The Black Dahlia murder hit post-War Los Angeles like a bombshell . . . an impenetrable mystery—the haunting crown jewel of LAPD's "unsolved" murders. Even before her savage death, beautiful 22-year-old Elizabeth Short, an aspiring starlet and nightclub habitué, was known as the Black Dahlia—now a magnetic icon in American pop culture, an almost mythical symbol of noir Hollywood. In this expanded edition, John Gilmore plumbs the dark core of this terrifying story that he argues can never b...

Live Fast, Die Young: Rembering the Short Life of James Dean is a first — revealing James Dean from the inside out by someone who knew him intimately, in more ways than one. John Gilmore hung out with Dean during the early days in New York, and again in Hollywood when Dean starred in his first movie, East of Eden. They pounded the pavements of Broadway together, raced motorcycles, had sex with the same women (and compared notes), experimented with gay sex, and tried to make love to another...

Acclaimed writer and former actor John Gilmore details his experiences with the most celebrated movie star of the 20th century—Marilyn Monroe. From Hollywood to New York and back, spanning over a decade, Monroe's role in Gilmore's life climaxed when they were about to star in a movie together before tragedy struck in Marilyn's life. This haunting, highly personal memoir reveals a treasure-trove of facets of Marilyn's life previously unknown: an unloved, lonely and desperate goddess, ricoch...

"Storm Warriors; or, Life-Boat Work on the Goodwin Sands" by John Gilmore is a gripping narrative that delves into the perilous life-saving efforts of the brave men who manned the lifeboats along the treacherous Goodwin Sands. The book vividly portrays the harrowing rescues undertaken during fierce storms, highlighting the courage and selflessness of the lifeboat crews. Gilmore's storytelling captures the essence of maritime heroism, as he recounts real-life incidents that showcase the dan...

Legendary noir author John Gilmore takes the reader on a mad, tumultuous all-night drive without remorse or pity, through the high and low life of Hollywood and the City of Angels. This is the true-crime capstone to a celebrated collection of works, a blood-and-semen-soaked noir trail of all-night diners, nightclubs and cheap motels. Gilmore delivers a relentless panorama of sex, violence and death in five raw chronicles of SoCal sickness: • Porn legend John Holmes and untouchable LA crime...

Decades in the making, On the Run with Bonnie & Clyde is a fast moving, gut-wrenching, highly original exploration by author Gilmore into the lives and death of the "star-crossed lovers," Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, undying icons of American crime. Breaking away from the usual police-blotter procedurals, this new work delves into the personalities and nature of these notorious outlaws. In his unique and uncompromising style, Gilmore places the reader squarely inside a succession of sto...

A powerful chronicler of the American Nightmare through his gripping examinations of near-mythic Southern California murders (the Black Dahlia, Tate-La Bianca), John Gilmore now draws upon his personal experiences to turn his sights on our morbid obsession with Celebrity and the ruinous price it extracts from those who would pursue it. With caustic clarity and 20/20 hindsight, Gilmore unstintingly recounts his relationships with the likes of Janis Joplin, Jack Nicholson, Dennis Hopper, Jan...

This book discusses the origins of the boom, the impact of the issues raised by boom growth in sweetwater county, Wyoming, as well as the strategies for the management of boom town growth.

For centuries, a 10-mile-long sandbank off the coast of Kent, England posed a perilous and often fatal threat to sailors, causing thousands of shipwrecks and untold numbers of fatalities. In the early 1800s, however, a number of forward-thinking inventors began to dabble with the idea of a "lifeboat" -- an unsinkable rescue vessel designed to save the survivors of shipwrecks. This fascinating volume of maritime history recounts early rescue efforts in the region of the Goodwin Sands.

Storm WarriorsOr Life-Boat WorkOn the Goodwin SandsByJohn Gilmore

Following a number of sensationalist biographies of Marilyn Monroe in recent years, this comprehensive, meticulously researched volume brings an important fresh perspective on the many controversies in her life. It is essential reading for anyone interested in Marilyn Monroe and the Golden Age of Hollywood.This new edition of Marilyn Monroe: Private and Undisclosed has been thoroughly revised and expanded to include an additional 60,000 words. It reveals a very different M...

The shocking truth behind the death of an American icon—and the conspiracies that kept it secret for decades—in “the best autopsy of Marilyn Monroe” (Cyril H. Wecht, MD, JD)In her tragically short life, Marilyn Monroe embodied American womanhood, innocence, and lust—both as a Hollywood star and in the shadows of her tormented soul.But when she was found naked and dead on the morning of August 5, 1962, she became the subject of a mystery that has perplexed t...