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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Garden of the Sun is the definitive history of California's San Joaquin Valley. Vast in its scope, Garden of the Sun tells the engrossing tale of the San Joaquin Valley?s tumultuous history. Author Wallace Smith details the fierce competition between the various forces that vied for control of this rich, fertile region, and examines groups such as the ranchers, farmers, and the railroad who were integral in turning the valley into the world?s most productive farmland. Now, a completely revised second edition improves this classic volume by providing fully updated annotations and references.
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Subtitle: "More Famous Crimes of Early Fresno County." With a foreword by William Secrest, Sr. Presenting 16 famous cases from Fresno, California, set mainly in the first part of the 20th century, author Scott Morrison -- a long-time detective in the Fresno sheriff's office - brings to life fascinating cases of murder and mayhem from Fresno?s past. The book introduces memorable figures such as Fresno?s ?Old Broom Man? and ?Black Widow,? and one chapter focuses specifically on all the men from Fresno County who have ever been executed by the State of California?s justice apparatus. ?Murder in the Garden, Volume 2? offer commentary that compares these sensational past cases to current high-profile criminal cases. A consideration of the changing face of crime, this history reveals a modern upswing in child abuse, multiple murders, and kidnapping cases and highlights the extended nature of the current legal process as compared to the open-and-shut character of the early 1900s.
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The first Fresno Fair opened in 1883 with five days of horse racing, a live stock exhibit, and a few small produce stalls. Modest as it was, it was a huge success; only five years later, a grandstand was added to the fairgrounds. Agriculture, industrial, and commerce exhibit halls followed in the early 1900s. A wooden race track was built in 1920. Claude C. "Pop" Laval's camera lens missed little of the excitement of the early fairs. Many of his magnificent photographs are available in print for the first time in this book. Each is literally a snapshot in time, revealing the historical richness of our Valley's great community event. Proceeds from the sale of each book benefit the restoration project of the Claude C. "Pop" Laval Photographic Collection. Your purchase of a piece of "Pop's" treasure will help ensure that future generations can enjoy seeing the Valley as "Pop" saw it, through the "Windows on the Past."
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“I’ve labored long for bread For honor and for riches But on my corns too long you’ve tread You fine haired Sons of Bitches” —Black Bart, the Po8
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It was another time. Deadly earthquakes, steamboat explosions, floods, train wrecks, and other tragedies were a part of everyday life in nineteenth-century California. Yet, the men and women of the day licked their wounds, mourned their dead, picked up the pieces, and plunged ahead to build a great prosperous new state that took its place in the forefront of our great Union. This is their stories, in their own words. First-person accounts of the major 19th century California catastrophes. Includes scores of contemporary period photographs and other illustrations.
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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