ALL STARS DIE
by
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The First Encounter
While deep in his sleep, all the physical tension and inherent emotions of the new dream seemed frighteningly immediate, its meaning distant, ambiguous...
The little boy, no more than six or seven, is desperately climbing toward the top of the giant telescope, grasping hold with both arms and legs. The kid is me for god’s sake, Spence realized. It looks like Palomar...yeah, of course it is. Way below him in the well, a woman rushes in and shouts: “I’ve been looking all over for you. What are you doing up there, you silly boy?”
It’s mother...Miranda. As she looked more than thirty years ago... so beautiful. But the boy, red-faced and determined, continues to struggle ever-so-slowly up the smooth metal casing toward the parting dome and star-filled sky beyond. “Where do you think you’re going? Come down this minute, do you hear?!”
He looks down for an instant, loses his grip and begins a long, terrifying fall.
The abrasive jangle of his hotel wake-up call ended this particular nightmare, which had been preceded by several others during the past month. His pillow was again damp from sweat. He couldn’t recall a single image from any of the disturbing dreams; he only knew they were interludes he could live without and hoped they’d soon pass. He welcomed a sound sleep.
Parting the drapes, he let the morning light flood the fifth-floor Plaza luxury single. Wonder what this hole-in-the-wall set Columbia back, he mused, concurrently embracing the vista it afforded of Central Park in its mid-autumnal glory. A tap at the door led him to let in Room Service with the pre-ordered breakfast of orange juice, a croissant and pot of coffee. He blanched at the bill, quickly computed the proper tip, signed the tab and thanked the server. No wonder tuition has skyrocketed, he noted with a mixture of sadness and satisfaction. So much for Phil’s constant taunting him about his ignorance of the economics of everyday life.
Checking out of the hotel less than an hour later, the slightest pang of guilt gave way to simple curiosity as he reckoned what his ten hours in Manhattan, seven of them asleep, had cost the school so far. Way more than a day’s pay for no return! He dared not add on the Boston airfare, late night cab from and, this evening, back to La Guardia, for which he was, along with other incidentals e. g. meals, to invoice it. He had to shake his head at the infinite number of expenses accruing to today’s higher education.
Rush hour was at its peak. He scurried about the leaf-covered corner of Fifth Avenue and Fifty-ninth in a futile effort to grab a taxi.
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About the Book
In affairs of the heart, is it possible for two adults, different as day from night in backgrounds, professions and life experiences, who fall in love, to extend their passion into a lasting relationship? Ostensibly Spencer King, a renowned astrophysicist at MIT in Boston and Charlotte Grace, a by-lined, free-lance photo-journalist in New York have little in common when they first meet other than their bachelorhood and age; he just over forty, she, thirty-five...and their physical attractiveness. But their instantaneous mutual appeal, despite her worldliness and his ingenuousness, soon develops into a potent love affair neither ever had experienced Set in a post 9/11, pre-Iraq invasion time frame, All Stars Die details the emotional, psychological and sexually dramatic roller-coaster ride these two go on in quest of their common goal: living together happily ever-after in the Big Apple, the cultural citadel they agree is the ideal place. While friends, colleagues and parents influence some of the actions the lovers take to achieve their end, adjustment to the other’s careers and life-styles - hers a fast-paced one, his one measured in centuries, light years - persist as formidable challenges. Together for romantic interludes that include a number of inimitably erotic overnights, colorful up- and downtown parties and an event-filled trip to Hawaii their wit and intelligence aren’t enough to sustain them when apart. Frustrations and temptations abound. Yet their secrets, as well as professional goals, which constantly confound their plans, complicate any easy solution to their love-life. They also must question whether it is love or simply lust that’s fueling their growing passion. Over a period of a few months, during which Spence meets more of Charlie’s friends and several former lovers, her profound secret is accidentally revealed.Yet they still must contend with his own, which remains hidden. Charlie’s glamorous assignments, Spence’s observatory- and equation-bound lives may seem incompatible, but they don’t believe so. What will the Fates, in which both have some belief, decree?
About the Author
Born to European emigrants, William Kronick grew up in Amsterdam, New York. He won a scholarship to Columbia College where he was active in the Columbia Players’ stage productions. He also helped form The Gilbert and Sullivan Society at Barnard College.
While at Columbia, William Kronick was deeply impressed by the Swedish playwright August Strindberg, especially by his major work, "Miss Julie," which had been made into a movie directed by Alf Sjoberg.
After graduation William Kronick was drafted into the U.S. Navy where he became a Photographer’s Mate. During a North Atlantic exercise, his ship anchored at Stockholm. Kronick took this opportunity to contact Alf Sjoberg, who agreed to meet with him.
Kronick asked Sjoberg about an apprenticeship. Sjoberg suggested that his protégé, Ingmar Bergman, might be a more rewarding filmmaker to observe and made the arrangements with Svenskfilmindustri Studios for Kronick, once out of the Navy, to be part of Bergman’s next film "The Magician." He was the first foreigner to be granted such entree.
Upon returning to New York Kronick found a job as Production Assistant with Louis de Rochemont Associates. So began his four-decade career as a writer, director and producer.
Kronick's first film was a twenty-seven minute comedy-satire called "A Bowl of Cherries" (1961). The film, which played in nearly a thousand art theaters in the U.S. and Europe, was seen in L.A. by a producer of TV documentaries, David L. Wolper. He offered Kronick the directing/writing position on a new reality series, "Story of…"
Over a period of decades, Kronick, with total creative control, would write and direct some of Wolper’s highest-rated Network Specials, ranging from "Alaska!" (National Geographic) to "Plimpton!" to "The Five-Hundred Pound Jerk" (A Movie-of-the Week, Director only) to "Mysteries of the Great Pyramid."
His first feature, independently financed, was "A Likely Story" (a.k.a. "The Dublin Murders"). Kronick also did long-term stints as Second Unit Director on features such as "King Kong" (1976) and "Flash Gordon" (1980), on which he was responsible for many action and special effects sequences.
In 2000 he devoted himself to writing novels. The tales are contemporary morality stories, dealing mainly with film and theater.
He has been married and divorced twice and has a son, Max, by his second wife. Kronick resides in Los Angeles.