I’m rereading his “Love of Seven Dolls,” and I got to wondering if anybody other than me, remembered him. I do enjoy his work; he was a great storyteller. I read many of his novels in the past, and I should dig them up and read them again.
I recall the name but I think the only one of his books I read was The Poseidon Adventure (after seeing the movie).
I’m not much of a fiction reader, but I remember that Paul Gallico, as a young sportswriter, sparred a round with then heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey. It made for quite an interesting story.
I loved The Day the Guinea-Pig Talked and the sequel The day Jeanne-Pierre was Pignapped but haven’t re-read them since I was 10 or so back in the late 1960s.
Great fun, and now I’m vaguely tempted to track down a copy of the first one.
But only vaguely, AbeBooks has the cheapest copy as about $18 with shipping!
I remember reading his books when I was young! He writes a lot about cats. And I loved “Mrs. 'Arris Goes To Paris” - and other places. Tailor made for Angela Landsbury as Mrs. Harris, Cockney charwoman.
I tried to read The Zoo Gang a few times and could never get very far. But the name and works are familiar to me.
The Snow Goose
Never read his books, but used to see them in the book racks at the department store. His big claim to fame was The Poseidon Adventure. The paperback cover, before vand during the movie’s release, had a picture of a guy looking through a porthole at fish outside:
I’ve read a few of his books, but these days I can’t get over the following hilarious quote:
New York Daily News sports editor Paul Gallico wrote in the mid 1930s that basketball “appeals to the Hebrew with his Oriental background [because] the game places a premium on an alert, scheming mind and flashy trickiness, artful dodging and general smartalecness.”
I’ve got a copy of Manxmouse kicking around here somewhere.
I remember his The Man Who Was Magic fondly. Although it probably is 35+ years since I read it, so who knows?
[[RIGHT]QUOTE=tapu;17402261]The Snow Goose
[/QUOTE]
This was read out to us in class when we were about ten years old. We lived in Folkestone at the time, on the [/RIGHT]Channel coast . The Dunkirk evacuation was still relevant .
Oh Lord, I haven’t thought of him in many years.
But I remember loving the Snow Goose, and his wonderful writing about cats.
Mrs 'Arris, Snow Goose, Thomasina. I read anything by Paul Gallico my library had.
StG
I remember a sports writer who did a story on Jack Dempsey and actually climbed into the ring with him and tried a few rounds. He didn’t do too well.
Is it possible I’m remembering the right name?
Ahh … yes. It was him.
http://www.paulgallico.info/gallicobiog.html
I adore Manxmouse.
I’m familiar with “The Snow Goose” due to the Camel album of the same name (inspired by the story), which is one of my favorite albums. Out of curiosity, I went looking for it once at the library and found it in a book with three or four of his short stories/novellas.
I also remembered that he had written The Poseidon Adventure.
A teacher in grade school read The Snow Goose aloud to us (mid-sixties), New Jersey. Must have been A Thing.
I loved his book The Silent Meow, which is a manual for stray cats on how to get humans to fall in love with you and take you in. Written by a cat.
Oh, boy, Paul Gallico. The Snow Goose. The Mrs 'Arris quartet (the first two books were the best, but the third and fourth are worth reading). *Too Many Ghosts *and The Hand of Mary Constable (out of all his books, I probably love those two the most: damn fine detective stories). The Adventures of Hiram Halladay. The Boy Who Invented the Bubble Gun. Jennie. The Zoo Gang. Coronation. And so many more…