Lenny Bruce was the most controversial comedian of the 20th century, and William Karl Thomas was his only writing collaborator, a collaboration that lasted ten years from before Bruce's rise to international fame until the night he died. Together they crafted the milestone comedy material in Bruce's pioneering first three comedy albums, wrote three screenplays too controversial to ever make it to the screen, and fought the good fight for First Amendment Rights in which Bruce's trials have become milestone court cases. Before there was a George Carlin or a Richard Pryor, Lenny Bruce paved the way for a performer to tell the truth about sex, politics, and religion, but he did so at the cost of political, religious, and police harassment, and he did so with his mother, Sally Marr, his manager who was the first to recognize his talents, Frank Ray Perelli, and his collaborator, William Karl Thomas as his only allies who hung in from beginning to end. Thomas' poignant memoir of their story (in the words of The Manchester Guardian) "reads like a Bogart script" and is illustrated by his photography from Bruce's album covers and stills from his cinematography of their film pilots. If you love Hollywood's Golden Era and how creative and courageous minds work, you gotta love this torrid twisted tale of "Lenny Bruce: The Making of a Prophet." In addition to this memoir, Thomas' biographical works include "The Genteel Poor," a childhood memoir of growing up in the Gulf Coast town that Tennessee Williams lived in and wrote about and which Hurricane Katrina almost obliterated in 2005. Also a biography, "A Place For Us," the inspiring story of Wendy Wolf, a polio survivor whose life illustrates the challenges of opportunity and acceptance people with disabilities face and the triumphs and successes this extraordinary woman achieved. Thomas' work spans the high points of the 20th century, even his fiction which is noted for its historical accuracy and includes "The Josan and the Jee," a Korean war novel; "Cleo," a civil rights era novel; The Piano Man, about a colorful collection of entertainers and hedonistic fun lovers in New Orleans French Quarter during the 1950's; and "Hollywood Tales from the Outer Fringe," an anthology of 12 short stories about the little people in 1950's Hollywood who serve the 'A' list celebrities. His latest work, "Immortal," is a science fiction trilogy laid a millennium into the future when three alien archeologists attempt to determine how humanity self destructed themselves and their planet and review the turning points of human evolution and earth's civilizations. Details and excerpts of all his work can be found on Amazon.com and the publisher's website; http: //www.mediamaestro.net/books.htm.
Author Biography:
William 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 was divorced after a four year childless marriage. His checkered background includes being a cocktail pianist in New Orleans French Quarter, serving a year of combat in the Air Force during the Korean War, being a photographer, a journalist, a feature/documentary cinematographer, a screen writer, an industrial film producer, a public relations executive, and a book author. He has worked for and with such notables as Frank Sinatra, the Rat Pack, Lenny Bruce, Shecky Green, Sally Marr, Frank Ray Perelli, Dale Ireland, Basil Bradbury, and others with whom he signed confidentiality agreements. In the course of various assignments, Thomas has lived or worked in Oxford England, Paris France, Japan, Korea, Jamaica, Mexico, Canada, and most of the United States. Thomas' books include a memoir of his ten year collaboration with the most controversial comedian of the twentieth century titled "Lenny Bruce: The Making of a Prophet." His memoir of his childhood in a Gulf Coast town where Hurricane Katrine made landfall in 2005, is titled "The Genteel Poor." His novel based on his wartime experiences in Korea is titled "The Josan And The Jee." His novel, "Cleo," is based on his media experiences in Los Angeles during the turbulent civil rights era of the 1950's and 1960's. His anthology of twelve short stories titled "Hollywood Tales From The Outer Fringe" reveals the relationship that arise between 'A' list celebrities and the armies of little people who work for them. His latest, "A Place For Us," is the biography of a charismatic woman and her inspiring life as a polio survivor. His latest novel, "The Piano Man," is about a colorful collection of hedonists in New Orleans French Quarter during the 1950. His upcoming science fiction trilogy, Immortal, involves three alien archeologists a millennium in the future who try how and why humans self destructed themselves and their planet, in the process reviewing the evolution of humanity and the turn points of human civilization. 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.
