On Thursday, August 28, 1947, a 30-year-old millionaire named Manuel Laureano Rodriguez— Manolete— and a Miura bull named Islero killed each other. In The Death of Manolete, Barnaby Conrad recounts the extraordinary life and demise of this young bullfighter, from the childhood that made the Spanish boy and the sacrifice that made the man to the girl who brought him love and the acclaim that brought him incredible success. A symbol of Latin pride, valor, and chivalry, Mano...

Writers Like Us is a poignant literary memoir by Barnaby Conrad, who had the good fortune to be mentored by Sinclair Lewis, the first American author to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. In the spring of 1947, the 25 year-old Conrad was living in Santa Barbara, California, when he met Lewis. Conrad was struggling with his first novel, while Lewis, then 62, was in the twilight of his career. While they both had studied at Yale and had the same literary agent, they could not have been more...

For most of us, the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, California, has been a mysterious, almost mythical place where the rich and famous went to be cured. Elizabeth Taylor, Liza Minelli, Tony Curtis, Mary Tyler Moore, and Robert Mitchum are only a few of the Betty Ford Center's celebrated alumni.When writer Barnaby Conrad checked into the Center, he knew that time was running out for him. Now he brings us a riveting personal account of the thirty days that changed—and saved—his l...

On Thursday, August 28, 1947, a 30-year-old millionaire named Manuel Laureano Rodriguez— Manolete—and a Miura bull named Islero killed each other. The Death of Manolete recounts the extraordinary life and demise of this young bullfighter, from the childhood that made the Spanish boy and the sacrifice that made the man to the girl who brought him love and the acclaim that brought him incredible success. A symbol of Latin pride, valor, and chivalry, Manolete fired the Latin...

When El Matador opened in 1958, Bennett Cerf called it "the most attractive room in America." Part saloon, part salon, Barnaby Conrad's nightclub was nestled in the heart of San Francisco's cabaret and nightlife district. On any given night, one might find No├½l Coward, Marilyn Monroe, Truman Capote, Frank Sinatra, Ava Gardner, or Tyrone Power in the club or might hear Duke Ellington, Art Tatum, Eva Gabor, George Shearing, or Andr├® Previn take over the piano.In Name Dropping

Europe, 1945: Hitler is dead; the Third Reich is an open wound. Amid the chaos, a man like no other makes his way south through France and into Spain. No one will stand in his way and live.Only idealistic young Wilson Tripp, American vice consul in the city of Seville, stands to discover the man’s true identity and the stunning threat he poses—that is, if Wilson Tripp can survive.Said Barnaby Conrad, “It is hard to explain how colorful, exciting, and occasi...

It is the morning of Pacote’s last fight, the finale of one of the greatest careers in Spain. The posters are up, the great black bulls are waiting, and a heavy air of expectancy hangs over the city. Pacote, alone in his dressing room, feels the heavy ball of fear pressing against his heart. For he knows that he has been falling off, that he will be unable to face the bulls this day, that he will disgrace himself before the young upstart who is fighting with him and before the crowd that h...