Review: PERSISTENCE, SERENDIPITY, & TALENT GO FAR....
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 12 17, 2011
In a captivating series of vignettes, Betty Dravis describes the behind-the-scenes happenings that led to her celebrity interviews.As I read each story inStar Struck: Interviews with Dirty Harry and other Hollywood Icons, I could not help but think that, either Ms. Dravis has an extraordinary gift at being in the right place at the right time, or that serendipity played a hand in some of the interviews she captured.  Like a woman she featured in her newspaper calling up and inviting her to meet an old friend, who happened to be a celebrity: Clint Eastwood.Or how she met Ann Sothern when her daughter was in the hospital, and described how a kind woman read to her.  That woman wanted to meet the wonderful girl's parents, and voila!  Another star to add to the list.Of course, there was plenty of hard work that went into landing these interviews.  In one case, she even laughingly refers to "stalking Alioto," when she finds a way to interview him just before he eats at a dinner.Hard work, a little serendipity, and a lot of chutzpah--not to mention talent--resulted in this charming set of tales about how Ms. Dravis managed to amass an outstanding collection of celebrity interviews.  The actual interviews can be found in her two interview books,Dream ReachersandDream Reachers II, which I loved; however, I think I will most cherish the story behind the stories in this book, which I'm awarding five stars.