I have been fortunate to have met and in many cases, worked with most of my boyhood heroes. And when I was a tot, no one was more of a hero than the world's greatest ventriloquist, Paul Winchell. (Winch would argue that the world's greatest ventriloquist was Edgar Bergen and while I always found Bergen funny, I thought Paul was just as funny…and his lips didn't move.) I loved watching Paul perform with his wooden pals, Jerry Mahoney and Knucklehead Smiff, and I even liked Paul when he appeared, sans dummy, as a TV panelist or actor. Years later, when he invented the first mechanical heart, a lot of people were amazed that a ventriloquist could do something like that. I wasn't amazed in the least. I already knew he was magical.
This magical man has now written his autobiography, Winch. It is a book that will surprise many for while he goes through the expected tales of how he took up ventriloquism, how he broke into the business, how his career took off, et cetera, much of the book is about his turbulent life and mental state, starting with an abusive mother-son relationship and a near-fatal bout with childhood polio, continuing on to even darker days, which he discusses with an almost unsettling candor. I don't want to give any of it away here but you should know, going in, that this is not one of those show biz autobiographies that goes from big success to small success and then back to big success.
Instead, Paul takes us through his crises of faith, family and even his own sanity, ultimately coming to grips with each of these. You will find it astounding that he survives and even more astounding that he shares it all with us, so openly.
Winch is available at Amazon but it's cheaper from the publisher. You can also order an autographed hardcover over at Paul's website. If you're at all interested in this versatile, honest man, you'll want one. I'm going to wait a few weeks and read mine again. It's that kind of book.