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I invested a great deal of myself in trying to help Judy Garland. It was a fool’s mission, because she was so totally self-destructive, but I was young and idealistic and it was overwhelmingly appealing to think I could be THE ONE to rescue her, when everyone else had failed.
So I allowed Judy to co-opt me for a wild ride that lasted a hair-raising two months before I finally fell down sick with the Hong Kong flu…and Judy moved desperately on to the next man who would give her the support she’d come to depend on. I’m not sorry.
Living with this amazing woman was a revelation, and when I wrote about it, in my memoir, Heartbreaker, it gave me a context and an identity that has informed my whole life.
I’ll expand on this in a few days, and describe in detail the way Judy affected me and how I forced myself to deal with the two-thousand Labors of Hercules she demanded of me.
John Meyer 
I really,really enjoyed operation ruby slipper…couldn’t put it down. I hope there’s a sequel of some kind some day. Thank you so much…very touching, entertaining and suspense-full. I will check out your cd.
Sean, did I ever respond to your great, positive comment about Ruby Slipper? If not,
let me express my thanks. I’m so glad. I’m working on a musical adaptation of Heartbreaker now -hopefully for the fall in NYC.
just read your book “heartbreaker”. very moving, and, may i say, beautifully written.
Touching; tender; sad; lonely; Exciting; well written Love Story………Read & Re-Read.
Thomas, thanks so much for the comment -and the support! We’ll keep the flame alive!
I read your book. Weren’t you able to see she was dying? Malnourished? Skin and bones? You mentioned she didn’t eat for days, her teeth were rotting. Couldn’t you call someone to help with her —- Liza??? I mean, come on … you people watched her die slowly right in front of your eyes!!! But still wanted to squeeze the last dollar out of her.
If you read Heartbreaker, Lisa, you know I did all I could to preserve Judy, even putting her in the hospital. You could not restrain her from her self destructive addictions…and they finally killed her. so please don’t take that tone with me.
I’m sorry, John, I didn’t take a tone, it just makes me sad that no one forced her daughter to get involved in her health, when everyone knew it was failing. Everyone wrote that they saw her bones, they noticed she didn’t eat for days, and her only living (over age of 21) relative was living it up in NY, not checking on her mother’s health. Did anyone try to call Liza??? We all know Sid Luft was a useless POS. I’m sorry if I seemed aggressive. I do feel you did ALOT for Judy. You seemed to really love her. Can you tell me what she was like during her last few months. Author Anne Edwards states she was started to have an underlying body odor that they thought may have been a bowel obstruction. You also mentioned a stale smell. Could there have been more to her health issues than drug abuse? I just want to know everything I can about Judy and you were the closest to her towards the end.
Hi John, Thank you for accepting my apology. I think you are right, Judy has empowerment even over people who have never known her. I read so many books, I do feel yours was the BEST. I couldn’t put it down. I realize now you were the best friend in her life and took wonderful care of her as best you could. (I may have gotten you confused with John Carlyle because I read his book too.). I will surely buy your other book, I heard it was amazing. Do you know if there was more to Judy’s problems… like the colonic obstruction I read about? Or eating disorder? Is there I way I can email you personally? I’m THRILLED that you take the time to answer questions about Judy from her adoring fans. And thanks again for all you did for her!❤️
jmeyr(at)earthlink.net.
Hi Mr Meyer, Is that jmeyr(at)earthlink.net or jmeyr@earthlink.net? Do you think you could send me an email first so I can respond to the correct address? Again, I am sooooo appreciative of you taking the time to speak with me.
Lisa
Thank you. I sent you a message. Hopefully it went through ok.👌🏻
Do you accept my apology? I’d live to hear more about Judy. What’s the second book about?
Sure, Lisa, apology accepted. It’s a measure of Judy’s power that people get so emotionally attached to her. Truthfully, her behavior was so alienating at times that people simply threw up their hands…because she would just NOT accept their help (Mickey Rooney’s offer is a good example). My second book -a WW2 novel- features the 21-yr-old Judy on a mission for the OSS. She has to bring back a photo of a dangerous Nazi physicist. She’s been chosen because the guy wrote her a fan letter in 1940, and the army believes he’ll come out of hiding if she is the bait. It’s all told through Judy’s wry point-of-view and it gets exciting. It’s called Operation Ruby Slipper -and you can find it on Amazon.
Judy, desde muy joven se adicciono o la adiccionaron con barbituricos, .Fue su madre? fue MGM? fueron los managers?, .Judy su vida y toda su obra artistica, (tanto cantante como actriz) fue impresionante, irrepetible, .
Si hablamos de su adiccion ,fue la version lenta de la muerte que tuvieron despues, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison , y muchos mas, murio como una gran estrella del Rock, su funeral fue tambien de Gran estrella del Rock, 21000 personas presentaron sus respetos, Su cancion “Over The Rainbow” es la segunda del mundo que genera mas “Royalties” ,despues de “Yesterday” de Paul Mc Cartney, con The Beatles de 1965, con lo cual “over the rainbow,fue la primera hasta la publi cacion de “Yesterday’. Grande Frances Ethel Gumm Superstar
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Judy, from a very young age she was addicted or was addicted to barbiturates. Was it her mother? she was MGM? were the managers? Judy her life and all her artistic work (both singer and actress) was impressive, unrepeatable.
If we talk about his addiction, it was the slow version of the death they had later, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, and many more, she died as a great Rock star, his funeral was also a Great Rock star, 21,000 people paid their respects , Her song “Over The Rainbow” is the second in the world that generates more “Royalties”.Great Frances Ethel Gumm Superstar
How have you been John? I still sleep with the Queen’s shirt every night. This month she would have been 100 years old. 🌈
Sent from my iPhone
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