CLEO
A civil rights erea novel by William Karl Thomas

A beautiful and talented black female journalist is an intimate friend of black entertainment and political celebrities during the turbulent civil rights era in the 1950's and 1960's. Her professional and private life takes a quantum leap when she crosses paths with a cynical but equally talented white male publicist. Sparks fly from their first meeting and throughout a stormy passionate affair that survives their independent assignments to foreign countries. The drama of this turning point in history includes contact and comments with Lena Horne, Dorothy Dandridge, Billie Holiday, Brock Peters, James Baldwin, Red Foxx, Tom Bradley, Dorothy Height, Golda Meir, Tefawa Belawa, and other civil rights pioneers.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS

(5 out of 5 stars)Sixth of Thomas’ books I've read and I've greatly enjoyed all of them.
By Marcoon July 11, 2015
This is the sixth of Thomas' books I've read and I've greatly enjoyed all of them. His professional memoir, "Lenny Bruce: The Making of a Prophet," verifies my suspicion that his novels, "Cleo" included, are largely auto-biographical; i.e., he worked for Frank Sinatra in Hollywood, he worked for a black public relations firm that represented all the celebrity characters in "Cleo," he filmed a biopic of sculptor Richmond Barthe as a pilot for a black education series, and he handled the West Coast publicity of "Amen Corners" for James Baldwin. When I asked him about his novels being autobiographical, he answered with a line from Cleo, "Cleo, you can't have children, and I don't want to have children, so our books are our children and any fame we can generate to perpetuate them is our legacy." Between his work with Lenny Bruce and his novels, Thomas has amassed a growing legacy. I look forward to his upcoming show biz trilogy, "The Piano Lover," as I spent part of my boyhood in the French Quarter. And while I have never been into Sci-fi per se, I think his "Immortal" would be as good a place to start as any!