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Built in stages between 1830 and 1875, Magnolia House is a historic landmark on Staten Island, the least-visited Outer Borough of New York City.
Set within a 10-minute walk from the (free) Staten Island ferry that accesses Manhattan, it's the headquarters of the widely distributed independent press, BLOOD MOON PRODUCTIONS, a feisty wordsmith noted for celebrity biographies that have been reviewed in THE DAILY MAIL, the New York DAILY NEWS, show-biz news reports, and literary journals across the country.
Some visitors liken Magnolia House to a grande dame with a centuries-old knack for nourishing high-functioning eccentrics. Many of them have lived or been entertained here since New York's State Senator Howard Bayne, a transplanted Southerner, moved in with his wife, the daughter of the Surgeon General of the Confederate States of America, in the aftermath of that bloodiest of wars on North American soil, the War Between the American States.
Since then, many dozens of celebrities - some of them notorious - have whispered their secrets and rehearsed their ambitions within its walls. They've included movie vamps from the silent screen, MIDNIGHT COWBOYS, dancers from the dance, BUTTERFLIES IN HEAT, a heavyweight boxing champ, writers from every hue, faded film goddesses, playwrights who crafted blockbusters for both Marilyn (Monroe) and Elizabeth (Taylor), ultra-avant-garde diarists, every known variety of prima donna and diva, including some from the world of opera, and a world-class Olympic athlete.
They've also included Darwin Porter and Danforth Prince, who spent decades here renovating it and producing a stream of FROMMER TRAVEL GUIDES and award-winning celebrity biographies.
This book illuminates Magnolia House's contribution to the American Century, when dozens of individual movers and shakers--some of them sane and emotionally stable, others not--visited Magnolia House.
This book reveals what they did and what they revealed.
Author: Darwin Porter and Danforth Prince
Paperback Published 18 December 2019 368 pages
"This is high celebrity gossip at its best...strengthened by interview quotes, personal connections, and a personal familiarity with the entertainment industry that no outsider could have adequately conveyed. Blending autobiography with industry history, it's especially recommended for enthusiasts of vintage Hollywood and Broadway social and cultural history. Fans of celebrity gossip will relish the atmosphere, detail, and in-depth insights on personalities captured in this lively romp." -Diane Donovan, for California Bookwatch and The Midwest Book Review.