By George: The Hollywood Stories of George Anthony

In need of new books filled with stimulating conversations that can be accessed on your Kindle? I highly recommend the book series, "By George," authored by Canadian writer George Anthony. I have known him for over twenty years and can attest to his skills as a raconteur. He was a founding member of the Toronto Sun and became its best-read entertainment columnist and critic. For five years, he hosted his own interview show on Global Television and spent over two decades in the executive offices of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Inspired by his 21st century show business blog, Anthony's "By George" collections features his close encounters with such Hollywood royalty as (in Anthony's own words)...

Ingrid Bergman: Anthony describes his slightly off-kilter meeting with the screen legend as she prepares to go to Broadway with American TV star Pernell Roberts and, of all people, XXX-rated film star Casey Donovan.

Bette Davis: Anthony visits with Hollywood legend in her natural habitat -- a film studio soundstage -- as she shoots scenes for a new movie and looks back, not always fondly, on her illustrious career.

Doris Day: Anthony describes his first meeting with box office superstar at an up-close-and-personal dinner party hosted by their mutual friend, actress and comedienne Kaye Ballard.

Kirk Douglas: Anthony describes a decade of meetings with the indefatigable screen lion in conversations that subtly hold up a mirror to the times, and the evolving nature of the film industry in Hollywood, half a century ago.

Robert Evans: Anthony tries to expedite a creative partnership between two personal friends -- producer and studio chief Robert Evans and singer-songwriter Peter Allen -- for a film that Evans is developing with one of Hollywood's top writers. So what could possibly go wrong? Anthony's valiant attempts to put them together prove once again that Irving Berlin was right: There's still no business like show business.

William Holden: Anthony describes an unusually close encounter with the screen legend, a somewhat strained relationship with Holden's lover, film star Stefanie Powers, and one unforgettable afternoon in the desert.

Peggy Lee: Anthony shares personal details of his long friendship with the pop music icon, one of the great singers of the 20th century, and her rocky rise to superstardom.

Ginger Rogers: Anthony shares his longtime friendship with the Hollywood icon, a friendship rekindled over the years in New York, Hollywood, Palm Springs and Toronto, in nightclubs and golf clubs and even the Academy Awards. Also in the mix: Canadian philanthropists Bluma Appel and Salah Bachir, Hollywood gossip columnist Shirley Eder, Toronto publicist Gino Empry, pop icon Michael Jackson, television interviewer Brian Linehan, legendary designer Jean Louis, stage & screen superstar Liza Minnelli, and archbishop Desmond Tutu.