AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER NOW. PUBLICATION DATE: JUNE 15, 2015
Even celebrities die — and he was the man who picked up the bodies!
Allan Abbott ran the leading mortuary in Hollywood and got an unprecedented glimpse of how celebrities really live and die. The Forrest Gump of the funeral industry, Abbott was everywhere celebrities died, from helping to prepare Marilyn Monroe’s body to standing next to Christopher Walken at Natalie Wood’s funeral. Now in his new memoir Pardon My Hearse, Abbott tells the rags-to-shroud story of how he went from a young man with a hearse to the funeral director to the stars — a rollicking, unexpectedly hilarious story of glamorous funerals, mishaps with corpses and true-life glimpses of celebrities at their most revealing moments.
When he wasn’t transporting celebrity corpses, Abbott used his funeral limos to transport living celebrities to Hollywood parties and rented his vast collection of cars and funeral props to movie and TV productions. Pardon My Hearse presents a dazzling A-List of celebrities, living and dead, whom Abbott encountered during his career, including Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, Joe DiMaggio, Robert Redford, Frank Sinatra and others.
Pardon My Hearse takes readers behind the scenes to tell the secrets of Marilyn Monroe’s funeral (where Abbott acquired the most unlikely souvenir of Monroe’s falsies) and dishes the inside story of disgraced crematorium operator David Sconce, who ordered an attack on Abbott’s business partner Ron Hast to cover up Sconce’s criminal mishandling of bodies and remains. Abbott also shares gruesome details of removing corpses from the devastation of the 1971 Sylmar earthquake, reburying corpses dislodged from the 1978 mudslide that swept through the Verdugo Hills Cemetery and more.
A treasure trove of insight and gossip you can’t get anywhere else, Pardon My Hearse is an eye-opening look at secret Hollywood from the man who literally knows where the bodies are buried.
About the Authors: Allan Abbott is the co-founder of Abbott & Hast Mortuary, Inc., Southern California’s leading funeral service accommodation company. Abbott has participated in the funerals of numerous celebrities, including Marilyn Monroe, Natalie Wood, Clark Gable and Karen Carpenter. Gregory Abbott is the former managing editor of Abbott & Hast Publications, producers of Mortuary Management magazine.
$16.95 ($17.95 Canada) • Trade Paperback • 6" x 9" • 270 pages
ISBN 978-1-61035-248-2
BIOGRAPHY/Entertainment • BISAC BIO005000
AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER NOW.
PUBLICATION DATE: JUNE 15, 2015
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$14.95 |
Dangerous Dames and Murderous Moms by David Kulczyk Illustrations by Olaf Jens Publication Date: September 2016 According to all the sexist clichés, women are nurturers, not murderers. But women do kill … and when they do, the results are devastating. A masterpiece of pure trashy tabloid fun, California’s Deadliest Women is the definitive guide to the murderesses of the Golden State, a horrifying compendium of women driven to kill by jealousy, greed, desperation, or their own inner demons. California’s Deadliest Women presents 28 mini-tragedies — sardonic, tightly written profiles of some of the most ghastly crimes ever committed in California. Each lethal vignette presents a murderer’s early life, thecircumstances that drove her to murder, her detection, her punishment, and the aftermath of her terrible deeds, plus quirky, disturbing caricatures of the killers by artist Olaf Jens. The murderers in California’s Deadliest Women aren’t passive instruments of male masterminds, like the women of the Manson Family. These are women who got their hands bloody, personally killing their victims, who often were their own husbands, lovers or children. From Brynn Hartman, who killed her husband, comedian Phil Hartman, to chemist Larissa Shuster, who dissolved her husband in acid, to dominatirix Omaima Aree Nelson, who cooked and ate her husband, the killers profiled in California’s Deadliest Women show that the fairer sex can be as evil — and as deadly — as any man. The stories in California’s Deadliest Women are shocking and lurid, but also filled with compassion for victim and murderer alike. There are no heroes in this book and no happy endings. The crimes are so bizarre, so puzzling, so corrupt, so disgusting, so gory, so inhumane and so despicable that they are unforgettable … and perversely fascinating and entertaining. Audience: True crime readers, California history readers, and lovers of the bizarre. About the Author: David Kulczyk (pronounced Coal-check) is a Sacramento-based crime historian. His previous books include California Justice (2008), Death in California (2009) and California Fruits, Flakes and Nuts (2013), all available from Craven Street Books. $14.95 ($18.95 Canada) • Trade Paperback • 6" x 9" • 140 pages ISBN 978-1-61035-280-2
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Explore the Famous Sites, Neighborhoods, and Vistas in 17 Enchanting Walks by Kristine Poggioli and Carolyn Eidson Every visitor to San Francisco has seen the classic roadside signs showing a seagull that beckons motorists to follow the famous 49 Mile Scenic Drive. Walking San Francisco’s 49 Mile Scenic Drive shows how walking—rather than driving—San Francisco’s famous scenic route gives both tourists and natives an active, funway to enjoy and fall in love with the most beautiful city in the world. Walking San Francisco’s 49 Mile Scenic Drive invites readers to explore quirky locales face-to-face, so they can fully savor the City’s beauty and cultural riches — while also enjoying a healthy urban hike. Written by two long-time San Franciscans who have explored every nook and cranny of the 49 Mile Drive, Walking San Francisco’s 49 Mile Scenic Drive presents 17 bite-size walks, complete with turn-by-turn instructions, maps, and historical facts and information. Each chapter introduces the sights, landmarks and secret treasures of a specific San Francisco neighborhood, while leading the reader along a route that will pro vide healthy exercise for both brisk and sedate walkers. Each chapter includes detailed maps, points of interest, info on bus routes and parking, recommendations for visiting hidden gems and must-see museums, plus plenty of tips and stats to help walkers, such as step counts and mile distances, hill steepness rating, weather tips and more. The perfect guidebook for today’s urban enthusiast who values walkable neighborhoods, hyperlocal culture and the pleasure and health benefits of walking, Walking San Francisco’s 49 Mile Scenic Drive is the most intimate way to explore one of America’s greatest cities. Audience: San Francisco Bay Area residents, visitors to San Francisco, urban enthusiasts and hikers. About the Authors: Kristine Poggioli is a native San Franciscan, copywriter and storyteller. Carolyn Eidson is an award-winning filmmaker and comedian. Together, they are the first people to have walked the entire length of San Francisco’s 49 Mile Scenic Drive, resulting in a combined 75-pound weight loss. $19.95 • Trade Paperback • 6" x 9" • 180 pages ISBN 978-1-61035-279-6
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California Badmen is a exploration of little-known Western frontier gunfighters. Billy Mulligan, Sam Temple, Peter Olsen, Joe Dye, Bob McFarlane and those responsible for the Rancheria killings are brought back through the pages and taking their stand in Californian history. The riotous lives of these unique collection of mean men with guns spill over the California frontier and rival the likes of “Wild Bill” Hickok, Billy the Kid, and the Earp Family.
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The rollercoaster ride that produced one of the most improbable championships in college sports history is captured in remarkable detail in this new release. Featuring over 100 full-color photos, riveting radio play-by-play excerpts, and telling comments from the "Wonderdogs" themselves, this book takes you inside Fresno State's unprecedented string of upsets that ended with the school's first NCAA baseball championship. Eavesdrop in the dugout as the team stares elimination in the face six times on its way to the title. Go beyond the big swings, diving catches, and knee-buckling curveballs to discover the deeper meaning in the six-week journey from 89th in the country to the top of that College World Series dogpile. From their stoic skipper to his team full of "sixth graders at recess," you'll get to know the key figures who turned adversity into triumph on a scale usually only found in fantasy. Written in the unique storytelling style of the team's radio announcer, Underdogs to Wonderdogs spins an exhilarating, heart-warming, and inspirational tale that just so happens to be true. Lending additional perspective to the significance of Fresno State's win is a chapter packed with exclusive comments from opposing coaches, local and national media, and luminaries long associated with the program. This book makes a great gift for the baseball lover in your life, and even non-sports fans will be drawn to the human side of one team's magical metamorphosis.
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$16.95 $10.17 |
The Enslavement of California’s Indians by the Spanish Missions
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$25.00 $15.00 |
In this collection of firsthand accounts by those who knew Cesar Chavez best, a portrait of an uncommonly complex man, both driven and focused, yet humble, empathic and exceedingly principled, emerges. The reader gains an understanding of the yoke Chavez chose to place upon his own shoulders, as well as the ideals he employed to accomplish for the migrant farmworkers what many predicted would be impossible. The more than 45 contributors range from the famous--Edward James Olmos, Henry Cisneros, Martin Sheen, Coretta Scott King, Jerry Brown and others--to members of the Chavez family, to UFW staff, to the farmworkers themselves. Illustrated by the compelling black and white photographs of George Elfie Ballis, who began photographing the farmworker movement in the 1950s.