MARILYN & ME by Laurence Schiller - Book Signing

reporter: Miguel Dominguez



Goddess Norma Jean always demanded to have Champagne handy at all of her shoots. So, what better way to celebrate a book signing of two separate book versions about her, than with California Champagne…OK, ‘Sparkling Wine’ to those who choose to be PC in their prosaic way of expressing themselves. But to me, “A rose is still a rose by any other name.”

In this spirit, Taschen Books decided to flood with the bubbles their SoHo store on May 29th, when Author/Photographer Lawrence Schiller was at hand to sign his wonderful, limited edition, boxed picture book of Marilyn & Me: A Memoir in Words & Photographs.

Marilyn & Me: A Memoir in Words & Photographs Author Lawrence Schiller

Schiller was born in 1936 in Brooklyn, and grew up outside of San Diego, California. After attending Pepperdine College in Los Angeles, he worked for Life magazine, Paris Match, The Sunday Times, Time, Newsweek, Stern, and The Saturday Evening Post as a photojournalist. He published his first book, LSD, in 1966. Since then he has published eleven books, including W. Eugene Smith's Minamata and Norman Mailer's Marilyn. He collaborated with Albert Goldman on Ladies and Gentleman, Lenny Bruce and with Norman Mailer on The Executioner's Song and Oswald's Tale. His own books that became national bestsellers and made the New York Times Bestseller list include American Tragedy, Perfect Murder, Perfect Town, Cape May Court House, and Into the Mirror. He has directed seven motion pictures and miniseries for television; The Executioner's Song and Peter the Great won five Emmys. American Tragedy, Perfect Murder, Perfect Town and Into the Mirror were made into television mini-series for CBS. Schiller produced and directed each of the motion pictures listed above.

Lawrence presents his wife and Taschen Editor, Nina Wiener

In 2008, after the death of the writer Norman Mailer, Schiller was named Senior Advisor to the Norman Mailer Estate and is the Managing Director of the Norman Mailer Writers Colony, in Provincetown, MA, which he created with Norris Mailer. Schiller was a close friend of Mailer and collaborator on five of his works, and represents the Norman Mailer Licensing company.

Arts Program Associate at New York State Council of the Arts
Gennaro Pecchia congratulates Lawrence

Artist Bodo Korsig with Artist/Photographer Matuschka
and Socialite-About-Town David Glackin

Jeffrey Wilinson, Director of operations at Kiwi Arts Group with Gennaro Pecchia, Barry Weinbaum,
Louis Canales and Michael Huter, Kiwi Arts Group Publisher

Practically everyone at the event had to leave with one of the event's sponsor
MORENO BHLV Ltd. Ed. sparkling wine gold empties, with Swarovski Crystal logos on their labels.
They make very attractive collectable vases

Taschen's Public Relations Manager Creed Poulson hands Lawrence extra books to sign

Lorae Russo, casually dressed to the nines
and shouldering one of the most elegant
handbags I've seen in a long time

Schiller has been a on air analyst to NBC news, a consultant to Annie Liebovitz Studio and has written for The New Yorker, The Daily Beast and other publications. Marilyn & Me, A Photographer's Memories in words and pictures, Schiller's eleventh book, was recently publihsed by Nan A. Talese, an imprint of Doubleday in a small memoir edition and now by TASCHEN in a deluxe Collectors Edition with 131 color and black and white photographs. An exhibtion of his vintage photographs is being exhibited in France, Beligum, England and New York City.

Lawrence and Nina

To see more photos of this event, click here