The Hoax, Our J, and The Birdie on the Rain Trough

Patty here…

The Hoax…

Saturday night I went to a screening of “The Hoax,” directed by Lasse Hallström and starring Richard Gere and Alfred Molina as Clifford Irving and his writer friend and co-conspirator Richard Suskind.

Somehow I had forgotten about the controversy surrounding Irving's book The Autobiography of Howard Hughes. I’d like to tell you I was too young to read when the news broke, but that would be as big a whopper as Irving told his publisher McGraw-Hill.

Here’s the set-up. Clifford Irving was a moderately successful author faced with a dilemma. McGraw Hill had turned down his last book, and he needed to get their attention with something big, something flashy. He needed a breakout book with a breakout advance. (Hey—don’t we all.) Then the cartoon light bulb went on over Irving's head. He told his editor he was writing the autobiography of eccentric Howard Hughes based on extensive in-person interviews with the reclusive billionaire. This was as big as it got in those days. Hughes hadn’t been seen in public for years. Now he was willing to tell his story, but only through Irving.

The folks at McGraw-Hill were skeptical and rightly so. Clifford Irving had a few books under his belt but he wasn’t exactly William Shakespeare. To convince them that he was on the up-and-up, Irving presented handwritten letters purportedly written by Hughes, extolling Irving’s virtues as a conduit. The letters were authenticated by a handwriting expert, after which McGraw-Hill authorized a large advance, $100,000 of which was paid to Irving. The manuscript was completed. The book published. The media blitz went into high gear. The problem? The whole thing was a fake, a hoax, a scam, a trick, a ruse—a fraud of monumental proportions. On his Web site, Irving disavows any connection to the film and claims many of the facts in it are wrong. If you don’t remember what happened in the end, including the unintentional political firestorm, I won't spoil it for you. See the movie or read Irving's memoir about the episode. You may be able to piece together the truth of the story from one of those sources. Or not.

Seeing "The Hoax" gave me an idea. I’m going to write a sensational new book called The Official Autobiography of Our Pauly Levine. It’s based on extensive interviews with the notoriously reclusive Edgar and Thriller nominated TV-writing lawyer who recently guest-starred in a new reality show called “The Jury Is In.” I’m asking for...um...a million dollar advance...a million, yeah that’s the ticket ($100,000 adjusted for inflation). I know I can count on Jim, Cornelia, and Our J to co-conspire, but you can help, too. Please send me any made-up stories you have about Levine's life or career. The picture below might stimulate some thought. (Seriously, did anyone ever see Howard Hughes and Levine together on the same aircraft carrier?)



If the above picture doesn't inspire you to make up stuff about Pauly, try this one.



NakedAuthor sighting…

Last Sunday I invited our own Jacqueline Winspear to regale the members of the Southern California Chapter of Mystery Writers of America with the Naked Truth About Literature and Life. As usual she was elegant and inspiring. Here are a couple of pictures taken at the event.

Are we two hot babes or what?

Our J was interviewed by fellow writer and immediate past president of MWA SoCal, the debonair James Lincoln Warren. Here she is with James (right) and current president Les Klinger (left), an internationally recognized expert on Sherlock Holmes and an Edgar winner for his non fiction tome The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes.

The Birdie on the Rain Trough...

Last year a couple of house finches (Carpodicus Mexicanus) built a nest under a rain trough on my house just outside the room where I write. I watched the couple all through the spring, flying to the tree for a twig, flying back to place it on the nest. Seemed like a lot of work to me. Sort of like writing novels.



The male bird dive-bombed me if I came too close to the nest, so if there were any eggs in there I never saw them. Eventually the birds left town for parts unknown. Last winter I finally took the nest down to get ready for the Southern California winter rains. Now the birds are back and building in the same spot. If there are any House Finch whisperers out there, here’s what I want to know.

• Are they the same birds that camped out with me last year? And
  
• Without a Blackberry, how did they remember my address?

***************************************************************
Please email this post to any publisher who may be willing to offer Patty a million dollars for her fake autobiography of Paul Levine. All you have to do is click on the envelope icon below and follow the instructions. You may also send this post to friends, foes, or forest rangers but nobody else. Thank you for your cooperation. —NakedAuthors Administrator