Books by Michael B Druxman

This is the HARDBACK version. Before Oprah...before Ellen...there was Dinah Shore. She was the queen of the afternoon talk show. For over five decades, Dinah induced a state of joy into people wherever she appeared, a love affair between her and her audience. In the fickle world of popular music, Dinah had a longer run at the top than any other girl singer, and on television, she had no equal in the musical field. Arguably, she was "the first lady of television." Dinah's life, however, was not always easy. She was a Jewish girl growing up in the Deep South and, at an early age, suffered a bout with polio. Later, as she was just achieving success as a radio/recording artist, a vicious rumor threatened to scuttle her career. Romantically, the lady was been involved with many men, from her first husband, actor George Montgomery, to Frank Sinatra, to her May/December affair with Burt Reynolds. Then, there were the clandestine relationships. Miss Dinah Shore is the candid story of a beloved woman whose career spanned almost all aspects of show business, from radio, records, movies, television variety and talk shows: a remarkable journey.

"...Michael Druxman has done an exemplary job with this 'Films of '¬ formatted chronicle of the life of Paul Muni. Above and beyond the usual compendium of production credits, Druxman has spoken to many people associated with Muni in order to produce a rounded, intelligent picture of the man and the actor....Grade-A in all departments." - Film Fan Monthly, November 1974 "...The volume...has special reference value, particularly since Muni will go down in theatrical history as one of the great perfectionists who graced the screen and stage.... Biographer Druxman is concise and informative in his narration of the Muni story. - Don Carle Gille¬ e, Variety, June 14, 1974 "...The author carefully analyzes them [Muni's films] to develop an understanding of the man and his method. This close look at Muni's professional life, coupled with a study of his personal life and habits results in a complete picture of a master.... Interesting an informative reading." - Classic Film Collector, 1974

"Before Oprah . . . before Ellen . . . there was Dinah Shore. She was the queen of the afternoon talk show. For over five decades, Dinah induced a state of joy into people wherever she appeared, a love affair between her and her audience. In the fickle world of popular music, Dinah had a longer run at the top than any other girl singer, and on television, she had no equal in the musical field. Arguably, she was "the first lady of television." Dinah life, however, was not always easy. She was a Jewish girl growing up in the Deep South and, at an early age, suffered a bout with polio. Later, as she was just achieving success as a radio/recording artist, a vicious rumor threatened to scuttle her career. Romantically, the lady was been involved with many men, from her first husband, actor George Montgomery, to Frank Sinatra, to her May/December affair with Burt Reynolds. Then, there were the clandestine relationships. Miss Dinah Shore is the candid story of a beloved woman whose career spanned almost all aspects of show business, from radio, records, movies, television variety and talk shows: a remarkable journey"--publisher's website

"While working as Roger Corman's story editor at Concorde-New HorizonsPictures, I discovered that Michael Druxman knows how to spin a good yarn.Reading his Life, Liberty & The Pursuit of Hollywood has taught me howthoroughly Michael knows his way around Movieland. It's all here:his years as a publicist, a screenwriter, a playwright, and a hawker ofmemorabilia at autograph shows. The book's most revealing moments involvehis brief encounters with a wide array of stars. He's worked withcelebrities who are wonderful, and with others who are rude, forgetful,cheap, backstabbing, drunk-or too honest for their own good."- Beverly Gray, biographer, Roger Corman: Blood-Sucking Vampires,Flesh-Eating Cockroaches, and Driller Killers"Druxman's style flows so beautifully, that you don't realize that what youare, indeed, reading is a contribution to film history! His interactionswith so many of the Hollywood elite (and not so elite) really do contributeto a fuller and deeper understanding of them. Some of the stories arepredictably humorous. Some are jaw-droppers. Some were sad. ALL-and I meanall-were well framed, beautifully developed, and word-to-word dynamite. Idid NOT want this book to end."- Annette Lloyd, film historian

"Michael B. Druxman may have escaped Hollywood after forty-five years,but he also survived and thrived there all those years...hardly a feat for thefaint-hearted. His entertaining and amusing memoir tells us how he did it.With tenacity and talent, he went from PR agent to screenwriter to directorand, along the way, rubbed shoulders with a fascinating array of characters,con-men, and artists. From the stars to the strugglers, from the saints to thescammers, from those who soared to those who took a swan dive, they'reall here. We meet the great, the near-great, the not-so great who makeHollywood their home and their hunting ground. Druxman depicts theirtriumphs and follies, as well as his own, with the nuanced eye of one who hasseen Hollywood at its meanest and most magnificent."- Charles Edward Pogue, Screenwriter of The Fly, Dragonheart, DOA"Michael Druxman's new book is like taking a time machine back to thosethrilling days of yesteryear, a time when there was a real Hollywood with realmovie stars and the kind of class that no longer exists in that place they callHollywood today. The tales of his days as a 'publicist for a price' are endearing and droll, and the celebrities he handled make for a grand cast of characters in this very affectionate memoir. Add to that the stories of writing and directing for Roger Corman, as well as his childhood memories, and you have a book that's a fun, fast read."- Bruce Kimmel, writer/director of The First Nudie Musical,author, record producer"As a working publicist, Michael Druxman was probably responsible for five orten percent of all the baloney written about so-called Hollywood celebrities over the last thirty-five, forty years. I oughta know. He was also my publicist for much of that time. But now, finally, here he is writing about the real Hollywood, and it's plain that he's lived it and knows it. So get the book-read it-and learn."- Stanley Rubin, writer/producer The Narrow Margin, River of No Return, White Hunter, Black Heart

In 1888, the elusive serial killer, Jack the Ripper, terrorized the Whitechapel District of London. Scotland Yard was baffled. But, that same year, Jack met his match when he crossed paths with the dreadfully evil ...really awful...Count Dracula.On July 22, 1934, notorious bank robber John Dillinger was shot "dead" by the FBI in front of Chicago's Biograph Theater. But, on September 17, 1941, in Miami Beach, Florida, John Dillinger met with former "King of Chicago," mobster Al Capone, to plan the biggest heist of his career.In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson completed the Louisiana Purchase with France's Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. The price was four cents per acre. But, in 2011, Napoleon decided that he wanted his land back.Master storyteller Michael B. Druxman turns history and literature topsy-turvy in six unforgettable tales.Titles include: "The Old Coot," "Dracula Meets Jack the Ripper""Big Al and Desperate Dan""Napoleon Brandy""The Space Ship""Bugsy's Boys"

"Druxman has taken Hollywood's most famous murder mystery and turned itinto a fascinating narrative that is so evocative of 1920's Tinseltown. His fictional "hero" guides us on a factual journey that not only revealswhy the case remains officially unsolved-but also identifies the killer!" - Thomas B. Sawyer, Murder, She Wrote Head Writer/Showrunner, bestselling author of Cross PurposesOn the evening of February 1, 1922, silent film director William DesmondTaylor was shot to death in his Los Angeles home. The murder, coming onthe heels of the "Fatty" Arbuckle scandal, shocked the Hollywood communityand the country, resulting in reform groups labeling the film capital a"modern day Babylon," and demanding that movies be censored or, in somecommunities, even banned.The murder itself was never "officially" solved, but subsequentrevelations about the director's unsavory past, as well as his recentsecret activities that took him into the Los Angeles underworld, wouldkeep the case alive in the nation's press for almost two decades, andbecause of their relationship with Taylor, effectively end the careers oftwo popular screen stars, Mabel Normand and Mary Miles Minter.Ben Birnbaum, a reporter for the Los Angeles Dispatch at the time of themurder, covered the Taylor case for those two decades; once almost beingkilled for his efforts. His posthumous memoir details his day-to-dayinvestigation to unravel Hollywood's most baffling mystery.