Publisher's Synopsis
"One of Our Five Favorite Western Novels of 2023." TheHardWord.Org
"I highly recommend "Wyatt and The Duke." It's a great read, well-written, and entertaining from beginning to end. My Stetson's off to author Patrick Cirillo." -- Amazon Reviewer It's a Hollywood story. It's a Western. It's a Love story. It's a tragedy. It's a coming-of-age story. It's a story of friendship and bonding through the generations. It's a tale of murder and revenge. It is all of that and more. As one reviewer wrote, "There is a lot going on in Wyatt & the Duke, and I liked all of it." "'Wyatt and the Duke' brings to life one of Hollywood's most intriguing legends--that an aging Wyatt Earp was the real-life mentor to a promising young actor named Marion Morrison, later known to the world as John Wayne. Did Earp really mold Wayne's uniquely American screen persona? Many believe he did, but one thing is for sure, Patrick Cirillo, a Hollywood insider himself, will make you believe it happened, or if it didn't, it damn well should have." -- Michael Sellers, Author Set amid the opulence, crime, and decadence of 1927 Hollywood, 19-year-old Marion Morrison is given the role of a lifetime when he is cast to play Wyatt Earp in the studio's first talking picture. To be sure he gets it right, the studio hires Wyatt Earp, now 79, to mentor him for the part. The two couldn't be more opposite. Duke is fun-loving and boyish. Wyatt is hot-tempered and dark. Sparks fly from the beginning, but gradually, they find friendship and purpose. Film Director and Editor Barry Rubinow writes, "Wyatt and the Duke is a lively, well-written novel about two legendary historical figures and some extremely colorful women who support and love them. John Wayne is just getting started in his acting career, and Wyatt Earp is nearing the end of his Western journey just as talking pictures are coming into vogue and replacing silent films. Wyatt and Duke have an intense, complicated, and ultimately heroic relationship that is fun and funny, and filled with passion. But the ladies in their lives almost steal the show. Earp's wife and Duke's girlfriend/lover/movie star are two of the most memorable characters that I've come across in a long time. A wild, fun adventure." Patrick Cirillo: The story for "Wyatt and the Duke" came to me over many years and in two distinct pieces. The first was a long time ago. While living in Los Angeles doing routine research, I discovered that Wyatt Earp lived to be 80 years old. I thought all the Western heroes and villains died young. Interestingly, he spent his last years less than a mile from where I was living at the time, which I found fascinating. Had I been around 70 years earlier, I could have walked to his apartment and met him. I thought immediately about writing a screenplay about an aged Wyatt Earp. Unfortunately, the right story for the character didn't come to me until years later when I saw a video of Ethan Wayne, the Duke's son, saying that his father, as a struggling young actor, met Wyatt Earp and was profoundly influenced by him. I knew immediately my story would be a mentor story. The rest fell into place when I combined it with another true story from the era, that of the murder of film director William Desmond Taylor and his great friendship with silent film star Mabel Normand. Suddenly, I had all the elements I needed to create a fictional story based on a great deal of reality. It was a love story, a Western, a Hollywood story, a gangster story, a revenge story, and most importantly, it was the story of a mentorship that becomes a deep friendship that unites two generations of American legends. The result is "Wyatt and the Duke."
