In wildlife circles, Mike Tomkies is a legend - called 'The
Wilderness Man'. But here he tells the story of the very different
first half of his life - before the wilderness years. He describes
his boyhood, both idyllic and traumatic, his days with an
extraordinary gamekeeper, his first love of nature, and running
away from home to join the Coldstream Guards where he became an
army athlete and saw active service in Palestine. Then follows his
years as a cub reporter and successful amateur cycle racer - with
hilariously funny narrative. An attempt to sail around the world in
1952 with a motley crew ended in shipwreck with an arduous 400-mile
tramp from Lisbon to Madrid. He describes his first real love, his
provincial reporter years and progress to Fleet Street where,
having landed a major scoop by gaining an interview with Ava
Gardner after her divorce from Frank Sinatra, he was elevated into
writing for a best-selling magazine's show business column. From
then on he flies the world - Paris, Rome, Vienna, Madrid, Hollywood
- getting 'scoop' interviews and having adventures with major movie
stars. He has an amazing encounter with Mario Lanza, tracks down
and spends three days with Elvis Presley at the time when he was an
American soldier in Germany, and under strict orders not to speak
to the press. He admits he became, for a time, a complete hedonist
and was 'arrogant, conceited and totally insufferable', going
through sports cars like a frustrated racing driver. His racy
anecdotes about the other stars he met are fascinating - Sophia
Loren, Errol Flynn, Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Yul Brynner,
Clark Gable, Dean Martin, Rock Hudson, Frank Sinatra, Jayne
Mansfield, Cary Grant, Paul Newman, Joan Collins, Peter O'Toole and
Sean Connery are just a few who either reveal some of their secrets
or give him unusual encounters. Tomkies describes how
disillusionment finally sets in with both his work and himself -
and why, at 38 he decides to start a new life and flies off to
Canada. Long-demanded by Mike's numerous fans, this
searingly-honest and wide-ranging adventurous tale of his first
life, will be of huge appeal to a very wide audience including
anyone interested in the stars, celebrities and their biographies.
This is a book which has it all - true-life adventures and stories
of the stars all laced with exceptionally funny anecdotes.
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