Ginger's Susan Hayward Message Board: To reach If You Knew Susie by Trish Sharp, click the profile photo at www.facebook.com/susanhaywardclassicfilmstar and you will see the link.
I was leafing through a coffee-table photo book (from the archives of the Los Angeles Times) at the bookstore the other day and found a photo of Susan attending an event with Jay Bernstein. I couldn’t believe the caption. It said that she was attending a party with her “husband” and they named him Jay Bernstine (sic). This isn’t the first time I have noted errors in photo books. Many times the people in the photos are misidentified and it drives me crazy. I once sent an e-mail correcting a photo caption in the L.A. Times and it finally was included in the corrections box. The length of time it took to be included, however, led me to believe they did a lot of research to make sure I was right! Needless to say, I would not purchase a photo book that can’t get its facts straight. Think of all the unsuspecting people who will now think Susan was married to Jay Bernstine!
You've hit on something that really offends me. As a former newspaper and advertising writer, I'm very cognizant of getting facts straight. I'm afraid I often drove my co-workers nuts by correcting facts and copy.
And the mistakes don't apply only to coffee table books, but to non-fiction books as well. I wish I had a dollar for every biography I've read that had mistakes -- some obvious, others not so obvious -- in them.
I worked at the Philadelphia Inquirer where we had copy readers whose job it was to go through reporters' copy and make sure it was factual. Surprise! Some things got through them. And by the time any correction was made, most times readers never saw it.
It's a sad state of affairs, and I believe it's been made worse today by the Internet and bloggers. Sometimes I'm glad I'm retired.
Incidentally, didn't Jay Bernstein die recently -- within the last couple years?
Yes, this Hollywood "publicist to the stars" died in L.A. this past April 30th, 68 years of age.
~ANN~
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Replying to:
Jill:
You've hit on something that really offends me. As a former newspaper and advertising writer, I'm very cognizant of getting facts straight. I'm afraid I often drove my co-workers nuts by correcting facts and copy.
And the mistakes don't apply only to coffee table books, but to non-fiction books as well. I wish I had a dollar for every biography I've read that had mistakes -- some obvious, others not so obvious -- in them.
I worked at the Philadelphia Inquirer where we had copy readers whose job it was to go through reporters' copy and make sure it was factual. Surprise! Some things got through them. And by the time any correction was made, most times readers never saw it.
It's a sad state of affairs, and I believe it's been made worse today by the Internet and bloggers. Sometimes I'm glad I'm retired.
Incidentally, didn't Jay Bernstein die recently -- within the last couple years?
