Tag Cloud
"Flagler's Folly" "Good Lovin" "It's a beautiful morning" "Lilies of the Field" "Living in the Moment" "Lonely Too Long" "The Bells are Ringing" "The Eighth Wonder of the World" Academy Awards Actors Equity Association Alice's Restaurant all in the family American Federation of Television and Radio Artists Ann Corio Archie Bunker Arsenic and Old Lace Assignment Desk banana split Basin Street Blues Bill Cosby Bill Putch Boston University Buddy Hackett Carol Burnett Cary Grant Casa Portagioia CBS Colin Firth convertible Coral Sky Amphitheatre Cortona Cortona Mix Festival Frances Mayes Dean Martin Diahann Carroll Dingbat Dixie Cups Dixieland Dr. Herman Einstein Drunken Porter Eddie Brigati Edith Bunker Esther Cohen Flagler Museum flea market Fred Astaire Ginger Rogers Glen Campbell Gloria Leroy Gypsy Rose Lee Hamlet Hard Rock Hardy Mintzer Harvey Edelman Harvey Korman Henry Flagler hollywood Jason Mraz jazz Jean Stapleton Jeremy Irons Jim Nabors Joey Bishop John Ritter Judy Holiday Key West Kim Zimmer Kravis Center Las Vegas Latin Casino Lena Prima Lenny Kravitz London Louis Prima Lucille Ball MacBeth Martha Raye Milton Berle music Neil Fishman new orleans News Anchor No Strings Once Upon A Dream Othello Over-Sea Railroad Palm Beach Shakespeare Festival Peter Lorre Phyllis Diller Phyllis McGuire Pincus Zuckerman Republic Airport Richard Burton Rod Stewart Roxie Roker sam butera Sammy Davis Jr. Sandy Hackett School for Scandal Screen Actors Guild Shady Grove Music Fair Shakespeare Sidney Poitier Sinead Cusack Sir John Gielgud Sir Toby Belch sitcom Smothers Brothers soap opera Solara Sonja Henie Storrowton Music Fair streaming Surprise Susan Lovell-Brigati Sy Kravitz Television City The Beaux' Strategem The Doctors The Rascals This Was Burlesque Tim Conway To Bed A Fortune Totem Pole Playhouse toussaint Toyota Trudy Styler Tuscan Sun Festival Twelfth Night Vacation Valley Forge Music Fair Vietnam walk of fame Wedding youtube
Reviews and News

The latest review of SWING is by Yahoo! Contributor Mary Beth Magee.

If you have Amazon Prime you can now 'borrow' the Kindle version of SWING for FREE!

Here's another book review, by Scott Eyman of the Palm Beach Post.  

The list of positive reviews for SWING continues:

I highly recommend this book. I usually listen to audio books, but this is one book in print that I couldn't put down. Don't even think about it. Just read it! This is a good one.  

"SWING" is a great read, and a more than impressive, heartfelt, first novel from this author. Bravo!  

A great read about perseverance and acceptance and a trip to the world of Swing.

Here is my recommendation...buy it for your IPad or eReader, download some Louis Prima songs, put your earphones in, turn up the volume and enjoy it.

Alan Gerstel's Blog
headshot of Alan Gerstel, author

         

Click here to buy the book on Amazon.

It is also available as an ebook.


 

Entries in Sonja Henie (1)

Friday
Sep142012

Phyllis Diller

 

Like many fans that grew up watching Phyllis Diller perform her funny schtick on national television over the years, I was saddened to learn of her death last month.  She was a remarkable comedienne with a rock-solid memory that I found astonishing.

You see, I had the pleasure of being in her company twice.

The first time I met Phyllis was in 1969, after her show in Las Vegas.  I was taken to her dressing room by a mutual friend, Marty Heim, who was a well-known musical director.

The dressing room was large and laid out like the living room of a house.  There were about a dozen people there, including Phyllis McGuire of the famed McGuire Sisters.  She had a very handsome male “companion” on her arm and was wearing a skirt that had about two inches of fur running around the bottom edge.

Phyllis McGuire’s skirt looked a bit odd with all that fur.  It reminded me of the old movies I had seen of Sonja Henie, a Norwegian figure skater and film star who had monopolized that look on ice.

Fast Forward to the early 1990’s when Phyllis Diller came to West Palm Beach to play The Kravis Center.  I happened to be Anchoring the Noon News for WPEC on the day that Phyllis showed up to plug her Kravis appearance.  We chatted for about 5 minutes on camera at the end of the newscast.

As I walked Phyllis to the door, I told her that we had met before… more than 20 YEARS BEFORE… in her Las Vegas dressing room.  I also mentioned that Phyllis McGuire was there that night.  Her eyes lit up as she recounted the experience by saying, “That was the night she had that studly gigolo at her side… and she was dressed like Sonja Henie.”

Phyllis Diller was a star for many years and I am sure she had thousands of people visit her in her dressing room.  So to this day, I cannot fathom how she could have remembered that ONE night that was etched in my 25-year-old mind.

Phyllis Diller – R.I.P.