This is My Song: A Memoir [Hardcover]

Patti Page (Author), Skip Press (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 24, 2009

The inspirational and powerful story of Patti, America s most beloved musical icons. Born Clara Ann Fowler in Claremore, Oklahoma on November 8, 1927 Patti Page s career spanned more than six decades as she became a living legend and sold more than 100 million records. In This Is My Song, Page tells her extraordinary story firsthand and takes readers on the moving and heartwarming journey from her poor upbringing to her greatest challenges and successes as an artist and as a woman. This Is My Song opens with Page at the pinnacle of her career, standing on stage at Carnegie Hall and planning for a sell-out show. As she reflects back on her life and career, Patti shares her most personal thoughts, fears, and triumphs as she goes from a small-town girl from Oklahoma to one of the biggest selling female recording artists in history. Filled with anecdotes and personal stories, This Is My Song is a true masterpiece and a rare and unedited look in to the life of one of the most inspirational female artists of our time.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Grammy Award winning recording artist Patti Page is an American icon. Her silky-smooth voice engulfed the airwaves during the 50s and 60s, providing her with a staggering 111 Billboard Chart hits, 15 gold records and four gold albums. She became the first crossover artist to take country music out of the country and onto the pop charts with such million record sellers as Mockin Bird Hill, Detour, I Went To Your Wedding, Mister & Mississippi, and, of course, the legendary Tennessee Waltz, which sold more than 10 million copies and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Page s accomplishments remain unparalleled. Today, she continues to use her sweet, tranquil voice to touch the hearts of many generations. Her latest album, Best Country Songs is in current release. Page still enjoys performing select concerts throughout the year, sharing her incredible list of chart-topping classics with her fans. Skip Press is an award-winning author, screenwriter, teacher, playwright, and former Editor of Entertainment Monthly (Los Angeles). His writings on Hollywood and Hollywood personalities are read all over the world, including three editions of Writer s Guide to Hollywood Producers, Directors and Screenwriters Agents. His college-level screen writing course is available online in over 1200 schools.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Kathdan Books (March 24, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 098206800X
• ISBN-13: 978-0982068007
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #866,740 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Skip Press (www.skippress.com) has edited a Hollywood entertainment magazine, produced and directed plays, made instructional videos, sold feature film scripts, served as the Hollywood correspondent for Boys Life, been a staff writer for a UPN kids show, published young adult novels and non-fiction series like Star Families, and taught an online screenwriting course that was available in 1,500 schools. He has published almost 40 books, including four editions of Writer's Guides to Hollywood, four editions of the Complete Idiot's Guide to Screenwriting (including one in Russian). He had three books come out in 2009 including This Is My Song: A Memoir, by Patti Page with Skip Press. His most recent book (2010) is the Complete Idiot's Guide to Making Money with Craigslist. His most recent screenplay consultation resulted in a director getting his first feature film deal with The Bubble Factory in Los Angeles. His first how-to writing book, How To Write What You Want & Sell What You Write, has been selling steadily for almost two decades. The latest version from Fall River Books comes out in the summer of 2011. Many of the books he ghost-writes and edits have hit #1 in their category on Amazon, such at the Ultimate Guide to Video Game Writing & Design, which stays at or around #1 (Press sold the book and edited it).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read for All Who Love the Music of the 1950s, April 11, 2009

By 

Timothy Akers "Page Fan" (Wamego, Kansas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: This is My Song: A Memoir (Hardcover)

When I purchased "This is My Song a memoir of Patti Page" I couldn't wait to receive it. I felt like a little kid again waiting with great anticipation for Christmas morning. So one can imagine what I felt like when I received the book at work and counted the hours until 5 p.m. so I could go home and devour every word.

I must say I wasn't disappointed. I couldn't put "This is My Song" down and read the entire book finishing it at 4 a.m. the next day. Miss Page's memories helped me to forget the troubles of this world and remember a time when things were simpler and the music and talent in the entertainment industry were THE BEST! The book is brilliantly written in a way that feels like she is sitting there next to you with a cup of coffee in her hand telling her story. Stories about the top performers in the industry like Elvis, The Beatles, Bob Hope, Benny Goodman, Rosemary Clooney, Nat King Cole, United States Presidents, the list goes on. Even the infamous...I mean what would you do if you came home from work to find Sam Giancana sitting at your dinner table?

I read constantly (novels, biographies, fiction and non-fiction) and can't remember any book causing me to laugh out loud. From her shy naiveté when learning what some band members did to occupy their time after a show to her powerful performance singing Father, Father on the Ed Sullivan show where she brought the house down only to have Ed complement the monkey act that was to follow her... so many of the stories are hilarious.

And then there are the tears I shed when reading what it was like for her to try and buy her grade school friends gifts so they would like her (because she was from the wrong side of the tracks) or when she lost her friend Rosemary Clooney to cancer or when her Dad and Mom passed away; you are catapulted into her private life, and I know this must have been very hard for such a private person to share her life with such honesty and candor. But she did it with grace and love. This book is HISTORY of Pop music at its best and is guaranteed to find you picking it up and reading it again...just in case you missed something. I should know, I have read it three times already and along the way I have learned some life lessons from someone who has done it all and is still the All-Time, Top-Selling female vocalist. Thank you Patti Page for sharing your life!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Patti Page IS THE RAGE, Beautifully Written Biography, March 20, 2009

By 

Rene E. Paquette "Patti Page #1 fan" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: This is My Song: A Memoir (Hardcover)

Patti Page, THE TOP SELLING VOCALIST of the 1950s and top female selling singer in American history tells her story. Beautifully written, depicting the highs, and lows of her life. From a country cotton pickin' poor young girl, to the TOP of the music industry. Unfortunately, the "facts regarding the number of hit recordings in certain years are inaccurate", in that there were more hits than listed in the facts section in the chapters.

Thank You Miss Page for sharing your beautiful story. You are a CLASS act.

A sad note to add to my review. Miss Page's husband Jerry Filiciotto passed away on April 18, 2009.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This Is My Song: A Memoir (Patti PageP, April 30, 2009

By 

Bob "Bob" (Chicago) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: This is My Song: A Memoir (Hardcover)

Patti Page was an Icon during the fifties and sixties. Patti takes the reader from her bare foot years in Oklahoma, to the heights of her career, and also lets the reader know of her Happiness and greatest disapointments as the great American Treasure known as Patti Page.