The Errol Flynn Blog

Further Research from Florida:

As we know, Errol owned some top of the line watercraft. One that has been almost entirely forgotten, however, is the 22-ft, ~ 3000 lb. fishing cruiser made for him by legendary Miami boat racer & builder, Paul Prigg. On April 15, 1940, Errol purchased from Prigg Boat Works (then located on the Miami River) a very highly regarded Prigg Deluxe Cruiser, specially outfitted for off-shore fishing with a top-of-the-line Gray Phantom Six 125-HP Motor and swivel fishing chair. It cost Captain Flynn $2466.60 and could be seen in the early & mid Forties in and around Newport Beach & Catalina, as well as very prominently in Acapulco, where he kept it at the Acapulco Yacht Club.

Errol named it “Little Sirocco”. I have no photographs to post (yet), but it would have looked very much like the one in the photo in the bitly link below – except with a far more dashing captain & & attractive crew!

bit.ly/1pHbGRH…

Here’s some further info on the well-respected boat maker, who also pioneered airboats, motor homes, and unique 1940 speedboats pictured below! Errol likely met a few of those lovely riders!

bit.ly/1oCfhBd…

— Tim

Respectable authors, publishing houses, movie-, TV- and DVD-producers, recently Turner and Warner Brothers Inc. with their “Adventures of Errol Flynn,” have been respecting my copyright for 29 years now and have transferred royalties without being asked for.

I have always offered photos and data material to smaller publishing houses and private collectors for free as I am glad to see books, etc. published about Errol Flynn. These people have never challenged my rights and have always had the decency to name their source.

For example, only about two years ago I offered photos from my documentation (with a copyright annotation) to blog members via Ms. Inga Klein. The result was that gentlemen of the blog have spread copies of these photos on the internet. Last week, Ms. Klein made me aware of an entry with comments by a “Gentleman (?!)” Tim on the blog (which I have long not been visiting anymore).

This will be my first and last post for the blog now.

If a “serious” Flynn collector does not know my documentation – so be it. However, if he does not know the outstanding, scientific books by Tony Thomas, Thomas McNulty, or Robert Matzen, which include references and photos from my documentation, and if he has such a biased and hateful opinion of Dr. Erben, which reflects negatively on Errol Flynn’s friendship and respect of Dr. Erben, and if he thus shows such lack of expert knowledge – then his entry is not worth a direct answer from me.

I can only hope for the blog that it will, one day, receive new, factual, seriously researched material with scientific content from this Gentleman.

Josef Fegerl, Vienna

— Inga

We recently determined that Sean attended school at the Brentwood Town & Country School – probably when he lived with Lili in or near Beverly Hills in the mid-1940’s. His schoolmates included Peter & Jane Fonda, among other celebrity kids.

As A.R. astutely observed, however, for the most of his childhood Sean attended what is recorded in biographies to be the “Palm Beach Private School”. I’ve always found this a rather oddly nondescript name and have had some difficulty researching and physically locating it. (Locals, even loca librarians were unfamiliar with the name.) Today, though, I had a major breakthrough perusing rare Palm Beach historical collections, including old Palm Beach address registeries and insurance maps.

Here’s the history of the “Palm Beach Private School”, Sean’s primary elementary school:

Founded as the Palm Beach Day School in 1921, including, I believe, Kindergarten – 8th grades, it was (and still is) a very exclusive private school. Though, I believe, it didn’t officially change its name until only a few years ago, it was often referred to as the “Palm Beach Private School”, evidently to differentiate it from Palm Beach Public School” only a sea shell’s throw away.

From the the images below the evolution of the school’s name can be seen. Above the original school entrance is the original name, Palm Beach Day School. On the subsequent Sanborn Fire Insurance map is the eventually also accepted name, “Palm Beach Private School”. Finally, as verified on the school’s current main entrance door mat, the school is now officially known as the Palm Beach Day Academy.

Sean and “Lillian C. Flynn” lived on Seabreeze, only two very short blocks north, and one west, from the school – a five to ten minute walk max. Wouldn’t it have been wonderful to have seen Lili Damita walking young Sean to school in the late Forties/early Fifties. That must have been one of the most magnificently beautiful mother-and -son couples in history.

— Tim