It’s now the launch date of our Blog at www.BandstandDiaries.com. This blog will be similar to a diary as we share the details of putting together this major book project as this will be once it’s published. We will share the highs, the lows and all the ingredients it takes to research, write, edit and finally publish BANDSTAND DIARIES. Since I can’t recap every single event that’s taken place already, suffice it to say that we have completed most of the work.
I have interviewed as many of the Regulars we could locate who were willing to talk with us. I’m still playing cat and mouse with a couple of Regulars (you know who you are…), but our plan is to write profiles about most everyone, based on public information and internet sources.
All of the Regulars I’ve interviewed have been generous in chatting about their past and present. Many sent us their photo collections and we are still awaiting three never-before-seen batches of photos from the 1950s on to today.
As many of you know, Charles Amann III was working on a similar book project before his untimely death several years ago. He was a good friend to many of the dancers, but no one (to my knowledge) saw his completed book. Unfortunately, a number of Regulars lost their valuable Bandstand photo collections that they had loaned him.
I believe that when I started BANDSTAND DIARIES some people had trepidation and cautious attitudes that a Bandstand book about the Regulars would ever come to fruition. I am happy to put these feelings to rest as I have been plugging away at BANDSTAND DIARIES for well over three years now. The happy ending is in sight!
In two weeks, Arlene Sullivan, Ray Smith, some of their friends and our Bandstand friends here in Chicago, Michael Angelmire and Ann Marie Maslan will converge in my two-flat home to assemble our book. Basically, that means we will take all of the chapters, sidebars, mini-essays, etcetera together with several hundred photos, write captions, and get everything ready for the graphics designer of the interior of the book. I get nervous just thinking about it…