When Rodman Edward “Rod” Serling, died on June 28, 1975, he left behind a legion of fans who fondly remembered and loved his hit show ‘The Twilight Zone’.   The show is an American classic and every year on New Year’s Day, the Sci-Fi channel runs a full marathon.   The show aired from 1959 to 1964, and in those fives years, a legacy was created that shows no signs of slowing down.   The popularity of the show has resulted in fan sites, Instagram and Facebook pages, that pay homage to what many be the greatest science fiction show in television history.  Classic episodes such as Nightmare at 20,000 Feet starring William Shatner of Star Trek fame and Nothing in The Dark with a young Robert Redford are some of the author’s favorites among a vast collection of outstanding creative genius.  But who was the smooth talking man who appeared in a suit at the end of the episode with a cigarette in hand?  His daughter Anne answers these questions in this intimate portrait of the man she called her dad.

In this book, Anne tells the story her father’s life giving the reader a good biography of the late icon.  I personally learned several great facts about Serling including his military service in World War II.   His entry in journalism and then Hollywood set the path he would walk for the rest of his life.  Marriage and fatherhood shows us the man who was not just a suit but in reality a family man with a brilliant creative mind. His talents and success caused the relocation of his family several times and Anne is very candid about life living on more than one coast.  The beauty of the book is the relationship between father and daughter.  The love that existed between the two can be felt as the passages in the book are read.   Serling’s wit and unconventional personality lend an air of spontaneity to their lives and it seems as if even when the show was not on the air he was still in character.  Nonetheless, his ways of teaching and caring for his daughters are an example of the importance of a father in his daughter’s life.

Serling’s signature pose is with one arm up and a cigarette in hand.  His cigarette habit and health issues began to take their toll towards the end of his life.  The decline in his health combined with his unwavering addiction to smoking are two of the three tragic moments in the book next to his untimely death.   We can ask ourselves why he did not change his lifestyle but only Serling knows the answer to that question.  What we do know through Anne’s words is that his death devastated his family and to this day, I do not believe she has fully recovered from his death.  If I found myself in her position, I do not know if I would have recovered.  At age fifty, Serling would be considered young by today’s standards and could have possibly lived for another thirty to forty years.  His sudden departure precluded him from watching his daughters continue to mature, becoming a grandfather and living out his golden years after a productive and inspiring career in the television and film industries.  In death, he reminds us of the shortness of life and and our own mortality.

Many years have since passed since Serling’s death but his legacy is intact and more important with each year that passes.  Through the episodes of the Twilight Zone he was able to get his messages across about society and all of its problems.  And he did not hesitate to remind the world of the horrors of warfare and discrimination.  As a proponent of civil he dedicated several episodes to the topic of racism and the Holocaust inspired in part by his Jewish heritage.   Nature, space, religion and human nature were all explored in his writings and had he lived, I believe the possibilities were endless.  The saving grace however, is that we do have an enormous amount of material he created and this heartwarming and poignant memoir by his loving daughter, Anne.

ISBN-10: 080653673X
ISBN-13: 978-0806536736

October 1, 1990-General Curtis E. LeMay (Ret.) dies at the age of 83 at March Air Force Base in Riverside County, California.  The former General became a legend in the United States Air Force after reorganizing the Strategic Air Command and pushing for the development of the B-29 bomber which changed the Allied effort in World War II.  Satirically nicknamed “Bombs Away Lemay”, he developed a reputation as an extreme patriot willing to go to whatever length was appropriate in the protection of the United States.  And in Stanley Kubrick’s ‘Dr. StrangeLove’, the character  of Jack D. Ripper is based on of Lemay.   Warren Kozak’s account of the life of the late General is the definitive account of LeMay’s life.

Born in Columbus, Ohio on November 15, 1906, the young LeMay would find his calling in the U.S. Air Force in a career that last through several Presidencies.  He was both lionized and feared by the oval office and subordinates.  His decision to drop the altitude of the B-29 during the firebomb runs over Tokyo caused Robert McNamara to remark in Errol Morris’ ‘Fog of War’ that if we had lost the war we would have been prosecuted as war criminals.  LeMay had also pushed for preemptive strike against the Soviet Union during the Cuban Missile Crisis and said quite frankly that we should bomb the North Vietnamese back to the stone age during the Vietnam War.   When segregationist Alabama Governor George Wallace ran for President in 1968, he convinced LeMay to be his running mate  and the decision would haunt LeMay for years to come.  Interesting Wallace had served under the 20th Air Corp under LeMay in World War II but had never met the General prior to the campaign.  LeMay’s decision to back Wallace confused and shocked many as Wallace was known to be a stanch segregationists where as LeMay had advocated for the fair treatment of all soldiers regardless of race.   As we now know, Wallace lost and LeMay faded away remaining retired and living a quiet life until his death.  Opinion about LeMay will always be divided but the fact remains that the late General, with his flaws, served his nation during World War II and was a patriot of the highest order.

ISBN-10: 1596985690
ISBN-13: 978-1596985698

 

On May 24, 2011, police responded to calls reporting gunfire on a quiet street in Newark, New Jersey. Inside the basement apartment, the found a young man slumped over from several gunshot wounds.  He was already deceased and at the time, his life and accomplishments were unknown to the officers. His name was Robert DeShaun Peace (1971-2011).  He was 30 years old.  Following his death, his short and tragic life began to come to light with the publication of this memoir by his former college roommate and friend, Jeff Hobbs, and even Hollywood. On October 6, 2014, Antoine Fuqua, the director of the award-winning ‘Training Day’, announced that he would direct a biopic about Peace.

But just who was Robert DeShaun Peace? He was born in East Orange, New Jersey and defied the odds, leaving the inner-city to graduate a degree in molecular biochemistry from Yale University.  He was raised by a single mother and struggled with his feelings toward his father, who was incarcerated for the majority of his son’s life.  Fate and luck combined to give the young man for East Orange a golden opportunity to attend Yale University. And it was here that he and Hobbs formed the friendship that produced this interesting yet tragic story of a brilliant young man.  Peace was described as nearly a genius in the things that he did and his life even took him as far as Croatia.  Sadly, he would return to the very streets he sought to escape which would later claim his life.

The story of Robert Peace is one that could be told in any number of cities across America. Millions of young men and women face the same struggle and demons as Peace as they attempt to find their way in life.  Some of them will make it and accomplish their goals but tragically others will fall victim to the very streets they wish to escape.  Peace’s mother worked a variety of jobs as a single mother.  The tragedy of his father’s incarceration adds to the mix of conditions that have plagued inner-city homes for decades.  From the time of his birth, the odds were not in his favor.  But perseverance, fortune and an incredibly brilliant mind, transformed this young man’s life and for him, the sky was the limit.

Peace’s return to Newark and the actions that lead to his death force us to question why is it that an Ivy league graduate returned to the very streets which threatened his daily existence and engaged in activities that are prone to end in incarceration or even death?  Typically, graduates of Yale go on to bigger and better things.  Peace is no longer with us to give us an explanation and we can only speculate as to where he saw his life heading.  If he had lived and followed down the path of molecular biochemistry, perhaps he would be a Nobel Peace Prize winner.  His untimely death speaks to us all reminding us of the shortness of life and the value of a great mind.  With this book, Hobbs has done a great service to the life and memory of an exceptionally gifted young man.

ISBN-10: 1476731918
ISBN-13: 978-1476731919