MICKEY SPILLANE…..KISS ME, DEADLY

In the last few days, Mickey Spillane has come to my attention. I cannot recall where. The name brought back memories.

Spillane was a writer. Many mystery novels. He was the creator of Mike Hammer.

In 1952, Spillane wrote Kiss Me, Deadly. An instantaneous success. Caused a furor. It was considered a dirty book by 1952 standards. Sex was a big no no in 1952. Not as it is today. When I read the book back then, I read it for the off color passages. I was a college senior and my blood was always boiling.

An example of the off color material typical of the book is found in the first few pages. Mike Hammer picked up a female hitchhiker in a rainstorm. She was wearing a rain coat. At some point, she took his hand and placed it under the raincoat and on her thigh. She was wearing no clothes. That is as far as it went.

Don’t laugh. Such was porn back then.

The Catholic Church considered the book immoral. They placed it on the Index. Which meant it should not be read. The U.S. Congress also made damning comments about the book.

All the preceding did nothing more than to increase sales. The publisher could not print enough copies.

My dorm floor consisted of 60 students. Someone had the book! With the good pages and paragraphs marked. The book found its way into each of our hands.

I doubt the book would be a best seller today if written as it was in 1952. The juicy portions would be considered too mild. Extremely so.

Staying with book writing, I attended the Friends of the Key West Library session last night. A series of lectures by writers.

The speaker Mark Childress. I had never heard of him. He was most enjoyable to listen to. He traced his writing career. The good and the bad. He has been a Key West resident for several years now and continues to write.

His most famous published work is Crazy in Alabama. In the late ’90s, it was made into a movie starring Melanie Griffith.

I was taken by his talk. I intend to place Crazy in Alabama on my list of books to read. It may take me a week or month or year to get to it. But, I will.

The days are warm. The heat can be felt. The cool breezes gone. Sweating time. I wanted to walk. I rarely do outside. I did not feel guilty when I did my walking yesterday in Home Depot.

Home Depot was not as cool as it should have been. A bit sticky. I made comment to one of the assistant managers I knew. He said I was correct. The full system is scheduled not to be turned on till the end of the month.

It was still better than walking outside.

Had my routine checkup with my heart doctor. McIvor his name. I am alive and well as far as my heart is concerned. May I stay that way. I will see him again in three months.

Last night, the Chart Room. I ended up speaking with five bikers. Black leather, long beards and all. Most were in their 60s and retired. All from the Chicago area. Good guys. Softies at heart who like to dress bad.

Tonight, my blog talk radio show. Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou. A half hour of political and social commentary. The show provides the opportunity to express my opinions. Love doing it!

The show is at 9 my time. www.blogtalkradio.com/key-west-lou. If you miss it and would like to listen another day, the show is archived on Blog Talk Radio and You Tube. It can also be found by going to my Key West Lou page where you are reading this blog. The navigation bar on top lists Blog Talk Radio. It is my personal archive and you can listen there if you like.

Topics to be covered tonight include the letter the 47 Senators sent to Iran, a man in jail for life without parole for being involved in a $20 pot purchase, and an update on Venezuela’s President Maduro.

Enjoy your day!