In the past, I was a regular contributor to two on-line entertainment magazines based in Los Angeles. I profiled a variety of personalities, including French entertainer Mistinguet, legendary outlaw Belle Starr and Civil War hero Sarah Emma Edmonds who enlisted in the Union Army disguised as a man. In addition, I have covered such intriguing events as the 1914 sinking of the Empress of Ireland in the St. Lawrence Seaway, the 1927 Bath School massacre in Michigan and the rum-running antics of Detroit’s own mobsters, The Purple Gang, during Prohibition.

I have also written multiple Hollywood history articles about the fascinating world of filmmaking and the nearly forgotten personalities who, at one time, held the world spellbound. Among those early Hollywood figures were sexy Clara Bow who ushered in the Jazz Age, blacklisted funny man Fatty Arbuckle, who was accused of murder, as well as Tinseltown’s first super couple, Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. and his wife, Mary Pickford, who defined Hollywood royalty.

I have also authored a book, Farmington and Farmington Hills, for Arcadia Publishing’s ‘Making of America’ series. This book details the history of the two Michigan cities and includes a multitude of pictures, some of which are over 100 years old. In addition, I have also contributed to Chicken Soup for the Mother and Daughter Soul, as well as, Chicken Soup for the Father and Daughter Soul. My work has also appeared in print magazines such as The Writer, Aviation History and Michigan History. I have written an in-depth profile on march king John Philip Sousa, which was released on CD by Allegro Music and a children’s book examining the life of martial arts superstar Bruce Lee.

In addition to my Associates degree from Oakland Community College, I have also earned a screenwriting certificate from UCLA and written a screenplay about Hollywood’s first ‘It Girl’, Clara Bow. (LOGLINE:  A teenage girl from a poverty-stricken Brooklyn tenement escapes her world of madness and tragedy and becomes Hollywood’s first ‘It Girl’, Clara Bow.)

I write from southeastern Michigan where I live with my husband, Michael. My daughter, Rachel, lives in Colorado with her husband, Jon, and their King Charles Cavalier Spaniel, Cody, who thinks he’s a little boy, and their daughter, Olivia, aka ‘Livvy Lambchop’. My son, Jonathon, lives in Michigan with his wife, Stacey, and their daughter, Madeline, aka ‘The Punkin Pie’.

Follow me on Twitter (@dapwriter) or join me on Facebook at ‘Hollywood: Tales from Tinseltown with Debra Ann Pawlak’

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