Here's an end-of-the-year thank you for your support of our book, "Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortune." It's been a wonderful year.
An update on news:
-- Barnes & Noble has chosen "Empty Mansions" as one of the 15 best nonfiction books of 2013. Amazon.com picked it as one of the 100 best books of the year. And the readers at Goodreads made it a finalist for best history or biography. The reception from readers and critics has been wonderful. See book reviews from The New York Times and others at http://emptymansionsbook.com/reviews/.
-- "Empty Mansions" debuted at No. 1 on The New York Times bestseller list, staying on the list for six weeks. It also made the top 10 on lists from Publishers Weekly, NPR, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, and Indie Bound (independent bookstores), and surfed the Los Angeles Times list for ten weeks. See other news coverage at http://emptymansionsbook.com/news/.
-- Photos from "Empty Mansions" are on view through December at the Nevada State Museum in Las Vegas, the city founded by W. A. Clark when his railroad went through. If you know of a public library or other building (historical society, corporate office) that would like to display mounted photos from the book, let me know.
-- Book clubs: The audio version of "Empty Mansions" has been a hit with book clubs, which use it to play selections of Huguette's conversations with her cousin Paul Newell. You can listen on a computer, tablet, or smartphone as Huguette describes her family having tickets for the Titanic's return trip -- explaining matter-of-factly, "We took another boat." Paul and I were asked to read into the microphone our parts of the introduction, and the book is beautifully narrated by actress Kimberly Farr. Right now you can get the audiobook for free, with a one-month free trial of Audible, and it's also in the iTunes store. See http://emptymansionsbook.com/buy-the-....
-- The settlement in the Clark estate battle was agreed to, on the eve of trial, and signed by the judge. Details are at http://nbcnews.com/clark/. A lot of money was drained away in legal fees, and the relatives got more than $30 million plus their legal fees and taxes paid by the estate. Nurse Hadassah Peri agreed to give back $5 million. The largest beneficiary, in line with Huguette's last will and testament, is a charity to support the arts at Bellosguardo, her mother's home in Santa Barbara. That charity will be house poor -- we'll see how that goes. The foundation has about 18 months to get on its feet, determine a mission, and see what money it needs to raise. In addition, an attorney for the estate and the Clark relatives has sued Huguette's hospital and doctor, alleging breach of fiduciary duty -- that litigation could go on for years, if it's not thrown out as barred by the statute of limitations. (As I'm sure you recall, co-author Paul Newell is not involved in the legal action.)
-- We'll have a couple of announcements in the new year. Watch the space at http://emptymansionsbook.com/news/, where you can see the video from The Daily Show, Huguette's doll collection, and other information. Also, updates and photos are posted on my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/investigativ....
Thank you again for all your support. I'm particularly appreciative to the readers who stayed with us through the original stories about Huguette on NBC's website and urged me to write a book. And to co-author Paul Newell, who wanted the Clark story to be told accurately, even when it led into uncomfortable family history.
An update on news:
-- Barnes & Noble has chosen "Empty Mansions" as one of the 15 best nonfiction books of 2013. Amazon.com picked it as one of the 100 best books of the year. And the readers at Goodreads made it a finalist for best history or biography. The reception from readers and critics has been wonderful. See book reviews from The New York Times and others at http://emptymansionsbook.com/reviews/.
-- Check out our list of events at http://emptymansionsbook.com/events/.
-- "Empty Mansions" debuted at No. 1 on The New York Times bestseller list, staying on the list for six weeks. It also made the top 10 on lists from Publishers Weekly, NPR, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, and Indie Bound (independent bookstores), and surfed the Los Angeles Times list for ten weeks. See other news coverage at http://emptymansionsbook.com/news/.
-- Photos from "Empty Mansions" are on view through December at the Nevada State Museum in Las Vegas, the city founded by W. A. Clark when his railroad went through. If you know of a public library or other building (historical society, corporate office) that would like to display mounted photos from the book, let me know.
-- Book clubs: The audio version of "Empty Mansions" has been a hit with book clubs, which use it to play selections of Huguette's conversations with her cousin Paul Newell. You can listen on a computer, tablet, or smartphone as Huguette describes her family having tickets for the Titanic's return trip -- explaining matter-of-factly, "We took another boat." Paul and I were asked to read into the microphone our parts of the introduction, and the book is beautifully narrated by actress Kimberly Farr. Right now you can get the audiobook for free, with a one-month free trial of Audible, and it's also in the iTunes store. See http://emptymansionsbook.com/buy-the-....
-- The settlement in the Clark estate battle was agreed to, on the eve of trial, and signed by the judge. Details are at http://nbcnews.com/clark/. A lot of money was drained away in legal fees, and the relatives got more than $30 million plus their legal fees and taxes paid by the estate. Nurse Hadassah Peri agreed to give back $5 million. The largest beneficiary, in line with Huguette's last will and testament, is a charity to support the arts at Bellosguardo, her mother's home in Santa Barbara. That charity will be house poor -- we'll see how that goes. The foundation has about 18 months to get on its feet, determine a mission, and see what money it needs to raise. In addition, an attorney for the estate and the Clark relatives has sued Huguette's hospital and doctor, alleging breach of fiduciary duty -- that litigation could go on for years, if it's not thrown out as barred by the statute of limitations. (As I'm sure you recall, co-author Paul Newell is not involved in the legal action.)
-- Paul and I will be glad to sign books for readers. Directions are at http://emptymansionsbook.com/contact-2/.
-- We'll have a couple of announcements in the new year. Watch the space at http://emptymansionsbook.com/news/, where you can see the video from The Daily Show, Huguette's doll collection, and other information. Also, updates and photos are posted on my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/investigativ....
Thank you again for all your support. I'm particularly appreciative to the readers who stayed with us through the original stories about Huguette on NBC's website and urged me to write a book. And to co-author Paul Newell, who wanted the Clark story to be told accurately, even when it led into uncomfortable family history.
Warm regards, and a happy new year to everyone.
Bill