This month, the Louise Brooks Society celebrates its 17th anniversary. Launched in 1995, the Louise Brooks
Society was one of the very first websites devoted to silent film. The earliest archived
LBS webpages - housed on the
Internet Archive Wayback Machine - dates to
December 20, 1996 and
April 11, 1997. The earliest archived newsgroup posts (remember those?) mentioning the Louise Brooks Society date from
October 27, 1995 (announcing the website) and
January 29, 1996 (a query from the LBS regarding an European screening). These posts are part of the 20-year Usenet
Archive which contain hundreds of millions of messages.
In the early days, the LBS also earned its fair share of web awards (remember those?). Here are a few that the LBS received. I was especially proud to be recognized by the Encyclopedia Britannica website!
The LBS (
www.pandorasbox.com)
has grown over the years - and so has its recognition as a world-wide
resource for fans of Louise Brooks. The LBS has been referenced and
cited in
a handful of books,
as well as in publications of all sorts all over the world. Here is a select
bibliography of magazine, newspaper and web articles about the website. (Unfortunately, some of these articles are no longer online, or have disappeared behind a pay wall.)
Meddis, Sam Vincent. "
Net: New and notable."
USA Today, May 23, 1996.
---
"Silent-film buffs can get a taste of how a fan club from yesteryear
plays on the Web. The Louise Brooks Society site includes interview,
trivia and photos. It also draws an international audience."
anonymous.
Net Directory, issue 7, 1996.
--- named one of five best sites devoted to actresses in UK computing magazine
anonymous. "NetSurf."
HotWired, 1997.
--- mention on
Wired website
Roberson, Fontaine. "
Flapper Has 'Virtual' Fan Club in Noe Valley."
Noe Valley Voice, September, 1997.
--- article in San Francisco monthly
Silberman, Steve. "
Fan Site Sparks Biopic."
Wired, April 10, 1998.
--- feature article about the LBS (reference a few weeks later by
Roger Ebert)
Farrant, Darrin. "Programs - Sunday."
Melbourne Age, April 16, 1998.
---
mention in Australian newspaper - "She was far more than just a pretty
face .... The Louise Brooks Society has an exhaustive web site about
this fascinating siren."
Bentley, Rick. "Ahead of Her Time."
Fresno Bee, April 30, 1998.
---
article in Fresno, California newspaper - "Internet users have embraced
the actress for years. Web pages and various sites have dealt with this
actress, whose fame started in the silent films era and exploded in the
information age. Her career and her life off the set have become a
source of interest unparalleled by many other film stars. And those bits
and bytes of information were a catalyst for this TV special."
Evenson, Laura. "
Lovely Lulu Lives Again."
San Francisco Chronicle, May 3, 1998.
--- mention in newspaper article
anonymous. "NetWatch."
Atlanta Journal and Constitution, May 5, 1998.
--- mentioned as exemplary website in Atlanta, Georgia newspaper
anonymous. "Fan Site Profiles." bLink. February, 1999.
--- article in magazine for Earthlink subscribers
Garner, Jack. "Movie buffs can find trivia, reviews online."
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, September 12, 2000.
---
"A fine example of a fan page, a thoughtful, artful site devoted to the
life and times of a fabled silent movie legend, with rare articles from
the '20s and superb photos."
Roether, Barbara. "
Three Make Their Mark: Lulu Lives at Booksmith."
Publisher's Weekly, November 20, 2000.
--- mention in trade journal
Douglas, John. "Online with you."
Grand Rapids Press , March 26, 2001.
---
"There has never been a more interesting actress in the history of
movies or a more beautiful woman than Louise Brooks, who made a name for
herself in American and German films. This Web site at
www.pandorasbox.com, created by The Louise Brooks Society, is crammed
full of photos of the lady with the page boy bob. It also has
biographical material and still shots from her movies plus posters and
links to other Brooks sites."
Anderson, Jeffrey M. "Thirteen great film sites."
San Francisco Examiner, November 29, 2001.
---
"This San Francisco-run site pays tribute to one of the greatest and
most underappreciated stars of all time, Louise Brooks, who played
numerous bit parts and starred in only two films during the silent era.
It contains tons of info, pictures and history."
l., tk. "Ins Netz gegangen Pandora Brooks."
Stuttgarter Zeitung, July 14, 2002.
--- described as "vorbildlichen website" in this German newspaper
O'Connell, Pamela Licalzi. "
Dreaming Celebrities and the Earth's Eye Candy."
New York Times, August 29, 2002.
---
"The Louise Brooks Society (www.pandorasbox.com) is an excellent homage
to the art of the silent film as well as one of its most luminous
stars."
Pattenden, Mike. "An era of glamour."
Sunday Times, April 27, 2003.
--- mentioned in London newspaper - "She bucked the system to make movies in Europe, notably
Pandora's Box, which lends its name to www.pandorasbox.com, dedicated to her remarkable life."
Watson, Dave. "
Basking in the Glow of On-Line Info Flow." Straight.com, July 15, 2004.
---
"She's not well-known anymore, but Louise Brooks was one of the biggest
stars of silent and early-sound cinema. Naturally, there's a home for
her fans on the Net (www.pandorasbox.com), but the site also has a lot
of incidental information about that era of moviemaking as well."
Dufour, Nicolas. "
Louise Brooks, l'adoration perpétuelle."
Le Temps, December 23, 2004.
--- referenced in French newspaper
Melton, Wayne. "
That '20s Girl: Lulupalooza celebrates the work of a screen goddess."
Style Weekly, July 20, 2005.
---
mentioned in article in Richmond, Virgina weekly " . . . a weekend-long
festival of the silent-screen goddess presented by Yellow House
Productions and the Firehouse Theatre with the assistance of the Louise
Brooks Society."
Caloudas, Constantine. "
Louise Bobs Her Hair."
Washington City Paper, July 22, 2005.
--- article in Washington D.C. weekly
Maltin, Leonard. "
Links We Like."
Leonard Maltin's Movie Crazy, August 2005.
---
"Not many sites of any kind can claim to be celebrating a tenth
anniversary online, but that’s true of the Louise Brooks Society,
devoted to the life and times of the magnetic silent-film star and
latter-day memoirist. Thomas Gladysz has assembled a formidable amount
of material on the actress and her era; there’s not only a lot to read
and enjoy, but there’s a gift shop and even a 'Radio Lulu' function that
allows you to listen to music of the 1920s. Wow!"
anonymous. "
Louise Brooks Expert Speaks at Silent Film Fest."
Noe Valley Voice, July 2006.
--- referenced in San Francisco monthly
Matheson, Whitney. "
Happy birthday, Louise!"
USA Today, November 14, 2006.
---
"My favorite Louise Brooks site belongs to the Louise Brooks Society, a
devoted group of fans that even keeps a blog. There, you can find just
about everything about the actress: articles, filmography, photos, links
and more."
"
Interview: THOMAS GLADYSZ, founder of the LOUISE BROOKS Society."
SiouxWire, April 5, 2007.
--- interview on website
Stinnett, Chuck. "
Louise Brooks had beauty that was decades ahead of its time."
The Gleaner, September 22, 2009.
--- "Brooks remains a focus of remarkable interest...." - mention in Henderson, Kentucky newspaper
anonymous. "
New Diary of a Lost Girl."
Noe Valley Voice, July/August 2010.
--- mention in San Francisco monthly
Maltin, Leonard. "
Silent Stars Still Mesmerize."
Leonard Maltin's Movie Crazy, August 10, 2010.
--- mention in review
Couch, Christina. "
Quiet riot."
Time Out Chicago, August 28, 2010.
--- mention in article
Blackburn, Gavin. "
Forgotten book by Margarete Boehme to be revived in US."
Deutsche Welle, November 3, 2010.
--- article on English-language German news site
K., A. "
Stoletni dnevnik prostitutke, oče avtobiografskih izmišljotin?" RTV Slovenia, November 4, 2010.
--- article on Slovenian news site
Rombeck, Terry. "
A cut above: Local author’s novel generates national buzz."
Lawrence News-Tribune, June 10, 2012.
--- mention in article about Laura Moriarty's
The Chaperone in Kansas newspaper
LaSalle, Mick. "
Me at Book Passage." SFGate, August 4, 2012.
--- referenced in
San Francisco Chronicle blog
