Edna Purviance's bio

June 6, 2018 - Re-editing Edna Purviance's family biography 2nd Draft. Photo: Leading Ladies © used by ednapurviance.org

Monday, December 24, 2007

Merry Christmas Everyone

December 25th, 2007 - The special Christmas Eve and Day event for Edna and Charlie is now over. Thank you very much for visiting us over Christmas. We are glad to hear you enjoyed the encore piece, as we had a record number of visitors for Christmas. More news to come, but for now, enjoy your holiday week.

More News about the Chaplin Museum
AFP reports - "Swiss cantonal authorities are expected to approve the sale to Luxemburgish investors early next year so the project can get under way for the museum to open its doors at the end of 2009." - full article from AFP

UPDATE: December 25th, 2007 - from EuroNewSwiss Authorities approve the creation of a museum.
"It's the 30th anniversary of Charlie Chaplin's death and to pay tribute to the silent film legend, Swiss authorities have approved the creation of a museum dedicated to his life and work. The building will be located at his old colonial-style mansion in Corsier-sur-Vevey, near Lausanne.

Architect, Philippe Melan is the creator of the project:

"There is the man Charlie Chaplin, there is the artist and there is his work. So we're keeping a part of his house, the most personal and private, as it was. The new construction will allow us to include everything he made during his life." - EuroNews

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Modern Times with the St. Louis Symphony

Modern Times - December 29 and 30, 2007
Powell Symphony Hall - St. Louis
With live music by:
Conductor David Robertson with the Saint Louis Symphony
Learn more>

Saturday, December 22, 2007

Little concerned...

As a few of you may know, I had to replace my video card this month, as the other one burned out on my main computer. We decided to buy two cards to have a back-up. Well, as of last night, I am now on the back-up card. The first card burned out last night after about 10 days.

Reason for concern? If this last card doesn't hold up and burns out quickly too, it could cause a lot of problems, because I will have to hold off on normal work, until I can order a new computer with a better cooling system for these cards. (The fans on these cards are worthless.)

I still plan to launch The Sea Gull in January, but if the video card goes, there is no way I can continue until I get everything settled in a new computer. So the reason for my little concern...

I know it will happen, just don't know when.

Update January 7th: "When" didn't take too long, as my third video card has not been working well this last week. But with a bit of tech help, the monitors are running fine, now. This will not stop the release of the book, as I have been placing in a backup plan, just in case.

Friday, December 21, 2007

NEW! Grand View News update in the December 19, 2007 GV post.

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Another update on the Chaplin Museum

Hoping for a late 2009 opening
December 24, 2007 - More News about the Chaplin Museum

AFP reports - "Swiss cantonal authorities are expected to approve the sale to Luxemburgish investors early next year so the project can get under way for the museum to open its doors at the end of 2009." - full article from AFP


December 20, 2007 -
Full article from AFP - The Charlie Chaplin Museum
"Screen legend Charlie Chaplin's Swiss retreat is set to become a museum dedicated to his life, with the signing of a deal to purchase the house Thursday, one of the agreement's backers said.

The sale still has to be approved by the local Swiss authorities, who have the power of veto over sales of buildings to foreigners." - AFP

Chaplin Library has 500 books and counting...

The Chaplin Library has over 500 books listed, with more on the way! I am slowly making my way to updating the PDF files. I will post when those have been updated.

Merry Christmas!

In the past I have gotten a few fans passing by the site on Christmas eve and Christmas day. So since I am going to be around, and it is Charlie's 30th Anniversary December 25th, I plan to have an encore piece for a few hours on Christmas eve and day.

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Grand View update: Work could resume?

Besides welcome rain in southern California, here is the latest report about Grand View.

See December 20th update below.

December 18th, 2007
From the Glendale News: Grand View officials seek court action to change city order requiring the site to cease maintenance.

"The attorney representing Grand View Memorial Park stakeholders will ask a judge today to modify a city order that has prohibited maintenance and clean-up work, officials said.


The cemetery, which is embroiled in a series of lawsuits stemming from October 2005 when state inspectors found the remains of about 4,000 people that were never buried or properly disposed of there, has been closed to public visits since June as part of an evidence preservation order.

The city attorney’s office filed a public nuisance abatement action in September against cemetery operator Moshe Goldsman and the estate of former cemetery owner Marsha Lee Howard, who died in November 2006, ordering the defendants to bring the cemetery and its grove of brittle, flammable trees up to safety standards in order to reestablish a limited public visitation schedule.

If the cemetery does the necessary work, the city will drop the nuisance abatement complaint, City Atty. Scott Howard said."

"Paul Ayers, the attorney representing family members suing Grand View and its owners, welcomed Goldsman’s apparent steps toward cleaning up the cemetery.

“I’ve been able to bury and disinter about 30 people so far, and I’ve got that process pretty well down now,” said Ayers, who has secured a series of court orders to allow proper burials and disinterments.

“The biggest problem has been access, and it appears that this is a step in that direction, which is very welcome to my clients.”
- Glendale News

Full story at this
LINK to Glendale News. It is only available for free, 14 days from December 18th, 2007.
___________________________

December 20th, 2007
UPDATE:
Work set to start on Grand View. Judge allows owner to begin correcting code violations on cemetery land by modifying order.

LOS ANGELES — Work needed to abate fire and safety hazards at Grand View Memorial Park could start as early as today after a judge on Wednesday modified an evidence preservation order that had prohibited the property owner from doing the maintenance.

David Baum, the attorney representing cemetery operator Moshe Goldsman in a series of lawsuits filed against Grand View, said modification of the order was needed to allow the cemetery to rectify a string of city code violations related to hundreds of overgrown or dead trees on the property.

In court documents submitted Tuesday, Baum included a contractor’s estimate for tree removal and trimming, plus installation of an aboveground irrigation system and landscape clean-up work for $105,400.

“Our contractor is anxious to begin immediately because he’s set aside this time to do the work,” Baum said. “He’s even ready to start, like, tomorrow.” - Glendale News

Full story at this LINK to Glendale News. It is only available for free, 14 days from December 20th, 2007.

Sunday, December 16, 2007

I've put The Sea Gull aside today to continue work on the Chaplin Library. I have more books from Dominique to add, but I do believe we should be over 500 books once I have all the latest books entered.

The database is the main project I worked on today. Right now, I have 450 books entered, and adding more. I still have parts that have to be adjusted, but it is working very well.

It was a wonderful gift of 'talent and time' from one of our loyal fans, and it has been a real treat to work with. It is just taking me along time to make it public, due to the work on The Sea Gull.

It is interesting to see 450 covers at once of Chaplin books printed over the years. In this collection, and focusing on the leading ladies, I find Edna and Charlie on the cover of only three books. Georgia Hale shares the cover the most with Chaplin and Claire Bloom, the least. From the other actors, Jackie Coogan shares the most covers.

I have made head ways on the language additions, and continue to work to have the database public in the future.

As for The Sea Gull, I will be posting more about it very soon.

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Just a little update... After getting my main computer backup and running this week, I have been busy catching up. And I am still catching up.

As for Edna, I have been spending the evening preparing the ednapurviance.com site.

With our company Leading Ladies, directly selling all The Sea Gull books, we have to finish work on the shopping cart site and main site. So while it may seem quiet on the blog, it is very busy behind the scenes.

We hope your Christmas is getting off to a good start. No big plans here, just a little celebration, while getting lots of work done, before the New Year.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

The Sea Gull Launch!

The Sea Gull Launch in January 2008 and News
First our news: We received our hardcover proof back of The Sea Gull from the printers and we have to say, it was a disappointment. We have been pleased with our paperback books and have few things to change, but the quality of the printing and binding for the hardcover doesn't meet our standards. We decided it would be best to NOT offer the hard cover version at this time.

Edna Purviance's 50th Anniversary
Launch of The Sea Gull: As for the softbound release, January 2008 is the 50th Anniversary of the death of Edna Purviance. With all the 2007 celebrations of the 30th year since Charlie Chaplin's passing, we decided one way to honor Edna would be to launch The Sea Gull in January 2008. (see comment for more) It was also the month Edna started working on The Sea Gull in 1926.

The Sea Gull will be released during the week of January 13th, 2008. For our Edna list members, please watch your emails for a bit more news on this to come.

A very special thanks for all your support on this project.

We have loads to do to get ready for this launch, and are really excited that the book is nearly ready for publication.

We hope everyone will have a happy and joyful Christmas season and a good start to 2008!

Latest about the Chaplin Museum in Vevey

Latest news about The Chaplin Museum in Vevey:
"A mystery group of investors based in Luxemburg is prepared to acquire the former residence of Charlie Chaplin in Vaud, reviving a project to turn it into a museum, 24 Heures reports today.

The movie star’s former home in Corsier-sur-Vevey has been empty since the last member of the Chaplin family moved out several years ago. The Manoir de Ban was acquired two years ago by a foundation, financially backstopped by the municipalities of Corsier, Corseaux, Chardonne and Jongny, who borrowed SFr7 million for the purchase.


The foundation’s efforts to turn the home into a Chaplin museum have been blocked by a neighbor, who appealed to the canton’s administrative tribunal. The unidentified neighbor has made it known he is prepared to take the case all the way to the highest court in the country.

Despite the hurdles, Meylan remains optimistic the museum project will fly, noting its potential significant benefits for the region." - 24 Heures

Full story at 24 Heures. Special thanks to one of our loyal Edna fans.

Update: For some of you who have not been following this story, you may run across reports on the web making it sound like this is a new idea. This idea started several years ago, and had its share of problems. It is easy to understand the neighbors point of view on this. They want to live quietly in the country, and not next to what could be a busy museum. Even Chaplin might have some agreement to that. When he bought the property, it was wintertime, all very quiet. When spring came, he found out he lived close to a shooting range. He had to learn how to live with it. And if everything goes well in getting this museum built, this neighbor will have to learn to live with it.

Monday, December 10, 2007

And the Winner is...

Ingo Geirdal, from Iceland!





















Congratulations, Ingo!

Special thanks to everyone who entered!

All of you who have been on the Edna contest list, will be getting a special email about The Sea Gull a bit later, so do stay tune!


AND! On Tuesday, December 11th, I will have our special post about the release date for The Sea Gull!

First Name has been Drawn!

The first name has been drawn and emailed for The Sea Gull book at 8:05PM London time.

They have exactly 24 hours to respond, before another name is drawn. Good Luck!
We have had over 80 entries from many different countries, including the Pacific Rim, Europe, United Kingdom, Middle East, South America, Canada, United States and others. Because we had so many different locations, I decide to use one of our favorite time zones, London (Charlie's birth home), to begin the drawing.

IMPORTANT
Remember, you have 24 hours to reply. If I don't have a response by 8PM London time, Tuesday, I will draw a new name, and continue the same, until I do have a winner.

Good Luck, Everyone!

Sunday, December 09, 2007

Drawing for Sea Gull book Begins

UPDATE! The Sea Gull has been released and available at ednapurviance.com

December 10th, 2007 - Monday - 8PM - London, England Time
(check the time for your time zone - date and time links on right)
Fans who signed up, watch your emails!

The first name will be drawn and emailed about 8PM London Time. You have 24 hours to respond. If I don't hear from you, a second name is drawn, and they have 24 hours to respond.

Once I have a winner, I will post the winner's name and the plan date of release for The Sea Gull book a short time later. Good Luck!

Friday, December 07, 2007

Fans on the Contest Drawing List!

Watch your email on MONDAY, DECEMBER 10TH, 2007! You might just be the winner of a copy of the soon to be released The Sea Gull. (Check your special email sent Thursday, December 6th for details.)

Thursday, December 06, 2007

Final Proof Books on there way!

Finally, all our final proof books are on there way. Both of them (paperback and hard cover) should be here in a few days. These books will have to be viewed and adjusted, if needed.

Because we are right in the middle of Christmas season, we are making our final decision as when to launch the book.

The Christmas season creates a problem with getting things printed on time. Plus, the printers are heavily swamped with orders, and it creates an added problem on them being rushed. It means, added crews to help with the load and skeleton crews during the Christmas holiday, not necessarily the best staff.

Leading Ladies wants to try to have the best printed book possible, with the print option we have available. We have been happy with the printed books to date, but Christmas isn't always the ideal time to get things done, especially with a brand new book.

What we plan to do, is view the proof books, adjust the things needed, but go ahead and have the drawing for the free book copy. I am preparing an general email now to all of you on the contest list about the drawing. I will be sending another email after the drawing updating you on the project and launch.

So watch your emails, if you are on the list!

UPDATE: The email to the contest list has been sent. If you didn't receive an email, and you entered the contest, please let me know. You have to be on the list. The date and time for the drawing to begin for the book winner is listed on that email. So watch your emails!

Friday December 7th, 2007 - Thanks for writing in! Great hearing from some of you. As for a few of you on the list, if you didn't get the email about the contest and you are on the list, let me know. I notice just a few emails that didn't work last night. I have not been able to update Edna's site on this. With my main computer down, I have to use one of the other back ups, but it is being used for our business at this time. So all the updates on the drawing are HERE for now.

Announcement on The Sea Gull coming VERY SOON!

I still have my main computer down, due to the video card going out, but I plan an announcement very soon (maybe even later today) about the launch of The Sea Gull.

If you are on the contest list, please watch for a general email today!

PS- Because of this computer issue, it is causing delays in getting Edna's site updated. In fact, because of too many different issues, nearly impossible to update Edna. Very sorry, but waiting on the mail to get the card here. The blog will have most of the updates until I get the computer video monitor fixed.

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

Just still waiting...

Nothing new to add, but the weather has calmed down here. Except for a few very tall pine trees falling over roads, power lines and onto cars, not too bad right here, but very bad in other areas. Even lost our oldest tree in the state (over 700 years old) during this heavy wind event.

Our best to our northwest fans, especially in the Seattle area, which had the wettest 24 hour period ever recorded, which has shutdown a stretch of Interstate 5 between Portland and Seattle, with about 10 feet of water.

Meanwhile here, still waiting for a video card so I can have my normal computer back again. Also, still waiting for our proof books too, but should have some movement on that soon.

As soon as my normal computer is back, I will send a general email out to all of you who sent in entries to the contest and explain what will happen next.

Also, I have learned my email was down last week and I didn't know it, because it didn't effect all my emails. I am getting mail showing up six days late, so if you wrote and haven't heard back, that could be why.

Otherwise, updating what I can and waiting, waiting, waiting... Again, thanks very much for your support.

Sunday, December 02, 2007

Contest for the Sea Gull drawing is now CLOSE

UPDATE JANUARY 2008 - THE NEW BOOK THE SEA GULL IS NOW AVAILABLE AT EDNAPURVIANCE.COM

SEE DECEMBER 10TH, 2007 POST FOR WINNER!

Contest Entries Closed Sunday, December 2nd, 2007

Today, I decided to close the entries for The Sea Gull book drawing, but I won't be drawing for a winner for a few days still. That is because I have three things happening at once.

Today, my regular computer video card (the one I had trouble with earlier this fall) has finally gone out for good. I have a new card on order, but it does slow things for me, since that computer has the bulk of my information. (Including all my Sea Gull entries!)

Two, we are having a major winter storm, causing very strong winds in our area for the next two days. The power going out is highly likely, and has twice already, causing even a fire in a doctor's office not far from us. Because of this we are going to be doing limited Internet work for the next day or so.

The last thing, both the hard cover and paperback proof books could be arriving nearly the same day. If they both check out, I like to have The Sea Gull launched very soon after. So I decided to close the drawing entries today, and I will be emailing our winner, as soon as I have my regular computer back up and running.

So if you have your name in, you will be hearing from me this week. I will send a regular email to everyone as soon as I can, telling you the contest has closed. So watch your emails!

Monday, Dec. 3rd - The weather is still very windy and now wet, causing many power outages, so I may not have answered some of your emails, yet. As for the main computer video card, it will be Wednesday or Thursday before I have the new one, so it will be a few days before I can get all of this sorted and a winner announced.