Wednesday, June 23, 2021

About Disputes - A Comment From Renato Floris

The thing that saddens me most is that Evelyn and I find ourselves the victims of unprecedented censorship. 

Disputes among civilized people, endowed with sincere intellectual honesty, can always be settled, the parties explain their positions, documenting their validity and then, seriously and honestly, the conclusions are drawn.

But this does not happen to us as our mouths are gagged, well before a word can be uttered. All this is proof that what we claim is indisputable reality.

I express my utmost disgust at how Rudolph Valentino is exploited especially in asking Ms. Donna Hill courteously some time ago why none of our books were included in her great bibliography.

Instead of replying to me directly, Ms. Donna Hill passed the ball to Tracy Ryan Terhune who bullied me in the blog he stole from Evelyn.

This is the exact text of my communication with Ms. Donna Hill on 6 - 7 -18:

“Good morning Ms. Hill,

I visited your very well done and accurate site, but in the list regarding the books about or related to Rudolph Valentino I can't see the different titles I have had the honor to publish.

I talk about Day Dreams with the introduction by Evelyn Zumaya, Affairs Valentino A Special Edition, Affairs Valentino Companion Guide, The S. George Ullman Memoir, L'Affare Valentino (Italian Edition) all by Evelyn Zumaya Also missing the books by Mr. Aurelio Miccoli, The Infancy of the Myth and its Italian version L'Infanzia del Mito.

Last but not least the book BEYOND VALENTINO: A MADAM VALENTINO ADDENDUM by Michael Morris and Evelyn Zumaya. I saw in your list the books by my friends Leo Pantaleo and Chicca Guglielmi Morone why not the books I publish?

I really don't understand the profuse hate against Evelyn Zumaya, could you please help me to know why? I'm sure as Michael told me a lot about how serious you are that you'll fix this problem and that you are not participating in the hate campaign against Ms. Zumaya and, it looks, boycott of my books! Waiting to read from you I send my best regards.

Renato Floris”

The answer came on 6-15-18, not by Ms. Donna Hill's pen but by Tracy Ryan Terhune's who wrote publicly on the blog which belonged to Evelyn, the following (I excerpt the post under Fair Use guidelines):

“Last week Child Star Floris flung a terse e-mail to a newly revamped Valentino website. On the site there is a wonderfully compiled list of recommended books on Rudolph Valentino. And books by Evelyn Zumaya & party were not on the list. The webmaster indicated that the list was not all inclusive. That did nothing to deter Child Star Floris who now forgoes acting for publishing his wife's books. He wrote in a moment of clarity that "I can 't see different titles I have the honor to publish" about Rudolph Valentino. Then he name drops Michael Morris and shifts focus by begging "that you'll fix this problem and that you are not participating to the hate campaign against Ms. Zumaya and, it looks, boycott of my books!" Face it, you're not on the list. No one's boycotting you. I don't see you putting other peoples books up on your website.”

I would tell Tracy Terhune that we do not compile nor include such an all encompassing Valentino bibliography on our websites. The sites are dedicated solely to our production of books.

I wonder how people who behave in this way, who mock, name-call and demean, can genuinely represent the memory of Rudolph Valentino and how such characters are allowed to celebrate his memory.