Stan Lee, on writing and reading:

The only advice anybody can give is,

if you wanna be a writer, keep writing.

And read all you can, read everything.
 
- Stan Lee.

Recommended reading - Rum Punch

 

Rum Punch

by Elmore Leonard.
 
Published by Delacorte Press.
First published 1992.
Hardcover.

ISBN-10: 038530143X
ISBN-13: 978-0385301435
 
Description:
 

Pretty working-girl Jackie Burke is in a tight spot.  She's just been picked up at Palm Beach International with fifty grand and some blow stashed in her flight bag.  Lucky for her, the Feds want something Jackie's got:  the inside track to Ordell Robbie, the notoriusly slick arms dealer.  And they're ready to deal – Ordell in exchange for her freedom.  But Jackie's got another ace up her sleeve. . .Enter Max Cherry, bail bondsman.  Big, tough, basically decent Max is on the verge of divorce and tired of the same old grind.  That's where Jackie comes in.  The fifty big ones are peanuts compared to what Ordell's got locked away in Freeport.  But when a blowsy blond blowhead and a none-too-bright ex con try to muscle in on the action, it's time to pull and old bait and switch – where the good guys are played off against the bad guys – and where Jackie and Max hope to walk off into the Florida sunset with a hot half million in cold cash.

 

"Unputdownable! Benath it's fast moving surface, Rum Punch is a novel about growing old, about the way that time changes us, about the old dream of starting over agian and its cost." – The Washington Post Book World.
 
"Expertly blended. . .potent Dutch." – Chicago Sun-Times.
 
"Rum Punch is Leonard's best work! He brilliantly reaffirms his right to the title of America's finest crime-fiction writer." – People.
 

Born on this day – Alexander Hall:

Alexander Hall

Director

Editor

Actor

January 11, 1894 – July 30, 1968

Credits:

Forever, Darling (1956); Let's Do It Again (1953); Because You're Mine (1952); Up Front (1951); Louisa (1950); Love That Brute (1950); The Great Lover (1949); Down to Earth (1947); She Wouldn't Say Yes (1945); Once Upon a Time (1944); The Heavenly Body (1944); My Sister Eileen (1942); They All Kissed the Bride (1942); Bedtime Story (1941); Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941); This Thing Called Love (1940); He Stayed for Breakfast (1940); The Doctor Takes a Wife (1940); The Amazing Mr. Williams (1939); Good Girls Go to Paris (1939); The Lady's from Kentucky (1939); There's That Woman Again (1938); I Am the Law (1938); There's Always a Woman (1938); The Toast of New York (1937); Exclusive (1937); Yours for the Asking (1936); Give Us This Night (1936); Annapolis Farewell (1935); Goin' to Town (1935); Limehouse Blues (1934); The Pursuit of Happiness (1934); Little Miss Marker (1934); Miss Fane's Baby Is Stolen (1934); Torch Singer (1933); Midnight Club (1933); The Girl in 419 (1933); Madame Racketeer (1932); Sinners in the Sun (1932); The Spirit of Evil (1922); The Last Call (1922); A Game of Graft (1922); Unseen Foes (1922); The Great Opium Case (1921); The Crimson Clue (1921); $100,000 Kiss (1921); Missing Millions (1921); The Diamond Trail (1921); The Blackmailer's Bluff (1921); Who's Guilty? (1921); Dodging the Law (1921); Sealed Orders (1921); The Spendthrift (1921); Nick Carter Down East (1921); Birds of Prey (1921); Among the Counterfeiters (1921); The Mysterious Bond Case (1921); A Cry at Midnight (1921).

Born on this day – Kathleen Byron:

Kathleen Byron

Actress

January 11, 1921 – January 18, 2009

Credits:

Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff (2010); Painting with Light (2001); Perfect Strangers (2001); In a Land of Plenty (2001); A Profile of 'Black Narcissus' (2000); Heartbeat (2000); Dalziel and Pascoe (2000); Casualty (1989–1999); Midsomer Murders (1999); Diary (1998); Saving Private Ryan (1998); Les Misérables (1998); Frighteners (1997); Remembering Sister Ruth (1997); Emma (1996); The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (1994); Out (1993); The Late Show (1992); Moon and Son (1992); The Bill (1991); Portrait of a Marriage (1990); Gentlemen and Players (1989); Casualty (1989–1999); Theatre Night (1985); Howards' Way (1985); Love and Marriage (1984); Reilly: Ace of Spies (1983); Take Three Women (1982); God Speed Co-operation (1982); Nancy Astor (1982); From a Far Country (1981); Together (1980–1981); BBC2 Playhouse (1981); Hedda Gabler (1981); Angels (1976–1980); The Elephant Man (1980); Minder (1979); Emmerdale Farm (1979); Blake's 7 (1979); Crown Court (1974–1979); General Hospital (1979); An Englishman's Castle (1978); ITV Playhouse (1968–1978); The Professionals (1978); Secret Army (1977); The Upchat Line (1977); Supernatural (1977); Z Cars (1977); Jubilee (1977); Within These Walls (1976); North & South (1975); Comedy Premiere (1975); The Main Chance (1975); One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing (1975); Village Hall (1975); Edward the King (1975); Anne of Avonlea (1975); The Little Mermaid (1974); Notorious Woman (1974); Heidi (1974); The Abdication (1974); Marked Personal (1974); Craze (1974); ITV Saturday Night Theatre (1969–1973); The Brontës of Haworth (1973); Sutherland's Law (1973); Wolfshead: The Legend of Robin Hood (1973); The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes (1973); Away from It All (1973); Menace (1973); Nothing But the Night (1973); The Edwardians (1972); Armchair Theatre (1972); The Golden Bowl (1972); The Moonstone (1972); The Challengers (1972); Twins of Evil (1971); Private Road (1971); The Worker (1965–1970); Paul Temple (1970); Take Three Girls (1969); The Avengers (1969); Callan (1969); Omnibus (1969); Hammerhead (1968); The Portrait of a Lady (1968); The Wednesday Play (1965–1967); Who Is Sylvia? (1967); Vendetta (1966); Breaking Point (1966); Thirty-Minute Theatre (1966); Hereward the Wake (1965); Sergeant Cork (1964); Emergency-Ward 10 (1959–1963); Night of the Eagle (1962); Probation Officer (1961); Design for Murder (1961); ITV Play of the Week (1961); Hand in Hand (1961); Danger Man (1961); Theatre 70 (1960); International Detective (1960); ITV Television Playhouse (1957); Othello (1956); Patrol Car (1955–1956); Secret Venture (1955); Handcuffs, London (1955); Night of the Silvery Moon (1954); Profile (1954); Star of My Night (1954); Young Bess (1953); The Gambler and the Lady (1952); My Death Is a Mockery (1952); I'll Never Forget You (1951); Four Days (1951); Life in Her Hands (1951); Hell Is Sold Out (1951); Scarlet Thread (1951); Tom Brown's Schooldays (1951); Prelude to Fame (1950); The Inheritance (1950); Madness of the Heart (1949); Hour of Glory (1949); Black Narcissus (1947); A Matter of Life and Death (1946); The Silver Fleet (1943); The Young Mr. Pitt (1942); Climbing High (1938).

Born on this day – Rod Taylor:

Rod Taylor

Actor

January 11, 1930 – January 7, 2015

Credits:

22nd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards (2016); 36 Hours (1964); A Gathering of Eagles (1963); A Matter of Wife... and Death (1975); A Time to Die (1982); AFI Life Achievement Award (1973–1979); Alcoa Theatre (1960); All About 'the Birds' (2000); Ask Any Girl (1959); Bearcats! (1971); Biography (1998–2004); Bus Stop (1961); Catalina Island (1966); Cheyenne (1955); Chuka (1967); Colossus and the Amazon Queen (1960); Compression (2016); Cry of the Innocent (1980); Dark of the Sun (1968); Darker Than Amber (1970); Dateline: San Francisco (1962); Dee Time (1968); Disney's Halloween Treat (1984); Do Not Disturb (1965); El lado oscuro (2024); Every Girl's Dream (1966); Falcon Crest (1988–1990); Family Flight (1972); Fate Is the Hunter (1964); General Electric Theater (1957–1960); Giant (1956); Goodyear Theatre (1960); Gottschalk Late Night (1994); Grass Roots (1992); Half Nelson (1985); Hell on Frisco Bay (1955); Hellinger's Law (1981); Here's Hollywood (1961); Hollywood Remembers Lee Marvin (2000); Hong Kong (1960–1961); Hotel (1967); Il barone (1995); IMDb Originals (2019); Inglourious Basterds (2009); Inland with Sturt (1951); Into the Shadows (2009); ITV Television Playhouse (1963); Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy (1981); John Wayne: Working with a Western Legend (2005); Kaw (2006); King of the Coral Sea (1954); Kraft Mystery Theater (1962); Legends (2007); Les Oiseaux Kaléidoscopiques d'Alfred Hitchcock (2017); Lionpower from MGM (1967); Long John Silver's Return to Treasure Island (1954); Lux Playhouse (1958); Lux Video Theatre (1955); Marbella, un golpe de cinco estrellas (1985); Mask of Murder (1988); Masquerade (1983–1984); Murder, She Wrote (1995); Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation! (2008); On the Run (1982); One Chance (1966); One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961); Open Season (1995); Operation Raintree (1957); Outlaws (1986–1987); Pacific Blue (1996); Palomino (1991); Partizani (1976); Playhouse 90 (1958–1959); Raintree County (1957); Robot Head (2023); Rod Taylor: Pulling No Punches (2016); Rod Taylor: Return to Oz (2005); Schlitz Playhouse (1958); Sean O'Casey: The Spirit of Ireland (1965); Separate Tables (1958); Seven Seas to Calais (1962); Special Collector's Edition (2015); Step Down to Terror (1958); Studio 57 (1955); Studio One (1958); Sunday in New York (1963); Suspicion (1957); Tales of the Unexpected (1980); TCM Remembers 2015 / Music Video (2015); Terror in the Aisles (1984); The 18th Annual Golden Globe Awards (1961); The 20th Annual Golden Globe Awards (1963); The 24th Annual TV Week Logie Awards (1982); The 33th Annual Thalians Ball (1988); The 34th Annual Academy Awards (1962); The 67th Primetime Emmy Awards (2015); The Birds (1963); The Catered Affair (1956); The Celluloid Heroes (1995); The Deadly Trackers (1973); The DuPont Show of the Week (1962); The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal (1986); The Glass Bottom Boat (1966); The Hell with Heroes (1968); The Heroes (1973); The High Commissioner (1968); The Last Guerrilla (1974); The Late Show (1986); The Liquidator (1965); The Man Who Had Power Over Women (1970); The Merv Griffin Show (1984); The Movie Show (1997); The Oregon Trail (1976–1978); The Oscars (2015); The Osiris Chronicles (1998); The Picture Show Man (1977); The Point of Betrayal (1995); The Rack (1956); The Time Machine (1960); The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1966); The Train Robbers (1973); The Treasure Seekers (1979); The Twilight Zone (1959); The V.I.P.s (1963); The Virgin Queen (1955); The Wayne Train (1973); This Is Your Life (1975); Time Machine: The Journey Back (1993); Top Gun (1955); Trader Horn (1973); True Fear: The Making of Psycho (2015); US Against the World (1977); Vortex (1976); Walker, Texas Ranger (1996–2000); Welcome to the Basement (2017); Welcome to Woop Woop (1997); Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse (1960); World Without End (1956); Young Cassidy (1965); Zabriskie Point (1970); Zane Grey Theatre (1960).

Born on this day – Mitchell Ryan:

Mitchell Ryan

Actor

January 11, 1934 – March 4, 2022

Born on this day – Linda Lawson:

Linda Lawson

Actress

Singer

January 11, 1936 – May 18, 2022

Credits:

77 Sunset Strip (1959–1960); Adventures in Paradise (1959–1961); Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1960); Another Woman's Husband (2000); Apache Rifles (1964); Arli$$ (1999); Ben Casey (1965); Bonanza (1960–1965); Border Patrol (1959); Colt .45 (1960); Don't Call Me Charlie (1962–1963); Dr. Vegas (2005); ER (2005); Five Fingers (1959); Hawaiian Eye (1960); House of Harrington (2008); It Takes a Thief (1968); Kraft Suspense Theatre (1964); Let's Kill Uncle (1966); Lock Up (1959); M Squad (1960); Magical Mystery Tour (1967); Man with a Camera (1958); Maverick (1959); Mike Hammer (1959); Mr. Lucky (1960); Mrs. Stone's Thing (1970); Night Tide (1961); One Step Beyond (1960); Overland Trail (1960); Perry Mason (1961); Peter Gunn (1958); Please, Hold the Spaghetti!: Apache Rifles and the End of the Conventional Western (2010); Richard Diamond, Private Detective (1956); Saved by the Bell: The New Class (1994); Sea Hunt (1960–1961); Sometimes a Great Notion / aka Never Give a Inch (1971); Stagecoach West (1961); Stu's Show (2023); Sunset Strip (2000); Tales of the Texas Rangers (1958); Tales of Wells Fargo (1960); Target: The Corruptors (1962); TCM Remembers 2022 (2022); That's Life (2000–2001); The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1964–1965); The Aquanauts (1961); The Aquanauts (1961); The Bob Cummings Show (1961); The Millionaire (1959); The Real McCoys (1963); The Rifleman (1961); The Tall Man (1960); The Tenants (2005); The Threat (1960); The Virginian (1966); Tombstone Territory (1960); Wagon Train (1960); Without a Trace (2002).

Born on this day – Christine Kaufmann:

Christine Kaufmann

Actress

Writer

January 11, 1945 – March 28, 2017

On this day in movie history - Four Boys and a Gun (1957)

Four Boys and a Gun

directed by William Berke,

written by Leo Townsend and Philip Yordan,

based on the novel by Willard Wiener,

was released in the United States on January 11, 1957.

Music by Marie Montague and Everett Sutherland.

Cast:

Frank Sutton, Tarry Green, James Franciscus, William Hinnant, Otto Hulett, Robert Dryden, J. Pat O'Malley, Diana Herbert, Patricia Sloan, Nancy Devlin, Patricia Bosworth, David Burns, Anne Seymour, Frank Gero, Ned Glass, Karl Swenson, Lisa Osten, Sid Raymond, George McIver, Frank Campanella, Joseph Campanella, Crahan Denton, Frank Marth, Diana Sands.

On this day in movie history - Dog Day (1984)

Dog Day

directed by Yves Boisset,

written by Jean Vautrin, Michel Audiard and Dominique Roulet,

based on the novel by Jean Vautrin,

was released in France on January 11, 1984.

Music by Francis Lai.

Cast:

Lee Marvin, Miou-Miou, Jean Carmet, Victor Lanoux, David Bennent, Bernadette Lafont, Grace de Capitani, Tina Louise, Muni, Jean-Claude Dreyfus, Juliette Mills, Julien Bukowski, Jean-Roger Milo, Joseph Momo, Henri Guybet, Pierre Clémenti, Jean-Pierre Kalfon, Myriam Pisacane, Inger Ekbom, Lillemour Jonsson, Jean Cherlian, Mohamed Bekhtaoui, Chrystel, Gora Chand Saha.

On this day in music history - The album River of Stars, by 2002 (2000)

River of Stars

by 2002

was released January 11, 2000.

Track list:

River of Stars; Elysian Fields; Stella Maris; First Daughter of the Moon; Starwalkers; Heaven and Earth; Lovers' Bridge; The Dreaming Tree; Tanabata Moon; Rays of Light.