The Talk With David Wills - Author, Photographic Preservationist

Author David Wills

In honor of Nat King Cole’s extraordinary legacy as a singer, jazz musician, style icon, and civil rights advocate the book, NAT KING COLE: STARDUST by David Wills will be the first photography book ever published on the legendary entertainer. Australian born author, photographic preservationist and an editor David Wills has accrued one of the largest independent archives of original photographs.

What’s more exciting is that the book is created in collaboration with the family of Nat King Cole, Johnny Mathis has written an introduction for the book and Cole’s daughters, Casey and Timolin, have written the foreword. Celebrity contributors include Quincy Jones and Leslie Uggams.

Author David Wills and I sat down to chat about the book and some of the highlights.

Giulia: What inspired you to start writing? 

David: My initial inspiration for writing didn’t come from writing itself—but from my love of photography books. As a small child, instead of frequenting toy stores, I was always in libraries and bookstores. I even used to make my own books out of butcher’s paper. That’s where I found beauty in life. To me books were like a portal to other fascinating worlds.

Giulia: Your new release, Nat King Cole: Stardust. What was your inspiration for this book?

David: The book was essentially a labor of love to commemorate Nat King Cole’s 100th birthday. I was originally approached about doing the book by the representative for Cole’s family. I was so honored. At the time I was surprised to learn that the definitive photographic retrospective had never been published. Johnny Mathis wrote a beautiful introduction and Cole’s daughters, Casey and Timolin, provided a heartfelt foreword. Casey and Timolin were only three years old when their father passed away. Therefore—their personal memories aside—they have primarily come to know him through family photos and stories told to them by their late mother, Maria. What they brought to my attention was the generosity and humility of their father, and the radiating effect that had—still has—on anyone whose lives he ever touched. Casey and Timolin have done an extraordinary job carrying on their father’s legacy with their non-profit foundation Nat King Cole Generation Hope, which provides access to music education for children with the greatest need. This book was essentially their idea and was made possible because of them and their love for their father and dedication to preserving his legacy.

Giulia: How did you come up with the title for this book?

David: “Stardust” is my favorite Nat King Cole song, and it just seemed an apt title for the book—a metaphor for the magic of his star presence and the soothing quality of his voice. The song has such a serene, dreamlike quality. Every time I hear it I feel like I’m being sprinkled with fairy dust and lullabied by a beautiful whisper. Cole’s producer, Lee Gillette, urged him to record the standard, composed by Hoagy Carmichael, in 1957. Cole initially resisted, even though he had been singing it on stage since 1954. He considered the number to have been covered, and well, by Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, and others. He did one take, and subsequently sang it on the October 1, 1957 episode of his TV show. The single went to #79 on the US pop chart, #24 in the UK, but grew in status over the years to become nearly everyone’s preferred version. The poignant strings introduce Cole’s mellow tones: “And now the purple dust of twilight time. ...”

Giulia: What was your writing process like?   

David: Putting together a photo book, particularly one of this size, requires you to wear many hats as an author. Writing is of course an integral part of telling the story, but each photograph is also worth a thousand words. I generally start with research and interviews, put together a skeleton essay, and then beef it out for the final version. Needless to say you make adjustments for many months until you feel it’s just right. That said, I always find it difficult to reread my books, after they have been published, as there are always things I wish I could change.

Giulia: Tell us about the process for coming up with the cover?

David: For the cover I wanted to capture the essence of Nat King Cole as a gentleman, an entertainer, and particularly as a style icon. At the height of his fame, Cole earned a reputation as one of the most sharply-dressed men in the business. In fact, the term “natty dresser” was apparently coined in reference to Nat. Therefore, I felt the photo of Cole wearing the tuxedo—chic black and white against the drama of a blazing red backdrop—was perfect. A cropped version of the image originally appeared on the cover of the soundtrack for St. Louis Blues (1958). When I discovered that Capitol Records had the original transparency in their photo archive, I was thrilled to be given the opportunity to reproduce it for the book’s cover.

Giulia: What were the key challenges writing this book?

David: When writing a book about any notable person, you always feel an enormous responsibility to represent them in a way that is both entertaining and educational. I’m also very mindful of accentuating the positive. These extraordinary entertainers—whether it be someone like Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe, or Audrey Hepburn—are gifts to the world, and gifts that continue to keep on giving. They should be treated with love and respect. Also, as an author it’s always an interesting challenge to do a photo book on a man. This may sound odd, but with female subjects (like Marilyn or Audrey) your work is done for you—because of the variation in hairstyle, makeup and costume. With men you have to work harder. In the case of Nat King Cole, I was extremely fortunate that the body of photography was so strong and varied.

It was very important to me to highlight Cole’s significant role in the civil rights movement. Though not exactly on the front lines, he brought black and white people together through his music. For millions of white Americans Nat King Cole was their first experience of a black person being part of their household, their daily soundtrack—whether it was watching him on TV or listening to his records. Also, just by being himself, he broke certain stereotypes unfairly placed on black people through decades of injustice. He was sophisticated, he was elegant, he was charming—he was extraordinarily talented. Basically, he was just himself—a beautiful and refined human being. It was a uniting experience for Americans.

Giulia: What were the highlights of the book?

David: Johnny Mathis’s introduction, Casey and Timolin’s foreword, and contributions from people like Quincy Jones and Leslie Uggams. The book also includes rare personal letters and telegrams from President John F. Kennedy, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, President Lyndon B. Johnson, Jackie Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr. One of the main highlights of Nat King Cole: Stardust is definitely the extraordinary photography. As the book is extremely large in format—14x17.75 inches—it was very important that the images be of the most exceptional quality. For this reason, we went back to original negatives, transparencies and photographs. In some cases, images had to be scanned and laboriously cleaned and color corrected to restore them to their original vibrancy. Capitol Records was wonderful in their understanding of our need for first-generation source material, and the book contains many never-before-seen or published images from their archive.

Giulia: Describe your writing space.   

David: I have an office in Palm Springs, but my writing space is essentially wherever life takes me. I spend a lot of time on the Sunshine Coast in Australia, so I work there too. I find it’s important to vary my creative environment.

Giulia: What are you currently working on?     

David: Currently book projects on Palm Springs, Nancy Sinatra, Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, the fashion photographer Henry Clarke, and a few others in development.

Giulia: Where can readers purchase this book?    

David: The book will be available on Amazon and also through our website nailorwills.com

NAT KING COLE: STARDUST features over 200 photographs—many never before seen or published and digitally restored from their original negatives and transparencies. It will also include rare images from the Capitol Records photo archive. Cole’s estate has also provided never-before-seen letters and telegrams from President John F. Kennedy, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, President Lyndon B. Johnson, Jackie Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr.

The Talk With Erin Carlson - Author

Erin Carlson reminds me of character Carrie Bradshaw. Stylish, beautiful, clever, the only difference is Erin does not write about relationships, she writes about great women of our time. Her first book on writer-director Nora Ephron titled “I’ll have what she is having” released in 2017 and her second book titled “Queen Meryl: The Iconic Roles, Heroic Deeds, and Legendary Life of Meryl Streep” released in 2019 and highlights the legendary Meryl Streep. We sat down with Erin to talk about her career as a journalist, writer and Queen Meryl of course.

Giulia Juliet Belkin: What were you like as a child? Who are you today?

Erin: As a little girl I was curious, funny and stubborn. I loved to paint, draw and write stories — anything that flexed my creative muscles. Today, I'm the editor of a regional society magazine in the Bay Area called The Nob Hill Gazette, and the author of two nonfiction books about Meryl Streep ("Queen Meryl") and writer-director Nora Ephron ("I'll Have What She's Having.") In a way, I'm still doing what I loved as a child! How does that saying go? "The creative adult is the child who survived." I've always identified with that statement.

Giulia Juliet Belkin: What life experiences have led you to write a book. 

Erin: Formerly, I was an arts and entertainment reporter at The Associated Press in New York City, then I covered the entertainment industry for the trade publication The Hollywood Reporter. So I had accumulated the journalistic experience necessary to report two biographies about two powerful women in Hollywood, which required me to spend hours (and hours) reaching out to celebrities, filmmakers and the like to talk to me about what it was like to work with the great Meryl Streep and Nora Ephron. The reporting and interviewing process was tricky to navigate, and I'm most proud of writing these books without getting any complaints of inaccuracies! It sounds glamorous, but it is very stressful. (I can't believe I still have my hair.)

Giulia Juliet Belkin: I know she is fabulous, but why Meryl?!

Erin: Because she is, hands down, the greatest actor of our time. "That's all," as Miranda Priestly would say.

Erin for October 2010 issue of Cosmopolitan for a feature on women in the media.

Giulia Juliet Belkin: Is this your first book? 

Erin: My second! And fingers crossed, there will be a third if I can finish my novel.

Giulia Juliet Belkin: How long does it take you to write a book? 

Erin: Per my contracts with my publisher, I had a year to write and report both I'll Have What She's Having and Queen Meryl. For each book, I spent about nine months reporting and three months writing (literally, locking myself in my office for days on end, in 14-hour stretches. Eek!).

Giulia Juliet Belkin: What would you say is your interesting writing quirk? 

Erin: I would say nursing the same cup of coffee throughout the day, and reheating it in the microwave no less than 20 times a day to keep it warm.

Giulia Juliet Belkin: What is the key theme and/or message in the book? 

Erin: With Queen Meryl, the message I would like readers to absorb is that you should never let anyone define who you are! You get to define you, and write the story of your own life. Meryl never listened when her critics complained she was too technical an actress, or not sexy enough to play a certain role. She went after those roles anyway, and played them as no other actor could. Her greatest strength is her self-confidence, which was instilled in her as a young girl by her mother, Mary, an artist and larger than life character herself. 

Giulia Juliet Belkin: What was the process for coming up with the cover?

Erin: My publisher, Hachette Books, wanted to go in a more joyous, optimistic direction for the cover of Queen Meryl. They chose a gorgeous picture of her, which she liked, in addition to a vibrant color palette (pink, black, gold and white) that captures a certain joie de vivre for which Meryl is not given enough credit. She's seen as very serious, which she is, but she's also very playful, too. Her close friends know her as funny, spontaneous and lively.

Giulia Juliet Belkin: What has been your biggest curveball? Your biggest surprise? 

Erin: Going back to my previous answer, I didn't realize Meryl was so much fun. That is, until I started reporting the book and discovered she had an impish sense of humor on the set of her films (she once mooned the director of The River Wild) and she's been known to bum a cigarette off a co-star. She has cooked and baked for her co-stars too. She is the mother of four children, and so her maternal energy is strong. She loves to laugh and joke around.

Giulia Juliet Belkin: Who are your biggest influencers? 

Erin: Nora Ephron, Tom Hanks, Greta Gerwig, Jia Tolentino, Louisa May Alcott.

Giulia Juliet Belkin: What do you like to do when you are not writing? 

Erin: I read a lot (mostly nonfiction!) and listen to news podcasts and love to catch the latest film at the Embarcadero Center in San Francisco.

Giulia Juliet Belkin: If you had to describe yourself in three words what would they be? 

Erin: Ambitious, clever, empathetic.

Giulia Juliet Belkin: Are you working on anything at the present you would like to share? 

Erin: I'm writing a novel — wish me luck!