I sit at my word processor, looking out at the rain-soaked body of water that separates my deck from Virginia Key, Biscayne Bay, the Magic City of Miami and the Atlantic Ocean. It all sounds more idyllic than it is as I find myself in the dysphoric throes of the publishing blues.
It is, in fact, all so ironic; I always sort of knew no one would really care all that much about a book written by someone of my vintage, let alone finite celebrity. Still, one falls in love with the work and hopes others will as well. I am getting very nice reviews but not from any objective source. Family and friends are generous with praise but I long for a NY Times review that will never come.
The youngest of my three daughters was the first in my family to chime in with praise saying how proud she was of me … marveled that at 88 I could get something like this done and that this very fact of just doing it was a major accomplishment. Not exactly unqualified praise from Caesar but I will take it.
Long-time fan of mine, Judy Samelson retired from her editor-in-chief post at the famed Broadway/Theatre publication, Playbill, but never stopped being a Cagney & Lacey a WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE ficionado. As far back as I can remember she was there in support of my career’s one truly big hit … even found a way to write about it for her theatre-oriented Broadway audience.
Co-author of Katharine Hepburn: Rebel Chic, Ms. Samelson still serves on the board of the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center so, you see, when she sent me a photo of my book, juxtaposed with a photo of the great Ms. Hepburn … situated in such a way as to make it appear that the Academy Award winning actress was admiring my work … well, I have to tell ya, it made me feel very special indeed.
When he was the head of programming at CBS, Jeff Saganksy greenlit The Trials of Rosie O’Neill plus the quartet of Cagney & Lacey reunion movies for television. He was one of only two honorable and supportive network executives in my thirty-year career as a television producer and is highlighted in my latest tome, Before and After Cagney and Lacey. His predecessor, in terms of true support, Harvey Shephard (also of CBS), is written about at length in my first memoir, Cagney & Lacey … and Me.
I cannot begin to tell you what it meant to me when I recently opened an email from Mr. Sagansky where he wrote this “review” of my latest book: “I am loathe to read too much in one sitting because then it will be over …” Or when another friend wrote “I hated the words ‘The End.’”
It’s not The New York Times … it’s not Publisher’s Weekly ... but coming when it did … midway through what appeared to be a vast void of reaction … trust me, it meant a great deal to this old guy.
There is a chapter in Before and After Cagney & Lacey about my days as an undergraduate at USC. Sadly, three of my best pals from those days of the 1950s died only months before publication. Their lives were rich and full; nevertheless, I wish before they passed that I could have heard their reactions to my telling of that time in our lives.
There is, however, one exception: a very dear friend now for over 70 years who came to Florida nearly twenty-nine years ago to surprise me on my 60th birthday … he never left and lives here still. A great pal but, in candor, not reliable as someone to count on to read much.
We called him “bubble” at USC because nobody in the mid-20th century had ever heard of anything like attention deficit disorder. It didn’t seem to diminish my friend’s accomplishments in life or in business and he has always been one of the most well-thought-of and successful gentlemen I have ever known. He texted me the other day with an excuse for not showing up for a pre-arranged “date,” stating as his reason “I am engrossed in reading your book. I just finished chapter 6 and I am hooked! I forgot how talented and interesting you are.”
He went on to complain about the small print (he couldn’t know how one should not get me started on my publishers) and then informed me that when he finishes Before and After Cagney & Lacey it will join the exclusive club of the last book he read, which was Exodus. That was in 1958.
What can I say? Since my Freshman year at USC, the guy has invariably made me smile.
Oscar winner Joey Feury, now better known as a terrific painter, told me he loves the book but also complained about the small print. I shake my head in wonder for how can a writer expect reviews, good or otherwise, when the print is too small for folks in the age group of the author?
Cagney & Lacey fans from the UK are checking in with ultra nice comments via the series appreciation site on Facebook. I am still trying to figure out how to navigate in that venue. Perhaps I will learn soon enough so that I might be able to sell a few more copies while my book is still in print of whatever size.
A screenwriter pal of mine asked for the secret of my “impressive prose style,” adding “reading your new opus and am impressed. Where did you learn to write such crisp and pointed sentences? My style has always seemed prolix and elliptical. While at SC film school, I took a class in creative writing – an awful class with a clueless teacher – but maybe you majored in Journalism? Anyway, when I finish, you will get your glowing review. Where would you like it – Amazon? Variety? The New York Times? Paris Match?”
I will “take the win” even though we both know he is so much better a writer than I.
I got one negative review … and not so good-humored … from a long-time friend … one of the more successful of all those in my rolodex. To hear him tell it he is by far the most successful but you won’t have to hear him tell it since as much as he loves to speak of his accomplishments, he is not much of a writer. He does love criticizing my writing and this book provides him with all the ammunition he would need by simply glancing at the index where he is little more than a footnote. Based on that alone, one would have to assume a less than enthusiastic review.
The good and the not-so-good aside, the book is slowly getting out there. Still, I longingly await those reviews from the NY and LA Times as well as one from Variety and/or The Hollywood Reporter. The ego continues to resist reality. It has been too many years. Just about anyone I ever knew in the business …. or journalists who knew me… have either passed or moved on to assisted living facilities. Not too many left to care … or even should they care … to have the position with any top publisher to grant them space for a trip down memory lane.
I didn’t do it for the money. I have had more than my share of fame. What I did it for was the reviews … for praise from folks who took the time to read it and then (hopefully) liked it. It was all for the strokes.
Thank you, Jeff, Torrie, Judy, Jackie, Robert, Stanley, Katy, Joey and so many others. You make my days (and made it all worthwhile).
Follow Barney at: www.cagneyandlacey.com
https://www.facebook.com/CagneyAndLacey
To Purchase “Cagney & Lacey … and Me” go to Amazon or Apple Books
“Before and After Cagney & Lacey,” a second memoir… from McFarland Publishers. Order here.
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