Renato Sends His Sympathies

In response to David Bret's absurdly petty comments about Evelyn's last post, I was reminded of the verse in the Bible in Matthew, 7, 3-5... “Why does one look at the speck of sawdust in their brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in their own?”

A banal misspelling for Bret becomes a valid reason for derision and insult; as a street predator he hides behind virtual bushes to jump out and hit with his hopeless affirmations and arrogant presumptions.

It would be a far better use of time for Bret to have revised his own translation into the language of Dante and Manzoni, which he claims to know so well. I laughed loudly as I read the title of his book, “Rudolph Valentino: L'uomo Ei Suoi Uomini”. Even his title contains two delusional and glaring mistakes.

The subsequent reading of his book's blurb, written in a way even an illiterate could not conceive, proves that the translation was done without any knowledge of Italian grammar and of the semantic values of the words used. Above all, it reads as if it was written under the influence of hallucinogenic potions and with the contribution of the worst possible automatic translator and obviously without even the slightest revision by a native speaker of the language.

I am truly amazed that Tracy Ryan Terhune continues to offer a stage for Bret's exploits, because in this way, in addition to being an accomplice aware of judicial ordinances, he proves to be equally as much of a mean-spirited nit-picker. And I do not understand how such a petty character like that can claim the right to pontificate authoritatively before the earthy remains of Rudolph Valentino and with the approval of the actor's family who, in this way, show remarkably little respect for the one whose reflected light grants them such undeserved attention.

How low you have all fallen as you create your own sad fate.

With all my sympathies,

Renato Floris

The Souvenir

I share this image from our home, because there is a story to that piece of red clay roofing tile there on the shelf. This tile was once a part of the roof of the Falcon Lair stables. It came to Renato this way.

In the mid-1990's Renato traveled to Los Angeles as an advance production man for the Italian television RAI's production of the documentary on Valentino, “Lo Squardo di Valentino”... translated as “Valentino's Glance”.

His host and Valentino expert was Ms. Patricia Lampinen. At the time, she was known for publishing a regular newsletter about Valentino. Renato is not completely sure but recalls she lived in Minneapolis.

At one point in their filming, the documentary production team hosted a luncheon at an Italian restaurant on Hollywood Boulevard where they celebrated a sort of birthday party for Valentino. They set up this luncheon to interview Valentino fans who attended.

One of these fans attending the RAI luncheon organized by Renato was Tracy Terhune. Go figure. And he appears in one brief segment of the documentary. Renato has the documentary file and will be uploading it on our Youtube channel soon. It is only in Italian but maybe that can be another translation project for Renato... an English voice over.

So back to the roof tile...Ms. Lampinen went up to Falcon Lair during her visit to Los Angeles as would be expected. Upon her arrival she noticed they were changing the roof tiles on the stables. She managed to abscond with a few of the old tiles as treasured souvenirs. Before she said goodbye to the Italian film makers from Turin, she made sure Renato had one of the tiles.

Our little piece of Falcon Lair... from our home to yours...thanks to Patricia Lampinen.

In Response to Tracy Terhune's “Saints Over Satan” Image of 2/22/2018

I respond to Tracy Terhune's most recent claim we hate him and he is our victim with the following:

After he runs/administrates a vicious, designated hate blog under my book's title for eight years and counting,

After he runs/organizes, according to Cindy Martin, a syndicate of haters and a “Campaign to Ruin Evelyn” with the intent to do our business harm,

After he instills for years, a “mob mentality” in those he recruits in this campaign,

After he calls us names and chirps in anticipation of our deaths,

After he provides David Bret with a platform to post his lie-filled insanity about us,

After Terhune posts... and for years... threatening and disturbing images on the home page of that blog to greet people seeking information about my book (see below),

After he debases and defames us relentlessly, forcing us to respond and respond and defend and defend for years on end,

And much more....!

I would say that after all of this...logically Tracy Terhune can not expect anyone on earth to believe he is our victim. No one believes that. And I venture to say even he does not believe it... it is just strategy to harass us further.

Feeling smug in his choice of that tired old and cheesy Google Blogger backdrop of books on shelves… I guess posted in the hopes of giving an illusion he is learned (as in he read one of those books?)... he dares to pass that eight year old hateful and terrifying blog off as some literary critique. Fat chance...he fools no one.

Only the lowest kind of scum on earth would stoop so low as to publicly do all of those things and more I am very sure which I do not now about... and not own it. And is it not even lower still for him to accuse his actual victims of doing what he does to them... to him?

Shifty crooks behave like that... scheming their nefarious plans while thinking they are fooling everyone with a phony upright citizen exterior.

To me that is about as fake as a person can be. Does Tracy Terhune really think the Valentino world has not noticed? Well, I am pleased to say that many have.

Many people visit that blog and then write us absolutely furious about it. They encourage us to respond. People are not going to that blog for wit or wisdom because there is nothing there but hate.

The duplicitous Tracy Terhune mocks us...two 70's year old people and mocks our efforts. He bullies us mercilessly on that blog and has for many years all while presenting himself before Valentino's crypt reading the Bible as he basks in some keeper of the relics' aura. And without those relics to wave about where would he be in that regard?

I say over time the inevitable is happening. People are seeing through the phony veneer. What is Abraham Lincoln's famous expression?

“You can fool all of the people some of the time and some of the people all the time, but you can not fool all of the people all the time.”

Terhune might want to heed that advice. The disparity between his two personas...of the bible puncher and the behind-the-scenes most hateful blogger...well that disparity is diminishing. He becomes one.

And as far as us “hating” him, I find that ridiculous statement far more revealing about his feelings than ours. And in my opinion he is a victim... a victim of his own terrible personality.

Here follows another of Tracy Ryan Terhune's disturbing images he posted on the home page of his “literary critique”. I think his posting this image on his hate Affairs Valentino blog on February 22, 2018 at 11:15 a.m., also says way more about him than us.

#kindnessoverhate

Renato Floris Responds to Tracy Terhune's Malicious Intent

Since, as André Breton once said, "punctuality is the virtue of those who get bored"... I waited for the sassy broadsides of Tracy Ryan Terhune and David Bret who, always waiting for any reason to free themselves from their boring lives and attack the work of Evelyn and myself, are always in prime position waiting for the slightest excuse to ridicule us, offend us and defame us.

I share what they say about me and I quote verbatim the exhaustive description of my titles made by Bret: "multi- lingual child star, lighting technician, Cordon Bleu chef, puppeteer and Firemen's Muse". This is all true but Firemen's Muse is too much. I only collaborated with the head quarters of the firefighters of Turin, Asti, Rome and Bologna and with many of them I became and still am a good friend.

As our book “Rudolph Valentino - In English” came out, Tracy Ryan Terhune rushed to buy it, which I thank him for. But the reason for his haste is clear... it was his desire to publish, in the shortest possible time, what he he calls a "critique"... and be on time to diminish and defame our work with the malicious intent to ruin our sales.

Terhune does not welcome a new book on Valentino but complains we have not corrected several inaccuracies of De Recqueville; well I want to remind him here that I translated De Recqueville's book but I did not write it. I have not written a companion reading manual yet but feel I did a substantial effort in footnoting for the reader.

I also point out that the book is already extensively footnoted with the beauty of 391 footnotes which includes those appearing in the original book and those included in the appendices.

Regarding why I translated this book, I refer to the first lines of my introduction:

I have been asked many times why I chose to translate this book into English, which as far as historical accuracy is concerned certainly has a few shortcomings. Despite this, I consider De Recqueville more of an actual witness than a biographer. She contacted those still living who knew Valentino personally, from his brother Alberto to his French comrades René Clair, Jacques Hébertot, Robert Florey, Yvonne Legeay and Paul Ivano to even the chamber maids at the Plaza Athenée Hotel who fluffed Valentino's pillows. Another of her intriguing contacts was Doctor Howard Meeker, one of the many physicians who tried to save Valentino and who mercifully closed his eyes. These contact's testimony forms the true power of De Recqueville's book.

Despite any of my translation's mechanical imperfections, I am very proud of the book and I feel it is a most worthy contribution to the legacy of Rudolph Valentino. Tracy Terhune's attempt to destroy this book and all of our books proves he has other motivations than to add to Valentino's history.

Terhune and his acolyte Bret, in my opinion, are just angry that they can no longer lie about the content of De Recqueville's book and no longer freely lie about many things. They throw their stones but I am confident people are far wiser than Terhune and Bret believe. Those people interested in knowing more about Valentino and not less, as Terhune would like it...they can judge for themselves as to the intent and effort on my behalf. And they do not need Tracy Terhune to try and censor what they should or should not read about Valentino or anything else.

Jeanne De Recqueville was presented with the key to Castellaneta for her noble work in the defense of the memory of Valentino... something which I think should be respected in this history. I hope everyone will read the new book and find many things to learn. I say read, people read!! And enjoy!

Have a good day everyone, 

Renato

The Registry of Actions

I have told the detailed story of how I came to discover the lost probate court documents of Rudolph Valentino both in Affairs Valentino and in several podcast episodes. When it was ascertained that the original case file was stolen from its rightful housing location in the Los Angeles County Hall of Records, I embarked on a search for any copies that might be about.

I was more than rewarded when a librarian in a law library asked if George Ullman ever filed an appeal of the 1930 decision. I said yes. She sent me off to the California Court of Appeals Library and there they were... some 1000 pages of officially copied records.

There were a few documents still on file in Los Angeles and the Registry of Actions (below) is one. This is the record of all actions, payments in and out...made on behalf of the estate of Rudolph Valentino.

I found it fascinating and although difficult to decipher I think it worth it. You might have to download the pages in order to enlarge them. I have also included this document in our book, “Affairs Valentino Companion Guide – The Lost Court Documents of Rudolph Valentino”, from page 63.

And again I mention what a tragedy is has been to realize how fiercely the Valentino family and the "team", spearheaded by Tracy Terhune and David Bret have worked to prevent the public from ever having access to Affairs Valentino and this incredibly insightful information. And it is even more disturbing to realize that according to Bill Self (who told me himself), Tracy Terhune and Donna Hill, the entire case file of these Valentino records is in the hands of these very people. Those documents should be, by law, available for public review. 

A Bit More Information for My Avid Reader, Tracy Terhune

To David Bret/Albert Morris/Joey Jenkinson, the punctuation police officer on the beat... who seems to be camping on my blog to catch any infraction before I correct it.... I ask him... do you have a life?

How hypocritical that David Bret, who trolls online apparently day and night and under several aliases which he created in carefully cultivated fake Facebook accounts... how hypocritical that he would pretend to be appalled that other people use aliases online to protect themself from people like him. And I add that Bret's aliases were confirmed to us by Ms. Cindy Martin.

I think he knows by now that his reputation is so awful that he is no longer welcome on anyone's Facebook group under his own name... why?... because if David Bret stepped in, members of those groups would run for the exits. With his history and reputation, how can he claim any pretense to higher ground to pout in judgment of my very necessary responses to his and Tracy Ryan Terhune's disgusting lies.

And to my most avid reader, Tracy Terhune... I first of all thank him for buying our new book, Renato's Jeanne De Recqueville's “Rudolph Valentino”. He seems to be the first person to ever buy our books and I always know that it will not be more than a few days before he posts his utter, utter outrage at us, our book and the very ground we walk on.

Yes, dear avid reader Terhune appears to be capable of mistakes also... and this is especially so in regards to his claiming, as fact, that Jeanne De Recqueville's book “Rudolph Valentino” was never mentioned in any Valentino book. I addressed this in my previous two posts but today I share the following.

*I am sure he owns a copy of Donna Hill's book “Silent Idol”... and if he could scan her acknowledgment section, he will see she expresses gratitude to someone for having translated a portion of the book for her use.

My avid reader Terhune may stand corrected as he was wrong on all accounts as the book was indeed cited in every significant book on Valentino since De Recqueville published her book in 1978.

*As David Bret/Joey Jenkinson/Albert Morris now, predictably, accuses me of writing the message I posted which I received from someone... who, yes, was using the name of Gabriel Oak... I state I did not write that. The reason Bret makes the constant accusation of forgery and fraud is because this is and has been his MO for a decade.

In the past he posted long fake letters, which he wrote, to bolster his defamatory lies that I was arrested for cocaine abuse. He has engaged in long conversations on line with his other aliases trashing us and our work... He is in my expert opinion a diabolical master at the Facebook abusive practice of creating multiple identities in order to bully and deceive online.

For the record, if I write something it is by me unless I say it is not. I feel I have been clear about that here and in our podcasts. And when I state that something someone sent to me is preserved on a server; this authenticates the origin of the message and the recipient. In this way it could always be verified. Albert Morris/Joey Jenkinson/David Bret knows very well what this means... despite his increasingly incoherent attempts to construct a rational and intelligent post in which to register his tired and predictable outrage, outrage, outrage at everything I do, write or say.

I think both he and Terhune would be surprised to know just how much the encouraging voice of opposition to their actions and presence is growing. We do hear from people about this through our several venues and yes from time to time I do reprint a comment sent to us. Including this excerpt (below) from a comment we received on the same subject as it was discussed yesterday which read in part:

“Bret is not the only Terhune sychophant who fallaciously used De Recqueville's book to make his case Rudy was gay. Terhune forum flunky, Simon Constable, who created the Daven Affair blog, also took a page from Bret's twisted scribblings and erroneously coordinated De Recqueville and Leider to bolster his own contorted theories. Thanks to this translation, we now know De Recqueville disproves what Terhune's fan club believes. Perhaps Terhune would make much better use of his time critiquing his pals than trying to flyspeck the vast volume of serious work put out by you, Evelyn Zumaya and Renato Floris.”

And of course, hell yes ...I strongly encourage people to use an alias. Do Terhune and Bret/Morris/Jenkinson really think I would put anyone else in the line of their fire for writing encouraging messages to us? I think it is obvious what Terhune and Bret could and do to anyone voicing a peep of criticism of them or support of us... they ruin, subject folks such as ourselves to unthinkable levels of cyber bullying... and delight in burying people's good names, such as ours... in sick lies for the world to read.

I protect those wise and brilliantly knowledgeable Valentino scholars and admirers who take the time to read and write to us. Unfortunately because of Terhune and Bret's past, present and very public actions, protecting our supporter's identities from their retaliation is critical.

Tracy Ryan Terhune, keeper of the relics along with the absolute and unquestioning devotion of his faithful servant David Bret/Albert Morriss's's'/Joey Jenkinson....have long ago demonstrated what they do to people online. They continue to do this today.

And I purposely made that typo there just now for their benefit... in the very least it will give David/Joey/Albert something to obsess on. I actually feel sorry for them sometimes as they seem to be embroiled in their consistent states of outrage and hate... life is short and better I say to find your zen moment and be kind.

Has Tracy Terhune Read Dark Lover?

In regards to Terhune stating as fact that the Jeanne De Recqueville book is not cited in any Valentino biographies, I state this is false and respond with the following.

First and foremost we have to ask; how many books were published on Valentino after De Recqueville's book was published in 1978, in which the author could cite De Recqueville? The Scagnetti book was published three years earlier in 1975 and the next book of consequence was Michael Morris', Madam Valentino in 1991.

Contrary to what Terhune states, Micheal Morris did cite Jeanne De Recqueville's book on page #266 in his Madam Valentino under his section “Sources – Books”. It was Michael Morris who first recommended the book to me as he felt it was an important work.

The next publication was Dark Lover in 2003 by Emily Leider which Terhune mentions and in this regard I share a message we received from a Gabriel Oak about this today. I cite this verbatim and add that it is preserved on servers:

“Evelyn,

I have seen Terhune’s sickening “review” of the De Recqueville book and I IMPLORE YOU to consider publishing the following on your blog!

So, that poisonous cow Terhune is on the attack yet again. He says of the De Recqueville book, “It's no wonder this book is not quoted nor sourced in ANY book about Rudolph Valentino.” 

Hmmm. How very odd that he would have missed the sourcing of De Recqueville’s book in his sacred copy of Emily Leider’s “Dark Lover.”

Terhune rhapsodizes endlessly about the virtues of Leider’s work, and pronounces it, together with Irving Shulman’s “Valentino” as all one needs to read on the subject of the Great Lover.

In fact, according to Terhune, Leider’s work is superior to Rambova and Ullman’s books about Valentino, because unlike Valentino’s wife and manager, Leider had no agenda. This is perverse.

Leider drew so heavily upon Rambova and Ullman’s books that she virtually incorporated them wholesale! Perhaps Terhune hasn’t actually read the book he so sanctifies.

No surprise then that Terhune is ignorant of the fact that Leider sources De Recqueville on the very page that she declares that the relationship between Valentino and Andre Daven ”seems to have been a genuine love affair.” 

Astonishing that the rabidly agenda driven Terhune would miss this. So - have a gander at pages 300 and 475 of “Dark Lover” Terhune, and eat your rancid words.

And one more observation. Only a person with partial command of his mother tongue would excoriate a polyglot. You are no match for Renato Floris, Terhune!”

*Of course I cited the De Recqueville book in Affairs Valentino in 2011 and in subsequent editions. Terhune is wrong on all accounts about the DeRecqueville book's not being cited. It sure has been and in every publication since her book came out.

More of Tracy Terhune and David Bret's Name-Calling, Defamation & Bullying

Today I respond to a rash of lies issued by Tracy Terhune and David Bret disguised as a review of our latest book; Renato's fine translation of Jeanne De Recqueville's “Rudolph Valentino”. I will always defend the quality and integrity of our work and do so today.

Cindy Martin filled us in on the relationship of Tracy Ryan Terhune and David Bret some time ago by explaining how Terhune controls as the “puppet master” and how he requires that Bret read his comments to him before he will allow Bret to post them on their designated blog which they run under my book's title to bully us. According to Ms. Martin's information, Tracy Ryan Terhune approved the following in his so-called “literary review” of our new book. It should be obvious to any thinking person that this is not a legitimate review.

As excerpted from Terhune's blog as a comment he approved for posting by David Bret where he refers to Renato as the following:

“....Enter 74-year-old Child Bill Hiccup- he of the oversized hats and ego: multi-lingual child star, lighting technician, Cordon Bleu chef, puppeteer and Firemen's Muse....”

And with this, the name-calling duo of mean-spiritedness, Tracy Ryan Terhune and David Bret have issued their stock trashing of our new book; a “critique” in which Terhune does little else but point out a misspelling and a few typos. Is this is all he was looking for in the book?

These two have greeted all of our books by pointing out typos along with their grossly over played litany of hate by calling every one of our books “fiction”, “over-priced”, etc. 

What Bret and Terhune fail to address is that this is the book which has been claimed for years to include proof that Valentino was gay and had love affairs with Andre Daven, Jacques Hebertot, etc. We found that the opposite is true. 

Bret initially claimed his source for saying Valentino was gay was Florey's “Magic Lantern” until we published a fine translation of that. With this proven to be a lie, he then claimed De Recqueville's book was his source as it was not in English. So with this now proven to be false...  Bret claims desperately there was some other, secret source;  another Florey manuscript (conveniently not in English) in which Florey wrote about “the real Valentino”.

I say this is another of Bret's tremendous lies because Robert Florey wrote Jeanne DeRecqueville in 1978 saying Valentino was not gay. It is far easier for Bret to say it was all in another invisible secret source somewhere (in a foreign language) which he can not reveal, than to admit he is straight up lying and has been for years. No one is believing this any more. And btw if his book's are selling so well as he claims (Amazon ratings say differently) then he better begin paying his bills; i.e. the defamation damages we won.

As I mentioned, upon translating the book, we found De Recqueville completely refutes that Valentino was gay and does this through personal correspondence with Hebertot, Rene Clair, etc. How much more definitive can a source be but the people who were there? 

Of course we did not rewrite Jeanne De Recqueville's book and correct everything because we brought the book out in English as she wrote it.. making it available to a new audience...but the content is the value of this book and as Renato pointed out, she was more of a witness than a biographer.

One would think that Tracy Terhune would express gratitude to us for making these foreign publications available in English and for spending the enormous amount of work hours putting the books together. One would think the Valentino family would welcome a new addition to the Valentino literary legacy and thank us for the contribution. One would think they might voice disapproval of the bullying that has and is going on in the name of their relative by Terhune and Bret. Their silence is complicity.

And I find it hypocritical for Terhune to be criticizing our new translation with someone like Bret who wrote what I believe to be the two most fictionalized and reprehensibly awful books on Valentino. I am still waiting for Terhune's manifesto length “critique” of Bret's two books; the last one dedicated to Tracy Terhune.

Terhune and Bret's angry and hateful diatribe posted today... reveals much more about them than it ever could about us or the book.

They have spoken in unison again to bully under the disguise of it being a review when the graphic history of Terhune's Affairs Valentino blog is disgusting and shocking. (see below) He can not pretend to be doing anything legitimate or worthwhile on that blog after how he has savaged us and our work their for 8 years and counting...and in light of the very few books Terhune has turned out I think we have been working hard and deserve a nod for that. I say to him that if he does not like our books or our translations then he can do some himself and realize what hard work it is.

When was the last time Terhune wrote a book, translated one or contributed anything but divisive energy to Valentino's memory? And I think we can scarcely turn to David Bret for any hope of the tiniest shred of truthfulness. This, a man whose books are page by page laughably laden with typos and errors... who once labeled a picture of Valentino's brother as his “great lover Andre Daven”, who produces no proof for his absurd claims regarding almost anything and no proof he ever knew anyone he claims to have known such as Daven, Dietrich, Garbo... all of them. Where is his proof? And his outrage at my saying this is not proof.

Terhune has every right to post what he wishes. But by posting it on that blog which he has sadistically used to divert traffic seeking information about us and our work,... this proves it is just more bullying. This blog is where he has harassed us with images of Jesus, Satan, threats in bold red letters and where he provides a platform for David Bret, who owes us over 40,000$ in unpaid damages for the defamation lawsuit which we won against him... this is where Terhune and Bret mock us, wish our impending deaths with their tick tocking … this is where Terhune posts his “review” today. The entire intention is obvious.

In closing in response to Bret's lie that Jeanne De Recqueville never mentioned Frank Mennillo is her book; I say this is proof Bret never read either book ...because in her 1978 edition on page 155 she writes about his presence at Valentino's death bed with his “eyes full of tears”, etc. We translate this on page 123 in our edition. So proof in my opinion Bret and Terhune just scanned for some typos to embellish their bully attacks. I also add that Yvonne Legeay, who was the sexual love partner of Andre Daven in 1923, met and knew Jeanne De Recqueville when they appeared together on a television show in France. Yvonne Legeay told Ms. DeRecqueville she knew Valentino and I for one am going to believe her... over believing the tired rantings of a bitter and known liar.

Here follows just a few of the images Terhune has used on his hate Affairs Valentino blog where he now posts his review... and I share a few of David Bret's characteristic images he has posted about me. In this I have responded. 

Some of Tracy Terhune's images used on the hate blog. (above and below)

Below two screenshots which were included as evidence in the defamation lawsuit we won against David Bret. These are public record housed in the Court of Asti in Italy. 

David Bret mocks the death of my father. 

**** Find our new book @ https://amzn.to/2WIDCyL

Innuendo is Not Fact

In 2003, I interviewed Brad Steiger, one of the authors of The Intimate and Shocking Expose of Rudolph Valentino by Brad Steiger and Chaw Mank. I certainly would have interviewed Mr. Mank but he was deceased. In my opinion theirs is the second worst book ever written about Valentino and among the many reasons why I say this:

One... it is homophobic and denigrates homosexuality in many ways including references to homosexuals as “deviants”. And two... because Steiger and Mank allege it is sourced to some mythical accounts and documents which they never locate or reveal. This is not sloppy research, but no research. I kept a couple of sources anonymous in Affairs Valentino but I included over 40 pages of end notes as directions for readers to find my sources for themselves if they so desired.

The Mank and Steiger book is presented in an obscene and sexually graphic jumble of typos and factual missteps. Steiger and Mank portray Valentino as a sexually confused mess of a man who vomits in disgust while trying to have sex with a woman, a man who spends most of his time in gay bath houses and who was sexually molested by a nanny as a little boy. That last aspect was so disturbingly presented, I wonder how it ever came to be in print.

This book denigrates Valentino further by exploiting some correspondence he had with Chaw Mank's fan magazine, which was polite and professional. Steiger and Mank include these formal greetings from Valentino in order to bolster their x-rated narrative. The book, by the way, was made into the equally as awful Ken Russell movie, Valentino. Enough said.

I critiqued the book in my speech in Turin and in Affairs Valentino. David Bret has been furious at me for that ever since... this because he claims he knew Chaw Mank and that he based his Valentino book on Mank and Steiger's book. I pointed out in my speech that Bret plagiarized the book. I also question that Bret knew Mank and point out that Mank died many years before Bret wrote on Valentino. 

Because Steiger's stereotyping of homosexuals so dominates and because Bret likes to feign being an advocate for the gay community, I found this all quite odd.

You may watch my speech and my critique of both books @ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9PrbMz0qwmnEWSGZb_jNZQ

Today I present the transcript of my exchange with Brad Steiger and say that I found it shocking in its sweeping innuendo with his claiming rumor as fact, and perpetuating antiquated homosexual stereotypes... such as his emphatic statements that one's sexual orientation is contagious and determined by your friends and business associates. I also wrote more analysis of his book in my article, Words of Clarification which can be read @ https://bit.ly/2JOxk8s

Here follows my print out of the email exchange verbatim which is of course preserved on the servers. I add my footnotes today about his responses as I had a bit more to add.

Pola Negri Was "Sick of Talking About Valentino"?

In 2003, I interviewed Valentino memorabilia collector Bill Self. I have spoken about these interviews many times as the information he shared with me became a valuable aspect of Affairs Valentino. I have also mentioned before that Bill Self did not want to be recorded and was shy when I began writing. I had to be subtle in my scrawling.

I have those notes in a file and today share these 4 little pages as I think they provide interesting insight. At the time of this interview, I had not yet found the probate court records and I was just telling Bill Self about my discovery of Valentino's shipping case or sarcophagus at Campbell's. 

Bill Self assures me I will "see" those missing court records, tells me that "Pola Negri was sick of talking about Rudolph Valentino", tells me he will "get to work for me", and I jot down a reminder to write a thank you note, call the funeral director Dick Cunningham and the Campbells' contact.

Bill Self and I discuss Lou Mahoney being fired and Dr. Howard Meeker's report. He tells me he has the surgeon Dr. Rawl's office medical papers and that Alberto Valentino "stole things". I am not sure what I meant under #3 - "Personal Story - nature". 

Bill Self tells me that Jean Acker "hated" the crypt services, that Rudolph Valentino fired Robert Florey... he tells me about the Four Horsemen Screen Actor's Guild event and George Ullman giving him things and I wrote, "slave bracelet"...was like Xmas for him (for Self), etc. 

Bill Self and I discuss the shipping case and Campbells, some mention of Michael Morris and he tells me he has a memoir which was written by Paul Ivano. He adds that Alberto and Jean knew Paul Ivano and Robert Florey but "didn't speak much". The last reference is a reminder to look up the Gramercy address. 

Just because this needs to be repeated. 

This Week's Prize Story

George Ullman Was a Man of High Integrity

The most compelling pieces of evidence I found as proof of the integrity of Rudolph Valentino's closest friend and business manager, S. George Ullman were the blank checks, signed by Rudolph Valentino. These were presented to the judge during the 1930 hearing necessitated by the frivolous charges brought against Ullman by Valentino's brother.

George Ullman's lawyer presented the signed checks as proof that if George Ullman wanted to steal money from the estate, as he was being accused of doing by said brother, he could have just written in the amount and cashed the checks.

The judge did not accept the checks into evidence and told Ullman's lawyer no proof was needed because S. George Ullman had already demonstrated his integrity to the court and proved he was capable of expert accounting of the estate.

S. George Ullman was a man of high integrity.

Natacha Rambova's Art

Natacha Rambova's sketches reveal a confident hand. Such talented women, working as artists...faced and still face for that matter... a dilemma; the agonizing choice whether to pursue their art professionally or have children. This was especially true for the women of Rambova's day. 

Pursuing art as a career for Natacha Rambova went beyond a fantasy and her success was almost overnight; she was a star when she met Rudolph Valentino. I agree with Michael Morris' ardent belief that Rambova created the Valentino aesthetic and was "The Woman Behind the Myth". 

An interviewer once asked me what effect the Hollywood movie moguls had on Natacha Rambova and I did not have to ponder long and answered, “They destroyed her.” For me this was the bottom line.

Below, the sketches of Natacha Rambova from her days with Valentino and years “Beyond Valentino” from her Egyptian field sketchbook.

Natacha Rambova "Beyond Valentino" in her home in Mallorca. Her then husband Alvaro de Ursaiz wears the striped shirt. This is one of the images which were first published in "Beyond Valentino" from the collection of Natacha's god daughter, Maria Salome. Don't you wish the photographer had asked the woman in the black beret to move to the right or left? Still a fabulous image I think.