Since

I have been laid up with this crap, which seems to be slowly going away--acute sinusitis can hang on for as long as three or four weeks--I have been reading a lot and watching DVDs.

I decided to order a book about the tragic actress Barbara Payton, who was better known for having been at the center of the famous brawl between actors Tom Neal and Franchot Tone than for her acting ability. After the negative fallout from this episode, Payton's career slid and finally ended. She ended up on the skids, even resorting to prostitution to make ends meet.

Payton died when she was only 39 years old in 1967. A recent biography has been written about her, and her son, who is now 60, has given it high praise (on Amazon.com). Payton wrote an autobiography some years before her death, and at some point I will get that as well.