Famous People Who Knew Me: Adventures of a PR Man

Book excerpt: Elizabeth Taylor, Arthur Godfrey, Doris Day, Ed Sullivan, Faye Emerson, Artie Shaw, Bess Myerson, Ellen Burstyn, Leon Uris, Toots Shoor, Edward R. Murrow, Robert Q. Lewis, Roy Rogers, David Susskind, Andy Rooney, George Reeves, Dr. Joyce Brothers, Robert Young, Walter Cronkite. What do all these famous people have in common? They all knew Larry Lowenstein. Famous People Who Knew Me is the story of a press agent, publicist, and promoter who worked and partied with stars and personalities of television, Broadway, radio, and film. Famous People Who Knew Me takes the reader back to the Bronx of 1919 where Larry Lowenstein was born. It tells of Larry's early years before and during the Great Depression, as well as his experiences during World War II when he served in the Army Air Forces in England, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany. But most significantly, it tells of his career experiences after the war during the go-go years of early television. It tells of the day that he and another press agent made the wedding bed for Elizabeth Taylor and Eddie Fisher; the evening Ed Sullivan forgot to introduce him to Elvis Presley at Studio 54; the Tournament of Roses Parade where he kept Arthur Godfrey too busy to make a pass at Bess Myerson; the late nights among café society at the Stork Club, Toots Shoor's, and 21; and the evenings when he and Yul Brynner and Faye Emerson would have drinks together at the Metropolitan Café, across from the CBS studios, and talk over that day's show, or when he and Faye and others would go to The Embers and listen as artists like Art Tatum, Marian McPartland, and Wild Bill Davison riffed their musical magic. After a productive career in New York, working for CBS Television and major public relations firms, such as Benton & Bowles, Rogers & Cowan, and General Artist Corporation, the story follows Larry to Atlanta where he continued his career in radio, television, and education, working with such Atlanta personalities as Ludlow Porch, Neal Boortz, Alonzo Crim, Henry Aaron, Maynard Jackson, and Andrew Young, as well as taking on significant roles in the Atlanta chapter of the American Jewish Committee, the Atlanta chapter of the NAACP, the Atlanta Urban League, and the Georgia Special Olympics, among many others. The story ends with Larry finishing his long career working as media coordinator at Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, Georgia. Famous People Who Knew Me opens a window to a world of glamour and a life of great energy and sincerity.