When you hear the name Jack Haley most people think of the Tin Man in the wonderful movie The Wizard of Oz. And while Haley’s excellent performance in this movie classic is legendary, it is but one role of many that he performed during a very successful and rewarding life.

My initial reason to read Haley’s autobiography was to learn more about my favourite movie and, arguably, the best movie of all time, The Wizard of Oz. While Heart of the Tin Man contains less information than I would have liked pertaining to Haley’s experience’s and observations regarding this incredible movie, the book itself does not disappoint. Haley’s wonderful writing, candid comments and insightful observations on people, places and things makes for a very entertaining and educational read. He successfully captures and shares with his readers a part of history - particularly as it applies to the entertainment industry in the 20th century.

Jack Haley was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1897. Six months later his father, a sea captain, died when his ship sank in a storm off of the coast of Nova Scotia. When he was five years old, Haley attended a Christmas show with his mother and older brother. During this show Haley heard the applause and laughter and he knew that these were for him.

While Haley worked at a variety of jobs, including an electrician’s helper and a "song plugger," his heart was set on becoming an actor/entertainer. His dreams were realized when he signed on for the act the Soda Fountain Girls. Later Haley would hone his skills and meet his lifelong friend Bert Lahr in Folly Town. Not long after that Haley teamed with Charlie Crafts to play the Palace - a place Haley describes as the "…vaudeville hall of fame."

Haley’s steady rise in vaudeville continued to motion pictures when Follow Thru, a Broadway musical that opened in 1929 became a movie. According to Haley, "Follow Thru vaulted me to star status, and then appearing in the same role, in my first Hollywood talking picture secured it."

Throughout Heart of the Tin Man, Haley recounts numerous entertaining and humourous accounts of friends such as Tommy Dugan and Ed Sullivan. Sections on John Barrymore, Shirley Temple and Jackie Gleason provide excellent insight into these famous performers.

Part I of the book is Haley’s "Early Memoirs." Part II is "The Wizard of Oz," Part III "Later Memoirs," Part IV "Poems, Thoughts and Prayers" and Part V "Diary of 1978-1979." The section on "Poems, Thoughts and Prayers" contains many wise observations about life. One of Haley’s astute beliefs under the heading "Haley’s Hearty Thoughts" is "If I had a choice of being rich since childhood, or being poor before attaining wealth, I would elect impoverishment first. Poverty during youth teaches a lesson in economics never to be learned at Harvard."

Another of Haley’s insightful reflections on life is his poem "Protect This World,"

This world is more important
than the people in it.
It’s been here for eons,
we for but a minute.
Protect the environment
Remember, you’re a guest.
You will not be invited back,
if you foul the nest.

In the last section of the book, "Diary of 1978-1979," Haley wrote the following in his diary on February 22, 1978,

"…Typed a few pages of my book today, cleaning it up. I was pleased with it. My only trepidation is that the material may not be interesting. I have tried to present what I think and remember as simply and honestly as I could. But is it exciting enough for publication? Maybe there are some people left who do not need to be titillated with every page they read, but will respond to history presented with a personal slant."

Haley’s modest journal entry need not have worried the Tin Man as his writings are well worth reading. They provide an informative and entertaining look at life during the 1900s in general and Jack Haley and the entertainment industry in particular. Haley’s writings are often humourous, thought provoking and wise. More than 70 photographs complement Haley’s book. Heart of the Tin Man is a wonderful read.

On June 6, 1979 Jack Haley died. In August 2000 a first printing of 5,000 copies (a collector’s limited edition) of Heart of the Tin Man was published by tinmanonline.com.  www.tinmanonline.com is the official web site of Jack Haley and it is where you go to get a copy of Heart of the Tin Man.

The careers of Jim Wight and his father, Alf Wight (aka James Herriot) are similar in many ways.  Both men qualified from the Glasgow Veterinary College, both worked at the practice of Sinclair and Wight in Thirsk, England (Skeldale House in Herriot’s books) and both wrote their first books when they were in their 50s - Alf at the age of 53 and Jim at 56.

The Real James Herriot took Jim Wight approximately 2 ½ years to complete - a year of research and 18 months to write the authorized biography of his father. Jim Wight is immensely qualified to write about his father. Not only did he spend considerable time with him while he was growing up, but he also worked alongside him for more than 20 years at the practice in Thirsk - and he knew the people his father wrote about. This, combined with the fact that Jim had access to family letters, Alf’s unpublished works and lots of stories recalled from relatives and friends and there is little doubt that Jim Wight was the right person to write his father’s biography.

Before he set out writing his book, Jim Wight re-read his father’s books to "…pick up some tips from the master,…" He learned very well from his father’s books as The Real James Herriot is written in an easy to read style and is not only very informative, but entertaining as well with lots of interesting anecdotes and information pertaining to some of the characters written about in Herriot’s books. Quoting from Alf Wight’s diaries, family letters and unpublished works not only provides considerable insight into his father’s life, but makes for some fascinating reading as well.

All too often the phrase "a must read" is thrown around by people who review books. The Real James Herriot is a very good biography about a very interesting man - and certainly "a must read" for Herriot fans.

I asked Jim Wight what writing his father’s biography meant to him and what he wanted to accomplish. His response was:

"My father felt privileged to have spent his life among such a host of fascinating, amusing and interesting people. So much so that he felt compelled, from an early age, to preserve such people in print. This of course he did more brilliantly and successfully than anyone could have ever imagined.

"I too feel privileged to have had a father such as he. I am pleased to have preserved, in print, the life of a man who, himself, was humourous, fascinating and interesting. His many fans imagined him to be one of life’s gentlemen. My number one aim in writing this book was to tell his fans they were right."

Alf Wight was a modest man who didn’t want a biography written about himself. He did say, however, that if one was to be written that his son should write it. Jim Wight followed in his father’s footsteps by becoming a veterinarian, he has also followed in his footsteps by becoming a gifted author. I’m sure that Alf Wight would have been very proud of this book.

The Real James Herriot: The Authorized Biography, Jim Wight’s excellent biography of his father Alf Wight, commonly known as James Herriot, is available as an audio book (Audio Renaissance.) Read by Christopher Timothy, who played James Herriot in the popular BBC television series All Creatures Great and Small, this abridged version of the book provides approximately 3 hours of entertaining information about the world’s most beloved veterinarian.

Before reading Notes on a Cowardly Lion: The Biography of Bert Lahr my knowledge of Bert Lahr was limited to his incredible performance as the Cowardly Lion in the classic film The Wizard of Oz. So when the University of California Press republished John Lahr’s biography of his father in 2000, I was eager to read it. Originally published in 1969, this latest edition includes an informative and poignant new Preface by the author.

After a less than happy childhood, Bert Lahr (original name Irving Lahrheim) joined an act called The Seven Frolics in 1910 at the age of 15. In becoming an entertainer Lahr had found his calling. During the six months after leaving school Lahr had, and lost, 15 jobs! However, as a comedian and actor Lahr excelled. Along with his vaudville partner and first wife, Mercedes Delpino, Lahr made a successful transition from burlesque to vaudeville.

“Despite their problems, in less than a year Lahr and Mercedes vaulted into the vaudeville limelight. By June of 1925 they were listed among the Keith-Albee All-Star acts. When they played the Palace in New York, the supreme test for every vaudeville performer, the critics knew that the act had found its pace and maturity. Lahr played the Palace for five hundred dollars a week; five years later he played it three times in one year for five thousand dollars a performance.” (pages 78, 79)

In 1928 Lahr signed a five year contract with Vinton Freedley and Alexander Aarons who were successful musical comedy producers on Broadway. Unfortunately, Lahr’s wife was not well and, in 1930, she was committed to a sanitarium. Lahr married Mildred Schroeder in 1940.

Besides burlesque, vaudeville and Broadway, Lahr’s acting career included radio, television and movies. John Lahr provides considerable information and insight into his father’s professional career. While the section pertaining to The Wizard of Oz does not make up a large part of this 395 page book, it is informative including some of the problems that had to be overcome in the making of this wonderful movie.

“There were many outrageous problems: a flying witch, bolts of fire, simulated tornadoes. How do you get a rusted Tin Woodsman off his mound of earth on to the road for a dance? How will the Cowardly Lion wag the tail of his one hundred-pound lion suit? How do you teach 350 Munchkins to sing ‘We Welcome You to Munchkin Land,’ when only a third of them speak English?” (page 193)

Relying on his father’s memories and those of people who worked with the exceptional actor, John Lahr has written an excellent biography of Bert Lahr. Lahr doesn’t try to hide his father’s faults and shortcomings, quite the opposite in fact. And, being Bert Lahr’s son, John Lahr has information and insight into his father’s life that would only be available to family members. The result is a detailed, interesting and entertaining account of his father’s life – particularly as it pertains to the craft that his father did so skillfully. More than 60 photographs complement the text.

But you don’t have to take my word for it. The following is what Jack Haley, Bert Lahr’s friend and fellow actor in The Wizard of Oz, says in his autobiography The Heart of the Tin Man about John Lahr’s book.

“How can I objectively review a book whose author is my godson, and when the subject of the biography a close friend for over forty-five years? One reason I can get away with applauding this book is the praise it has already received by so many fans and critics. John Lahr's Notes on a Cowardly Lion has been so well received, I need only point to those reviews and say ‘ditto.’ 

“...In writing Notes on a Cowardly Lion, John Lahr set aside filial love in favor of the truth. He lays bare his father’s trespasses and brings us a tragic story of a man who feasted his audiences nightly with laughter, but could never bring a sample home for his wife and children.

“While I read that book, somewhere, Bert Lahr was saying , “Well...that ain’t exactly how it was, it was funnier than that! John’s a kid, he don’t know. How could he? It was funnier than that, I tell ya, it was mmuuuuch FUN-UN-UN-UN-iii-eeerrrr!”

Shadows and Light: Joni Mitchell – The Definitive Biography takes an interesting and entertaining look at Joni Mitchell – particularly her music and, to a lesser extent, her art. Having several Joni Mitchell CDs I was interested to learn about her songs and albums and Karen O’Brien spends much of her 344 page book providing considerable information about Mitchell’s 21 albums –  from “Joni Mitchell/Song to a Seagull” in 1968 to “Both Sides Now” in 2000.

O’Brien covers Mitchell’s relationship with such people as Graham Nash, David Crosby and James Taylor. Mitchell’s Laural Canyon house, which she shared with Graham Nash in the late 1960s, provided the inspiration for Nash’s song “Our House”. A couple of other interesting people in Mitchell’s life who O’Brien wrote about were Charles Mingus, a jazz bassist and composer, whom Mitchell collaborated with in the late 1970s, and artist Georgia O’Keeffe.

While there is not much information provided about Mitchell outside of her music and art, O’Brien does give a glimpse of Mitchell’s childhood (she was born on November 7, 1943 in Fort Macleod, Saskatchewan and, at the age of 9 got polio) as well as other aspects of her life including giving her daughter up for adoption and being reunited with her more than 30 years later.

Joni Mitchell fans will enjoy this informative book about the career of this great singer/song writer.

The Lord of the Rings is arguably the best book ever written. It certainly ranks up there with the best. Its creator was John Ronald Reuel Tolkien who was commonly known as J.R.R. Tolkien.

J.R.R.Tolkien: The Man Who Created The Lord of the Rings is a biography of this great author and professor by Michael Coren. Although short in length at 136 pages, this biography contains considerable information and photographs about Tolkien.

J. R.R. Tolkien was born in South Africa and raised in England. Unfortunately he and his brother were orphaned at an early age. Tolkien’s interest in languages and literature, which he excelled at, led him to the University of Oxford where he was a professor from 1925 until he retired in 1959 at the age of 67.

Besides Tolkien’s life as an Oxford professor, Coren also provides considerable information about Tolkien’s childhood, wife Edith and their four children as well as his books – most notably The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

J.R.R. Tolkien: The Man Who Created The Lord of the Rings is an informative and entertaining book about an interesting man who, quite possibly, is the greatest author of all time!