Books We Love Insider Blog

Sunday, June 12, 2016

Get Fired Up For Summer Contest ~ Next Weekly Winner

Nance-Lynn Greenshields wins a copy of Remnants of Dreams by Tricia McGill.

Nance-Lynn, please email bookswelove@telus.net

to claim your prize.

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Saturday, June 11, 2016

TACOMA’S MYSTERY VISITOR or WHO WAS LEO THE LION? by Karla Stover

Tacoma’s location made life easy for smugglers, shanghaies, and the Hollywood circuit. By rail or water, luminaries such as Sarah Bernhardt, Lillian Russel, and Ethel Barrymore came, performed, and moved on. However, it was probably the Depression which brought MGM’s Leo the Lion to town. Leo was on a promotion tour.

In 1917, Samuel Goldwyn formed a movie studio and a lion called Slats was used in one of the first pictures he produced. Seven years later, when Goldwyn, Marcus Loew, and Louis B. Mayer merged and formed Metro, Goldwyn, Mayer, Slats was kept on as mascot and a man named Howard Dietz designed the logo. The story is that Dietz he used the lion as tribute to his alma mater, Columbia University whose sports teams were the Lions and that Columbia’s fight song, “Roar, Lion, Roar” is the reason Leo growls.

Back to Slats, he was born at the Zoo in Dublin Ireland on March 20, 1919 and was originally named Cairbre. Vaudeville and circus performer Volney Phifer trained Slats and was part of the group who brought him to Tacoma. Phifer was generally referred to as “the chief wrangler” of most of the animals which were used on a variety of MGM productions from the mid-teens to the late 1950s. The most famous beside Leo were Cheetah from the Tarzan movies and Toto, The Wizard of Oz Dog, though Phifer’s work on Gone With The Wind was considered to be important in keeping the many horses and other animals safe and also making their actions appear naturel.

Slats was used on all black-and-white MGM films between 1924 and 1928. Unlike his successors, though, Slats did nothing but look around in the logo and was therefore the only MGM lion not to roar. Slats died in 1936, was skinned, and at last sighting his hide was on display at the McPherson Museum in McPherson, Kansas.

Mel Koontz trained Jackie, the second “Leo.” Koontz started work as a sixteen-year-old popcorn and peanut vendor at Los Angeles’s old Selig Zoo. He worked himself up to "cage cleaner and eventually became an animal trainer. Jackie was the first MGM lion to roar—the roar was first heard via a gramophone record during MGM's first sound production, White Shadows in the South Seas (1928). In addition to appearing in the MGM logo, Jackie appeared in over a hundred films, including Johnny Weissmuller’s Tarzan movies. He also posed with a nervous Greta Garbo in a well-known 1926 publicity still. In her autobiography, actress Ann Miller wrote that when she was there the MGM lion didn’t have any teeth so maybe Miss Garbo was nervous for naught. Jackie is also known for surviving two train wrecks, an earthquake, and an explosion in the studio, giving him the nickname "Leo the Lucky".

MGM began experiments with two-strip color short subjects in 1927 and animated cartoons in 1930. Two two-strip Technicolor variations of the MGM logo were created, using two different lions. The, Telly, appeared on all color MGM movies between 1927 and 1932. Telly roared softly, then a little louder followed by a brief pause, and then a final roar as he turned his head. The second lion, Coffee, appeared in color films between 1932 and 1934, and in 1935 for what were called the Happy Harmonies shorts, until production was switched to full three-strip Technicolor filming. Coffee roared once softly, and a second time a little louder.

So, which lion did Mayor Melvin G. Tennent pose with in Tacoma? It must have been Jackie because in addition to the above mentioned accidents, the Tacoma Daily Ledger mentioned he had survived a Mississippi River flood and a plane crash. Jackie died at an advanced age of 23, in 1938, and is buried in Gillette, New Jersey, on the farm once owned by Volney Phifer

Slats (1924–1928) AUTHOR OF:

Jackie (1928–1956) Murder on the Line

Telly (1927–1932) and Coffee (1932–1934)      Murder, When One Isn't Enough

Tanner (1934–1956)                                            Hidden History of Tacoma

George (1956–1958)                                           Let's Go Walk About in Tacoma

Leo (1957–present)                                             A Feather for a Fan

Courtesy of Wikepedia

Friday, June 10, 2016

Books We Love's Tantalizing Talent ~ Author A.M.Westerling

Living by the motto "You don't know unless you try", A.M.Westerling started writing historical romance because she couldn't find the kinds of fun stories she enjoyed. After all, she thought, who doesn’t enjoy a tasty helping of dashing heroes and spunky heroines, seasoned with a liberal sprinkle of passion and adventure?

Westerling, a former engineer, is a member of the Romance Writers of America and active in her local chapter. As well as writing, she enjoys cooking, gardening, camping, yoga, and watching pro sports. She lives in Calgary, Canada.

A note from Astrid:

Historical romance has always been my passion (ha, no pun intended!) as it blends my love of history with my love of romance and its always satisfying Happily Ever After ending. It really is a wonder I graduated from university because those were the days when historical romance really found its stride. I freely admit to spending way more time between the pages of books by Kathleen Woodiwiss, Rosemary Rogers and Bertrice Small than the pages of my text books! Anyway, when the writing bug hit me, it only seemed natural to stay with that genre.

My tag line includes the phrase “From Vikings to viscounts” because I enjoy many different eras. I’ve written four full length novels: a Viking romance, a Medieval romance, and two Regency set romances. Right now I’m working on another Viking romance set in Vinland or, as it’s known now, Newfoundland. I will also have to write a book featuring a viscount because I haven’t done that as yet!

In case you’re wondering, A.M. stands for Astrid Margarethe. Westerling is my mom’s maiden name and now you know how I came up with my pseudonym.

Find me on the Books We Love website: http://www.bookswelove.com/authors/westerling-m/

My latest release, A Heart Enslaved:

Amazon

Thorvald Stronghawk knows selling his beautiful slave Gisela will bring him the blood money needed to regain his good name. When his enemy tries to buy her, Thorvald must decide what he wants more: To recover his reputation or tame the woman who has vowed to hate him forever for destroying her home.

Gisela realizes the Viking Thorvald Stronghawk views her as chattel rather than a woman with a life and mind of her own. Although her head tells her to escape the man she views as nothing more than a savage murdered, her heart has other ideas.

Complete List of Books We Love titles by A.M.Westerling

A Heart Enslaved

A Knight For Love

Her Proper Scoundrel

The Countess’ Lucky Charm