What's New at Thorne Smith.net

Remember to check back here often for updates on what's new at Thorne Smith.net!

Current Updates:

2016:

Finally decided to ditch the slide show feature on the main home page.  After looking at the usage stats and reading the feedback from everyone who shared their thoughts, it was obvious that as cool as it may have once looked to me, it wasn't really all that useful or popular.  

2015:

I don't know about you but 2015 was a rough year for this Thorne Smith fan.  It's a tad bit embarrassing to have not posted any official updates here.

Some tweaks and small improvements were done to the site but nothing major.  2016 will have things back on track.  So, thank you for checking in from time to time and saying hello.

I certainly appreciated all your emails and encouragement throughout the year.  

July 2, 2014:

Added a slide show to the home page. Let me know if you like it or not. If you like it, I'll keep adding photos to it.  If you see a photo you like in the slide show you can just click that image to go to the page about it.

Example: If you click the slide show photo of Irene Ware, it will take you to the page about the movie she was in: Night Life of the Gods.

March 22, 2014:

Added a new page about Night Life of the Gods actress Peggy Shannon.  You can access it from the Night Life of the Gods page or here: Peggy Shannon

January 13, 2014:

Added interview interview with Ben Stiller & Kristen Wiig to The Secret Life of Walter Mitty page.

Thorne Smith What's New 2013

December 22, 2013:

Added a new page about The Secret Life of Walter Mitty remake. You can access it from the Movies page or by clicking here

November 30, 2013:

Did you know there's a remake of THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY coming out?

The original story was written by Thorne Smith's friend James Thurber. It reads a lot like the Biltmore Oswald stories in Thorne's first two books: BILTMORE OSWALD and OUT O' LUCK.

Keep checking back often because I have a lot of info I'll be posting about this.

October 7, 2013:

Added a link on the I MARRIED A WITCH page to Guy Maddin's excellent essay on I MARRIED A WITCH at Criterion's website.

October 6, 2013:

Added a 300 word summary to I MARRIED A WITCH page.

October 5, 2013:

Added a movie trailer to the I MARRIED A WITCH page.

October 4, 2013:

Experimenting with the look of the website, so if something looks different or a bit odd, don't worry, updates are being done throughout the weekend to make the site easier on the eyes.

October 3, 2013:

Just created a new page for I MARRIED A WITCH and will be updating it every day this week. You can go directly there by clicking the link below:

I Married A Witch

September 10, 2013:

Updated the copy of the short film MENU. You now have a higher quality version to watch. It's not as good as the DVD version available on the Katherine Hepburn box set (which I recommend you purchase here) Katherine Hepburn 100th Anniversary Collection

but it's probably the best version you'll find online anywhere.

April 19, 2012:

Added a new Biography page to the navigation menu. Click on it and you'll be able to read a new biography page I created. I also put a link to Scott Veale's New York Times article called "Drinking Gin With the Dead" which is an outstanding piece of writing about Thorne Smith.

August 13 2011:

Added a new page for the new Olivia Wilde, Ryan Reynolds & Jason Bateman movie THE CHANGE-UP, which is a body switching story in the tradition of Thorne Smith's TURNABOUT. Just go to the MOVIE page and click on the link for THE CHANGE-UP. Enjoy!

March 30 2011:

Added a new page for the Night Life of the Gods movie. Also added a 3 minute clip of the beginning of the movie for you to watch. Enjoy!

March 27 2011:

119 years ago Thorne Smith was born! I hope you took a moment today to celebrate one of the most unique, funny and philosophical writers to grace literature.

March 11 2011:

Added a new page for the Topper Returns movie & included the film trailer for it.

Also created a new page for the Pete Smith films short MENU that Thorne Smith wrote during his brief stay in Hollywood. Moved the film of MENU from the MOVIES page onto it's own page so it makes more sense that way.

Also just exchanged notes with the kind folks over at the Hal Roach site who have kindly linked to us this week. Be sure to pay them a visit and learn more about producer Hal Roach at:

http://hal-roach.com/

January 31 2011:

Added the 1933 MGM short film MENU for you to watch!

This fun little movie was written by Thorne Smith during his time in Hollywood working for MGM. It appears from time to time on the Turner Classic Movies cable channel, who are wonderful friends of this website.

Enjoy the movie while you can for free because I do not know if the YouTube user has permission to make it available and TCM may ask them to remove it.

March 27 2010:

Today we celebrate Thorne Smith's birthday!

Watch your DVD of Topper or dust off a book from your shelf and read from one of your favorites like Turnabout or The Stray Lamb.

It's been a long rollercoaster of a ride the last 18 months and I didn't make updates here as I planned. Won't bore you with the ridiculous details but I am pleased to be able to tell you that this site is still alive & well and I am now in a position to start adding to it again.

I'm so humbled and grateful that you've continued to visit and sign up for the newsletter and send emails asking if I was coming back.

I'm going to keep my promises to you & I'm looking forward to sharing all kinds of new things with you and I hope you'll find the wait to be have been more than worth it.

So, thank you--thank you--thank you--for your patience and your incredible & inspiring support. I appreciate you not giving up on me & this site during my long absence.

I'm very behind on correspondence but I am reading each & every email and will be getting back to you as soon as possible. Especially those of you asking how to contact the agent for the Thorne Smith estate.

My deepest thanks,

Michael D. Walker

September 2008:

Added a video clip to the TV Shows page!

Life is slowly returning to normal for my wife and I after her surgeries. It's been a challenge but we're also very fortunate and we're grateful that so many people keep visiting the website and signing up for the newsletter.

I hate to sound like a broken record but I truly do appreciate your patience, especially everyone who has been signing up for the newsletter.

I'm looking forward to adding new things for you and I hope you'll find the wait to be worth it.

So, thank you for your patience and your support. I greatly appreciate it during these tough months.

I have been reading all of your emails and will be responding to each and every one of them as soon as possible.

My deepest thanks,

Michael D. Walker

June 2008:

Added more info about Topper Returns TV Show and posted two photos from the show for you!

Unfortunately, my wife will be undergoing a second surgery this week so I haven't been able to update as quickly as I had hoped after the first surgery. Again, I really appreciate your patience and understanding.

May 2008:

First let me apologize for not adding more content and updates in awhile. There's a number of reasons for this but basically my wife has had some health issues that have kept me away from the website and spending far too much time at Dr's offices and the hospital.

I do have some great news. I will be adding more new content soon, including some terrific pictures and a new issue of the newsletter.

January 2008:

Sent out the third issue of the Newsletter to everyone who has subscribed. Included was great news about the BASED ON THORNE SMITH Special Presentation that Turner Classic Movies is doing. Particularly nice was seeing TCM credit me as a source for their profile on our favorite writer!

November 2007:

Sent out the second issue of the Newsletter.

October 2007:

Added information on the TOPPER RETURNS TV pilot to the TV Shows page.

Just added a new page called FUNNY QUOTES.

Added a separate page for magazine appearances. Also added photos to the pages for the short stories Yonder's Henry and Birthday Present.

September 2007:

Finally the first issue of the Thorne Smith Newsletter was sent out via email to everyone who subscribed! It wasn't a huge issue but it had information on the restoration of the 1940 adaptation of TURNABOUT and gave everyone a heads-up on Turner Classic Movies' showings of TURNABOUT and the 1933 film short MENU, written by our favorite scribe while he was at MGM!

If you don't want to miss out on the next upcoming issues, just sign up for free at the bottom of this page or click on the FREE NEWSLETTER link to your left.

July 2007:

Added a video montage from the 1937 film TOPPER on the Movies page. Just click the button in the middle of the video screen to enjoy watching!!!

Also added a video clip of the intro to the 1950's TV show TOPPER on the TV Shows page.

Just added a new page called "Nursing the Thorne Smith Triplets" and included a photo of the cover art for the book! You'll find the link to it from the BOOKS page. Enjoy!

Added pages about the 3-Decker and 3-Bagger collections. Also included photos of the cover art.

Thanks to all you Stray Lambs and Jovial Ghosts who keep visiting. We're getting just over 300 people a month coming here and I'm grateful to each and every one of you. It's great to know I'm not alone in my love of Thorne Smith!

I also appreciate all your support and patience as I get items added. I'm an expert on Thorne Smith but not exactly the fastest guy in the world at creating web pages. But I am getting quicker at it!

As a fan first and foremost, I am just as eager to find out more about my favorite writer as you are. Thus far I've spent over 8 years searching high and low doing extensive research. I've long since lost track of how much money I've invested along the way and it doesn't matter to me anyway. This is a labor of love for me and even when I'm 80 years old, I'll be the guy in your local library jotting down notes from some obscure book and mumbling to himself "Ha! That's something new."

I won't kid you, sometimes it can be tough finding new information on an overlooked writer from 70 years ago. There's hardly anyone alive who actually knew him. Even the children of people who knew him are getting hard to track down. But this is my passion and as such it has put me in contact with many other fans who generously send me information, point me in helpful directions and has even resulted in me coming into direct contact with Thorne Smith's family, a kind and friendly bunch of family members who have graciously helped me every step of the way because they know how much I care. They see how much of my heart and soul I've put into doing this. Hopefully you're starting to get a sense of this from me too.

So, all that to say I am constantly researching, studying and gathering new material to give to you on this site. I hope you enjoy your visits here and come back often. There's a lot of exciting things planned for this site. Just to give you a tease, here's a few of the many things coming soon.

-Book reviews of every single book written by Thorne Smith

-Movie reviews of every movie made from his books

-Profiles of contemporary artists and writers who have been influenced by his books

-A checklist for collecting his books without getting ripped off on Ebay and Amazon.com

-Feedback forms so YOU can tell us what YOU want to see here.

-An interview from 75 years ago with Thorne Smith himself!

-THE THORNE SMITH NEWSLETTER, a newsletter for special fans like you!

So check back often and tell all your friends. We look forward to a long and loving relationship of literary fun.

Thank you for visiting and don't forget to---

Sign up here for your free subscription to THE THORNE SMITH NEWSLETTER.

Previous Updates

June 2007:

Added sign up form for THE JOVIAL GHOSTS NEWSLETTER!

Added photos to the Adventures of Topper radio show page.

Added three more titles to the Books page.

Finally added a photo of our man to the main home page!

April 2007:

Added four more titles to the Short Stories page.

Added a "Radio Shows" page with information on the dramatization of "SKIN AND BONES" in 1933.

March 2007:

Added a "Radio Shows" page with information on "The Adventures of Topper" radio program from 1945.

Finally added a "Short Stories" page with information posted on the short stories themselves. Still working on the "How To Buy Thorne Smith First Edition Books On Ebay & Amazon.com Without Getting Ripped Off" special report.

Thank you for your patience during the delays that have held up the special report and also kept me from adding info more often. You've kept coming back to visit and the number of visitors here keeps growing every month.

This just proves that Thorne Smith fans are the best!

2006:

Finally got the "Contact Us" page set up.

Added a "TV Series" page in mid-December.

Added an "About Me" page.

Added a "Movies" page.

Added a "Books" page.

Added RSS feed for those wanting updates sent to them.

Added "What's New" section.

Modified the web site's logo.

Home page uploaded and site activated.

More content will be appearing as often as possible.

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