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Cleo
A beautiful and talented black female journalist is an intimate friend of black entertainment and political celebrities during the turbulent civil rights era in the 1950's and 1960's. Her professional and private life takes a quantum leap when she crosses paths with a cynical but equally talented white male publicist. Sparks fly from their first meeting and throughout a stormy passionate affair that survives their independent assignments to foreign countries. The drama of this turning point in history includes contact and comments with Lena Horne, Dorothy Dandridge, Billie Holiday, Brock Peters, James Baldwin, Red Foxx, Tom Bradley, Dorothy Height, Golda Meir, Tefawa Belawa, and other civil rights pioneers.
240 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2011
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About the author
William Karl Thomas
14 booksWilliam Karl Thomas was born 1/25/33 in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, a small Gulf Coast town in which Tennessee Williams lived and wrote about in his works. In 1951 Thomas married his former high school teacher and, after a four year childless marriage, was divorced.
His checkered background, before ending up on the West Coast, began in 1951- 1952 as a nightclub pianist in New Orlean's French Quarter, included in 1952-1953 being a map draftsman at the Army Map Service in Washington, D.C., in 1953-1954 serving a year of combat in Korea while in the U.S. Air Force, and in 1954-1957 finishing his 4 years in the Air Force while serving in El Paso, Texas; Cheyenne, Wyoming; and Oxford, England.
His screen writing collaboration with Frank Ray Perelli began in New Orleans in 1951 and led them through Juarez, Mexico in 1956, to the West Coast where Perelli had begun to manage the then unknown Lenny Bruce in 1956. Bruce admired Thomas's multi-talents which led to collaborating in a variety of capacities including comedy writing, screen writing, album cover photos, cinematography, theatrical booking, publicity, and more in a collaboration that lasted ten years until Bruces' death in 1966, as chronicaled in Thomas' memoir, "Lenny Bruce: The Making of a Prophet."
Thomas spent twenty years mostly in Hollywood as a screen writer, cinematographer, industrial film producer, photographer, journalist, and public relations executive. His work in these fields led him on extended six month periods in Tucson, Arizona; New Orleans, Louisiana, and Jamaica, West Indies.
In addition to ghost writing screenplays and biographies for producers and celebrities, Thomas' publishing career under his own name began with his move to Tucson, Arizona, in 1978. His first book is a memoir of his ten year collaboration with the most controversial comedian of the twentieth century titled "Lenny Bruce: The Making of a Prophet," and was published in its first edition by Archon, its second edition by Media Maestro, and its Japanese edition by DHC Corporation of Tokyo. His second book is a memoir of his childhood in a Gulf Coast town in which Tennessee Williams lived and wrote about, and was where Hurricane Katrina made landfall in 2005, and is titled "The Genteel Poor," and was published by Seaboard Press. His third book is a novel based on his wartime experiences in Korea titled "The Josan And The Jee," and was published by Infinity Publishers. His fourth book, "Cleo," also published by Infinity, is based on his media experiences in Los Angeles during the turbulent civil rights era of the 1950's and 1960's. His fifth book is a biography of a charismatic woman and her inspiring life as a polio survivor titled "A Place For Us." His sixth book is an anthology of 12 short stories titled "Hollywood Tales From The Outer Fringe."
All of Thomnas' books are available in both print and ebook editions. Check his website for ISBN numbers and ordering autographed copies.
William Karl Thomas currently lives in Tucson, Arizona, where he occasionally teaches writing and film production at a local community college, and continues work on a variety of book, film, and media projects.
His checkered background, before ending up on the West Coast, began in 1951- 1952 as a nightclub pianist in New Orlean's French Quarter, included in 1952-1953 being a map draftsman at the Army Map Service in Washington, D.C., in 1953-1954 serving a year of combat in Korea while in the U.S. Air Force, and in 1954-1957 finishing his 4 years in the Air Force while serving in El Paso, Texas; Cheyenne, Wyoming; and Oxford, England.
His screen writing collaboration with Frank Ray Perelli began in New Orleans in 1951 and led them through Juarez, Mexico in 1956, to the West Coast where Perelli had begun to manage the then unknown Lenny Bruce in 1956. Bruce admired Thomas's multi-talents which led to collaborating in a variety of capacities including comedy writing, screen writing, album cover photos, cinematography, theatrical booking, publicity, and more in a collaboration that lasted ten years until Bruces' death in 1966, as chronicaled in Thomas' memoir, "Lenny Bruce: The Making of a Prophet."
Thomas spent twenty years mostly in Hollywood as a screen writer, cinematographer, industrial film producer, photographer, journalist, and public relations executive. His work in these fields led him on extended six month periods in Tucson, Arizona; New Orleans, Louisiana, and Jamaica, West Indies.
In addition to ghost writing screenplays and biographies for producers and celebrities, Thomas' publishing career under his own name began with his move to Tucson, Arizona, in 1978. His first book is a memoir of his ten year collaboration with the most controversial comedian of the twentieth century titled "Lenny Bruce: The Making of a Prophet," and was published in its first edition by Archon, its second edition by Media Maestro, and its Japanese edition by DHC Corporation of Tokyo. His second book is a memoir of his childhood in a Gulf Coast town in which Tennessee Williams lived and wrote about, and was where Hurricane Katrina made landfall in 2005, and is titled "The Genteel Poor," and was published by Seaboard Press. His third book is a novel based on his wartime experiences in Korea titled "The Josan And The Jee," and was published by Infinity Publishers. His fourth book, "Cleo," also published by Infinity, is based on his media experiences in Los Angeles during the turbulent civil rights era of the 1950's and 1960's. His fifth book is a biography of a charismatic woman and her inspiring life as a polio survivor titled "A Place For Us." His sixth book is an anthology of 12 short stories titled "Hollywood Tales From The Outer Fringe."
All of Thomnas' books are available in both print and ebook editions. Check his website for ISBN numbers and ordering autographed copies.
William Karl Thomas currently lives in Tucson, Arizona, where he occasionally teaches writing and film production at a local community college, and continues work on a variety of book, film, and media projects.
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