I am writing this post to clear up some misinformation about the origins of the Louise Brooks Society website, specifically its name, the "Louise Brooks Society."
Since first becoming interested in Brooks, I've enjoyed meeting and talking with others who shared my enthusiasm for this singular film star. Early on, I searched for some kind of group. I remember going to my local public library and looking through a directory of fan clubs -- but found no group dedicated to Brooks. This was in the early 1990s, just as the internet was getting going. With my own growing interest in computing, it occurred to me that I might form my own group, and the idea of starting a Louise Brooks website was born. I realized there would be no better way of reaching other fans and forming a group of like-minded individuals than over the internet. Thus, enabled by the world wide web, the Louise Brooks Society was born.
When I launched my site in 1995, I thought about what to call my fan-site, my group of pages. As I have long noted, the Louise Brooks Society drew its name from (was inspired by) a turn-of-phrase in John Lahr's New York Times review of Lulu in Hollywood.
In this 1982 review, Lahr refers to the famed critic &
screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz as the "founder of the Louise Brooks
Literary Society, " Lahr did so because Mankiewicz, a sometime member of the
Algonquin Round Table, was a kind of mentor to the 18 year old Brooks,
to whom he gave reading material, invited to opening nights on Broadway,
and in general tried to educate.
I liked Lahr's turn-of-phrase and its suggestion of an educational purpose, and as it reminded me of other groups with which I was familiar -- like the F. Scott Fitzgerald Society, I decided to name my website the Louise Brooks Society. That was in the summer of 1995.
The phrase "Louise Brooks Literary Society" was an invention of John Lahr. There was no actual "Louise Brooks Literary Society" during Brooks'
lifetime, nor is one mentioned in the definitive biography of the actress by Barry Paris. Let me also add
that just recently I contacted John Lahr and he confirmed that he, not
Mankiewicz, originated the term "Louise Brooks Literary Society". It was
merely a descriptive turn-of-phrase, not a historical reference.
As is well documented and provable, I launched the Louise Brooks Society website in August, 1995. One of its very first media mentions and earliest print references dates to May 23, 1996, when the Louise Brooks Society was named a USA Today “Hot Site” and mentioned in the newspaper’s syndicated “Net: New and notable” column. The earliest Wayback Machine capture of the site at its current domain, www.pandorasbox.com, dates to April 11, 1997, while the earliest homepage captured by the Wayback Machine featuring a © symbol dates to June 27, 1998.
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