- Mario Lanza - A Life In Pictures
By Dereck Mannering
-
-
- I am pleased to announce an exciting new addition to
the list of Mario Lanza biographies. MARIO LANZA: A LIFE IN PICTURES is
the first-ever pictorial history of Mario's life and career, a stunning
compilation of almost 200 photos and illustrations chosen from Terry Robinson's
private collection. The A4-size book will be published in hardback by Robert
Hale, London in May 2004 and in keeping with Terry's wishes, royalties
from the sale of the new work will go to the British Mario Lanza Society
and Educational Foundation. The BMLS is the world's oldest Lanza Society
and their Educational Foundation awards yearly musical scholarships in
Mario's name.
-
- The new book came to pass purely by chance. Earlier this
year, Pam Latham of the BMLS sent me a collection of digital photos which
she and Joan Ritti had scanned during a visit to Terry Robinson's home
in Los Angeles. I have seen hundreds of Lanza photos in my time but the
quality and exclusivity of many of these images was extraordinary. Terry
has always wanted a pictorial book published on Mario's life and with this
in mind I contacted my publisher Robert Hale in London who invited me to
put together a proposal for the new work. I knew that Hale would eventually
require the original photographs so in May I flew out to Los Angeles where
I spent a few days with Terry sorting through his vast collection. On my
return to Chicago, armed with a suitcase full of photos and illustrations,
I completed the final selection of pictures, prepared a detailed text overview
and forwarded the package to England. The project was given the green light
by Robert Hale soon after.
-
- Working on MARIO LANZA: A LIFE IN PICTURES has been a
joy from start to finish. The book is divided into five chapters, each
with a brief introduction followed by photographs and captions. Many of
the extremely rare photos are appearing in print for the very first time.
All are wonderful and truly capture that special charisma that was uniquely
Mario Lanza's. I also taped Terry's reminiscences of the people featured
in the pictures and many of his comments have been incorporated into the
accompanying text. MARIO LANZA: A LIFE IN PICTURES is a tribute not only
to the greatest romantic tenor of all time but also to Terry Robinson,
an extraordinary man who played such an important part in Mario's life
and career.
-
- Robert Hale does not publish in the United States but
anyone wishing to purchase a copy of MARIO LANZA: A LIFE IN PICTURES next
year will be able to do so quite simply by logging on to Amazon.co.uk and
placing an order. If you have an account with Amazon.com in the U.S. the
same account number should apply overseas. The book will retail at _25
sterling and I will post further updates on Jeff's website in the coming
months.
-
- DEREK MANNERING
- Chicago, 2003
|