THE DEATH OF JAMES DEAN

Hardback. On the morning of September 30, 1955, James Dean and his mechanic, Rolf Weutherich, set out from Dean's house in Sherman Oakes in his new Porsche Spyder. They were going north to Salinas to take part in a weekend race meeting. Just after 5pm they stopped at Blackwell's Corner, the junction of highways 33 and 466 to have a drink and to talk to some fellow racers who were also en route for Salinas. Before leaving one of them warned Dean to 'be careful of the cars turning in front of you. The Spyder's hard to see and it's getting dark.' An hour later Dean was dead, killed instantly when his car crashed with another at an intersection. His death pitched him immediately and lastingly from teen idol status to that of one of the few truly legendary stars of the cinema. The countless rumours and conflicting reports about the accident have ensured that the mystery surrounding Dean's death has never been fully explained. The author has meticulously gathered a mass of information about Dean's last day - giving an almost hour-by-hour account of the events that preceded the crash, and has drawn upon eyewitness accounts and many unpublished documents, including a transcript of the inquest, to present the most thorough and accurate account of Dean's death and the cult that it generated. Illus. + Sources. 202pp. 8vo. h/back. F. in Vg+ dw.