'Romance in the Dark' - Orson Welles & Billie Holiday

[pbriancon]

Just published my novel 'Romance in the Dark' on what happened - or could have - between Orson Welles and Lady Day between New York and Los Angeles in the years 1941-1943. We know they met, we know of course that Welles had planned a segment of 'It's All True' on the history of jazz, and we have a few lines, most probably apocryphal, in Billie Holiday's unreliable memoir "Lady Sings the Blues". Beyond that, is left to our imagination.
Find it here http://amzn.to/1nB2iOH
Happy to chat, answer questions, etc. Also have web site with actual documents, video clips etc http://www.romanceinthedark.com
Pierre Briançon

[pbriancon]

Thought I'd quote and link to a review of 'Romance in the Dark' by British writer Richard Williams, here
http://thebluemoment.com/2014/06/06/ors ... -lady-day/

"The level of historical and circumstantial detail is again impressive, contributing to the pungent period flavour and the inconclusive but nevertheless compelling story. By the time I’d read a few chapters, I’d completely stopped worrying about what was real and what was invented.
(...) A valuable addition to the genre that includes Michael Ondaatje’s Coming Through Slaughter and Geoff Dyer’s But Beautiful. I think it’s something special."

[Wellesnet]

Thanks Pierre, sounds like a fascinating book.

[Rochester]

Has anyone here read it? I had a look at the "look inside" on Amazon and read the review posted above, but I'm wondering if it's more about jazz than Orson Welles, because that's the impression I got.

On a side note, I'm curious how the author can get away with writing a ficitonal account about two real people who might be dead but are still within living memory. If it was about Henry VIII and one of his wives lawyers wouldn't bat an eyelid, but this? Wouldn't you need some kind of permission or something, or is it basically open season? To be fair, I'm wondering the same thing about the book Me & Orson Welles. Does anyone know?

[Le Chiffre]

It's an interesting question. Here's what one webpage titled "Can a Writer Be Sued for Libeling the Dead?" says:

It seems that, whenever a notorious celebrity dies, tell-all biographies appear within a few months -- or even weeks -- filled with unflattering new disclosures. One explanation for this phenomenon is (to quote Judge Robert Sack, the author of one of the two leading treatises on libel):

The dead have no cause of action for defamation under the common law, and neither do their survivors, unless the words independently reflect upon and defame the survivors.

Rodney Smolla, the author of the other leading treatise, concurs:
There is no liability for defamation of the dead, either to the estate of the deceased or to the deceased's descendants or relatives.

Furthermore, most U.S. cases have held that a plaintiff cannot make an end-run around the rule that "you can't defame the dead" simply by restyling her claim as one for invasion of privacy, intentional infliction of emotional distress (upon the surviving family members), or injurious falsehood.

Even though the law is uncommonly clear on this point, that hasn't stopped an occasional outraged relative of the dearly departed from suing. For example, in 1981 Charles Higham wrote a biography of Errol Flynn in which he charged that the actor had been a Nazi spy. Flynn's daughters sued for defamation and invasion of privacy -- unsuccessfully. In upholding the dismissal of the case, a California appeals court reaffirmed that ''defamation of a deceased person does not give rise to a civil right of action at common law in favor of the surviving spouse, family or relatives who are not themselves defamed.''

Given that you apparently can't sue an author who has malicious intent, it's hard to imagine that a suit against an author who doesn't have malicious intent would get any further.

[Rochester]

That's very interesting indeed. Thank you so much, I believe that answers the question beautifully! I've just started writing a story where the male main character is based on Mr Welles, but I've yet to decide if he's going to actually BE Mr Welles or be called something else and just happen to have a lot of similarities with him. One concern was the legal aspect of using a real person in a fictionalised setting, but that seems to be okay. Perhaps I would just chicken out about his identity, seeing as how there would be a lot to live up to if I was to claim it's about Mr Welles, whereas anachronisms would be excusable if the character was merely based on him. Oh well, I need to get much further into the story first before I make up my mind once and for all.

[Wellesnet]

Billie Holiday, 100th Birthday anniversary, today:
http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/07/entertain ... ryGallLink