MAURICE ZOLOTOW
Self-effacing response to favorable mention by entertainment columnist Louis Sobol.
Typed Letter signed: "Maurice Zolotow", 1 page, 6x8. 15 Washington Place, New York City, 1942 May 7. On personal letterhead to "Dear Mr. [Louis] Sobol, in full: "I certainly experienced a warm thrill when I ran into my name in your column. Imagine how it felt after three, four years of trying to get other people's names into your columns, and trying to convince you they were wonderful singers or bandleaders or Chinese restaurateurs! (Ah, how many turgid webs of words I used to weave about Ruby Foo's Den!) And to have you say something nice about me! And I knew no one could have tried to convince you of my being wonderful, because it is something I have not succeeded in convincing myself of. Which made your plug all the sweeter - because when my damn pieces are in print I always get a helpless feeling that it was all a mistake and somebody will shake me by the shoulder and cry, 'Come now, take off that false face, and be a press-agent again. Which is not to say that the wheel of fortune may not whirl around and find me editing snapshots again. An occupation which is not entirely unpleasing, anyway. Cordially". Maurice Zolotow (1913-1991) was among the first to write realistic Hollywood biographies, including the only biography of Marilyn Monroe published in her lifetime. (No fewer than 23 subsequent chroniclers of Monroe have used references from Zolotow's book.) Other biographies included John Wayne, Billy Wilder, and Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne. He wrote shorter profiles of many other celebrities, including Grace Kelly, for Life, Collier's and other journals. His youthful admiration of Harry Houdini inspired his novel The Great Balsamo. Zolotow who wrote the first national review of Duke Ellington, also wrote on food and drink for Playboy, and published a book about his days at the racetrack. Louis Sobol wrote an entertainment column, "New York Cavalcade", for the Hearst newspapers. Normal mailing folds. Surface creases. Corners slightly worn. Lightly toned. Slightly soiled. Otherwise, fine condition.