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Concetta Literary Corporation - Connie Francis

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560 pages

English

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The Connie Francis Story is an American story. Born into a blue-collar Italian family at the end of the Great Depression, she went on to unimaginable heights of success. Along this extraordinary journey of her life she experienced the highest of peaks and the deepest of valleys: the stuff of both dreams and nightmares. Through her eyes, readers have a front row seat to many of the greatest public and private moments in American history and popular culture. Conquering wildly-enthusiastic audiences throughout the world, Connie's international celebrity is one unrivaled by any recording artist to this very day. She shares with unusual candor and rare insight the juxtaposition that existed in her personal life. While the love affair with her audience was exhilarating, truly gratifying and omnipresent, fulfilling romantic relationships in her personal life always eluded her...with the exception of her one true love, Bobby Darin a love destroyed by her domineering father, with whom she had a complicated and often troubling relationship. Her willingness to expose the most private aspects of her life with extraordinary honesty and often painful reflection is both startling and courageous. She also experienced an endless series of life-altering tragedies. A horrifying rape, the murder of her beloved brother, Georgie, at the hands of the Mafia, four failed and despairing marriages... All are chronicled with unstinting candor, a deep sense of resentment, and even under the most terrifying and unimaginable set of circumstances, her very rare sense of humor shines through. Few stars have experienced the rollercoaster ride that marked the life of Connie Francis. Fewer still possess the willingness, wit, insight, intellect and disarming self-deprecation to write a book of such unflinching nature. It is truly a joyful, comedic and emotionally disturbing book to read. Far more horrifying than any best-selling writer of fiction would dare to contemplate.

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Publié par	Concetta Literary Corporation
Date de parution	12 décembre 2017
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9780999238929
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	6 Mo

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AMONG MY SOUVENIRS
THE REAL STORY
Vol. 1
AMONG MY SOUVENIRS
THE REAL STORY
Vol. 1
By Connie Francis
AMONG MY SOUVENIRS
The Real Story Vol. 1
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted by any means—whether auditory, graphic, mechanical or electronic—without written permission of both author and publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts used in critical articles and reviews. Unauthorized reproduction of any part of this work is illegal and is punishable by law.
Certificate of Registration: TXU001718269

PRINTING HISTORY: First published 2017
ISBN: 978-0-9992-3891-2 [hc]
ISBN: 978-0-9992-3890-5 [sc]
ISBN: 978-0-9992-3892-9 [e]
© Connie Francis 2017
Book Editor: Ron Roberts
Front cover photograph: Bob Lasky
Back cover photograph: Ron Roberts ©2017
Condition of Sale
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of any trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that which it is published and without a similar condition including the condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
Published P2017 by Concetta Literary Corp., a Division of Concetta, Inc., Parkland, Florida.
DEDICATION
I would like to dedicate the first of this multi-volume tome to my father, George Franconero, and the undeniably powerful impact he made on each and every aspect of my life; on every ill-advised, or highly-judicious decision I would ever come to make, on both a professional and personal level.
Without the countless, genius-like lessons my father doggedly instilled in me since early childhood, or his uncanny instinct to select the music he was certain was “just right” for me; without the priceless legacy of gifting me with a “true sense of the people”, or the lofty principles, the indomitable spirit and the unyielding determination that was his alone—and above all else, without his crystal clear vision of the destiny that lay before me, the success I enjoy to this day and all the many shocking and previously-unexposed revelations contained within these pages, this book would never have been possible to write.
While the laudatory words I’ve stated above are accurate to a fault, I would ever-so-gradually become aware that they hardly began to tell even half the true nature of this highly unconventional relationship. Most reluctantly, I would uncover a startling and long-buried truth, one I had subconsciously denied and hidden from the world, but more importantly, from myself. The heart-breaking experience of revealing these irrefutable facts ranks among the most unbearably painful undertakings I’ve ever felt so utterly compelled to do—for my own sanity, if for nothing else.
This closely-knit, idyllic father/daughter collaboration the outside world perceived was, in reality, a total distortion of the truth. It was often highly combustible, exceedingly combative, and one unmistakably borne of my father’s unhealthy, suffocating and unrelenting need to control all aspects of my life, but ironically, one built on an unnatural but mutual co-dependency.
That said, the highly-disturbing journey I traveled in relating this unstintingly candid narrative would inevitably lead me to only one tragic and heart-wrenching conclusion: that while my father was unmistakably the sole and brilliant architect of my unprecedented and, to this day, unparalleled career, he was also the one true source of my greatest personal pain.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
When I began to write this series of books, I had estimated that it would be, at most, a two-or three-year project. I could not have imagined the all-consuming amount of time, research, effort and painful soul-searching it would eventually entail. My main objective in sharing this vast and very personal narrative was the hopeful expectation that it would bring at least a modicum of rapport, consolation and solace to millions around the world who, in one way or another, could relate to the myriad of similar and earth-shattering events that I, myself, have experienced.
I soon realized that I could never accomplish this monumental journey alone. There were countless others whose selfless contributions helped me plow through it all. No amount or degree of words could possibly describe the profound gratitude and respect I’ve always held in my heart for a remarkably brilliant gentleman, Mr. Ron Roberts of the UK who began as an avid fan and whom I now count among my closest of friends as well—a man who selflessly devoted countless hours in the compiling and publishing of the most comprehensive discography ever written on the subject of my inexhaustible catalog of recordings in twelve different languages. Since 1962, his incomparable contributions to my career and to my life have been a truly invaluable gift to me.
I was delighted to receive another welcome gift, presented to me by two other British fans-turned-friends, Ms. Cora Francis and Mr. Eric Beesley. That present? An iPod containing 1,308 of some of my recorded titles, which means that, during the course of writing this book, most of my important recordings were always right there at my fingertips.
A heartfelt debt of appreciation must also go to Miss Vivien Richardson, a lady who has been tantamount to having my very own Library of Congress. She supplied to me countless magazines and newspaper accounts, so many of the happenings that took place during the course of my rollercoaster life.
There is one truly unique source who contributed an astounding amount of information, detail and knowledge, without which this book could never have been written with any degree of the accuracy I insisted upon. That source was Miss Barbara Clarke, an Australian fan, who would go on to become my personal secretary and friend. For more than 33 years, she painstakingly maintained an extremely detailed daily diary of both personal and professional events of my life, dating back to 1958.
It would be remiss of me not to express my sincere gratitude for the very capable assistance and dedication of my niece, Mrs. Arlene Franconero, who not only typed more than one half of the contents in these volumes, but who also invested a great deal of effort and the tedious research that this massive project required.
No amount of words could adequately express my supreme gratitude to the people at Baltimore Net Radio, who in 2010 began broadcasting a weekly worldwide stream program called “A Visit with Connie Francis”. Their names: Diane Linden Thomas and Keith Angstadt. I must give a hardy thank you to Diane and Keith for contributing something quite unique to me; they introduced me to my own music, which is something I hadn’t heard since 1985, primarily because of the lack of digitization of my original MGM albums by the label’s subsequent owners, PolyGram and Universal.
I also need to extend my sincere thanks to all of my fans who guest-hosted the show from the start, and who provided the inexhaustible amount of information to the program—fans like Gabe Temesvari, of Deerfield, MA; Günter Hein of Germany; Guy Consterdine of England; Jean Cannizzaro of Delray Beach, FL; Ken Slavin from San Antonio, TX and Marcia Friedlander of Baltimore, MD. And one of my dearest of friends, Jack McDermott. I will hold each of you in my hearts forever.
I count among my cherished and most trusted of friends, a one-time fan, Mrs. Fran Martinez, who has selflessly devoted weeks, months and years to both my professional and personal life, not to mention the immense role she played in the composition of this book.
I also owe an enormous degree of gratitude to fans like Denise Larin of Quebec, Canada who overwhelmed me by providing restored copies of almost every fan magazine and newspaper article written about me since 1958. All in pristine condition, and superior in quality to the original printed copies, many contained excerpts from my personal diaries, giving me tremendous insight into who Connie Francis really was from the very beginning.
During the six-year writing of this book, I was also heavily involved in a great number of other activities, including concert appearances, benefits, unceasing efforts on behalf of victims of violent crime, my deep involvement with the plight of our nation’s neglected veterans of war and also my efforts on behalf of the mentally ill, none of whom seem to have had a voice of any consequence to speak out for them. Five years ago, my life came full circle when I was named the National Spokesperson for the trauma campaign of Mental Health America.
I doubt that there exists another celebrity who has enjoyed the overwhelming degree of devotion and loyalty of their fans as I have. Their unwavering support and friendship have never failed me. For more than six decades, the heartwarming support they’ve offered me has been a very humbling and life preserving experience for me.
Even during some of the darkest periods of my life—for instance, during my eight torturous years of involuntary commitment to mental institutions—all I needed to do to find the necessary inspiration I needed, and the solace and peace of mind we all need, was to plow through the hundreds upon hundreds of prayers and letters of inspiration that were sent to me from concerned fans from every corner of the globe.
I received one such letter in December of 1985; it arrived at one of the most inhumane mental hospitals I had ever been committed to—The Larkin General Hospital in Miami, FL. The envelope, posted from Milan, Italy, merely read, “To Miss Connie Francis/Somewhere in America”, and it contained an unforgettably heart-wrenching letter in Italian, one that I treasure to this very day.
The kindness and loyalty of these fans has made me realize something of vital significance: that a friend is someone who walks in when all the others walk out. And so, to my global family of fans and friends, I wish to deeply express a heartfelt “thank