-ons) in more prestigious fare and starred in very early televisionswashbucklers. Never boring the reader with endless obscure personaldetails (Clarke, lone among Hollywood survivors apparently, doesn't seem tohave had a horrible childhood), the author recounts working fornext-to-nothing in no-budget B-movies, for Ida Lupino and Jack "justthe facts, ma'm" Webb. and others too numerous to mention. He evenproduced and directed a couple of 1950s sci-fi flicks. All of this isrecounted in engaging fashion and devoid of fake sentimentality. RobertClarke is probably not well-known enough to have been published by RandomHouse -- but that is their loss. Happily, horror specialist Tom Weaverbrought him to Gary and Susan Svehla's Midnight Marquee, one of thesetechnically up-to-par genre publishing houses made possible by newtechnology. It is due to folks like Weaver and the Svehlas that film booksmake such delightful reading these days. ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is an article from San Diego Business Journal, published by CBJ, L.P. on June 18, 1990. The length of the article is 642 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Weaver co-founder accepts $25,000 settlement. (Weaver Arms Corp.)
Author: Libby Brydolf
Publication: San Diego Business Journal (Magazine/Journal)
Date: June 18, 1990
Publisher: CBJ, L.P.
Volume: v11Issue: n25Page: p9(1)

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Book Description
Global environmental problems are much more severe and complex than many of the public believe. This book explores the paradox of humanity's dependence on biodiversity and landscape systems for survival while simultaneously placing an enormous stress on the existence of these natural systems. Leading contributors to the fields of biodiversity conservation, ecology, economics, entomology, forestry, history, landscape management, philosophy and sociology draw from their unique disciplinary perspectives to consider the origins, bases and possible solutions to this pressing problem. The volume shows that the need for a solution is one of the most urgent facing humanity, yet the challenge of solving it is one that will require a major shift in the composite of human values. ... Read more

Book Description
Set in a college town in the morally ambiguous 1960's, the story is about the death of a corrupt trailer court owner, apparently struck by lightning at the very moment others were planning to kill him. Convenient act of God or clever murder? Adam Clay, a state police detective, believes the latter and sets out to gather data that will do more than identify a killer. When Clay's investigation is compromised by an activist priest's machinations, the detective presses to an unorthodox resolution which reveals the moral pollution of the community. Does the truth outrank the good in a decade when people on all levels did evil, believing they were doing good? ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Sturm und Drang
Every precinct of mobile homes, whether park or court, woods, grove, or manor, builds a culture of its own. However varied the residents may be and whatever the ebb and flow of tenantry, a distinct ethos is created. And,as lives intertwine, social dynamics are generated. There are strata of power, circles of confidence and suspicion, and tides of social change. These operate to produce a singular design. That design, however, may be a web of malignant mystery as it is in the demesne of Leo Bass, owner, manager, and resident tyrant at Basswood Motor Home Court.
It is the sudden death of the obnoxious Mr. Bass that propels Adam Clay, State Trooper, to the scene. He finds hinself looking into not just one mystery but a whole set of strange events, past, present, and imminent. As in the medieval village good intentions and bad acts swirl around an interesting cast of characters, well sketched and strongly developed. The strands of mystery reach even deeper. We are steered gently by means of very effective dialogue into the enigma of a murder. Then we meet , too, the moral ambiguities of the "free speech," "free love," "burn baby burn" climate of the Sixties. The issues and actions of the trailer court people turn out to be connected to another scene of action, the campus of Arden College.
The death of Leo Bass, apparently by a stroke of lightning, an "Act of God," is an explanation that satisfies, indeed pleases, all but Adam Clay. He sees unconnected wires and closely connected lives suggesting that God is working in ways more mysterious than lightning. The cross connection among certain of the tenants provide more culpability than any detective needs. Simple good and evil keep tripping over each other.
The scenes grow dark and dangerous, even for those bent on doing good. Colliding events, at Basswood and on the Arden campus, confront Trooper Clay and the reader with a well-drawn series of moral challenges, some of which remain after the last page is read. Piece by piece and against the stubborn tides of common sense, Clay builds his sppecial brief carrying the reader along through every step. He "solves" the case but leaves us and most of his characters with some intricate moral dilemmas. These are characters of substance and they endure. This book is not exactly "ulta-lite" fare. The edged writing requires the reader to keep track of the twists and turns of the plot. It's a worthwhile trail!
Days after the cover is closed and the slim volume returned to the shelf one is likely to be musing: Does Clay ever put to rest his own demons? Can Father McGrath come to terms with his dupicitous saints? And, sometimes, where did I put Helen Brownell's new address? ... Read more