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Trompe L'Oeil: A Trick of the Eye
Trompe L’ A Trick of the Eye, is the story of a unique artist who refused to accept the truth--that the only woman he had ever loved is dead. Simon Lister has the extraordinarypower to do something about it. This is not a mystical story, nor a ghost story. This is a story of great love, power and madness.
504 pages, Paperback
First published October 6, 2015
3 people want to read
About the author
Gardner McKay
15 books6 followersBorn George Cadogan Gardner McKay. McKay graduated from Cornell University, where he majored in art. He became a Hollywood heartthrob in the 1950s and 1960s. He landed the lead role in Adventures in Paradise, based loosely on the writings of James Michener. His character, Adam Troy, was a Korean War veteran who purchased the twin-masted 82-foot (25 m) schooner Tiki, and sailed the South Pacific.
McKay was under contract to MGM when he was spotted by Dominick Dunne, a television producer for Twentieth Century Fox who was searching for an actor to star in his planned Adventures in Paradise. Dunne put his business card on the table and said, "If you're interested in discussing a television series, call me." McKay competed in screen tests with nine other candidates, and won it because of his good looks and ability to sail. An accomplished sailor, he had made eight Atlantic crossings by the age of seventeen. Although previously unknown to the public, McKay appeared on the July 6, 1959, cover of Life Magazine just two months before the series premiered.
In the 1957-1958 season, McKay played Lieutenant Dan Kelly in the 38-episode syndicated western series, Boots and Saddles, with Jack Pickard and Patrick McVey.
After acting in more than 100 films for television, McKay left Hollywood to pursue his loves of photography, sculpture, and writing. He turned down the opportunity to star opposite Marilyn Monroe in Something's Got to Give, a film which was never completed. He exhibited his sculpture at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, besides holding individual exhibitions. His lifeboat rescue photographs of the Andrea Doria were published internationally. McKay wrote many plays and novels, and was a literary critic for the Los Angeles Herald Examiner between 1977 and 1982. He taught writing classes at the University of California at Los Angeles, University of Southern California, University of Alaska, University of Hawaii.
McKay's awards included three National Endowment for the Arts fellowships for playwriting, the Drama Critics Circle Award Best Play, and Sidney Carrington Prize. He was a winner in Canadian Regional Drama Festival, and runner up in the Hemingway Short Story Contest.
McKay settled in Hawaii, where he died from prostate cancer in 2001, aged 69. He was survived by his wife Madeleine Madigan, a painter, and two children.
McKay was under contract to MGM when he was spotted by Dominick Dunne, a television producer for Twentieth Century Fox who was searching for an actor to star in his planned Adventures in Paradise. Dunne put his business card on the table and said, "If you're interested in discussing a television series, call me." McKay competed in screen tests with nine other candidates, and won it because of his good looks and ability to sail. An accomplished sailor, he had made eight Atlantic crossings by the age of seventeen. Although previously unknown to the public, McKay appeared on the July 6, 1959, cover of Life Magazine just two months before the series premiered.
In the 1957-1958 season, McKay played Lieutenant Dan Kelly in the 38-episode syndicated western series, Boots and Saddles, with Jack Pickard and Patrick McVey.
After acting in more than 100 films for television, McKay left Hollywood to pursue his loves of photography, sculpture, and writing. He turned down the opportunity to star opposite Marilyn Monroe in Something's Got to Give, a film which was never completed. He exhibited his sculpture at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, besides holding individual exhibitions. His lifeboat rescue photographs of the Andrea Doria were published internationally. McKay wrote many plays and novels, and was a literary critic for the Los Angeles Herald Examiner between 1977 and 1982. He taught writing classes at the University of California at Los Angeles, University of Southern California, University of Alaska, University of Hawaii.
McKay's awards included three National Endowment for the Arts fellowships for playwriting, the Drama Critics Circle Award Best Play, and Sidney Carrington Prize. He was a winner in Canadian Regional Drama Festival, and runner up in the Hemingway Short Story Contest.
McKay settled in Hawaii, where he died from prostate cancer in 2001, aged 69. He was survived by his wife Madeleine Madigan, a painter, and two children.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
February 8, 2016
WOW - I have just finished Trompe L'Oeil. I am just one of the hundreds of thousand girls from the 1950's & 60's that grew up loving Gardner McKay for his role as the adventurous and romantic Captain Adam Troy on Adventures in Paradise.
In retrospect, was Gardner an actor? No, not really, but damn that man could write!! Gardner draws you into this amazing love story just as his character Simon draws you into his paintings. But with great talent comes a price to high for Simon to pay. His insanity leads him to destroy all of his famous works. Hiding on John Jay Street he finds the love of his life. His love for Anna takes him to Paris where he loses her. His love for her is strong enough to bring her back to him. But as greed and Interpol chase them from Paris to the south of France, Italy, the Mediterranean and finally to the Canary Islands, is his love strong enough to keep her or must he let her go?!
Love, action, mystery – this story has it all. Thank you Gardner for your wonderful writing, may you Rest in Peace. Thank you Madeleine McKay for your work and dedication in bringing your husband's unpublished works to fruition so that the rest of may enjoy his work.
In retrospect, was Gardner an actor? No, not really, but damn that man could write!! Gardner draws you into this amazing love story just as his character Simon draws you into his paintings. But with great talent comes a price to high for Simon to pay. His insanity leads him to destroy all of his famous works. Hiding on John Jay Street he finds the love of his life. His love for Anna takes him to Paris where he loses her. His love for her is strong enough to bring her back to him. But as greed and Interpol chase them from Paris to the south of France, Italy, the Mediterranean and finally to the Canary Islands, is his love strong enough to keep her or must he let her go?!
Love, action, mystery – this story has it all. Thank you Gardner for your wonderful writing, may you Rest in Peace. Thank you Madeleine McKay for your work and dedication in bringing your husband's unpublished works to fruition so that the rest of may enjoy his work.
Displaying 1 of 1 review