Steven Helmer Publications

Synopsis: This non-fiction book talks about the darker stories from American history, ranging from plagues to serial killers, told from just before the American Revolution through the Jazz Age Review: My wife picked up Terrible but True: Awful Events in American History from one of our local thrift stores, for both of us. I ended up being the first to read it, while waiting for a library hold to come in, and finished it earlier today. It turned out to be pretty good. Since the book was published by Scholastic, most likely for students, I had some doubts about what kinds of things and how many details the book would share. To my surprise, while it was clearly written with younger readers in mind, it included quite a bit that was both factual and borderline creepy. This includes things like the gruesome details of the meat packing industry before reforms and why people feared being buried alive. As a history nut, I did recognize quite a few of the stories the book told. However, there ...

Synopsis: After being raised by parents who stole from her and becoming a widow at 24, Hollywood star Mary Astor was involved in relationships with multiple men, including playwright George S. Kaufman, while she was married to Dr. Franklyn Thorpe and wrote about her affairs in her diary. In 1936, after agreeing to give Thorpe both a divorce and custody of their daughter, Marylyn because he possessed her diary and threatened to use it to derail her career, Astor took her ex-husband to court to contest the custody arrangement, putting Hollywood on high alert as the case threatened to expose the details of her private journal, including the famous stars she slept with. This non-fiction book gives a play-by-play detail of the trial, the events leading up to it and the aftermath. Review: As a classic movie fan, I am familiar with Mary Astor's work and knew enough about her history to be familiar with her infamous "Purple Diaries," named after the color ink she used to write...