Have You Seen Me?

As production on the reissue of The Complete Linda Lovelace winds down, it's time for me to choose a cover image. After consulting the collections of several photo agencies—Corbis, Getty, Alamy and the Kobal Collection among them—I've found the image I'd like to use. Unfortunately, that image appears to be "orphaned." This is the image in question.

This image was published in the Entertainment section of the Fort Lauderdale News on Wednesday, August 23, 1973, illustrating an article titled "Films' Linda Lovelace to X-Pand Her Career" by Jack Fink. It also appeared alongside an article from the Saturday, August 26, 1973, edition of the Miami Herald by John Huddy titled "The New Linda: Can the Queen of Porn Make the Switch to Legitimacy?" Neither article contained a photographer or agency credit. Both articles had this image alongside another photo featuring Linda with long, straight hair (both papers ran the same two images). A call to the Miami Herald revealed that the original photo is no longer on file. A call to the Fort Lauderdale News was not returned.

I believe this photo to be a promotional still given to press in the early 70s and as such not copyrighted.

Once a day for the next 30 days I will be making a good-faith effort to find the rightful, lawful copyright owner of this image and will link to this post on my Twitter and Facebook pages. If you own the copyright to this photo or if you know who does, I 'd like to discuss licensing it for use on the cover of the print, eBook and audiobook versions of the revised edition of The Complete Linda Lovelace, worldwide, as well as on a T-shirt.

I'll need certain information from anyone claimng ownership of this photo. That information includes:

Proof that you copyrighted this photo with the Library of Congress prior to today, May 30, 2012. 
Proof that it was not a "work-for-hire" for another company who does own the copyright.
Proof that you have the right to license it.

According to my understanding of photo ownership based on 25  years in publishing, the following points are basically immaterial:

You are the principal photographer of this image.
You own the original negative of this image.
You own a contact sheet containing this image.
You own a print of this image.
You previously published this image in a book, newspaper or magazine.

Anyone claiming ownership of this image or having knowledge of someone who does is asked to please contact me by email at:

powerprocesspublishing@gmail.com

Thanks! I look forward to hearing from you.

The Circle of Life, or Funny How Things Work Out Sometimes, Huh?

I spent part of this past Memorial Day weekend at the Landmark Sunshine Theater with about a dozen lesbians, pensioners and solo hipsterettes watching the film Hysteria, the story of the invention of the vibrator. My capsule review: See it. It's a light, fun film whose humor is, for the most part, extremely dry (no pun intended) and which contains a sweet, not unexpected and yes, happy ending (pun very much intended). The most LOL parts of the film come (no pun intended but entirely unavoidable) in the last three minutes, just before and during some of the credits.

That Hysteria stars the wonderful, talented and eminently swoon-worthy Maggie Gyllenhaal was only one of its selling points, but it was a big one. I love MG, ever since seeing her star turn in Secretary alongside my favorite doppleganger, James Spader. Oh, the misty-eyed whimsy that accompanied repeat viewings as Spader bent the Divine Miss M over his office desk and s-s-s-s-spanked her for handing in a typo-riddled piece of correspondence. Having been Al Goldstein's editorial bottom for seven years I'll leave it to the reader's imagination which side of the desk I was on in those bouts of misty-eyed whimsy, although anyone who knows me should be able to figure it out. . . .

But I digress.

So it was that, when encouraged early on in the game to write my own adaptation of The Complete Linda Lovelace by a producer—who shall remain nameless, hopefully forever—I wrote it with Maggie Gyllenhaal in mind. After seeing Secretary I knew that her presence would bring the ethos, pathos and logos of my script, hand-crafted for her talents and her talents alone, to a realistic, convincing and sympathetic life.

Alas, various elements conspired against me (including but not limited to a dumb-as-dirt producer's assistant whose completely inexcusable computer illiteracy helped scotch the whole project and probably cost me a lot of money), and it was not to be. However (shameless self promotion alert!) that screenplay will be part of the bonus content in the PDF eBook version of the reissue of The Complete Linda Lovelace later this year.

When, almost a decade later, I was asked to suggest actresses to play the lead role in Lovelace, the first two words out of my mouth were a Billy Bibbit-esque, "M-m-m-maggie G-g-g-gyllenhaal." Unfortunately by then several factors ruled that out. But, if I couldn't have my girl Maggie play Linda, at least I would have her significant other Peter Sarsgaard in the role of Chuck Traynor. Small solace, of course, but at least the spiritual connection was there.

This was still a better situation than that which befell Team Inferno, the competing project that caused me many a sleepless night with their ability to grab headlines with the antics of one-time attachment Lindsay Lohan and a series of unnecessarily lurid promotional photos by Tyler Shields. Lohan, as we all know, eventually found herself un-attached to the project and replaced by the stunningly beautiful Malin Akerman, whom I knew primarily from her supporting role in the film 27 Dresses. Akerman was pleasant enough in her role as Katherine Heigl's sister, but I couldn't see her as Linda Lovelace. And it looks like no one else will see her as Linda Lovelace either, as she's said several times in the past six months that Inferno probably won't be filmed.

The reason I bring all this up is that when telling the press Inferno is in deep doo-doo, it's been in the context of other roles she's involved with, working on, attached to or actively promoting. And so it was today the world learns Malin Akerman is set to play. . .

(wait for it)

Deborah Harry in the forthcoming flick CBGB!

Anyone who knows me also knows the, well, fondness I feel for Deborah Harry and, potential restraining order notwithstanding, I'll save the unnecessarily lurid description of my complete and utter approval of this casting triumph for a later day. Suffice to say, Malin is much better suited to play the lead singer of Blondie than the star of Deep Throat, and rest assured, when CBGB makes its debut, possibly at the Landmark Sunshine Theater, I'll be right alongside the lesbians, pensioners and solo hipsterettes in whose company I find myself whenever I go see Blondie play live these days, cheering her on.

And Malin, sweetheart, if you need any research material to help you prep for the role, I'm your man. Potential restraining order notwithstanding, of course.

Ordeal Co-Author Mike McGrady Dead at 78

Mike McGrady, co-author with Linda Lovelace of the best-selling books Ordeal and Out of Bondage, has died at the age of 78.

Aside from those two works, the award-winning journalist is probably best known for the 1969 literary hoax Naked Came the Stranger, a gang-bang of a book conceived by McGrady and written by him and two dozen accomplices. Published under the pseudonym Penelope Ashe, it purported to tell the real-life sexcapades of a run-of-the-mill Long Island housewife.

My sole professional experience with McGrady was considerably less fulfilling. After Linda agreed to speak with me for The Complete Linda Lovelace, she encouraged me to talk to him about their relationship, also mentioning the possibility of hearing some of their interview tapes. She gave me his phone number and even called him up beforehand to tell him about my project. 

In a frustratingly short exchange, my interview request was denied because, he said, my book would "negatively impact" his ability to sell the movie rights to Ordeal.

Read his New York Times obituary here.

Spanking Charlene Joins Whole Lotta Lovelace Tour!

We were thrilled to learn that the blues duo Low Society would join the Whole Lotta Lovelace tour on June 10 at East Village hotspot 2A, then saddened to hear the band done picked up and moved themselves to Memphis. But that sadness has turned to downright joy now that Spanking Charlene has been added to the bill, guaran-fucking-teeing an evening of good ol' sick ’n’ sleazy rock ’n’ roll fun!

If you want an idea what you're in for, have a listen to a couple of their songs:

"Pussy Is Pussy" (from their album Dismissed With a Kiss)

Pussy Is Pussy


"Booze & Pills" (from their album Where Are the Freaks?)

Booze & Pills

Eric Danville Interviewed on Filmmakers Focus NYC

Over the weekend I had the pleasure of being interviewed by the lovely Demi Davis for Filmmakers Focus NYC, a video series about filmmakers and the entertainment industry. We spoke about how working at High Times got me free marijuana, how being Al Goldstein's slave boy at Screw got me a job at Penthouse Forum, my books The Complete Linda Lovelace and The Official Heavy Metal Book of Lists, and how Ann-Margret helped me get my first tattoo. The interview runs in two parts, below.

Zen and the Art of Linda Lovelace

Entertainment news website Enstarz entered the Linda Lovelace discussion yesterday with an article titled "Who is Linda Lovelace? Story of Deep Throat Porn Actress in New Biopic." You can read the entire piece here.

Don't worry. It won't take you long. The article seems more like a good excuse to print the recently released Lovelace film poster, reportedly designed to drum up distributor interest when the film shows at Cannes, than a serious discussion of the question it raises. Indeed, aside from the odd factual error and the retelling of tales familiar to people already following the creation of the film, the piece offers little to answer the question at all.

So allow me.

Who is Linda Lovelace? The answer: A Zen-like, "Different things to different people."

If you saw Linda Lovelace in Deep Throat in the ’70s, chances are pretty good you think she's a sexual revolutionary whose free-loving spirit and extraordinary cocksucking technique liberated an America held in the yoke of sexual repression for far too long.

If you're an ’80s-style liberal feminist of the Steinem/ Dworkin/ MacKinnon variety, Linda was the ultimate victim, a woman forced into the seedy, sleazy underworlds of prostitution and pornography by an abusive husband who kept her cowed with the constant threat of mental, emotional and physical violence, and the perfect figurehead to promote your anti-pornography crusade.

If your only contact with Linda Lovelace was a casual, quick read through a copy of Ordeal you bought at a garage sale because it was about "the woman in that movie," Linda was a sad, sad figure who lived a really awful life and you have to run now, because the pot roast is almost ready.

So how far will Lovelace the film go towards explaining Lovelace the woman? The answer: An equally Zen-like, "Far enough for some people, not far enough for others."

But I do believe the film will start people talking about the article's original question and others, which can only be a good thing.

By the way, if you want to skip the article all together, here's the art of Linda Lovelace:

Now let me ask you: Who is Linda Lovelace? And what do you think of the poster?

This Is Not a Gag: Deep Throat Shown at Texas College

Ann Work of The Times Falls News of Wichita Falls, Texas, reports that a portion of the film Deep Throat was shown at Midwestern State University (MSU) on Wednesday, May 2, to a mass communication law class studying the First Amendment. Reaction to the screening, part of a program called Things Your Mother Doesn't Want You To See, was predictably, uh, mixed. Read all about it here.

Now Confirmed! Opening Date of The Whole Lotta Lovelace Tour!

The first stop of The Whole Lotta Lovelace Tour is confirmed: a live reading from The Complete Linda Lovelace taking place at East Village watering hole 2A on Sunday, June 10. Read all about it—and see how you can join in the fun—by clicking here.

But wait. . . . What's The Whole Lotta Lovelace Tour? Funny you should ask.

The Whole Lotta Lovelace Tour is a mind-blowing mix-and-match multimedia roadshow combining installation, live performance and general literary mayhem themed around The Complete Linda Lovelace. Among the amazing presentations you'll see along the way:

Whole Lotta Lovelace
A gallery-style exhibition of original Linda Lovelace memorabilia including posters, photographs, lobby cards, books, records and other rarities from the author's personal collection.

8MM Karaoke
Clips from Linda Lovelace's pre-Deep Throat stag films accompanied by live running commentary!

Lecture/Q&A Sessions
A 30-minute lecture on one of several topics—Linda's history with Deep Throat; the notorious stag films that started her career; Linda Lovelace as pop-culture icon; or her anti-pornography activism and relationship with the feminist community. All lectures are followed by a 15-minute Question and Answer session.

We'll be bringing along some of our sexy literary friends, too, so make sure you check back here to see when The Whole Lotta Lovelace Tour comes to a town near you!

Want The Whole Lotta Lovelace Tour to visit your bar, nightclub, bookstore or VFW Hall? Email us here.