Marquard and Seeley: A True Story of Romance and Betrayal, Baseball, Mascots, Misfits, and Vaudeville in the Years before World War One

by Noel Hynd, Wallace Exman (Editor)

" Hynd has captured the spirit of the times in this quaint and entertaining sidelight to sports and show-biz history." - Publishers Weekly. Newly revised, expanded and re-illustrated....Mat 2021...... Here is a stunning and largely unknown true story about a scandalous romance, baseball and the American theater in the years before World War One. Think of this as the Joe Di Maggio and Marilyn Monroe of an earlier era. Former 'Sports Illustrated' contributor Noel Hynd has recreated a fascinating era in all its scandal, sexiness, charm and glamour. A memorable true tale! From Publishers Weekly Rube Marquard (ne Richard LeMarquis) was the pitching star of the New York Giants in their pennant-winning years of 1911-1913. Blossom Seeley (nee Minnie Guyer) was a San Franciscan who had great success as a singer on the West Coast and went to New York City, where her first show, The Hen-Pecks, established her as a star. At the time, it was not uncommon for sports stars to play in vaudeville shows written especially for them, and so it was that the skit "Breaking the Record" was put together for Marquard and Seeley. Not only was it a great hit, but the two fell in love and Seeley divorced her husband of just a year to marry Marquard. In 1914, however, the Giants had a bad year, Marquard became less of a stage attraction and his wife went back on the vaudeville circuit as a solo act. They separated in 1916 and were divorced in 1922, as his career went downhill and hers soared so high that George Gershwin wrote "Somebody Loves Me" for her. The divorced couple corresponded for 50 years, until Seeley died in 1974. Hynd (The Giants of the Polo Grounds) has captured the spirit of the times in this quaint and entertaining sidelight to sports and show-biz history.

Genres: Baseball, History, Sports, Nonfiction

322 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 1, 1996

About the author

I've been a published novelist for longer than I care to admit, since 1976. I'm frequently asked, however, how I first got published. It's an interesting story and involved both Robert Ludlum and James Baldwin, even though neither of them knew it --- or me --- at the time.

My first agent, a wonderful thorughly perofessional gentleman named Robert Lantz was representing Mr. Baldwin at the time. This was around 1975. Balwin, while a brilliant writer, had had some nasty dealings with the head of Dell Publishing. Dell held Jimmy's contract at the time and he could not legally write for anyone else until he gave Dell a book that was due to them. Nonetheless, he refused to deliver a manuscript to Dell and went to Paris to sit things out.

The book was due to The Dial Press, which Dell owned. Baldwin was widely quoted as saying....and I'm cleaning up the quote here, "that he was no longer picking cotton on Dell's planatation."

The book was due to The Dial Press. The editor in chief of The Dial Press was a stellar editor who was making a name for himself and a fair bit of money for the company publishing thriller-author Robert Ludlum. A best seller every year will do that for an editor. Anyway, Baldwin fled New York for Paris. The editor followed, the asignment being to get him to come happily back to Dial. As soon as the editor arrived, Baldwin fled to Algeria. Or maybe Tunisia. It hardly mattered because Baldwin was furious and simply wouldn 't do a book for Dell/Dial. The editor returned to NY without his quarry. Things were at a standstill.

That's where I entered the story, unpublished at age 27 and knowing enough to keep my mouth shut while these things went down. I had given 124 pages of a first novel to Mr. Lantz ten days eariler. Miraculously, his reader liked it and then HE liked it. It was in the same genre that Ludlum wrote in and which the editor at Dial excelled at editing and marketing.

My agent and the editor ran into each other one afternoon in July of 1974 in one of those swank Manhattan places where people used to have three martinis for lunch. The agent asked how things had gone in Europe. The editor told him, knowing full well that the agent already knew. The next steps would be lawyers, Baldwin dragged into US Courts, major authors boycotting Doubleday/Dell, Dial, maybe some civil rights demonstrations and.......but no so fast.

Mr. Lantz offered Dial the first look at a new adventure/espionage novelist (me). IF Dial wanted me after reading my 124 pages, he could sign me, but only IF Baldwin was released from his obligations at Doubleday. I was the literary bribe, so to speak, that would get Jimmy free from Dial. It seemed like a great idea to everyone. It seemed that way because it was. Paperwork was prepapred and paperwork was signed. Voila!...To make a much longer story short, Dial accepted my novel. The editor instructed me on how to raise it to a professional level as I finished writing it over the next ten months. I followed orders perfectly. I even felt prosperous on my $7500 advance. He then had Dial release Mr. Balwin from his obligation. Not surpringly, he went on to create fine books for other publishers. Ludlum did even batter. Of the three, I'm the pauper but I've gotten my fair share and I'm alive with books coming out again now in the very near future, no small accmplishment. So no complaints from me.

That''s how I got published. I met Ludlum many times later on and Baldwin once. Ludlum liked my name "Noel" and used it for an then-upcoming charcter named Noel Holcroft. That amused me. I don't know if either of them even knew that my career had been in their orbits for a month 1975. They would have been amused. They were both smart gifted men and fine writers in dfferent ways. This story was told to me by one of the principals two years later and another one confirmed it.

Me, I came out of it with my first publishing contract, for a book titled 'Reve

Reviews

[Harold Kasselman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this to be a charming book about two people who in a way personified the American dream. Hynd takes us through the early 20th century and introduces us to the names of big entertainment. In a curious way baseball players also became entertainers on the stage. It was usually vaudeville and famous players of the 1910-1920 ilk often became acts on the vaudeville circuit during the off season. It was there that the two up and coming giants of their field, Richard Lemarquis aka Rube Marquard and Minnie Guyer aka Blossom Seeley became lovers. She became one of the biggest stars of theater, and he eventually became a Hall of Famer.Their marriage didn't last long but they remained friends for life. Their stories and those of that era are told in this short and unique tale of the intertwining of baseball and vaudeville. I think fans of baseball, historians, and entertainment buffs will find this a fun read.

[Toni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Subtitled Baseball, Vaudeville, Romance, and Scandal in the Ragtime Era, this is a tale full of interesting side bits, anecdotes, and plenty of backstage stories about show biz and baseball that almost outshine the actual biography itself. Famous names abound, and more facts and trivia than you could ask for. It’s a great story,much more than the tale of two people who were bright stars in both their own and their combined professions for a mere three years, but a memoir of an era that will never be seen again.

Marquand’s baseball records still haven’t been beaten to this day and Blossom continued in show business until the 1980’s.

If you like non-fiction and are also an early 20th century American history buff, this is the book for you.

[Dave Carrig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you Mr. Hynd for giving this incredible account of a time long gone about forgotten stars from an age long forgotten. This book is not just about Marquand and Shelley though - its about the characters and the teams that had the good fortune to cross paths with them. As a lover of baseball history I found this book to be exhilarating and as a coni sour of cultural history I found it to be beyond satisfying. It is well written and well researched. I highly recommend it.

As a side note (from some one who served in the military for more than 30 years) - I greatly appreciated the quote: “Stallings was a man whose vocabulary was so vile that it would have made a chief petty officer blush.” But in all honesty I seriously doubt it. ;)

[Carol Havlik · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting on two things I like baseball & theatre but could have been better written (typo's very obvious)

[Chip Carman · Rating 4 out of 5]

An amazing net resting book combining two interests. Old time vaudeville and baseball. Fun read!

[Nick DiNatale · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3.5 stars)