Welcome To My Book Blog

A place to update and discuss facts surrounding the controversial, tragic death of legendary Hollywood film actress, wife and mother, Natalie Wood who drowned mysteriously Nov. 29, 1981 off Catalina Island. Thank you for visiting.

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Wishing you all a Happy Holiday Season and the Best New Year Possible!


I can't believe we have only what's left of this weekend and two more before Christmas. I was on the phone last night with a friend (someone who had a small part in Splendor in the Grass with Natalie way back when and who thought she was "everything") and after close to an hour of chatting about baseball (he also played professional ball and TV just did a special on him), I realized as we were hanging up that Hanukkah had already started and I quickly wished him a Happy Hanukkah. He wished me a Merry Christmas, which I realized may not be so merry if I don't get busy with all my holiday traditions.

Like Natalie Wood's home once did, my home fills with guests on Christmas Eve, too. I always know it's a minimum of a dozen people, but often the count goes as high as fifty. So, I've made fish for 50 for the past 20 years with my annual "Feast of the Seven Fishes" Christmas Eve. It's an Italian belief that if you eat all of the seven fishes, you have a better New Year. I always taste all seven, and thus far, I'm very grateful for "my years." My Italian aunts who weren't born in American usually made the traditional soup or casserole with a specific seven fishes called Chippino. I always include the mussels in the selections, and serve buffet style, as many do in modern days. There are several beliefs about this tradition over the centuries, some believe it represents the seven days of a week, the seven pilgrimage churches in Rome, the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, but most go with the seven sacraments. It's always a night we all enjoy and I always look forward to surprising everyone with at least one new fish dish each year. Then, around 10 PM we all open one present, the kids fall asleep and we break it up around midnight. I'm usually up until about 3 AM, arranging the presents under the tree, and preparing for Christmas morning breakfast for about 12 or more, then, Christmas is all about the kids and a family dinner. 

The holiday season is always a time I get sentimental, and I do "say hello to friends I know and everyone I meet" and I hope for a better new year. I get to share this holiday again with friends and family and there is nothing I am more grateful for than that. After a recent health scare that turned out fine, I am especially grateful this year.

This is my blog. Blogs are personal journals we can choose to make public or restrict. I have boxes in my huge attic filled with personal journal notebooks I've written since I learned to put a sentence together. I don't claim to be any kind of writer I'm not. I do my best, as any writer does. I'm sure my little post here will be considered "smoke and mirrors" by some and that some will accuse me of "diverting" because I'm talking about my buffet instead of Natalie's. This blog is titled Marti Rulli. Its purpose is to discuss the information in my published book. Sometimes, I may go a little off topic, as I am a person, too. I am free to do and say what I want, just as all of you are. It's difficult for me to sometimes deal with all of the personality types interested in this tragic tale. All of our instincts are based on our own experiences. I value every individual's input, even though I'm accused of not being able to take the heat, but I basically go with what I've VERIFIED. Believe me, I can take the heat. I'm never out of the kitchen. I'm cooking fish for fifty, not for one. Hope that metaphor is okay, too. 

As Ricky Nelson wrote in his lyrics in Garden Party, after being literally attacked for just showing up to sing, I will heed his words: "You can't please every one, so you've got to please yourself." I do my best.

Right now I've got some technical problems going on with listings of GNGS at websites. Some aren't up and running yet, (NOOK) some are mixing instructions on how to present taglines and where to place reviews, and some are requesting verified purchases for Kindle to list a review in that section, and some postings have been lost in the mix. We're trying to straighten out some technical details, we're trying to get the paperback cover up before an official release,  I've been receiving emails from readers whose reviews were rejected,  so I'm trying to see if I can create a review page with Blogger. I've got a publicist waiting for an okay to hit the streets, so to speak. I've got a producer wanting a detailed outline for a possible script. And I was given a graph from Amazon that shows exactly how well GNGS did out of 8 MILLION BOOKS!! (Not bad at all!!) I'm trying to copy the graph to post here. GNGS did reach as high as #2 in True Crime and as high as #2 in Entertainment Biographies. If you place a review at Amazon, please make sure it is under the VERIFIED sales of the version you purchased with your OWN account, or you may encounter a problem. Amazon is experiencing problems with book clubs ordering under one account, yet members writing their reviews under their own accounts, and Amazon will be checking for unverified purchases. If it isn't one thing, it's another! I'm trying not to stress. One goal at a time. Yes, there is a play about Natalie Wood coming next year, and I'll be sure to be very careful with details when I announce it. And, no, I do not hold anything against anyone who holds to their opinions of the four people who were aboard the Splendour the Thanksgiving weekend of November 1981. Natalie's case remains a travesty of justice.

You can say anything you want here about how you feel as long as you post your sentiments civilly. All I can honestly tell you is that I strived for complete truth and honesty when I wrote GNGS. In all honesty, if you knew Dennis Davern, you'd understand every word I say about him, and you would be quite surprised by him. Dennis has his own voice, but he does not have a blog. I do. I appreciate all of you who are here. I try to be an accurate voice for Natalie, and a true voice for Dennis. When Dennis tells me to shut up, I will, but I won't retreat for anyone else because there's still a lot of work to accomplish for Natalie. Also, I've started a new book. So, on that note, I'll be busy in the kitchen and at the keyboard for a while, and I wish I could send you all a plate of my traditional Christmas cookies "like Grandma used to make." The secret, my grandmother told me is CREAM CHEESE in place of butter (but I use both). I wish I could post parts of the new manuscript now, but that will have to wait. I won't take another 20 years. I've got the "meat" this time.

At this "most wonderful time of the year"  I wish you ALL the warmest of everything the season has to offer. Bless us, Everyone. Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, and Special Holidays to ALL of you. May your New Year be as merry and bright as possible. Sincerely, Marti Rulli    

14 comments:

  1. Several people have emailed me to say they couldn't post even after signing in, that it would continually read that they must be a member. I have no clue why that happens. I've lifted the sign-in, but I hope we can all keep the peace at my blog because it's intended to deal with the facts in GNGS, not with scenarios people create. Of course questions arise but when they are asked to only demean the information in GNGS, it is not productive. What's in GNGS is what happened. Thank you all again for understanding this request.

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  2. Merry Christmas Marti. I am glad that your blog is open again but I certainly understand why you restricted it. Christmas time is the perfect time to take the pledge of "peace" at this blog. You are so amazingly tolerant of some of the meaner posts that I often wonder how many cheeks you can possibly turn. Many of us admire you and your cause so much that we feel very protective of you. Clearly, you are a grown woman who can take care of herself. I will civilly answer unfair posts but I will opt out when it starts to get nasty and let you handle it. I hope 2011 is Natalie's year and we all get the justice we hunger for. Thank you again for reopening your blog to all of us.

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  3. Thank you. I hope 2011 is Natalie's year, too. Of course that will depend upon the cooperation of the law. Doesn't THAT sound like an oxymoron, of all things? You would expect the law to be cooperative in every case, especially when a witness is willing to admit he stayed quiet for someone he believes had a sinister hand in the Natalie's death, with ALL evidence supporting his claim, plus a polygraph passed test on top!

    Yes, I become frustrated. I'm going to hang in there, enjoy the holidays, and stay focused on the mission of this blog. Even baby steps get you somewhere, but look for leaps and bounds early next year.

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  4. Hi Marti,

    I'm glad the blog is opened again, too. I tried to sign on as a follower, but when I went through google to do it, my Mozilla FIrefox wouldn't let me do anything, claiming I had to close up an operation, whatever that meant. I like posting at your blog. I'm one of the "civil passersby" and I enjoy reading your posts.

    My question is: Can I come over for Christmas Eve? :-)

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  5. Now, that's a mouthful, Marti. What a really intriguing point! The "law" should be the first to want justice for the esteemed Natalie Wood. She was so special to the world. When I look at it from the point of view of the law allowing the truth about her death to hang in limbo, I become even more upset and angry. When will the petition be turned in?

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  6. Hi Marti from MA., haven't written on your blog lately but have been reading to keep up on how things are progressing, thanks to you and Dennis for your determination over these many long years to finally reveal to us who were NW fans how this horrible tragedy unfolded and what a snake in the grass Wagner is!

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  7. Thanks, Everyone. LOL (about coming over Christmas Eve).

    As for the petition, I will let you know soon after I speak with two people and the creator of the petition. There are over 500 signatures and I think that's a lot for it having little mention. I mentioned the petition in the new paperback and Kindle/e-versions, but we haven't gotten the publicity campaign off the ground yet for that. Everything slows up during the holidays, as I feel is best. We're all in this (meaning day-to-day life as well as missions)together and we all SHOULD slow down to enjoy the holidays with those we love.

    Deborah, I wish we could've done it sooner. Those who claim we waited couldn't be more wrong. If only the right people had been willing to work with us, including the LAW, Natalie's truth would've been out a long time ago. It took a brazen publisher who I believe really cared about Natalie. Sadly, he passed away two weeks before GNGS's release.

    I know there are others who care, besides all of us, and our circle will continue to grow.

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  8. I hope the petition won't be turned in prematurely. It has done really well considering it's lack of publicity. I think it needs time for the paperback to be out before it really starts racking up numbers.

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  9. Just this: Have a Happy Happy and Merry Merry and we'll see ya on the other side of '10.
    =)

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  10. I agree about the petition. There's no need after all this time to rush anything. Slow but sure gets the job done. Merry Christmas, Marti.
    I was away all weekend and didn't even know your blog was closed. You can rest assured you would've heard from me. Thank you for what you do for Natalie.

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  11. Hi, Marti:

    Thanks for sharing your Christmas traditions--they sound like fun, and I can relate to a lot of them. I wish you and your family a joyful and peaceful Christmas and a healthy and happy 2011! Thank you for your dedication and integrity in handling this matter for Natalie. We won't give up on this.

    I'm thinking back to last Christmas when I received "GNGS" as a gift from my sister. I was just blown away that it was even out, and I couldn't put it down. The book took me less than two days to finish, and it was so engrossing that I could've finished it even sooner, but I had to pause and let things sink in at times. Then I re-read it almost immediately.

    I have not been the same since realizing what happened. I hope the New Year brings light to this tragedy, and truth will emerge more.

    By the way, I liked your reference to "Have A Holly Jolly Christmas" by Burl Ives. I can't get enough of Christmas carols this year. I am looking forward to seeing the original "Miracle On 34th Street"(the ONLY one, IMO). Dear little Natalie...I always end up picturing her in that water off Catalina.

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  12. Hi Marianne,

    As always, thank you, and I wish you a Merry Christmas and the happiest of New Years. I love all the traditional Christmas carols and never tire of listening to them.

    I was so upset when a remake of "Miracle on 34th Street" was produced. Most all critics agreed it was sacrilegious to do so, equivalent to what a horrible decision it would be to remake "White Christmas" and "It's a Wonderful Life" ... It just should never be done. What an insult to Natalie's legend. To this day, after learning about backroom dealings, I can't help but wonder who was behind such a terrible decision and WHY. Even Macy's refused to be a part of the remake.

    I, too, think of Natalie in the ocean, what she had to bear. Knowing how she tried to survive only makes the heartache worse. If is often too painful to dwell on. There is a lot of talk about the fact that Dennis did not see how she ended up in the water, and not enough about how she was left there to fend for herself, which only sheds light on the most likely way she ended up in the water (she certainly did not release the dinghy). She was left to die. I actually just shivered.

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  13. Marti,
    Glad to see the blog is open again--couldn't post last Thursday eve.
    Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

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  14. Same to you Kevin. Thank you for your support and comprehension of this convoluted case. You cut through it all and see how rather basic and simple it actually is and I really appreciate that. Have a wonderful holiday season!

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