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Interview with author Linda Tagliaferro</title>
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<td valign="bottom" colspan="3" width="574"><b><font size="3" face="Arial">An
Interview with author Linda Tagliaferro -<font color="#0000FF"> </font>"Bruce
Lee," (A&E Biography)</font></b></td>
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<p><font size="3"><br>
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<td valign="top" width="301" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"><font face="Arial"><font size="3"><img border="1" src="../shop/linbook.jpg" align="left" hspace="6" vspace="6" alt=""Bruce Lee," (A&E Biography) - Buy from www.amazon.com" width="96" height="140"></font></font><font face="Arial" size="4">T</font><font size="2" face="Arial">he
Bruce Lee Club has recently interviewed Linda Tagliaferro, the author
of <font color="#0000FF"> </font>"Bruce
Lee,".</font>
<p><font size="2" face="Arial">Linda has kindly agreed to answer
questions put from the fans of Bruce Lee in the UK.</font></p>
<p> </p>
<p><b><u><font size="2" face="Arial">Background Information</font></u></b></p>
<p><font face="Arial"><font size="2">I was an artist all my life before
I became a writer 10 years ago. I did</font> <font size="2">mostly oil
painting, but I also studied Byzantine icon painting, Tibetan thangka
painting, medieval manuscript painting and fresco painting. (So I'm
eclectic. It's more fun.)</font></font></p>
<p><font size="2" face="Arial">Ten years ago, I started writing, and 5
years ago, I became a regular freelancer for a local section of The New
York Times. I'm still writing for them, and have interviewed Long
Island, NY locals like Nobel prize winner Dr.James Watson and Michael
Allin, the playwright who wrote "Enter the Dragon."</font></p>
<p><font size="2" face="Arial">After college (what you call
"university" in the UK) I traveled quite a bit.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial"><font size="2">I lived in Denmark for 6� years,
Italy for 6 months and Indonesia for 7</font> <font size="2">months.</font></font></p>
<p><font size="2" face="Arial">My interest in martial arts unfortunately
ended on a bad note. After just months of aikido lessons, I fractured my
nose. (It's back in place now, I assure you.)</font></p>
<p><img border="0" src="../shop/lin.jpg" width="138" height="184" align="right" hspace="4" vspace="4" alt="Linda Tagliaferro (c) Steve Eisenberg"></p>
<p><font size="2" face="Arial">To date, I've written 5 books (4 are out,
the last one will be published next fall.) They're on totally different
subjects, but I feel that if you work hard and put a lot of energy into
your research, you can write almost anything. In the U.S., there's a
popular series by Macmillan publishing called "The Complete Idiot's
Guides." They're for smart people, actually, who don't have a
background in a given subject. I coauthored one called "The
Complete Idiot's Guide to Decoding Your Genes."</font></p>
<p><font size="2" face="Arial"><b>Thanks for the information Linda.</b></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial"><b><i><font size="2">When did you start your writing career?<br>
</font></i></b><font size="2">Ten years ago. I've been an artist all my
life and that's what I studied in college. However, I always wrote
little stories in my sketchbooks. I didn't realize I was writing.</font></font></p>
<p><font size="2" face="Arial">I finally decided to write some articles
and one thing led to another, and 5 years ago, I wrote my first book on
genetic engineering. I've written 5 to date, all on mostly different
subjects.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial"><b><i><font size="2">Why did you decide to write a book about Bruce?<br>
</font></i></b><font size="2">Actually, I was asked by the publisher to
write the book. I had written several books for them before. When they
mentioned a list of bios that needed to be written, I remember saying
that Bruce Lee sounded very interesting.</font></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial"><font size="2">Months went by, and then I got a
call asking if I'd like to write his</font> <font size="2">biography. I
jumped at the chance.</font></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial"><b><i><font size="2">How long did it take for you to research your book on Bruce?<br>
</font></i></b><font size="2">I would've loved to have spent more time,
but I was given only 5 months to do research AND write the book. It was
a quick turnaround. but I worked very hard. Every writer wants the
luxury of a year to do a book, but it doesn't always work out that way.</font></font></p>
<p><font size="2" face="Arial"> I read every book I could find on
Bruce, and I also read literally hundreds of articles. Here in New York,
there's a wonderful library devoted to celebrities, and I got the chance
to hold and read actual newspaper articles from the time that Bruce was
alive.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial"><b><i><font size="2">
<br>
Who was the first and the last person you interviewed?<br>
</font></i></b><font size="2">The first real interview I did was with
Taky Kimura in Seattle. On July 20, 1998, I went to Lake View cemetery,
where Bruce is buried, for the 25th anniversary of his passing. I took
the photo of his gravestone and Brandon's, as well as the photo of Linda
Lee Cadwell that you see in my book.</font></font></p>
<p><font size="2" face="Arial">The day before, I interviewed Taky
Kimura, who was Bruce's dear friend and the best man at his wedding to
Linda. Taky spoke about Bruce in such glowing terms. He was so animated
when the memories of his close friend surfaced. He also showed me a
photo of himself and Bruce and some friends. </font></p>
<p><font size="2" face="Arial">I've told people over and over again how
I got a chill down my spine when I saw it because here was a photo of a
real human being in front of me. It wasn't just a photo in a book. Bruce
was a real person, not just a star.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial"><font size="2">Linda Lee Cadwell was the last
person I interviewed, and I had to call her several times to double
check things. She was kind enough---and extremely generous with her
limited time---to review my final manuscript to check for accuracy. I'm
very thankful that she did this to ensure that the book</font> <font size="2">contained
true facts.</font></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial"><b><i><font size="2" face="Arial">I know you
interviewed Linda Lee. What was this experience like?<br>
</font></i></b><font size="2">Linda Lee Cadwell (she has remarried since
Bruce's death) is a warm and generous person. She is also a strong
person and a loving one. You know that she's come out of her personal
tragedies a better person. She has the greatest regard for the memory of
Bruce Lee, the man she was married to for many years.</font></font></p>
<p><font size="2" face="Arial"><img border="0" src="../shop/llee.jpg" width="146" height="199" alt="Linda and Shannon" align="left" hspace="5" vspace="5">She's also a very truthful person, and
very down-to-earth. Linda is very bright, and committed to keeping
Bruce's memory alive in the proper way. It's so easy for people to
change facts around after someone has passed away, but Linda wants to
make sure that people know the genuine human being who was Bruce Lee,
and whose memory continues to inspire people around the globe.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial"><b><i><font size="2">Who would you have liked to interview but they refused?<br>
</font></i></b><font size="2">I asked Bruce's sister Agnes, but she said
she would prefer not to be interviewed. I respected her decision. Bruce
Lee was more than a celebrity. I wouldn't want to bring up painful
memories to someone who undoubtedly still mourns the loss of her
brother.</font></font></p>
<p><i><b><font size="2" face="Arial">Did you meet any of Bruces Hong Kong family, if yes, who did you interview?<br>
</font></b></i><font size="2" face="Arial">Unfortunately, no.</font></p>
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<td valign="top" width="245"><font face="Arial"><b><i><font size="2" face="Arial">What
was the most interesting story you were told?</font></i></b></font>
<font size="2" face="Arial">One of the people I interviewed was James
DeMile. He was a young, tough streetfighter when Bruce was giving a
demonstration in the late 1950s. Remember that kung fu was virtually unknown in the United
States at that time. Some servicemen had brought back karate, but this older Chinese
form was not known.</font>
<p><font face="Arial"><font size="2">James DeMile watched as the
5'7", 125-pound Bruce Lee demonstrated some martial arts moves at a
school in Seattle. DeMile was amused, he told me,</font> <font size="2">because
he thought Bruce could never defend himself. Well, of course, Bruce did,
and completely astounded DeMile, who later became one of his most ardent
students.</font></font></p>
<p><font size="2" face="Arial">I interviewed DeMile when he came to New
York on a business trip. We had lunch at a local diner, and there he
was....25 years after Bruce's passing...and he got this faraway look in
his eye and said to me, "I ALWAYS wanted to punch Bruce...but I
never could! He was just too fast for me." I laughed at the intense
expression on his face. To think that after all these years, he still
remembers what an amazing martial artist Bruce was!</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial"><b><i><font size="2">What was it like to meet
Skip Ellsworth and others who were great friends of Bruce?<br>
</font></i></b><font size="2">Skip Ellsworth was one of Bruce's first
students, and he gave me a vivid description of Bruce's small room above
Ruby Chow's restaurant. I had read about it, but no one described it in
such a detailed way before. I quoted him word-for-word in my book.</font></font></p>
<p><font size="2" face="Arial">It really made me feel sorry for the
young man who came all the way from Hong Kong, and had to live in a room
which Ellsworth said was only about the size of a closet and had one
bare lightbulb hanging from the ceiling.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial"><font size="2">Skip and some other former students
of Bruce's were nearly in tears at the</font> <font size="2">cemetery on
the anniversary of Bruce's death. I was quite impressed that they could
lovingly remember a friend after 25 years. Bruce left an impression on
all of his friends, and I truly think they're still inspired by his
dedication and talent.</font></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial"><b><i><font size="2">Was there anything you found
out about Bruce Lee from your research that surprised you?</font></i></b>
<font size="2">Yes. I never realised just how much he suffered from
discrimination. I learned that he was supposed to get the starring role
in the TV series "Kung Fu," but was dismissed by decision
makers as looking "too Chinese." But as Linda Lee Cadwell
explained, Bruce always took things that could not be changed and tried
to find a positive side to them.</font></font></p>
<p><font size="2" face="Arial"> As fans know, Bruce went to Hong
Kong to star in movies that later catapulted him to stardom
internationally.</font></p>
<p><font size="2" face="Arial">I also found out to my surprise how much
Bruce Lee inspired ---and still inspires--- Asians and Asian-Americans.
He showed them through his fine example that people shouldn't be viewed
as one race or another, but as human beings. Linda Lee Cadwell explained
at the cemetery (reading the same eulogy that she gave for Bruce 25
years ago) that in the same way that light still reaches us from stars
in the sky that have died years ago, "so it is with great men who
died centuries ago, but still reach us with the radiation of their
personality, and so it will be with Bruce..."</font></p>
<p><font size="2" face="Arial">She put it so beautifully and accurately.
Bruce's extraordinary talents and philosophy continue to inspire people
of all ages and countries to this day, and I know that his story will
continue to bring about the development of character and self-confidence
in many people to come.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial"><b><i><font size="2">Michael Allin and Bruce were known to not have agreed on the script for Enter the Dragon, how did Michael feel about this?<br>
</font></i></b><font size="2">When I interviewed Michael, he said that
he really only saw Bruce a few times, and he felt that others had caused
trouble between the two of them.</font></font></p>
<p><font size="2" face="Arial">This is contrary to what you'll read in
most books about Bruce. Michael said that he was told by the movie
makers to stay away from an upcoming meeting, and he couldn't understand
why. Then, according to Michael, he was told to "lay low," and
when he took a trip on a ferry in Hong Kong, he ran into Bruce. He said
Bruce was astounded to see him (apparently, the movie makers had told
Bruce that Michael had left Hong Kong.}</font></p>
<p><font size="2" face="Arial">So Michael gave me a very different
picture of his relationship with Bruce than others. According to the
playwright, Bruce may have been told things about him that weren't true.
Michael said that he always felt sorry that Linda Lee Cadwell may have
heard rumors about him.</font></p>
<p><font size="2" face="Arial">He said that once he saw his picture in a
Hong Kong paper and it said that he and Bruce Lee didn't get along. The
person who translated it for him said that it was common for the
tabloids to drum up business by exaggerating the details, and not to pay
any attention to the stories.</font></p>
<p><font size="2" face="Arial"><b><i>Do you intend to write a book about Brandon Lee?<br>
</i></b>Doesn't seem likely.<b><i>
<br>
</i></b></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial"><b><i><font size="2">How many books have been sold worldwide?<br>
</font></i></b><font size="2">I wish I knew! I get royalty statements on
books once a year. It's a little early to tell.</font></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial"><b><font size="2"><i>Do you intend to write any more books on Bruce Lee?</i></font></b><font size="3"><br>
</font><font size="2">I don't think that's going to happen any time
soon, if ever.</font></font></p>
<p><b><i><font size="2" face="Arial">Where can people buy your book from?
</font></i></b> <font face="Arial"><font size="2"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/">www.amazon.com</a>
and <a href="http://www.bn.com/">www.bn.com</a> definitely carry my book.
I don't know if any of the book stores in the</font> <font size="2">U.K.
are carrying it (if so, I'd love to know.) There's also a site called</font>
<font size="2"><a href="http://www.bestbookbuys.com/">www.bestbookbuys.com
</a>that tells you exactly who sells my book, and even compares the
prices so you can get the best bargain on it.</font></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial"><font size="2"><b><i>Thank you for your time Linda
it was a pleasure to talk to you.
<br>
</i></b></font></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial"><font size="2"><b><i>Linda can be contacted by
email at <a href="mailto:Linda5997@aol.com">Linda5997@aol.com</a></i></b></font><b><font size="3"><br>
<br>
</font><font size="1" color="#0000FF">All text and graphic are � of
Linda Tagliaferro and The Bruce Lee Club UK 2000.</font></b></font></td>
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