| Revision as of 05:49, 15 September 2008 editLightbot (talk | contribs)791,863 edits Units/dates/other← Previous edit | Revision as of 21:43, 2 August 2009 edit undoOnefortyone (talk | contribs)6,355 edits →Work since 1990Next edit → | ||
| Line 9: | Line 9: | ||
| Finstad wrote the national bestseller '']'' (1991), the true story about the murder-for-hire of Barbra Piotrowski, a ]n beauty queen in a destructive love triangle with a married ] health club tycoon named Richard Minns, alleged to have hired the assassins who shot and paralyzed Piotrowski. Finstad’s research led to Minns’s arrest for felony passport fraud after he fled the country using assumed names. | Finstad wrote the national bestseller '']'' (1991), the true story about the murder-for-hire of Barbra Piotrowski, a ]n beauty queen in a destructive love triangle with a married ] health club tycoon named Richard Minns, alleged to have hired the assassins who shot and paralyzed Piotrowski. Finstad’s research led to Minns’s arrest for felony passport fraud after he fled the country using assumed names. | ||
| In 1997, Finstad wrote a biography of ] (1997) called '']'' (1997). Finstad offered a detailed account of the courtship and marriage of ] and 14-year-old ] based on extensive interviews with family, close friends, classmates, co-stars and ]. The latter filed a lawsuit against Currie Grant for his claim that he had sex with her in exchange for introducing her to |
In 1997, Finstad wrote a biography of ] (1997) called '']'' (1997). Finstad offered a detailed account of the courtship and marriage of ] and 14-year-old ] based on extensive interviews with family, close friends, classmates, co-stars and ]. The latter filed a lawsuit against Currie Grant, a former Army buddy of ]'s, for his claim that he had sex with her in exchange for introducing her to the singer, and a judgment was entered against Grant. However, neither Finstad nor her publisher was a party to the lawsuit, and Finstad and her publisher say they stand by their account of the affair in the book.<ref>"We stand by the book completely," Hilary Bass, a spokeswoman for Harmony Books, said... "It went through an extensive legal vetting." See "Is It Getting Easier to Win Libel Suits?" ''Los Angeles Times'', August 21, 1997. For further details, see also ''Daily Telegraph'', Sept. 19, 1997, ''Rocky Mountain News'' (Denver, CO), Aug. 26, 1998 and ''Daily News'' (Los Angeles, CA), Sept. 25, 1998.</ref> | ||
| Finstad also wrote biographies of ] (2001)<ref></ref> and ] (2005)<ref></ref>. | Finstad also wrote biographies of ] (2001)<ref></ref> and ] (2005)<ref></ref>. | ||
Revision as of 21:43, 2 August 2009
Suzanne Finstad (born 1955) is an American lawyer, author and biographer.
Work pre-1990
Finstad received the Frank Wardlaw Prize for literary excellence for her first book, Heir Not Apparent (1984), drawn from her experiences as a young law clerk and trial attorney investigating claims to the billion-dollar estate of industrialist, aviator and filmmaker Howard Hughes, who appeared to have died without a valid will.
Her second book, Ulterior Motives: The Killing and Dark Legacy of Tycoon Henry Kyle (1987), took her into the genre of the non-fiction true crime novel created by Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood, centering on a spectacular murder trial which revealed that self-made millionaire Kyle, shot by his older son, had a violent Jekyll-Hyde personality and a lifetime of secrets, including a hidden wife and daughter. According to Publishers Weekly, much of the book "is tedious in its over-attention to detail."
Work since 1990
Finstad wrote the national bestseller Sleeping with the Devil (1991), the true story about the murder-for-hire of Barbra Piotrowski, a Californian beauty queen in a destructive love triangle with a married Texas health club tycoon named Richard Minns, alleged to have hired the assassins who shot and paralyzed Piotrowski. Finstad’s research led to Minns’s arrest for felony passport fraud after he fled the country using assumed names.
In 1997, Finstad wrote a biography of Priscilla Presley (1997) called Child Bride: The Untold Story of Priscilla Beaulieu Presley (1997). Finstad offered a detailed account of the courtship and marriage of Elvis Presley and 14-year-old Priscilla Beaulieu based on extensive interviews with family, close friends, classmates, co-stars and Priscilla Presley. The latter filed a lawsuit against Currie Grant, a former Army buddy of Elvis's, for his claim that he had sex with her in exchange for introducing her to the singer, and a judgment was entered against Grant. However, neither Finstad nor her publisher was a party to the lawsuit, and Finstad and her publisher say they stand by their account of the affair in the book.
Finstad also wrote biographies of Natalie Wood (2001) and Warren Beatty (2005).
Film adaptations
Sleeping With the Devil and Natasha: The Biography of Natalie Wood were adapted for television – the former fairly successfully but the latter, directed by Peter Bogdanovich, less so.
Natasha: The Biography of Natalie Wood was named the best film book of 2001 by the San Francisco Chronicle. Finstad’s most recent biography, Warren Beatty: A Private Man, was selected as one of the top five entertainment books of 2005 by the Times of London.
References
- Ebooks
- "We stand by the book completely," Hilary Bass, a spokeswoman for Harmony Books, said... "It went through an extensive legal vetting." See "Is It Getting Easier to Win Libel Suits?" Los Angeles Times, August 21, 1997. For further details, see also Daily Telegraph, Sept. 19, 1997, Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO), Aug. 26, 1998 and Daily News (Los Angeles, CA), Sept. 25, 1998.
- Washington Post
- Times Online