Have any of you here ever read this book by professor and author Peter Valenti; Errol Flynn – A Bio-Bibliography..?
I bought this book as soon as it came out (’84) back then and found it interesting. It prods through difrent avenues in what was, could’ve been, and what other authors wrote about him, etc.; his movies – radio, interviews – personal letters, etc. etc…..; an objective evaluation of Errol’s total life.
Curious to know what anyone else thought about it?
@ David, has Rory ever mentioned anything about this book in as far as you know? wonder what she thought of it also…
I recently found out that he and his wife, who is also a writer, live no more than a possible mile or two from me in our little NC golf mecca known as Pinehurst NC. (US Open tourneys held here)
I have been trying to get his email address and/or phone number in seeing if he would maybe get together over a cup of coffee or drinks, to further discus his book on our man Flynn.
I know he has been a professor of English at Fayetteville State University, Fayetteville, NC for many years, and from what I know, still continues too. I was thinking of going that rout, but I surely don’t want him to think I am stalker or whatever since I don’t have any real professional means in this, not writing a book, etc. , just simply for my own personal knowledge. He had have to make some real hard research and maybe did not write it all down in this book – its like making a record and then some time later after its release you wished you could have added or deleted something from it – and in this I am thinking maybe he left out a little nugget!
Well merry men and woman of Sherwood, what do you think, to crazy?????
In any case tell what you think of the book anyway, that’s what I wanted in the first place. (sigh!)……….
— Sergio
Sergio, I know that Rory has every book in print written about her father. Her favorite is Thomas McNulty’s Errol Flynn: The Life and Career which she refers to often. If Peter Valenti is teaching at a university his contact info would be on their website, I imagine. By the way, Rory lives outside of Wilmington, North Carolina. She is a very private person, however. At events, she is warm and outgoing, and always smiling and loves to chat. Her personal life is something different, and she naturally guards it.
I have the book you reference, and it is good book for sure, I believe as you and everyone here have all that’s been written about or by Errol, and for me it is stilll “My Wicked Wicked Ways” as the best out there wether all true or not, you feel close to Flynn as he narrates it.
As far as Rory; she is approx.. 2 hours away from me. Wilmington is nice town and much in the works of filming have and continue to be done there too.
If ever she was involved in any kind of Flynn-capade in the Carolina’s I would love to meet her. As far as her private life I definitely respect that, for it can be overwhelming this I’m sure.
Thank you for your impute in this David…
Dear David,
could you maybe ask Rory for a booklist of works her father read in his lifetime? Would make a great addition to the blog, wouldn’t ot? Maybe there is a photograph of Errol in front of his library or an inventary list by the EF estate somewhere.
I have read this “bio-bibliography’ several times, Sergio. I think it’s excellent, scholarly yet very clearly presented.
You may want to try Peter Valenti, at 2439 Dartmouth Drive, Fayetteville: (910) 485-1064
Hi all
In the 1980s Peter’s book was like a breath of fresh air – chiefly for two reasons (i) for the first time since ‘The Films of Errol Flynn’, you got a detailed overview of Errol’s career and an individual appraisal of his films, and (ii) it was such a refreshing contrast to the bio’s that were around at that time – ‘The Life and Crimes of Errol Flynn’ and ‘The Two Lives of Errol Flynn’ (both of which came out in the late 1970s)
RJ
Excellent points, Robjack. So true.
Thanks for the generous comments above. I would be interested to hear from folks who’d like to discuss Flynn. I learned several times as much about Flynn in the years following publication of my book as I knew when I wrote it. The general idea of my comments there still hold pretty true for me, though.
I was at one time assembling material for a projected book about Flynn and Johnny Meyer but that got sidetracked too often. pv********@****rr.com…
How very cool that Peter Valenti himself has responded! Thank you, Peter!
You can’t ask for anything better than that, Sergio!
Hi’ya GT – Yes it is great that Peter has done so.
Things such as this can only happen here!
It goes to show how well this blog is being circulated and seen – to add, very respected.
As I know most peeps here have, as myself, been bloggers, chatters, etc. in other net affiliated Errol Flynn sites, and some are very good. But I feel this site here brings a truer involvement, a much more connected people.
Most here have something personal connected to contribute-along with that of admiration of this bigger than life adventurer, swashbuckler – that which truly connects us with ER; family members, personal acquaintance, collectors, writers, photographers, artist, etc-etc…
In some form of fashion, we attain something from Errol on a personal level. These personal connections to our man Flynn, is what I believe brings more credibility to Flynn’ers, at least I feel that more are gathered in one place, here! than that of other blogs.
So when others come in this site they can sense right away that those already here bring something other than just chat; there’s a substance of realism – as if it were in real time, Errol was still alive, and we get the privilege of seeing it all happen through a peep hole.
By the way GT, Peter and I have been in touch and in about a month from now we are going to get together.
See what this site brings together? how cool is that?
Awesome, Serge … and so well said.
btw, I’m on your old stomping grounds – Miami Beach – doing some Flynnvestigation between mojitos and birdwatching.
Grand way to pass the time GT; some of the best birds ever are in the SoFlo area, especially the beach birds.
They do have a tendency to make you Coo Coo though.
On the other hand, Mojitos could enhance your ability to be more gammy towards your catch…
Happy hunting and happy 4th.
In fact Happy Fourth of July to all you Flynn’sters
Spoken like an authority, Serge. Hornithologically speaking, there are some surely fine shore birds here The photo below is a shot of some at sunset.
btw, Errol would surely have a field day here on today’s South Beach. This weekend’s top competition include Little Wayne, Fitty Cent, and Pit Bull, with Grand Funk Railroad in the wings tomorrow. Errol would dominate, of course, even more so than in his hey day. The Flynnside word is that Luke was very popular as well back some years, having also been a Beach Radio DJ on occasion.
Sergio! What wonderfully kind words and yes, I agree, there have been contributers here who arrived from all interest levels. From scholars to fans and everything in between. That has been the basic idea from day one over 9 years ago. I wanted the blog open to everybody. Nobody should ever feel they aren’t welcome because they are not researchers, biographers, film historians or somehow much more familiar with Flynn than most. And we’ve achieved that consistently over the years. We’ve had problems in those 9 years. Every blog does. But we’ve worked through them and continue to move forward. I am grateful to every contributer who has added something and taken part in this discussion. As Flynn would say, It’s been a hell of a lot of fun, and we’ve all enjoyed every minute of it!
fair warning to new comers; if you came in thinking you are the worlds expert of Flynn, your in for a treat; the ships already sailed and most of the booty is on board….
This bio-bibliography is second to none but Tom (McNulty). Carefully composed and meticulously researched it is a treat to read. I especially enjoyed all the references to magazine articles attributing various images at various stages to our Hollywood hero. Michael Freelander`s “The two lives..” isn`t bad either, but it paved the way for Higham`s hoax. Lionel Godfrey`s book is a very British take on Errol and a tongue in cheek homage. All three publications pull no punches but stay clear of low blows.