Stephen King, on books:

 

Books are a uniquely portable magic.
- Stephen King.

Recommended reading - Sleeping Beauty

 

Sleeping Beauty

by Ross Macdonald.

Published by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.
First published 1973.
Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0375708669
ISBN-13: 978-0375708664
 
Description:

# 17 of the Lew Archer Series.

"Ross Macdonald is either part or wholly wizard. . .conjuring the magic of real mystery. . . . A masterpiece." – Chicago Tribune Book World.

"Sleeping Beauty is particularly complex and satisfactory. . . . It is a marvelous formula that Macdonald has found; the wonder is that he keeps improving it." – Newsweek.

"Ross Macdonald remains the grandmaster, taking the crime novel to new heights by imbuing it with psychological resonance, complexity of story, and richness of style that remain inspiring." – Jonathan Kellerman.

In Sleeping Beauty, Lew Archer finds himself the confidant of a wealthy, violent family with a load of trouble on their hands – including an oil spill, a missing girl, a lethal dose of Nembutal, a six-figure ransom, and a stranger afloat, face down, off a private beach. Here is Ross Macdonald's masterful tale of buried memories, the consequences of arrogance, and the anguished relations between parents and their children. Riveting, gritty, tautly written, Sleeping Beauty is crime fiction at its best.

If any writer can be said to have inherited the mantle of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler, it is Ross Macdonald. Between the late 1940s and his death in 1983, he gave the American crime novel a psychological depth and moral complexity that his pre-decessors had only hinted at. And in the character of Lew Archer, Macdonald redefined the private eye as a roving conscience who walks the treacherous frontier between criminal guilt and human sin.

Born on this day – Gloria Swanson:

 

Gloria Swanson

Actress

Producer

March 27, 1899 – April 4, 1983

Credits:

A Dash of Courage (1916); A Social Cub (1916); A Society Scandal (1924); Airport 1975 (1974); At the End of a Perfect Day (1915); Baseball Madness (1917); Ben Casey (1965); Beyond the Rocks (1922); Bluebeard's 8th Wife (1923); Burke's Law (1963–1964); Dear Miss Gloria (1946); Don't Change Your Husband (1919); Don't Tell Everything (1921); Dr. Kildare (1963); Everywoman's Husband (1918); Father Takes a Wife (1941); Fine Manners (1926); For Better, for Worse (1919); Haystacks and Steeples (1916); Hearts and Sparks (1916); Her Decision (1918); Her Gilded Cage (1922); Her Husband's Trademark (1922); Her Love Story (1924); His New Job (1915); Hollywood (1923); Hollywood Opening Night (1953); Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1920s: The Dawn of the Hollywood Musical (2008); Indiscreet (1931); Killer Bees (1974); Kraft Suspense Theatre (1964); Madame Sans-Gêne (1925); Male and Female (1919); Manhandled (1924); Music in the Air (1934); My American Wife (1922); My Three Sons (1965); Nero's Mistress (1956); Perfect Understanding (1933); Prodigal Daughters (1923); Queen Kelly (1932); Sadie Thompson (1928); Shifting Sands (1918); Society for Sale (1918); Something to Think About (1920); Stage Struck (1925); Station Content (1918); Straightaway (1961); Sunset Blvd. (1950); Sunshine (1916); Sweedie Goes to College (1915); Teddy at the Throttle (1917); The Affairs of Anatol (1921); The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1964); The Ambition of the Baron (1915); The Beverly Hillbillies (1966); The Broken Pledge (1915); The Coast of Folly (1925); The Danger Girl (1916); The Fable of Elvira and Farina and the Meal Ticket (1915); The Fable of the Club Girls and the Four Times Veteran (1914); The Fable of the Syndicate Lover (1915); The Great Moment (1921); The Great Sex War (1969); The Humming Bird (1924); The Impossible Mrs. Bellew (1922); The Love of Sunya (1927); The Misjudged Mr. Hartley (1915); The Nick of Time Baby (1916); The Pullman Bride (1917); The Romance of an American Duchess (1915); The Secret Code (1918); The Sultan's Wife (1917); The Trespasser (1929); The Untamed Lady (1926); Three for Bedroom C (1952); Tonight or Never (1931); Under the Lash (1921); Wages of Virtue (1924); What a Widow! (1930); Whose Baby? (1917); Why Change Your Wife? (1920); Wife or Country (1918); You Can't Believe Everything (1918); Zaza (1923).

Born on this day – Betty Balfour:

Betty Balfour

Actress

March 27, 1902 – November 4, 1977

Credits:

The Facts of Love (1945); Eliza Comes to Stay (1936); Born for Glory (1935); Squibs (1935); My Old Dutch (1934); Evergreen (1934); The Brat (1930); Raise the Roof (1930); The Vagabond Queen (1929); Bright Eyes (1929); Die Regimentstochter (1929); Paradise (1928); Champagne (1928); Skirts (1928); Croquette (1927); The Devil in the Heart (1927); A Sister of Six (1926); The Cabaret Kid (1926); Blinkeyes (1926); La petite bonne du palace (1926); Monte Carlo (1925); Somebody's Darling (1925); Satan's Sister (1925); Réveille (1924); Squibs' Honeymoon (1923); Squibs M.P. (1923); Love, Life and Laughter (1923); Squibs Wins the Calcutta Sweep (1922); Wee MacGregor's Sweetheart (1922); Me and My Girl (1922); Squibs (1921); Mary-Find-the-Gold (1921); Nothing Else Matters (1920).

Born on this day – Leroy Carr:

Leroy Carr

Blues singer

Songwriter

Pianist

March 27, 1904 – April 29, 1935

Credits:

Albums:

(1930-1958) Remaining Titles & Alternate Takes (1989); A City Man (2015); A Summer Sky Shines (2015); ABC Of The Blues Vol 7 (2010); American Blues Legend (2006); Another Side of Leroy Carr (2023); Bad Liquor Blues (2020); Blues Before Sunrise (1960); Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order, Volume 4: 1932–1934 (1992); Florida (2018); Hard Time Blues (2006); Hurry Down Sunshine (1995); I Keep the Blues (2018); It's Just a Rag! The Mighty Piano of Leroy Carr (2020); Leroy Carr Maestro (2015); Leroy Carr Sings Vintage Blues (2013); Leroy Carr Vol. 1 (1928-1929) (2005); Leroy Carr Vol. 2 (1929-1930) (2005); Leroy Carr Vol. 3 (1930-1932) (2005); Leroy Carr Vol. 4 (1932-1934) (2005); Leroy Carr Vol. 5 (1934) (2005); Leroy Carr Vol. 6 (1934-1935) (2005); Let's Spend an Evening with Leroy Carr (2020); Midnight Hour Blues (2021); Mr. Scrapper's Blues (1962); Naptown Blues 1929-1934 (1983); Presenting Leroy Carr (1928); Prison Bound Blues (2004); Rocks In My Bed (2016); Tennessee Bluesman (2020); The Blues Collective -Leroy Carr and Scrapper Blackwell (2023); The Blues of Leroy Carr 2011); The Essential (2002); The Essential Leroy Carr (2014); The Piano Blues 1930-1935 (2014); The Piano Blues Vol. 2: 1929-1935 (2014); Tonight in Time (2015); Volume 1: "How Long Has That Evening Train Been Gone", CD A (2008); Volume 1: "How Long Has That Evening Train Been Gone", CD B (2008); Volume 1: "How Long Has That Evening Train Been Gone", CD C (2008); Volume 1: "How Long Has That Evening Train Been Gone", CD D (2008); When The Sun Goes Down 1934-1941 (2011); Whiskey Is My Habit, Good Women Is All I Crave: The Best Of Leroy Carr (2004).

Songs:

Alabama Women Blues; Barrel House Woman; Blues Before Sunrise; Christmas in Jail - Ain't That a Pain; Don't Start No Stuff; E Blues; Four Day Rider; George Street Blues; Goin' Where the Monon Crosses the Yellow Dog; How Long - How Long Blues; How Long Has That Evening Train Been Gone; Kokomo Blues; Let's Disagree; Little Boy Blue; Low Down Dog Blues; Mean Mistreater Mama No. 2; Midnight Hour Blues; My Own Lonesome Blues; Naptown Blues; Papa's on the House Top; Penal Farm Blues; Prison Bound Blues; Shady Lane; Six Cold Feet in the Ground; Six Cold Feet of Ground; Sloppy Drunk Blues; Straight Alky Blues, Pt. 1; Straight Alky Blues, Pt. 2; Suicide Blues; That's All Right for You; Trouble Blues, Part 2; When the Sun Goes Down.

Born on this day – Robert Lockwood Jr.:

Robert Lockwood Jr.

Blues guitarist

March 27, 1915 – November 21, 2006

Credits:

Albums:

Angel Child: Robert Lockwood Jr. Live in Concert (2012); Black Spider Blues (2015); Blues Elite: Best Of Robert Lockwood Jr. (Live) (2015); Blues Live in Japan! (1976); Blues Nights (2012); Contrasts (1993); Delta Crossroads (2000); Electric Blues: Robert Lockwood Jr. In Concert (2012); I Got to Find Me a Woman (1998); Johnny Shines & Robert Lockwood (1980); Just the Blues (1999); Last of the Great Mississippi Delta Bluesmen: Live in Dallas (2007); Little Boy Blue (2024); Mississippi Blues (1935-1951) (2022); Mississippi Blues Vol. 4 (2007); Presenting Robert Lockwood, Jr. (1938); Ramblin' On My Mind (1982); Ramblin' On My Mind (Blues Reference) [recorded in France 1982] (1982); Robert Jr. Lockwood does 12 (1996); Robert Jr. Lockwood plays Robert and Robert (1982); Robert Lockwood Jr., Live 1984 New Orleans (2015); Steady Rollin' Man (1973); Sweet Home Chicago (2012); Swings in Tokyo: Live at the Park Tower Blues Festival (1996); Take A Walk With Me (2022); The Blues Of (2004); The Complete Trix Recordings (1999); The Legend Live (2004).

Songs:

Aw Aw Baby; Big Legged Woman; Black Spider Blues; Blues and Trouble; Bring It On Home; C.C. Rider; Can't Stand the Pain; Driving Wheel; Dust My Broom; Everyday I Have The Blues; Exactly Like You; Feel Like Blowing My Horn; Hangin' On; How Long Blues; I'm Gonna Dig Myself A Hole; In The Evening; Keys To The Highway; King Biscuit Time; Little Boy Blue; Little Boy Blues; Little Queen Of Spades; Mean Black Spider; Mean Mistreater Mama; Mean Red Spider; Mr. Down Child; Sweet Home Chicago; Take a Little Walk; Take a Walk with Me; This Little Girl Of Mine; Walkin' Blues; Western Horizon; Worst Old Feeling.

Movies and television:

All Tied Up (1993); American Epic (2017); Blues Like Showers of Rain (1970); Blues Story (2003); Can't You Hear the Wind Howl? The Life & Music of Robert Johnson (1997); Flipping (1996); Forever (2014); Hellhounds on My Trail: The Afterlife of Robert Johnson (2000); Hollywood's Magical Island: Catalina (2003); The Arrival (1996); The Kennedy Center Presents: A Tribute to Muddy Waters: King of the Blues (1998).

Born on this day – Anne Ramsey:

Anne Ramsey

Actress

March 27, 1929 – August 11, 1988

Credits:

Homer and Eddie (1989); Meet the Hollowheads (1989); Scrooged (1988); The River Pirates (1988); Doctor Hackenstein (1988); Another Chance (1988); ALF (1988); The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (1988); The 60th Annual Academy Awards (1988); The New Hollywood Squares (1988); Hour Magazine (1988); The 45th Annual Golden Globe Awards (1988); Throw Momma from the Train (1987); Trying Times (1987); Weeds (1987); Love at Stake (1987); Deadly Friend: Deleted Scenes (1986); Deadly Friend (1986); Say Yes (1986); Knight Rider (1986); Night Court (1985); Hill Street Blues (1985); The Making of 'the Goonies' (1985); The Goonies (1985); Family Ties (1984); The Killers (1984); Murder, She Wrote (1984); Getting Physical (1984); The Seduction of Gina (1984); Manimal (1983); Three's Company (1983); Herndon (1983); I Want to Live (1983); Laverne & Shirley (1979–1982); Class Reunion (1982); Cassie & Co. (1982); Marian Rose White (1982); A Small Killing (1981); Honky Tonk Freeway (1981); The Killing of Randy Webster (1981); Any Which Way You Can (1980); Marilyn: The Untold Story (1980); Cheaper to Keep Her (1980); The Black Marble (1980); White Mama (1980); CHiPs (1979); Blind Ambition (1979); When You Comin' Back, Red Ryder? (1979); Starsky and Hutch (1979); The Gift of Love (1978); ABC Afterschool Specials (1978); Goin' South (1978); Little House on the Prairie (1978); Wonder Woman (1975–1977); Fun with Dick and Jane (1977); The Boy in the Plastic Bubble (1976); Johnny Staccato (1976); Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway (1976); Charlie's Angels (1976); From Noon Till Three (1976); Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (1976); The Law (1974); Columbo (1973–1974); For Pete's Sake (1974); Rhinoceros (1974); The Third Girl from the Left (1973); Banyon (1972); Up the Sandbox (1972); Ironside (1972); The New Centurions (1972); The Bold Ones: The Lawyers (1971); The Sporting Club (1971).

Born on this day – Art Evans:

Art Evans

Actor

March 27, 1942 – December 21, 2024

Credits:

227 (1988); A Different World (1990–1991); A Fond Little Memory (1991); A Hill of Our Own (1996); A House Divided (2019); A Soldier's Story (1984); A Star Without a Star: The Untold Juanita Moore Story (2022); Adventures in Babysitting (1989); After All (1999); Alien Rising (2013); Always Outnumbered (1998); Amazing Grace (1974); American Playhouse (1984); Anderson's Cross (2010); Beauty and the Baller (2017); Between Two Brothers (1982); Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction / Segment: They Towed My Car (1998); Big Time (1977); Bitter Harvest (1993); Boys Klub (2001); Bushwhacked (1995); CB4 (1993); CBS Schoolbreak Special (1993); Chico and the Man (1976); Christine (1983); Church (2010); City of Angels (2000); Class Reunion (1982); Claudine (1974); Deadly Rhapsody (2001); Death Wish (1974); Die Hard 2 (1990); Doogie Howser, M.D. (1990); Downtown (1990); Dream On (1995); Ellen Bond Secret Agent (2018); Enos (1981); Everybody Hates Chris (2007); Family Matters (1994); First Family (1980); Forcin' the Blues (2011); Fright Night (1985); Fun with Dick and Jane (1977); Gas (2004); Handsome Harry's (1985); Hill Street Blues (1981–1984); House Under Siege (2010); I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1979); In the Heat of the Night (1990); Interstate 60 (2002); Into the Night (1985); iSteve (2013); Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling (1986); King (1978); L.A. Heat (1997); Last Man Standing (2011); Leadbelly (1976); Lincoln Heights (2007–2009); Long Time Gone (1986); Love That Girl! (2014); M*A*S*H (1979); Machete Joe (2010); Mad About You (1992); Maximum Security (1984); Metro (1997); Midnight Caller (1991); Minstrel Man (1977); Moe's World (1992); Mom (1990); Monk (2006); Mr. Payback: An Interactive Movie (1995); Murder Was the Case: The Movie / Segment: Natural Born Killaz (1995); Native Son (1986); Never Die Alone (2004); Nine to Five (1986–1988); Orphaned (2018); Performance (2008); Police Woman (1976); Pretend Time (2010); Real Husbands of Hollywood (2022); Revenge of the Nerds (1991); Roc (1994); Roddy McDowall: From Apes to Bats (2016); Roosevelt and Truman (1977); Ruthless People (1986); School Daze (1988); Seduced (1985); Shades of Ray (2008); Sisters (1972); Skag (1980); So Little Time (2001); Some Kind of Miracle (1979); Sonny Listening (2002); Stevie Wonder: Go Home (1985); Tales from the Hood (1995); Testify (2006); The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again (1979); The Boy Who Drank Too Much (1980); The Breaks (1999); The Cheapest Movie Ever Made (2000); The Cracker Factory (1979); The Fall Guy (1983); The Finishing Touch (1992); The Great White Hype (1996); The In-Laws (1979); The Main Event (1979); The Mighty Quinn (1989); The Orphan and the Dude (1975); The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder (2022–2023); The Sarah Silverman Program. (2010); The Script (2002); The Seduction of Gina (1984); The Story of Us (1999); The Watermelon Heist (2003); The X-Files (2000); Trespass (1992); Tuff Turf (1985); Us Against Them (1997); Walker, Texas Ranger (1996); We Are Family (2012); What Is Fright Night? (2016); White of the Eye (1987); World War III (1982); Wrong Is Right (1982); Young Cesar (2007); Youngblood (1978); You're So Cool, Brewster! The Story of Fright Night (2016).

Born on this day – Maria Ewing:

Maria Ewing

Opera singer

Soprano

March 27, 1950 – January 9, 2022

Credits:

Albums:

Carmen (2010); Don Giovanni (1984); From This Moment On (1990); La damoiselle elue; Iberia; Prelude a l'apres-midi d'un faune (1987); Pelléas et Mélisande (1992); Shéhérazade:  Alborada del gracioso; Ma mère l'oye; La valse; L'éventail de Jeanne - Fanfare; La vallée des cloches (1991).

Movies and television:

Carmen (1985–1989); Carmen by Georges Bizet (1991); Cosi fan tutte (1978); Dido and Aeneas (1995); Grâce à la musique (1980); Great Performances (1984–1995); La Périchole (1982); L'incoronazione di Poppea (1984); Salome (1992); The Barber of Seville (1981); The Marriage of Figaro (1976); The Metropolitan Opera Presents (1987); The South Bank Show (1997); Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Requiem (1988).

On this day in television history - M Squad (1959)

 

M Squad
Season 2. Episode 26.

Episode entitled: Ghost Town.

Released March 27, 1959.

Directed by John Brahm.

Written by Jack Laird, Lawrence Resner, John Francis Larkin and Boris Ingster.

Music by Benny Carter.

Cast:
Lee Marvin, Paul Newlan, Alan Marshal, Sally Todd, John Herman Shaner, Maggie McCarter, Charles Herbert, Bill Baldwin, Sid Melton.

On this day in television history - Justified (2012)

 

Justified
Season 3. Episode 11.

Episode entitled: Measures.

Released March 27, 2012.

Directed by John Dahl.

Written by Graham Yost, Benjamin Cavell, Nichelle Tramble Spellman, Ingrid Escajeda, Ryan Farley, Jon Worley.

Based on the short story Fire in the Hole by Elmore Leonard.

Music by Steve Porcaro.
 
Cast:

Timothy Olyphant, Nick Searcy, Joelle Carter, Jacob Pitts, Erica Tazel, Natalie Zea, Walton Goggins, Raymond J. Barry, Jeremy Davies, Jere Burns, Marshall Allman, David Andrews, Adam Arkin, Michael Ironside, David Meunier, Demetrius Grosse, Mickey Jones, Jenn Lyon, Abby Miller, Chris Tardio, Clay Wilcox, Mykelti Williamson, Neal McDonough, McCready Baker, Madeline Blue, Linc Hand, Blake Heron, Janet Hoskins, Jonathan Kowalsky, Jesse Luken.

On this day in music history - 7800° Fahrenheit, by Bon Jovi (1985)

7800° Fahrenheit

by Bon Jovi

was released on March 27, 1985.

Track list:

In and Out of Love; The Price of Love; Only Lonely; King of the Mountain; Silent Night; Tokyo Road; The Hardest Part Is the Night; Always Run to You; To the Fire; Secret Dreams.