As one of the foremost TLB researchers in the world, the Col feels it incumbent upon him to read everything published. Because ya never know. I really enjoyed the Jay Sebring documentary CUTTING TO THE TRUTH by Anthony DiMaria and reviewed it during the pandemic on this very blog. So I came to the new book JAY SEBRING : CUTTING TO THE TRUTH with very positive vibes.Because of poor layout the book is a whopping 547 pages. I popped for the softcover version which was still a whopping $25.00. It's not a self published book but I have never heard of Genius Book Publishing just like they have never heard of layout software or editors. The book is credited to Marshall Terrill and Anthony DiMaria. It's fascinating that DiMaria is second.
Wikipedia credits Terrill as :Marshall Terrill (born December 17, 1963) is an American author and journalist, noted for numerous detailed biographies of Steve McQueen, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Billy Graham, Pete Maravich, and Jay Sebring. When I found this just now it crystallized the problem I had with the book, or one of the two. The book, much more than the movie, is trying to convince us of two things. First, that Jay should be mentioned in the same breath of many of the greats, as in the Wikipedia entry. And also he was a great guy who laid a lot of great looking women.
I've had the privilege of reading a screenplay about Shorty Shea that the great Deb S took part in creating. It is well written, informative and I enjoyed it A LOT- more than some scripts I've read before that got made. Bu the problem is that the most interesting thing that happened to Shorty Shea was that he was murdered by The Family. Don't take that as a slight- if you took my life and made it into a biopic the interest would wane after eight minutes. I'm not that interesting. Neither, I hate to break it to you, are you. That is why the best biopics focus on a period in time not someone's whole life. But a biographical book has to encompass the whole life of the subject. And though there is little doubt that Sebring likely would have had an interesting life, he was murdered in his mid 30s and is remembered, if at all, as a TLB victim.
Yes, he pioneered men's hair styling and that isn't nothing. DiMaria gives him heavy credit for that, but I am not sure that the history reflects this. Because he was good looking, albeit very short, he was able to parlay that into celebrity. Had he lived he was on his way to the fame and wealth the Vidal Sassoon eventually obtained, no doubt. But I mean, let's face it- Sharon Tate was a gorgeous woman, not the best actress. She would be the equivalent of Barbara Feldon today, once beautiful, a few roles, and a nice old lady forgotten for the most part and enjoying life. Sharon is remembered now only for having been slaughtered.
Background : First you should know that in 1985 I was in the USC Library Special collections looking at the clippings file on both Sharon Tate and Roman Polanski. I had been in LA 3 months, tops, but my TLB knowledge desired more. By sheer fate, as I was reviewing it a student came to ask to share it. He introduced himself as Sebring's nephew. I thought, "Fuck, welcome to Los Angeles." I shared the files, we talked a bit, I shared what I knew and noted that his Uncle, who he didn't know, was reported to be majority kinky so cognizant. This stayed with me because what are the chances? Subsequently, during an epic ten year run hosting the ONLY Official TLB Blog I called out persons who were obsessed with parole hearings, even going so far as to attend hearings that had nothing to do with their relatives. This applied mostly to the vile Orca Tate, but also to DiMaria (who, based on this book, got even worse on this subject). Some time maybe eight years ago I was getting a table at Musso and Frank's and DiMaria was there- while I braced for a confrontation he was nothing but lovely.
Also the agent Tony Seidl is thanked in the credits for setting the book up and I have worked with Tony in the past.
The GOOD: The writing style is breezy and informative. No one will ever need to do a Jay Sebring bio again- this cannot be topped, ever. So don't try.
The BAD: Instead of 24 pertinent photographs beautifully recreated in the middle of the book there are 72 pages of black and white photographs, one to a page, badly printed and often for no point- hey look, a portrait of Jim Morrison did you know Jay did his hair?
THE FACTS: as we have all learned, FACTS are the only thing to deal with in this case and I have questions with this book.
Page 318- I do not believe Terry Melcher produced the Mamas and the Papas ever
Page 325 exhibits a deep misunderstanding of Bugliosi's Helter Skelter Fiction. The copycat motive theory was to free Bobby. I never read that it also included framing the Black Panthers to divert from Crowe. They were happy framing ANYONE.
Page 335 - here and in other spots in the book the authors seem to think that in order to pump up Jay they have to denigrate Polanski. Remember, the goal here is that Jay was a legend (even called iconic as is his vanished salon) and he got screwed by being killed. This page really wants us to believe that Sharon was all but back with Jay- something Orca, DiMaria's bff, denies vehemently.
Page 341 a lawyer reveals that Sharon had drawn up divorce papers before her death. This is of course horse shit and even repeating that shows that the desperate Jay adulation is off the charts. This page also points out that Tom O'Neill is lying garbage as all researchers already know.
Page 353 (ref Page 325 above) is as confused about the Helter Skelter motive as earlier.
Page 372, while slagging O'Neill, always a good thing, is wildly offensive. First of all, the Col had cited that Steven Parent was gay as far back as the 1990s Yahoo groups. For his work the Col would be yelled at and questioned because homophobes have issues. But I've spoken to David Gerrold - his now somewhat famous boyfriend at the time. Steven was gay and was likely at Cielo to frolic with Garretson. AND THAT'S FINE. This book states that O'Neill was the first to call Parent's sexuality into question in 2024. But first of all, being gay isn't "into question". He was gay. Fuck you if you don't like that for some reason. And O'Neill, stealing from the research of his betters, was not even close to the first to reveal this.
Page 408- any time Barbara Hoyt is given credibility one's own credibility takes a hit.
Page 436 provided my favorite factual revelation - and then took it away! In a Parole Hearing that includes Orca and Di Maria, a "media observer" is permitted - Sophia Arguelles. The book then claims she is Michael Brunner's daughter/ Manson's granddaughter. Which is a POW moment. But then the text reveals that she is Daniel Arguelles' (an ALLEGED Manson son) daughter. Confused.
Page 457- DiMaria is very upset that Leslie is paroled. You know, after all the shit she did to his uncle that he never knew, she was freed. I mean I would not have freed her but calm down guy.
As indicated above there is a BIG movement in the book to establish that Jay fought for himself, Sharon and the others. SUPER SEBRING! And any chance we get to push that Jay and his Jeet Kune Do could have saved the day gets added over and over again. Of course this skips the logic that MAYBE if there were any chance to survive (very unlikely) a short dude punching and kicking people didn't help. MAYBE it made everyone more aggro!
On Page 467, mirroring O'Neill, the authors are very upset that Bugliosi won't engage to be interviewed - you know, the man who never met Jay Sebring.
Page 497 reprints a famous photo of Jay and Sharon at the pool in Cielo, the day or two before the carnage. It is credited to the DiMaria Family- which is nonsense. The photographer and thus the copyright is unknown. The film was stolen by an LAPD piece of shit cop and then stolen from him (bravo) decades later by Patti Tate's lover and noted TLB researcher Alisa Statman.
Page 186 wraps up a chapter that comes to the conclusion that Jay Sebring created Bruce Lee- okay then.
Page 150, again trying to pump up the dead (because why have a bio otherwise ?) we learn that the Unions and Mob and Licensing board DID NOT STOP trying to close the little shop on Fairfax down but SUPER JAY saved the day.
Barbara Luna, who I've met at autograph shows, was with Jay a long time and as google tells us, was a real looker and provides good tales. Cami Sebring, the first wife, google also tells us was gorgeous. But since SUPER JAY can do no wrong when she divorces him it takes a paragraph and no reasons are given- they stayed friends till the end. They just divorced because reasons.
I think the authors bring too much of their own prejudices to the story. Jay was into BDSM like so many are today, but DiMaria is offended because that makes him seem impotent so a lot of time is spent denying it, with no evidence provided. Jay was surely a player but wtf is he doing with an almost naked ex late at night, drunk, up in the hills if he isn't desperately clinging. Sebring accomplished a HELL of a lot in his short life and was on his way to accomplishing a LOT more. But he wasn't fucking Moses.
The tome is worth it for every serious researcher, just be advised as to the serious slant.. I don't know that Jay Sebring needed a 500+ page biography but we got one.
