From the Heights

About the Book

Artie Sherman has lived by his wits for seventy plus years. Among his achievements is his role in making his friend a successful playwright while making that friend, unbeknownst to everyone except Artie, the drama critic of New York’s most influential newspaper—at the same time. This allows his friend to critique his own play and cover it with encomiums. As a result of the Times’ review, his friend becomes the toast of Broadway.

Artie’s shrewdness can also boomerang and can put him at serious risk of ending up in a cement cutaway on the floor of The East River. When he discovers a play that his friend wrote years before he senses a ‘sure thing’ since his friend is both the playwright and the Times drama critic. Artie decides to produce the play and as a theater producer he wheels and deals with the wrong people who, not being seasoned theater angels, expect a return on their investments. Artie learns the hard way that there’s no such thing as a sure thing. Artie’s meeting and his subsequent falling in love with Rita Adler, a truly unusual woman gives him another reason for avoiding a painful, untimely ending. He is captivated by her great Asian-American looks and by her elegant style. Whoever said that opposites attract must have had Artie Sherman and Rita Adler in mind. Fate, acting in concert with Artie’s survival instinct, saves him for a life with his beloved Rita.

About the Author

A two-time Emmy Award winner for his work as a writer and as the head writer for The Carol Burnett Show, Stanley Hart has been active in television, screen and theater for more years than he cares to remember. His screen credits include “Move” an unmemorable movie that the star, Elliot Gould would also like to forget. He has had numerous screenplays that were sold and never made into films. Hart’s theater pieces fared much better. A long time ago, Hart co-wrote a revue, “The Mad Show” that played for twenty two months off Broadway—a record run for a revue at that time. This gave him the chutzpah to write a play, “Some of My Best Friends” that was produced on Broadway, directed by Harold Prince. Many regional theaters have produced Hart’s plays and he is still waiting for their royalties. In TV, aside from his work on The Carol Burnett Show, he wrote specials for Hal Linden, Paul Lynde, Carol Burnett with Julie Andrews, Bonnie Franklin and Hanna-Barbara (don’t ask).

Hart contributed to the insanity of Mad Magazine for thirty odd years and somehow avoided being committed. His five Mad books include, “A Mad Look at Parents, Teacher and Other Enemies,” and “The Mad Survival Book.” He also moonlighted and wrote a book giving the skinny on top baseball players when they were first considered by Major League scouts, fittingly named “Scouting Reports” that McMillan published. There are still some copies left.

Stanley Hart is a natty dresser for a writer and a gracious host and he would like you to drop over for a drink. “From the Heights” is his second novel to be published. When he rings your bell as he goes door-to-door selling copies, be kind.