With the nation at war in the 1940s, twenty-two-year-old Jack Valenti flew fifty-one combat missions as the pilot of a B-25 attack bomber with the 12th Air Force based in Italy. In the 1960s, with the nation reeling from the assassination of a beloved president and becoming embroiled in a far different kind of war in Vietnam, he was in that fateful Dallas motorcade in 1963, flew back to Washington with the new president, and for three years worked in the inner circle of the White House as special assistant to President Lyndon Johnson. Then, for the next thirty-eight years, with American society and popular culture undergoing a revolutionary transformation, Valenti was the public face of Hollywood in his capacity as head of the Motion Picture Association of America. Been there, done that, indeed. Texas-born and Harvard-educated, Valenti has led several lives, any one of which could have provided ample material for an unforgettable memoir. As it is, This Time, This Place is the gripping story of a man who saw the terrible face of war while fighting with skill and bravery for his country; who was in the room, listening, participating, and remembering, as political decisions were made that would benefit or devastate countless lives in this country and on the other side of the world; and who championed the interest of the vast and globally influential movie industry with tenacity and vision. The list of boldface names whom Valenti knew and with whom he worked is as varied as it is astonishing in number. Aside from LBJ, there were Jack and Bobby Kennedy, Kirk Douglas, Frank Sinatra, Robert McNamara, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Julia Roberts, Cary Grant, Lew Wasserman, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Jack Nicholson, Michael Douglas, Warren Beatty, and Bill Clinton, to begin a very long list. The life of a man who earned both the Distinguished Flying Cross and his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is inherently intriguing, but Valenti’s warm, sometimes rueful, always engaging account gives this memoir a depth of humanity and a taste of life’s unpredictability that will linger long after you turn the final page. From growing up poor but largely oblivious to that fact in a hardscrabble neighborhood of Greek and Italian immigrants in Houston to rising to the highest summits both of national government and Hollywood, This Time, This Place is a candid and clear-eyed reflection of the joys and sorrows, ambitions and disappointments, of a life fully recognizable in its extraordinary variety. It is also a sweeping and important historical record, written by a brilliantly successful man who helped to shape politics and entertainment in the second half of the twentieth century, and who always found himself in the center of the current storm.

This Time, This Place: My Life in War, the White House, and Hollywood

Humor & Entertainment

Valenti, Jack

Movies

Crown/Archetype

“[Jack Valenti] lived his life as a gentleman and patriot....He might have been the last of the breed.” —New York Times An Influential and Varied Life The list of notable names—people that Jack Valenti knew and with whom he worked—is astonishing. Aside from LBJ, there were Jack and Bobby Kennedy, Kirk Douglas, Frank Sinatra, Robert McNamara, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Julia Roberts, Cary Grant, Lew Wasserman, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Jack Nicholson, Michael Douglas, Warren Beatty, and Bill Clinton, to begin a very long list. This Time, This Place is a candid, unforgettable memoir of the life of an extraordinary key political player and Hollywood rainmaker. It is also a sweeping and important historical record, written by a brilliantly successful man who helped shape politics and entertainment in the second half of the twentieth century, and who always found himself at the center of any storm. “A wonderful story.” —International Herald Tribune “[Valenti] offers a rousing account of his WWII bombing missions, JFK’s assassination (he was in the motorcade), and his three-year stint as one of LBJ’s closest aides.” —Entertainment Weekly “Only the silver screen can really do justice to a man who is bigger than life, moved easily among the stars of politics and Hollywood, and always kept his feet on the ground. An Oscar-deserving lifetime achievement, if ever there was one.” —Bill Moyers

Biographies & Memoirs

Arts & Literature

Three Rivers Press

Burdened with a bleak economy and an unpopular foreign policy, U.S. President Donald Kells finds his greatest threat in his own vice president, an ambitious Texan who has struck a deal with the intelligence community. National ad/promo. Tour.

Protect and Defend

Literature & Fiction

United States

DOUBLEDAY

How to prepare, Learn, and Deliver Effective speeches. Great advice on the psychological preparation for speaking; why you must be prepared, How to prepare; and length of your talk and more.

Speak Up with Confidence: How to Prepare, Learn, and Deliver Effective Speeches

Reference

Words, Language & Grammar

William Morrow Company

Public speaking is one of the most intimidating and important aspects of many jobs. As a one-time speech writer for President Johnson, and in his current position as president of the M.P.A.A., Jack Valenti has written and delivered speeches in all kinds of settings. Originally published in 1982, Speak Up with Confidence is an indispensable resource for anyone who wants to write and deliver a speech that people will listen to and remember.

Speak Up With Confidence: How to Prepare, Learn and Deliver Effective Speeches

Quill

Random House Audio |

Public speaking is one of the most intimidating and important aspects of many jobs. As a one-time speechwriter for President Johnson, and in his current position as president of the Motion Picture Association of America, Jack Valenti has written and delivered speeches in all kinds of settings. Originally published in 1982, Speak Up with Confidence is an indispensable resource for anyone who wants to write and deliver a speech that people will listen to and remember.

Grand Central Publishing

Speak Up with Confidence (Highbridge Distribution)

Business & Money

Business Culture

HighBridge Audio

Speak Up With Confidence: How to Prepare, Learn, and Deliver Effective Speeches

HighBridge Company

A well-known speaker teaches how to plan, prepare, and deliver a speech, taking into careful account the occasion and location of, and audience for, the speech and spices his presentation with amusing anecdotes of famous speakers

Aprenda a Hablar En Publico/Speak Up With Confidence (Spanish Edition)

Grijalbo Mondadori

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Books by Valenti, Jack