Review of “50 Famous People I Have Known Well or Been Close Enough to Throw a Shoe At”

If Mel Calvert were not so busy living a one-in-a-million exciting life and writing books, he could teach a lot of wannabe writers how to reach people through poignant anecdotes, ribtickling humor, and plain old-fashioned riveting stories.

This is exactly what he has done in his latest opus, “50 Famous People I Have Known Well (Or been close enough to throw a shoe at), his fascinating walk down a Memory Lane in which most of us would have loved to be the proverbial fly on the wall.

Calvert draws on his lifetime career as an entertainer—humorist, raconteur, dancer, and singer (with his wife, Sunny)—to take us, the lucky readers, with him as he and his girlfriend in high school go on a double date with a girl named Franny, who in short order became Debby Reynolds!

Calvert describes rubbing elbows with some elite politicians and even having a heart-to-heart with Lyndon Baines Johnson before LBJ became President of the United States. “He was so impressive and believable,” the author said, “that if I were an Eskimo, I would have bought ice from him!”

The stories Calvert tells about his close encounters with crooner Mel Torme, war hero and Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Audie Murphy, and his own performances in Las Vegas, make you think that Calvert is really triplets, or maybe quadruplets, so impossible does it seem for one person to have lived so rich a life.

Here is a book that needs no interpretation … it is just pure fun and a great read!

Joan Swirsky is a New York-based journalist and author (www.joanswirsky.com)

June 26, 2022

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A memoir of one woman’s battle with cancer and her reliance on faith from debut author Kreinhop, with occasional commentary by author Calvert (How I Quit Smoking and Lived to Tell About It, 2014).

After having a tumor discovered in her chest, the author first experienced shock—“I was numb all over”—followed by tears, prayer and, eventually, a kind of spiritual acceptance. (“God had a plan. If I were part of that plan for the future, I would be in it. If not, I wouldn’t. So be it!”) And so begins a personal journey through a daunting world of doctors, tests and chemotherapy. Aided by friends, volunteers and an unrelenting belief in a higher power, the author endures the often painful and embarrassing world of a cancer diagnosis and treatment. From the struggles of getting to treatment sessions through difficult Indiana weather to the debilitating nausea of chemotherapy, the fight against cancer is never an easy one, even with the author’s tenacious pluck. Admitting at times to nervousness, self-pity and frustration (even with those who are attempting to help, such as someone who has volunteered to drive the author to the hospital even if they apparently are not very skilled at driving), Kreinhop presents her journey in an immensely believable fashion and puts a human face on the world-shattering position of such a grave diagnosis. Relatable for any reader who has been through such a journey (or may be facing one), the story maintains a steady pace, pausing only to mention—though never to linger—on moments of fear and trepidation. Abutted with personal details that help to illuminate the individuals involved (such as the author’s joy at receiving an exercise bike one Christmas), the overall feel is one of a no-nonsense family story that, though lacking in robust flourishes, maintains its verisimilitude. Short on embellishments, the story amounts to one woman’s honest telling of a very real and common occurrence.

A brisk, unadorned personal account of a trying time in one woman’s life.

Review Posted Online: May 9th, 2014

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Calvert (How I Quit Smoking and Lived to Tell About It, 2012) shares the often humorous story of his life as a traveling entertainer performing comedy, music and magic both in solo performances and with his wife, Sunny.

These short tales offer a brief glimpse into Calvert’s career as an entertainer, including how he got started in show business, some of the people he’s met along the way and the different places both in the U.S. and abroad where he’s performed. Anecdotal tales about his life as a performer are blended together with clean jokes, many of which will be familiar to most readers. Calvert even tosses in a little word-game riddle, the solution to which he buries in the text at a much later point. As a proud family man, he includes short sections on each of his children. Black-and-white photos that accompany the text feature the author performing, family and friends, locales mentioned in the book, some funny signs and even a couple of Internet memes. Despite this strange mixture of information and a somewhat disjointed style, the book is quite readable, with the first and second chapters consisting of almost nothing but jokes before switching to a memoir style accented by jokes in Chapter 3. The author’s breezy, informal style makes it feel like he’s an old friend casually relating these tales. It doesn’t hurt that he focuses on the humorous stories from throughout his life, such as his early days flying: “I believe I am the only student pilot who has ever landed a plane backward.” His tales of performing tend to focus on entertaining events along the way, such as the day a waiter was enlisted to press the play button on the cassette player at the start of a dance number, though he hit fast forward instead and chaos ensued.

The humor runs the gamut from clever to corny, but the lighthearted, upbeat tone makes for a charming read.

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“How I Quit Smoking and Lived To Tell About It” is the story behind the very successful system the author formulated, after years of failed attempts, to kick nicotine addiction. He cleverly mixes humor, self-help, health and a rollicking autobiography to explain in layman’s terms just how his system works while so many others fail.

First published over ten years ago and offered by Barnes and Noble under each of the four different categories mentioned above, it has been brought up to date with the most current statistics available as well as recent testimonials.

In this excellent book he goes into detail as to exactly why it works and how it prevents the agonies of withdrawal.

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