The Other Side of Ethel Mertz: The Life Story of Vivian Vance
by Frank Castelluccio and Alvin Walker
Introduction by Robert Osborne.

She brought laughter to millions...
turned adversity into strength.

Hardcover: 319 pages (1998)
ISBN: 1-879198-26-6
Dimensions: 6 x 9 Photos: 50 B&W
Price: $24.95 Special Sale price $19.95

Paperback
Price: Special sale price $7.00

Which name is more familiar to you, Ethel Mertz or Vivian Vance? Chances are, like most of America, you think you know Lucy's feisty sidekick Ethel; but the actress Vivian Vance, who backed Lucille Ball so successfully in the comedy series "I Love Lucy" had an exciting life and career long before Desi Arnaz chose her, against Lucy's wishes, to play Ethel.

Here are little known facts and stories not only about the stormy relationship of Lucy and Ethel, but wonderfully funny vignettes about Vivian Vance's early life on the stage - performing with such legends as Jimmy Durante, Ethel Merman, Bob Hope, Ed Wynn and Gypsy Rose Lee. 

Given the popularity and fame Vivian Vance achieved in her life, it's strange that no biography of this gifted actress appeared before now. Yet, it's perhaps not so strange after all. This lovely, vibrant woman was adept at hiding the unhappy parts of her life or the facts that did not fit the image she painstakingly constructed for herself over the years.
At the time she was considered one of the most adept comic actresses of her time, bringing happiness to millions each week Vivian Vance fought a frightening personal battle with depression. Her story - the story of a woman who overcame family problems, marital problems and a host of professional problems to help create a television classic - is told with gusto and with nothing held back.

 

Women Who Touched My Life
by Ruth Harriet Jacobs, Ph.D.

1998 Athena Award Mentoring Excellence

Paper - 150 pages (1996)
ISBN: 1-879198-22-3
Dimensions: 6 x 9  
Price: $14.95 plus shipping

Dr. Jacobs, the author of Be An Outrageous Older Woman - A R.A.S.P., shares the intimate story of her beginnings to offer hope and inspiration to other women. Some people sheltered and nourished her, others taught and mentored her development. Here she offers new poetry, exhortation, and guidelines for providing - and accepting - help through the process of "godmothering".
 

Early Promise, Late Reward: A Biography of Helen Hooven Santmyer, Author of ...And Ladies of the Club
by Joyce Crosby Quay

Santmyer's 1984 NY Times best-selling novel, .. And Ladies of the Club, was the culmination of her lifelong ambition to become a famous writer. She was 88 when she realized her dream.

This biography brings to life the history of the small town girl from the Midwest who was educated at Wellesley, and became one of the first female Rhodes Scholars. Santmyer's career, delayed in her youth by the Great Depression, is traced in this book, along with her values, family life, and literary and political concerns.

A small town girl from the Midwest, Helen was educated at Wellesley College during World War I and was active in the women's suffrage movement. She sought a publishing career in New York City in the 1920s when most women pursued marriage and family life. She attended Oxford University in England as one of the first female Rhodes Scholars. Returning to the United States with her first book published and a new graduate degree in literature, she felt she was on the verge of long-sought fame and fortune, only to be met by the onset of the Great Depression. It wasn't until she was eighty-eight years old that the media blitz descended on Xenia, Ohio and the world learned of "the old lady who wrote a book."

Joyce Crosby Quay, journalist, lives and works in Cincinnati, Ohio.
 

Shadow on My Soul: Overcoming Addiction to Suicide
by Paula Quinn, Ph.D.

A remarkable account of a journey from self-hatred and alienation - caused by sexual and psychological abuse - to healing, strength and wholeness. This rare, uplifting book translates like experiences into a written account, to be shared with others suffering similar difficulties, and reveals the road to freedom from depression and obsessive thoughts of suicide.

 

Making Peace With My Mother
by Sylvia B. Grossman

Paper: 176 pages (1992)
ISBN: 1-879198-07-X
Dimensions: 6 x 9  
Price: $14.95 plus shipping

This autobiographical journey reveals how, after more than 50 years of rejection by her bitter mother, the author rises above her own anger and succeeds in changing herself while she mends the past. An extraordinary tale of courage and the power of human love.