Elizabeth Taylor and Eddie Fisher: Scandal
January 3, 2023 by Janet Elizabeth Lynn and Will Zeilinger in category Partners in Crime by Janet Elizabeth Lynn & Will Zeilinger tagged as Debbier Reynolds, Eddie Fisher, Elizabeth Taylor, Hedda Hopper, Scandal
It’s hard to forget the 1950s scandal with Eddie Fisher and Elizabeth Taylor, leaving a furious Hedda Hopper, and heartbroken Debbie Reynolds.
Hedda Hopper, a famous newspaper gossip column writer, was a constant advocate for Taylor, but she insisted that Fisher and Taylor were just friends. When the affair went public in September 1958, everyone was shocked…except for maybe the rest of the world.
The newspapers were full of nasty comments by Hedda, Fisher, Taylor and Reynolds.
Taylor issued a statement declaring “Eddie is not in love with Debbie and never has been [. . .] You can’t break up a happy marriage. Debbie and Eddie’s never has been.”
Hopper, angry that Taylor had deceived her, wrote a blistering critique, including a misquote of Taylor that would be reprinted hundreds of times over the next decade: “Mike is dead, and I am alive.”
Then the front page of the Los Angeles Times announced that “Debbie Will Seek Divorce from Eddie.” Followed by an official statement from Fisher declaring that his marriage, “was headed for break-up long before he even knew [. . .] Taylor.”
Reynolds responded, “It seems unbelievable [. . .] to say that you can live happily with a man and not know that he doesn’t love you. That, as God is my witness, is the truth [. . .] I now realize when you are deeply in love how blind you can be. Obviously I was. I will endeavor to use all my strength to survive and understand for the benefit of my two children.”
From that point on, it was a field day for the fan magazines, gossip columns and radio/talk shows.
Debbie Reynolds and Elizabeth Taylor were close friends since high school and Taylor had been married to Fisher’s best friend, producer Mike Todd, who had died in a plane crash in 1958. In fact, both couples (Reynolds and Fisher, and Taylor and Todd) were friends and double dated.
After the unexpected death of Taylor’s third husband, Mike Todd, Reynolds suggested Fisher go to Taylor to comfort her. And that was the beginning of the affair.
Fisher and Taylor got married the same day that his and Reynolds’ divorce was finalized. Eddie Fisher and Elizabeth Taylor were married from 1959 to 1964.
The fact that Fisher left Reynolds with small children for another women ruined his career. The gossip columns and magazines feasted on the breakup and the romance for months, and the adverse publicity caused NBC to cancel “The Eddie Fisher Show” for morality clauses. Though Reynolds had money problems, she managed to get by, then offers began to flow in. Taylor’s image was tarnished but didn’t stop her from continuing to get offers, and another relationship budded with Richard Burton.
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The Birth of the Christmas Card
December 3, 2022 by Janet Elizabeth Lynn and Will Zeilinger in category Partners in Crime by Janet Elizabeth Lynn & Will Zeilinger tagged as Christmas cards, E.J. Williams, Janet Elizabeth Lynn, Research for Writers, The history of Christmas cards, Will Zeilinger
The First Christmas Card
John Callcott Horsley designed the world’s first commercially produced Christmas card for Sir Henry Cole in 1843.
Cole was part of the elite social circle in Victorian England. During the holiday season of 1843, having too many friends caused Cole much anxiety.
The old custom in England of sending Christmas and New Year’s letters boomed with the British postal system introducing the “Penny Post.” A letter or card could then be sent anywhere in the country for the cost of a penny stamp.
Now, everybody was sending letters, but Sir Henry Cole was a busy man. He watched the stacks of unanswered correspondence and fretted over what to do. In Victorian England, it was considered impolite not to answer mail, and being the 1840s equivalent of an A-Lister, Cole had to figure out a way to respond to all of these people.
Cole asked his artist friend, John Callcott. Horsley, to design an idea he had sketched out. Cole had a thousand copies on stiff cardboard made by a London printer. On each postcard he had printed “TO:_____” so he could “personalize” the generic greeting “A Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year to You.”
Thus was born the first Christmas card.
The Modern Christmas Card
In the early 1900s, a man named Joyce Hall started a revolution that resulted in creating the modern-day Christmas card.
In 1905, he and his brothers spent $540 to buy picture postcards to sell to store owners and retailers in Norfolk, Nebraska. A few years later, they opened their own little store in Kansas City, Missouri, selling the postcards and other greeting cards, but the store sadly burned down just a little while later. After that, The Hall Brothers bought an engraving business and printed their own cards.
Their customers wanted to write more than what would fit on a postcard. This resulted in a card that was 4 x 6 inches folded once, and inserted into an envelope. By 1928, the cards were being produced under the brand we all know today as Hallmark.
Christmas cards in the twentieth century reflected the times and artistic styles of each decade.
With the advent of computers and digital photography, families could now shoot, design, and print their own customized cards right at home.
The Most Popular Christmas Card of All Time
Debuting in 1977, one particular greeting card quickly took hold as the bestselling Christmas card design of all time.
Hallmark artist Ruth Morehead designed the angelic Three Little Angels artwork that depicts a trio of adorable cherubs. Unlike seasonal cards that come and go with each passing year, ‘Three Little Angels’ was so popular that it was sent over 36 million times in its first two decades of production. According to Hallmark’s director of creative writing, Kristin Riott, “Cuteness and God together are unbeatable.”
Christmas Cards Today
Technology advancements in recent decades are making Christmas cards a little less popular. Social media platforms make it easier to stay connected with friends and family all over the world, and face-to-face video conferencing helps form meaningful connections, especially around the holidays.
Along with Mother’s Day, Christmas cards are still the most popular season for card-buying, card making, & sending, with over 1.5 billion individual & boxed cards purchased every year.
Janet and Will’s Skylar Drake Mystery Series
0 0 Read moreVintage 1960s Books: A WRINKLE IN TIME by Madeleine L’Engle
November 3, 2022 by Janet Elizabeth Lynn and Will Zeilinger in category Partners in Crime by Janet Elizabeth Lynn & Will Zeilinger, Vintage 1960s Books tagged as A wrinkle in time, E. J. Williams, vintage 1960s Books
A WRINKLE IN TIME by Madeleine L’Engle
Published in 1962
Ariel Books
Genre: Fiction, Science Fantasy
The story a high-school-aged girl who is transported on an adventure through time and space with her younger brother and her friend to rescue her father, a gifted scientist, from the evil forces that hold him prisoner on another planet.
Author Madeline L’Engle won a Newbery Medal for the novel.
You can watch the trailer for the 2018 movie here.
Books by Janet Lynn and Will Zeilinger
0 0 Read moreMicromanaging your Manuscript During Editing #5
October 3, 2022 by Janet Elizabeth Lynn and Will Zeilinger in category Editing Your Novel Together by E. J. Williams, Partners in Crime by Janet Elizabeth Lynn & Will Zeilinger tagged as co-writing, E.J. Williams, editing, Janet Elizabeth Lynn, Will Zeilinger, writing partners
Editing Your Novel Together
Micromanaging your Manuscript During Editing #5
By E.J. Williams
(Janet Elizabeth Lynn & Will Zeilinger)
Writing together as E. J. Williams, husband and wife, Will Zeilinger and Janet Elizabeth Lynn author the INTER-NATIONAL CRIME FILES, a hardboiled/thriller detective series that takes the reader to 1960s southern California, then on to international locales.
Even after you’ve written the best book in the world, the pesky task of editing rears its ugly head! To those of you who love editing…our hats are off to you. We have come up with several suggestions that may help ease the editing process, whether you are editing your book for your editor, publisher, agent, or yourself.
Micromanage each chapter when you edit. Start big, the chapters, then move to scenes and last sentences. Once you get to the sentence stage, fix every tiny problem or error you find. We know, when you are done, you can probably recite your manuscript by heart, but this is necessary.
Though this mind-numbing task is necessary, it can bring about a great deal of pride when the process is complete. As a couple who write together, we have found these tips work well whether you are working alone or with someone.
And yes…we are still married!
Website: Janet Elizabeth Lynn
Website: Will Zeilinger
Some of Janet’s and Will’s Books
0 0 Read moreThe Carol Burnett Show
September 3, 2022 by Janet Elizabeth Lynn and Will Zeilinger in category Partners in Crime by Janet Elizabeth Lynn & Will Zeilinger tagged as 1960s TV, Janet Elizabeth Lynn, the carol burnett show, Vintage 1960s, went with the wind, Will Zeilinger
The Carol Burnett Show was an American variety television show starring Carol Burnett, Harvey Korman, Vicki Lawrence, and Lyle Waggoner. In 1975, frequent guest star Tim Conway became a regular after Waggoner left the series. In 1977, Dick Van Dyke replaced Korman, but it was agreed that it was not a match and he left after ten episodes.
The CBS show began September 11, 1967, with the final episode March 29, 1978. The series won 25 prime time Emmy Awards. In 2013, TV Guide ranked The Carol Burnett Show number 17 on its list of the 60 Greatest Shows of All Time, and in 2007 it was included on the list of Time’s 100 Best TV Shows of All Time.
Bob Mackie created all the costumes, including evening gowns, character outfits and dance clothing for guests during the run of the show. The hysterical curtain dress from the Went with the Wind! sketch is now housed in the Smithsonian Institute. Burnett credited Mackie with comedic costumes for various characters, which added to the comedy. It is estimated that Mackie had created 17,000 outfits for the show.
For a waltz down memory lane, here is the link to an interview with Carol Burnett and a clip from WENT WITH THE WIND!
