In Defense of My Friend

I will always defend my dearly departed friend Michael Morris as he is not here to defend himself and this in reference to David Bret again calling him “Padre Liberace” on the hate blog which is run by Tracy Ryan Terhune under my book's title. As the brave champion of revelation Cindy Martin told us, Tracy Ryan Terhune approves every post made on that blog so he has approved the referring to Michael Morris as “Padre Liberace”.

This is the height of homophobia to use the name of Liberace as a gay slur. I loved Liberace... who was a fabulous person, an accomplished musician and showman. His name should never be wielded as an insult and homophobic slur. In trying to call me homophobic for the one millionth time, Terhune and Bret fail as they collaborate in revealing their own very horrendous and blatant homophobia.

As Tracy Ryan Terhune provided the platform for this rank screed, I present another relevant excerpt from Ms. Martin's revelations in which she so eloquently addressed what I am saying here. Again I state that these revelations have been preserved on a server. 

On May 29, 2019 she wrote,

“I told Tracy he was the worst kind of gay man there was, one who bullies other gay men or those he perceives to be gay. David is the same... I told David many times that he is essentially showing his own homophobia and fear of ME and his personal insecurity by making homophobic remarks. ..My point is that as there are many of us who detest David because he has done so much damage to our gay and bisexual community that it can be difficult to cross him. He divided us when we should be all working together.

Even Tracy does not want David physically in the U.S. “

Astral Affairs Rambova

              So very rewarding to have an invitation to speak about this book. Thank you!

Rudolph Valentino's Truth Defies The Valentino Censors!

When Rudolph Valentino was fifteen years old, he wrote a series of letters to his friend Bruno. The letters were held for many years in the private collection of William Self. When he passed away, the lot was sold to collectors. While many in the Valentino world anxiously awaited these collector's sharing of the content of these letters, this did not take place. Instead, the lot was broken up with the letters being sold individually in online auctions and before the contents were widely shared. If someone was not aware they were for sale because they did not regularly search online for current auctions of Valentino memorabilia, they would never know these letters were sold and for all intents and purposes... they had completely vanished. The history of those rare, fragile and important letters was lost forever.

Fortunately this was not the case when a letter to Bruno dated August 29, 1910, was purchased by someone who knew me. They contacted me as soon as they received the letter, forwarding images of the entire letter, the envelope and the translation provided by the seller. I then decided I would share this letter's content publicly to ensure it was read by as many people as possible. I also decided my Italian linguist husband Renato should make a careful translation of the letter himself. Today I share his translation as well as a commentary and clarification.

The seller provided the auction house with their translation and I assert they censored one word and included instead a willfully misleading change of content. I address the line where Valentino writes,”faccio l'amore, lasciandone una per pigliarne un'altra, con delle signorine.” This meaning, “I make love with “signorine”, leaving one to take another.”

In the translation provided by the seller, they translate the word“signorine” as “nice girls”.

Translating the word “signorine” in this way is historically inaccurate. This because the term was and still is used to describe prostitutes. Bear in mind that I am not saying prostitutes are not “nice girls” just saying this was and still is, a known slang used to describe prostitutes.

In this I cite the following:

Below, I share an advertisement for a brothel in Rome, The Rinomata House of Pleasure, the ad dated 1923, where the term “Signorine” is used. Refer to the line reading, “Con due signorine insiema” This is translated as “With two prostitutes together”- (which is priced at twelve and a half lira). And noting that students and the military receive discounts!

And here a photo with the caption,

In his letter to Bruno, Valentino uses the specific term, “faccio l'amore”... a direct translation of this being, to have sex as in, “to do the making of love”.. and with “signorine”.

In researching the historical use of this word as meaning prostitutes, Renato found the following insight into this topic. He writes:

In reference to a piece by the Italian poet and writer Guido Ceronetti about the so-called “Demi-monde”. The “Demi-monde” refers to people who live hedonistic lifestyles, usually in a flagrant and conspicuous manner. The term was commonly used in Europe from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century, and contemporary use has an anachronistic character. In the letter Rodolfo wrote to his friend Bruno dated August 29, 1910, he represents himself, in all respects, as being part of that “Demi-monde”. I excerpt the following from a commentary on this by Guido Ceronetti:

“But I still harbor a certain decadent nostalgia, for that innocent little world of an era gone by when there were some "good things of bad taste"; when the "bad signorine" were called "cocottes".”

“Cocotte” is a French word which means prostitute. In Italy the reason for the slang term of “Signorine” was that it was morally unthinkable that a married woman could work as a prostitute. All prostitutes were, by default, labeled as being single, as “signorine” and thereby the men, as their customers felt less guilty paying for sex with unmarried women.

Another Italian poet, Guido Gozzano, in one of his poems titled “Cocotte”, writes;

"A cocotte! …"

"What does it mean, Mommy?"

"It means a bad “signorina!”

Was the word, this well-known slang for prostitutes, “signorine”..changed to “nice girls” purposefully by the seller of the letter to delete the fact that at fifteen years old, Valentino was already having sex with women and many women? I make the allegation that this is so. Why was this letter “offed” and sold into oblivion before it was published widely among the Valentino community? Why change his truth? Why censor and edit his words? So by some quirk of fate a friend of mine bought that letter and now I share it as it should have been previous to its vanishing.

But beyond this, it is incredible to be able to read his handwriting and sentiments shared with his friend; we see a young Valentino so full of life plans and thrilled with three packs of new, foreign cigarettes and his love-making! We see a young Valentino entranced with the military life and hoping to get into journalism. This is history. This is a treasure to be shared and not something to sell online like a tablecloth or a set of book ends. I thank the buyer of this valuable letter for having the awareness that this letter should be shared! Thank you.

For the record, Renato's entire translation of this letter is as follows:

Taranto 29, August 1910

Dear Bruno,

I couldn't write to you this morning because I was aboard the R.N. (the Royal Ship) "Benedetto Brin", to meet up with the Sub-Lieutenant Della Rocca, the son of our business mathematics professor whom I met in Taranto a couple of months ago at the "Marconi" cabaret variety club and so I stayed with him for lunch.

You know that now the naval squadron that comes from Antivari is in Taranto, tomorrow Wednesday 30, they will leave for Venice, and around the 11^th there will be all three squadrons with the coming of the king to Taranto. From Mr. Della Rocca I got three packs of foreign cigarettes that were given to him by King Nicholas of Montenegro. Fortunately, cases of cholera in Trani and Barletta have been limited and there have been none. So no worries. I wrote right now that it is 5:15 (PM) on the way back from the ship. If you saw how kind the Navy officers are. Then I was introduced to the Commander in 2nd of Brin who is a very kind person.

As for my life, I don't do anything and I consume money and I'm bored and that's why I ask you for the addresses of the newspapers because I want to give myself to journalism. Could you ask your relatives in Padua for the addresses of some other newspapers, but not local. You would do me a great pleasure.

Not long ago, a 17-year-old cabaret singer was in Taranto and I had a great time with her. Then, while I am courting cabaret singers, I make love with prostitutes, leaving one to take another.

Give my compliments to Manlio for the race he has won and I wish for him that in the next race he will take not the 6th prize but the 1st. Do you know if Sinigaglia is still in Castelfidardo? If you go to Venice in a few days you will see the naval squadron. If you want a presentation note for Mr. Della Rocca, tell me and I will send it to you. He is holed up now on the squadron's flagship Benedetto Brin, since a boiler exploded aboard the previous flagship Regina Margherita, a few knots from Taranto, and 7 sailors died. So the admiral (of the squadron) who was there before will pass tomorrow or tonight on the Benedetto Brin.

Hi! And a kiss from yours,

Rodolfo.

P.S. Write to me soon and send me those addresses.

I Am Not Fooled At All.

How can the few notable people, and I use that term loosely, continue to market themselves as experts on the life and times of one Rudolph Valentino when they have heaved to the trash bin...all of the research, discovery and writing we have done on that subject in over ten years and in 12 publications? I ask how? What frauds, what fakes, what poseurs they are.

They feign knowledge based on the old, tired and false narrative/propaganda they have been programmed to repeat ad nausea. They can fool a lot of people with their BS because they are collectors and most people think a collector of something would make them an expert on the subject. No, it makes them an expert on the marketing of that subject. What is the value of this, etc. on the current Valentino memorabilia market.

Well I am not fooled at all by them..and for that they hate me and my guts. I see straight through them and have for years. I will not bow to the DNA and I will not bow to the censor and his handmaiden. I do not seek their approval and never have. And for this.... how very, very, very poorly they have treated us. It is a black eye on the face of Rudolph Valentino's legacy how these people treat us.

What a laugh to read Tracy Ryan Terhune telling Cindy Martin that he enjoys a good debate. Whoa. Upside down world. What debate? How can there be one? When they both fly into states of unhinged rage if we publish another book. What debate?

What we present from our research is dismissed by them because it is feared. This because what we present is the truth that they have all known about for decades. Experts? They are aggressive Valentino merchants and as someone wrote me this week. "All they care about is ginning up the value of their relics.”

I always thought “they” hated me so because they were defending some vision of their “Rudy”. Now, sadly I know better. They only care about their bottom line and I present a threat to their profit margins.

I will not cower in the face of their ageist, misogynist, racist, sadistic, mean-spirited, satanic, shunning attacks on Renato and I, because life is too short anymore. I will be responding with less fear of them and faster now. 

Censors! Hear this! Michael Morris once told me that it was, “deeply Un-American” to censor and ban books. He was right. Your collective treatment of Renato and I has been “deeply un-American”.

Why now? Because I think 10 years and counting of being bullied, name-called, abused and having our right to conduct an honest business maliciously impeded by these people is just about enough.

A Forewarning

I read the opening excerpt from the First Edition of Affairs Valentino.

2011 

The Feldan Commission

This is my painting or a portion of a larger painting which was a commission a few years ago. For more than thirty years I made my living restoring oil paintings and painting reproductions on a distressed canvas which I created. I learned this trade while living in Argentina many years ago. I eventually left the easel because the chemicals involved were too much to bear. I was not meticulous about photographing my work way back when but a few things survived.

A Few Bill Self Notes

I guess I would ask those who spread their false narrative about Affairs Valentino with vicious accusations that I forged court records; what the hell was Bill Self talking about then, when I interviewed him over the period of a year in 2003 and we talked a lot about those court records. Yes, he knew I was searching for them for S. George Ullman's son and daughter, yes he knew I was searching for them to fact-check the settlement of Rudolph Valentino's estate.

So I sat there and interviewed Bill Self and all the while he knew where they were and for a long time did not tell me he knew. He feigned it was a mystery to him that they were gone from the L.A. Hall of Records. In hindsight I ask; really? 

In my dealings with Self and after twenty years observing the activities of other collectors, IMO collectors hoard and find some added delight in the hiding aspect of their collections. I used to think this was because they held them sacred, but I don't anymore.

It is about their collection's market value and a lot about shady provenance... those court records have probably already been sold on E-Bay to the highest bidder. Shockingly, those records along with other valuable historical artifacts relating to the life of one Rudolph Valentino... just disappear into the wilderness when they are purchased online by god who knows who, to be lost forever to historians and people, like myself and Renato who care about historical accuracy. For people, such as ourselves who work hard searching through archives for documentation and information, it is discouraging to learn that Valentino documents are sold on E-Bay before the contents are shared at all. 

All of these artifacts belong in a museum, whether one devoted to Valentino or some facility such as the Margaret Herrick Library or the USC Rare Book Room. There are many places which I consider appropriate for these rare, archival items to be housed.

The image below is a scan of my notes from one interview with Bill Self which took place in the spring of 2003. Bill did not want to be recorded, and would not speak as freely if I was taking notes. We sipped drinks and chatted. I would leave his place and drive down the hill, park and write all of my thoughts as fast as possible. I would then type them up in outline format.

Unedited:

Natacha Rambova - Rudolph Valentino's Queen

In early 1930, Natacha Rambova granted an interview to journalist Herbert Howe in which she revealed the following:

"There was a moment of constraint as Natacha and I sat down on the divan. To break it, I referred to the hours spent on his (Valentino's) life story. 'Now we ought to do your life,' I said, 'but I guess all your real names have been told.'
 'Yes, and I've been called a lot of names that weren't mine,' laughed Natacha. 'No, I'm here to tell you right now that I don't give a hang for publicity. God knows there has been too much for me already. I've been called everything from Messalina to a dope-fiend.'
'Did you feel it much?'
'I was tortured. I was tortured to agony,' she said. Her eyes met mine in an eloquence of silence. In that minute the interval of years passed by. I felt certain I knew her as I hadn't before. She turned the poignancy of that revelation with a quick laugh. I always loved the laughter of Natacha. It was quick and gay. And it can shield a multitude of sorrows with its courage.
'They even said I have no sense of humor!' Her laugh mounted. 'That's equivalent to saying I am dead. Without it, I would have been years ago.' "

Cite Astral Affairs Rambova, pp.215-216.

An Invitation to Speak about Affairs Valentino

I am proud to say that my husband Renato Floris and I have been invited to attend a conference being held in Castellaneta in commemoration of the 125^th anniversary of Rudolph Valentino's birth. The Fondazione Rodolfo Valentino's, Secretary General Guiseppe Nigro and Professor Aurelio Miccoli sent us the invitation with a request I speak about my book Affairs Valentino. It is great to be recognized and honored by this prestigious organization on this auspicious occasion and be provided with an opportunity to share more about our work.

Pure Truth

When I first published Affairs Valentino in 2011, I expected debate, discussion and interest... but I never imagined my exposing what amounted to a cover-up ...would instigate an organized campaign of harassment, bullying, “death scenarios” and more... targeting me and my loved ones.

My research discoveries revealed how a vast archive of materials related to Rudolph Valentino had been stolen, hidden from public access, their existence and content lied about and a false narrative about Rudolph Valentino consequently instigated and perpetuated. The stunning aspect of this cover-up is... that this is still the case.

Documents, court records, valuable memoirs, correspondence are all secreted into collections and denied the public's review. Valuable historical documents are hoarded and traded and used as currency to silence, intimidate and control.

Affairs Valentino was and still is called “pure fiction” by those who participate in this cover-up. It is anything but fiction and they know that. They know it is pure truth because they have the same documents upon which I based the book and have had them for decades. They continue in this cover-up because I wrote the first truth, cited it to forty pages of end notes and openly shared my sources and continue to do so.

Why do they lie so mercilessly? Because Affairs Valentino exposed the truth and in this they were exposed … they hide the documents which reveal decades of brazen lies and fiction told to reinvent Rudolph Valentino's history in order to protect their sordid interests and involvements. How ironic they call Affairs Valentino fiction when they are sitting on the same documentation and much more than I referenced when I spent years piecing it all together.

By the time this first edition came out, I had been attacked and tortured daily online for a solid year... and behind the scenes those doing so passed information and allied to form their syndicate which is still wielding their pure fiction...

And as far as their telling people interested in the book... yes a few weeks ago that Affairs Valentino is “not worth a penny.” I quote a review I excerpted on the back of the Special Edition of the book, 

"Zumaya has faced viciously barbaric opposition to her work, which has compelled her to cease publication of this fine book. This is a disastrous pity for she has done more than any other researcher to advance our understanding of this fascinating screen legend... If you find her book, buy it and don't flinch at the price. It tells a story worthy of any Hollywood scandal." 

                                                                    Tony Bonn – Publisher of The American Chronicle

How I Operate

Well I just went to check my previous post on my phone and found some link called, "How Evelyn Zumaya Operates"... in the Google feed. Well I will tell the world this... this is Evelyn Zumaya writing and this is how I operate. I work hard  with my husband Renato Floris to publish great books and then Tracy Ryan Terhune and his posse destroy them online with lies.

I have had it with their rampant online bullying and I intend to call it out everywhere I find it.

I am still working hard every day to bring forth the material we have discovered and will continue to do so. That is exactly how I operate.

This Lovely Lady Endured

How very much this lovely lady endured because of Alberto Valentino's collection processes. For so many decades the story of the settlement of Valentino's estate was told by Alberto in a skewed and false version which portrayed this lady's husband as a crook and a thief. When in fact the legal process proved this not true and stands as testimony that her husband, Rudolph Valentino's closest friend and trusted business manager acted in good faith to receive a full exoneration and praise from a Court of Appeal's judge. Beatrice Ullman, shown below, and her husband George Ullman deserve that this truth be told. 

For the truth about this story was hidden for decades by Alberto Valentino because the court records proving Ullman's integrity were stolen. But there is no such thing as a perfect crime and the truth has come out through the records I discovered... those court certified copies.... all admitted into court record when Mr. George Ullman filed his appeal. 

Read all about it in Affairs Valentino, the book that Tracy Ryan Terhune does not want you to read. 

Available on Amazon. 

The Works

I Am Not Satan

I aspire in this post to embolden and enlighten my readers. In this post, I respond to something said about me six years ago but then I was not able to respond. This because I was so wounded in this battle for my name, it was too traumatizing to read it all and every day. I can not honestly say I am less wounded now but I am older.

I respond to the following:

I recently found a screenshot of a post written by Tracy Ryan Terhune on March 29, 2014 on his hate Affairs Valentino blog. It was an image he posted of Christ pointing the way to Satan... Telling Satan to, “Get thee to the Lake of Fire!” As Tracy Ryan Terhune posted this on his blog which he runs under the title of and steeped in hatred of my Rudolph Valentino biography, Affairs Valentino, it was very clear who he felt he was in that image and who I was.

As I mentioned, I did not read his mean-spirited post below this image. However, I did read it the other day. It was an accusation that he was my victim. I have decided I would respond now. What is the expression? “Better late than never”?

In this post on March 29, 2014, Tracy Ryan Terhune says he never met me and posed this as an argument for his claiming he is my victim. If someone has bullied you online for a decade, you do not need to meet them face to face to feel justified in defending yourself with a response or even a million responses. As long as he continues, my response will be forthcoming.

I ask what relevance his not having met me... has to do with the years of his issuing his blatant online bullying of me, my work and my husband Renato Floris? He displays his fat file folders of printouts of my years of defending myself and deceives again by claiming they contain evidence of my bullying him. This is false. I stand proudly behind every word I have ever written in my defense and in an attempt to have my truth known as I do again here today.

I doubt that anyone today could read what Tracy Ryan Terhune has written to date, including the vicious, ageist name-calling he has posted about my husband and I and not recognize that he is, and always has been, the bully. Perhaps he does not know “victim-blaming” is one of the top ten definitions of a cyber-bully on the U.S. Government's cyber-bullying website. This is but a strategy by the bully to try and silence and shame their victim by threatening them further if they dare to protest or defend themselves.

Over the years I have responded via many venues and in varied formats from humor to irony to fierce rebuttal, various blogs and even videos... to what avail? None. It is now ten years since Affairs Valentino was first published and he is still openly bullying us online. The totality of all the posts he has made and approved of on the blog he runs under Affairs Valentino, stands as testimony to this statement.

Additionally Tracy Ryan Terhune has organized, participated in and acted as leader in an aggressive and organized effort to ruin us.

I cite the following in support of this statement:

In May and June of 2019, Ms. Cindy Martin, who formerly posted on the Affairs Valentino hate blog run by Terhune, engaged in a revelatory exchange with my husband Renato Floris.... she wrote the following which I excerpt from her lengthy messages solely for the purposes of supporting my statements here today.

May 29, 2019: “There are now new individuals Tracy is using to achieve his nasty goal and they are attempting to make my life difficult. I am having enough trouble with bullying from them...

On the same date: “I was duped into treating you and Evelyn badly and I stopped it of my own accord by accusing Tracy of bullying..”

“I realized I was being used in a terrible way and Tracy knew very well that Simon knew who I was. Those two are now thick as thieves along with Donna Hill and they are working against Evelyn.”

“David Bret has been masquerading as Albert Morris for quite some time now.”

“Tracy is truly a snake'”

“Tracy is a master at manipulation.”

“Tracy has always been the puppet master. No one else has ever pulled the strings. Even David would read his entire statement for his blog to him before posting it.”

“I told him (Tracy) a while ago that I refused to be a part of his “ bully-machine” against you and Evelyn.”

“I told Tracy he was a bully and he unfriended me which suits me just fine.”

On June 2, 2019: “No one told me then that Tracy had these court papers all along... Tracy certainly did not.”

June 10, 2019: “Tracy, David, Simon and that bunch continue their campaign against you.”

I believe it was easier to fool the public when this campaign against us began ten years ago. Then we had only published one book, Affairs Valentino. Today we have published twelve. People are more savvy now and recognize the rhetoric and the actions of online bullies. The content of Tracy Ryan Terhune's Affairs Valentino hate blog is proof enough of just who is the bully and who is the victim. We have been accused of bullying him when the exact opposite is the case and times a billion.

I thank the courageous and very honest Ms. Martin for her candor and sincerity in assisting us in exposing this situation. She has greatly contributed to a cure for this plague of bullies who are currently controlling a false narrative about Rudolph Valentino. Ms. Martin's commentary to Renato is, in my opinion, heroic.

I hope that more people, like Ms. Martin will question these bullies denigrating remarks about us and our work and question their actions...and in doing so help to bring an end to this bullying campaign. Perhaps in this way a new era of truth about Rudolph Valentino and his life story will begin; one of cooperation, respect and inclusion.

An Interesting Post About the Affairs Valentino Love Child Theory

In Affairs Valentino, I presented a circumstantial case alleging Rudolph Valentino's nephew was his love child. I presented this theory in 2011, after years of research both in the U.S. and in Italy where the child was born. In 2014 I completed additional research. I initially set out to disprove this love-child theory but to date not a single piece of evidence or research discovery I have uncovered has proven this theory false. Quite the contrary. 

The screenshot below is taken from an Italian blog about gay culture titled, "Tre Libri Sopra il Cielo" or "Three Books Over the Sky" and was published on June 16, 2017. Find the translation of this most interesting post by Massimiliano below in English which reads, 

"Valentino's homosexuality story was caused by an incorrect translation of the English term, "metrosexual" which actually means man with an obsession with caring for his body. Not one of his contemporaries called him homosexual! It has also been recently discovered that his nephew Jean was actually his son! I have contacted his great-grand-daughter, Jeanine Villalobos who confirmed this to me." 

The Book Survivor

The Actual Agenda

Today, I am again forced to respond to the abusive blog posts made and approved of by Tracy Ryan Terhune on the designated hate blog he runs under my book Affairs Valentino's title, where he publicly harasses, demeans, mocks and bullys me, my husband Renato Floris and our work on Rudolph Valentino.

I will not respond to all of his name-calling and false accusations, but will today focus on responding to Tracy Ryan Terhune's hypocritical attempt to dismiss books as being “agenda-driven” such as those written by George Ullman and Natacha Rambova. In my opinion, driving an agenda is something Tracy Ryan Terhune knows a great deal about.

Both Valentino's close friend and trusted business manager George Ullman and Valentino's second wife, Natacha Rambova said they wrote their memoirs promptly after Valentino's death because there was so much fiction being churned out in haste in the wake of Valentino's death, they wanted respectful truth to be available.

I respond to Tracy Ryan Terhune's critical dismissal of their books with his accusation of their being agenda-driven, by saying he is hypocritical in this accusation as I allege he is the person who is driving a heavy agenda in regards to Valentino today.

I cite the following to support my statement.

For years, after I published Affairs Valentino, I was accused of forging the probate court records of Rudolph Valentino which I sourced heavily. The online campaign to deter people from reading my work by calling me a fiction writer and a forger.. was not only something Tracy Terhune was aware of, but something he openly participated in and still does today.

He ran and continues to run a blog under my book's title where he has posted for some seven years and counting, his tag line that my book is “pure fiction” (even posting this once in the first person as if I was saying this), by posting images of the Bible, Satan and Jesus and threats of litigation in bold red capital letters. By posting this on a blog under my book's title, he willfully deceives legitimate web traffic seeking information about Affairs Valentino.

Tracy Ryan Terhune has linked this blog to other blogs, run by his affiliates, where not only my good name was and is smeared mercilessly but my parents names and my friends and business associates who were also threatened and attacked with lies and mockery and for years. I have ample proof as screenshots to prove this statement.

Throughout, Tracy Ryan Terhune has accused me of bullying him whenever I issue a response and whenever I refuse to remain silent in my own and in my loved ones defense.

While I was accused of writing fiction and being the forger of those court records, Tracy Ryan Terhune said nothing to correct this. And this was even when he knew those records existed. He would eventually admit to having seen these very records and admit he knew of three collectors who had these stolen documents at one time in their possession.

To explain; in the course of my researching Affairs Valentino, I sought to locate these records to know the truth about the settlement of Valentino's estate and the role his trusted manager George Ullman played as estate executor. I learned the original case file, which was by law required to be available for public review in the Los Angeles County Hall of Records, had been stolen. I received verification of this from the Hall of Records in the form of a Certificate of Clerk.

Some time later I did locate some one thousand pages of these records as they were copied by the California Court of Appeals. These were the documents I brought forth which changed a great deal in Valentino's history as it was then being told by the Valentino family and as supported by Tracy Ryan Terhune.

It was obvious to me that the content of that case file had been kept hidden for decades while the false narrative was upheld. By not coming forward to say he knew those records existed and were indeed not forged by me, I charge that this is agenda-driven behavior by Tracy Ryan Terhune.

Last year Ms. Cindy Martin contacted my husband Renato Floris. For the previous few years, Ms. Martin was one of the most vocal and prolific posters on Tracy Ryan Terhune's hate Affairs Valentino blog. She told my husband she had changed course and regretted her actions. I am grateful to her for sharing inside information about the actions against my work as it shed light on the true affiliations and agendas, which according to Ms. Martin, are conducted and controlled by Tracy Ryan Terhune.

I cite the following to support this statement.

On June 10, 2019.. Ms. Martin wrote.

“Tracy, David, Simon and that bunch continue their campaign against you.”

And on June 2, 2019 she writes,

“The problem is, Tracy has such power over people because of that yearly memorial.. that he just has to crook his little finger and they all come running.”

Cindy Martin also told my husband Renato Floris in May of 2019, that she was not made aware that Tracy Ryan Terhune knew those court records existed and I quote her message dated May 29, 2019,

“ No one gets wigged out the way Tracy did because of a book, but he sure stirred us up and used the 'mob mentality' on many of us. I cannot, still apologize enough for the part I played in all of that. I have to ask myself if Tracy already had those court papers that Evelyn found then why did Tracy not bring the information forward in his own book? He could have written it or had Donna Hill help him.”

Why else would Tracy Ryan Terhune keep his knowledge that those records existed... a secret.. other than to perpetuate his own agenda-driven actions to ruin my reputation and deter potential readers of my work from judging for themselves?

And in regards to the stolen court records, which he knew about and which I was accused of forging; I was told on two occasions who had those stolen records. One of those occasions took place in a little coffee shop next to the Castro Theater in San Francisco after the showing of Valentino's film, Beyond the Rocks.

There I met with Ms. Donna Hill who told me that the original case file of records had been returned to the Valentino family spokeswoman from a Valentino memorabilia collector in exchange for one of Valentino's shirts. In Affairs Valentino I related this account and wrote the source, Ms. Hill, as anonymous. Apparently when this was published, Tracy Ryan Terhune knew who to blame.

I cite the following in support of this statement.

Ms. Martin writes on May, 29, 2019,

“I will tell you a little something about the shirt thing and Donna. You and Evelyn may or may not know this, but when Tracy found out that Donna had given up that shirt in the cafe (which Tracy told Donna) for that information, he was REALLY MAD at Donna and never really trusted her again. He still doesn't. Donna has been trying to get back into Tracy's good graces ever since. So it makes perfect sense to me that she has been sending him the information behind your backs. She will be trying to suck up to him forever. Tracy is calling the shots and he is also controlling what Simon and Eleanor Gribbon from Mad About the Boy puts there. “

I respond today by calling out the fiercely-driven agenda in the world of Valentino today which is not one perpetrated by Valentino's wife Natacha Rambova or George Ullman or by myself. It is an agenda driven by Tracy Ryan Terhune to bury my work and the new documentation I brought forward. I personally can not think of another celebrity, other than Rudolph Valentino, who is so victimized by an agenda, driven to hide and protect lies about legitimate authors, discoveries and material.

I cite the following to support this statement.

Again from the same message on May 29, 2019, Ms. Martin writes:

“Was Tracy paid to protect the lies that were out there? … Why should we not know the truth? Why not all join together to protect His (Rudy's) true legacy rather than waste our precious and short time on this rock fighting...”

I agree with her statement 100%. Ms. Martin stands as heroic in exposing this and again I thank her. And as far as Tracy Ryan Terhune claiming this response is bullying him, I state I will always stand up to defend my good name from his public mud-slinging, i.e. his calling me, "Fool Zumaya", and I will always defend the good name of my husband Renato Floris. I will never be silenced and will defend and respond to the best of my ability to the unwarranted attacks on my integrity and the honesty of our books. This is my defense.

(Excerpts in this post follow the Fair Use guidelines defining fair use for the purposes of review, research or scholarly reporting, as in excerpting for critical purposes in commentary or for use as an illustration; also as clarification of the author's observations.)

New Podcast Episode Online!

https://soundcloud.com/user-346379988/rudolph-valentino-sheik-angst-more

From The San Francisco Examiner, August 6, 1960

Learning More About Natacha Rambova

I am forever grateful to Father Michael Morris, o.p. for his years of support and friendship. Our collaboration taught me so much more about this beautiful woman and her contributions.

#rudolphvalentinosqueen

The Books That Tracy Ryan Terhune Does Not Want You to Read

Contrary to what was posted on Tracy Ryan Terhune's "Evelyn Zumaya is Bad, Bad, Bad" blog... (check out his horrendous bullying of us on @ affairsvalentino.blogspot.com)..... he can scarcely claim it is an opinion when telling people my books are "pure fiction" and "agenda driven" and that they should be "avoided completely at all cost". Especially when he writes this within a context of name-calling and insults of the highest order.

 He can certainly say he did not like the book, that would be his opinion. 100%. But making a statement such as that about my work is  obvious in its malicious intent. This is especially so after a decade of his tremendous and heinous and public abuse of me and mine online.  I think Tracy Terhune knows this is far, far from the truth. As Michael Morris wrote, Affairs Valentino is the, "best researched book on Valentino ever written."

I have shared more of my sources than possibly necessary, (including publishing a book of supportive documentation)  and been forthcoming in answering all questions. Telling someone Affairs Valentino is pure fiction and telling them to avoid it... is impeding my right to do a legitimate business and it is defamation.

This is just more of the same campaign of defamation, harassment and bullying which has been going on for a decade... I cite as example, when "they" purported I forged the court records which became a major source of my work; this was a vicious ploy to defame me and convince their followers that my work was fiction. It certainly is not. It never has been and never will be.

Ms. Cindy Martin informed us that she was never told that "they" had access those court records while they told her they did not exist. I thank her for telling us that and am sorry they deceived her in this way.  And Tracy Ryan Terhune apparently quite inadvertently admitted he knew of three collectors who had them in their possession.. this... while I was being accused of forging them. It can not be both ways.

Telling an interested party that my work is fictional and worthless...is not opinion but fabrication (a fancy word for lie) and blatantly designed to ruin my name and compromise the integrity of my work. My book Affairs Valentino is the most heavily cited and documented book on Rudolph Valentino.

And if this was not, as Ms. Martin told us, a "campaign to ruin our work"... then why would Tracy Ryan Terhune continue after all these years to run a blog, so obviously steeped in hatred, under my book's title where he calls us names, mocks our age while providing a platform for defamatory and false commentary and where he willfully diverts web traffic seeking information about my book to find this vile residue of feigned and pathetically written lies about me and my husband Renato Floris. Tracy Terhune does not link this hate blog to his main Facebook group and I do not wonder why. It is disgusting abuse. I respond..

It has been ten years and counting that they.. as they call themselves, "the team",  have been trying to prevent the public from reading our books and judging for themselves... I consider that a major fail on their behalf. If Tracy Ryan Terhune considers Affairs Valentino so worthless, then why has he been running a blog under its title for seven years now and counting?