Non-Fiction Books

Remember when flying was glamorous and sexy, even fun? When airline food was gourmet, everyone dressed up for a flight, and stewardesses catered to our every need-at least in our imaginations? This classic memoir by two audaciously outspoken young ladies, who lived and loved the free-spirited stewardess life, jets you back to those golden days of air travel-from the captain who's as subtle as a 747 when he's on the make to the passenger who mistakes the overhead luggage rack for an upper berth; from the names of celebrities who were a pleasure to serve (and some surprising notables on the "bad guy" list) to the origins of some naughty stereotypes-Spaniards are the best lovers, actors the most foul-mouthed. This huge bestseller, a First Class jet-age journal, offers a hilarious gold mine of outrageous anecdotes from the high-flying and amorous lives of those busty, lusty, adventuresome young women of the swinging '60s known as "stews."

“What a sense you have for finding trouble and entering into it.” Veronica Lake remains one of Hollywood’s greatest icons, from movies like Sullivan’s Travels and The Blue Dahlia . Her trademark ‘peek-a-boo’ blonde hairstyle, partly hiding one eye, is a legend in its own right, but her blend of beauty, ice cool persona and dry comedic style makes the actress a timelessly magnetic screen personality. The persona hid a tumultuous personal life, and this memoir holds nothing back. Born Connie Ockleman, the actress owed the soubriquet ‘Veronica Lake’ to a producer’s inspiration. She was a tough Brooklyn kid, with an ambitious stage mother calling the shots in her early life. After early successes in beauty pageants, the diminutive Connie headed to Hollywood, where, despite her headstrong nature, she became Hollywood’s biggest ‘it’ girl of the 1940’s. But after brushes with the casting couch (she didn’t succumb), a string of doomed marriages, troubled relationships with her children, and remarkable stardom and fortune, Veronica Lake suffered a rapid fall from grace—ending up bankrupt and alcoholic in New York City. Happily she rediscovered her acting career in live theatre and enjoyed living in Miami for most of her final years, before she died aged only 50 in 1973. This remarkable memoir (1969), a slalom of highs, lows, comedy and heartbreak, was co-written with Donald Bain. It has been out-of-print, rare and sought-after for many decades. Dean Street Press is proud to reissue it now, with a new introduction by broadcaster and writer Eddie Muller.

For anyone wishing to travel with a raconteur, a true renaissance man, this volume is your ticket for the journey. Murder mysteries, comedies, investigative journalism, westerns, biographies, Mafia novels: Donald Bain has written them all in a remarkable career spanning more than 80 titles as author or ghostwriter. In this book, which is both an autobiography and a key to becoming a selling writer, Bain races the reader along on the road he has traveled-from the sands of Saudi Arabia to the quicksand of Hollywood moviemaking; from Coffee, Tea or Me?, and the best-selling comedy series it spawned, to acclaimed biographies of actress Veronica Lake, and top model and CIA mind control experimentation subject Candy Jones; from the wildly successful mystery novels based on the popular TV show "Murder, She Wrote," to the most bizarre gang wars in our nation's history during Prohibition madness; as well as books on caviar, airline safety and stock car racing. Bain leads the reader into the publishing trenches, and introduces the fascinating, often strange people with whom he's dealt, relates experiences, funny and sad, from his long career, and celebrates having survived in a profession not noted for longevity. It will be an entertaining and informative addition to any creative writing syllabus.

In the 26 years since The Control of Candy Jones was first published, the controversy surrounding this wrenching tale of how one of America's most famous models was used by the CIA as a human guinea pig in its infamous mind control experiments, has never completely vanished. It has remained a "cult book," fueling the cause of critics of the CIA, and further defining the now proven (and accepted) thesis that the minds of certain people can be manipulated and controlled, in this instance, for evil purposes. 20th Century Fox paid significant money for it as a film vehicle for Jane Fonda, yet never produced the movie despite attempts at screenplays by three of Hollywood's best, and has refused to sell the rights to the many producers who've expressed interest in making the film. Why? The CIA attempted to suppress the book, as did one of the doctors, a physician to the stars, who spearheaded the intelligence agency's mind control experimentation. This edition, with a new foreword by the author, presents another opportunity for every concerned citizen to share the compelling tragedy suffered by Candy Jones during that dark, tumultuous period in our history known as the "Cold War."

Charlie and the Shawneetown Dame , based on a true story, recounts one of the most famous turf wars waged during the madness called Prohibition. The outsized ambition of Charlie Birger – a flamboyant, slightly mad Al Capone wannabe – brought him from New York to southern Illinois in search of fortune as a bootlegger. However, Birger soon found that his dream of grandeur faced a few hurdles – including the vicious Shelton Brothers and Helen Holbrook, a beautiful, alcoholic socialite from Shawneetown, whose simultaneous affairs with Birger and Carl Shelton fueled a bloody and bizarre gang war. Donald Bain vividly captures turbulent Southern Illinois during the Roaring Twenties, while deftly chronicling Birger’s journey from charismatic leader to beleaguered general in the harsh reality of hand-to-hand combat, and ending with his demise as a dupe to a far cleverer enemy. Ultimately done in by the “Shawneetown Dame;” his own inflated ego; and by a sly sheriff named Pritchars, who conned Birger into jail, allowing the area’s most famous gangster to bring his sub-machine gun into the cell with him – Charlie and his story are a fascinating piece of Americana – crude, violent, yet often humorous. Replete with homemade tank battles and crude bombings from an open cockpit aircraft, Bain himself considers this rapid, riveting read to be his best book.

In Murder HE Wrote, Bain takes the reader on a rollercoaster journey from the rousing loops of Coffee, Tea or Me and the best selling comedy series it spawned to the gravity-defying biographies of Veronica Lake, legendary talk show king Long John Nebel, and top model and CIA mind-control subject Candy Jones; from the spectacular curves and twists of the wildly successful murder mystery novels based on the TV show "Murder, She Wrote" to the creaks and squeaks of one of the most bizarre gang wars in U.S. history, Charlie and the Shawneetown Dame.