Buzz Girl [REPRINT]
treva...@hotmail.com
From: Nikuradse - view profile
Date: Fri, Feb 24 2006 12:46 pm
Early back in May of 2005 I found the following on yet another weblog
by a gal in NYC who is in the publishing industry:
http://bookpagebuzz.blogspot.com/2005/03/crown-summer-2005.html#111867665922452966
I ended up engaging in some Email correspondence seperately from what
is posted at the URL above (and reproduced below). It was with a fellow
named "William Beier. He seemed to knwo information about Whitaker from
the period circa 1959-60 and his time in Seattle and claimed to be a
former co-worker of Whitaker's. regardless of the veracity it makes for
interesting reading.
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3.15.2005
Crown, Summer 2005
Met with Brian Belfiglio.
......
The Crazy Ladies of Pearl Street by Trevanian. Now in his 70s,
Trevanian returns after a long absence with an autobiographical novel
about growing up poor in Depression-era America. Big push on this one.
....
posted by buzz girl at 9:46 AM
13 Comments:
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Anonymous said...
Hello,
Can you tell us anything else about what Crown is doing to push the new
Trevanian book?
Are there any other new works by Trevanian forthcoming?
I got a hold of an ARC of "Crazy Ladies" and it was quite a good read,
though bittersweet in a lot of aspects, especially the ending.
2:33 PM
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buzz girl said...
...
Thanks for your comment! Trevanian is very secretive about his work, so
as of now we're not sure if he's planning anything else. But Crown
definitely pushing this comeback novel: Three Rivers is releasing his
backlist in paperback in May, and Crazyladies will be advertised in the
NYT Book Review, among others. Trevanian is building a website that
will probably answer some of our questions when it's completed -- I
couldn't get all the links to work today. If anyone has more inside
info about this mysterious author, please share!
3:30 PM
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Anonymous said...
Hello,
I have been aware of the Trevanian website for a month or so and can't
wait for it to be finished.
As far as trevanian's identity I for one subscribe to former UT
professor of film, Rodney Whitaker as the prime candidate.
I have done a fair bit of webscouring and database searching on
Whitaker and have identified some information that I will post here
when I am at home and have access to my files.
I think a full-blown biography of Trevanian would make a fascinating
read, and an unconventional quest for personal excellance. Maybe
someday, somebody will write one.
As far as the end of Crazy Ladies it states that he (the author) is on
oxygen and only is able to work for several hours a day writing but
that he is blessed because of the love he shares with his wife. Of
course it is more memorably phrased by Trevanian in the book.
I look at the book as autobiography masked as fiction and personally
believe that Crazy Ladies is substantially rooted in the author's own
childhood experiences and probably as good account as any we are likely
to have of Trevanian's own childhood, suitably embellished by the
narrator's pertsona as Jean-Luc.
The short-story "Mrs McGivney's Nickel" from "Hot Night in the City"
makes an appearance as a chapter in the middle of Crazy Ladies.
10:53 AM
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William Beier said...
Rod Whitaker and his paintree wife,Diane,from Brandon's grocery store
at Fergus Falls,Minnesota,lived at 303 Boren Anenue North.Behind the
"Seattle Times" and Troy laundry.They later moved to Aloha St.next to
Eastlake Ave. William Beier
10:30 AM
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Anonymous said...
Interesting information William,
I knew that Whitaker's wife was named Diane Brandon and that she was a
painter.
I should see drive by Boren and take a look though I am sure 40+ years
have passed.
7:27 PM
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William Beier said...
Rod Whitaker worked for the Metal Laundry,Inc.on John Street,about two
blocks from Fairview Ave.at the same time that he was going to the
University of Washington. Mark Dempsey was his favorite student in
acting.Whitaker directed the Russian play,"The Inspector General" at
the UW Playhouse. He wrote a play in 1960 entitled,"Never Come
Tuesday"William Beier
11:27 AM
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William,
What was "Never Come Tuesday" about?
So he wrote more than one play about that time (c. 1960)besides "Eve of
the Bursting" for his thesis.
Was he going to the UW on the GI Bill? I had seen somewhere that he had
been in the navy.
10:33 AM
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Anonymous said...
Rodney W.Whitaker told me that he had been in the U.S.Navy.He never
mentioned the G.I.Bill.I don't think that he used it because he was too
independent.He was trained in judo. Did he know Bruce Lee??,,,,,maybe.
He admired Burt Lancaster,as well as,the Jamacian folksinger,Harry
Belafonte.He disliked Eddie Fisher. He could wiggle hi ears and make
his face to look like Stan Laural of L and Hardy.William Beier
11:07 AM
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Anonymous said...
William,
Where or for what reason did Whitaker learn Judo?
Wasn't it uncommon for Americans in the fifties to have an interest in
martial arts?
2:29 PM
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William Beier said...
Agurrak!!!!! Arratsalde on Dennis:Bai(Yes),it was uncommon in those
days to be into the martial arts.Rod Whitaker was an uncommon person.I
know certain amazing facts about him,but I don't want to take the wind
out of his sails.He will tell his story much better than I. Contra
felicem vix deus vires habet. William Beier
10:00 AM
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Anonymous said...
My my, Basque and Latin.
Greetings and Good Evening to you William as well, and who is the lucky
man?
And what pray tell is the story that Whitaker will tell (besides those
already told)?
I am not sure what to make of you William but I must say that your
posts are of interest if rather on the cryptic side.
Speaking for myself I surmise that Whitaker had the great good fortune
to precede the Internet/Information age in large part and thus indulge
his extreme (and laudable) penchant for privacy and selective
anonymnity.
I would imagine that all things being equal if he had tried a similiar
tact today he would have found it much more problematic to pull off.
Si hoc legere scis nimium eruditiones habes.
10:44 AM
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Anonymous said...
Diane Brandon's father was a lawyer, and for a time mayor of Fergus
Falls. I knew Diane very well, she was a girl friend in high school,
and so far as I know, her father never had anything to do with a
grocery.
6:34 PM
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Anonymous said...
I came across an old news article from about 1995 that briefly
mentioned that Trevanian / Whitaker's wife had relatives living in
Granite Falls that they visited on occasion and that Whitaker had
taught a one-week writing class in Minnesota in 1994.
11:10 AM
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