A Fever of the Mad: A Movie Publicist Works with Francis Coppola, Elaine May, John Cassavetes, Peter Falk, and Richard Gere and Survives to Tell the Tale! - Softcover

Movie publicist Tom Miller, writing under the name Tom Canford, tells of his experience working on films such as Francis Coppola's "The Cotton Club" and Elaine May's "Mikey and Nicky." He provides intriguing insight into the process of movie-making from a privileged position deep inside the productions and also sharp portraits of directors, actors both major and minor, and behind-the-scenes people involved in bringing their films to you. In addition to those mentioned in the subtitle of the work, many other artists and film personnel make their appearance: Robert Mitchum, Paul Newman, Diane Lane, Robert DeNiro, Gregory Hines, Bruce Dern, Lonette McKee, Barrie Osborne, Milena Canonero, Nicolas Cage, Robert Evans, Bobby Zarem, Julian Beck, Gwen Verdon, Herb Ritts, a very young Sophia Coppola. Editor Jonathan May in his introduction and afterword provides further information about the author.

Born in Carrier Mills, Illinois and raised in Las Cruces, New Mexico, Tom Miller/Tom Canford joined the U.S. Coast Guard during World War Two. After the war he lived in Los Angeles, where he attended Los Angeles City College, majoring in drama and journalism. He moved to New York in the 1950s and began working in the movie industry, primarily in publicity, both during the time of a film's release (The Producers, The Graduate) and during film production (The Cotton Club, Mikey and Nicky, Blow Out, Shaft, The Last American Hero, The Chosen, A Gathering of Old Men). He moved to Alabama after his retirement and wrote and published three novels: Boy at Sea (based on his Coast Guard experiences), The Curse of Vilma Valentine, and Ghost Guitars.