Award-winning filmmaker and writer Jim Watson draws on his years of experience exploring Catalina Island and its history to bring you true tales of the strange and bizarre side of the island. Ghosts, UFOs, pirates, criptids (including Bigfoot!), buried treasure and strange portals: Catalina has them all and more!

Throughout its history, the 76-square-mile island of Catalina has played host to Native Americans, smugglers, otter hunters, ranchers, miners, entrepreneurs, vacationers, movie stars, and nature enthusiasts. William Wrigley Jr. (of chewing-gum fame) bought the island in 1919 and later constructed the recognizable casino building, which was never used for gambling but did become one of the best-known ballrooms in America. In the 1970s, the Wrigley family deeded 88 percent of the island to the Catalina Island Conservancy, which protects the natural state of the island and her inhabitants. Today nearly one million tourists visit annually to take in the fishing, parasailing, glass-bottomed tour boating, scuba diving, cycling, camping, galleries, shopping, and dining.

Brainstorm is an amazing five-year probe into the mysterious death of beloved movie star Natalie Wood by a real-life criminal law authority who determinedly pursued the truth in the face of Los Angeles County officials hell-bent on keeping it buried forever. “After four decades, there is still more to learn about Natalie Wood’s tragic drowning. Brainstorm is one man’s passionate quest to unearth the truth.” —Beth Karas, Host of Oxygen’s Snapped: Notorious, former prosecutor, and investigative journalist “If you have any interest in deciding for yourself whether someone got away with the murder of Natalie Wood, this book is for you.” —Marilyn Wayne, eyewitness Brainstorm: An Investigation of the Mysterious Death of Film Star Natalie Wood is the first-person account of Sam Perroni’s probing investigation of the actress’s death. Through lawsuits, freedom of information requests, and persistent digging, Perroni obtained unseen and confidential files, documents, photographs, and information from long-lost witnesses revealing the true circumstances surrounding Natalie Wood’s drowning.

Catalina Island ...and Avalon, a sunny village just off the Southern California Coast. It seemed the perfect place for R&R over Memorial Day weekend with the new young woman in the Judge's life. But what he stepped into was gang violence, civil disobedience, bitter rivalries, infidelity, and even murder, ripping the social fabric of the small town asunder. From Avalon's Yacht Club, through its alleys, sidewalk cafes and swank watering holes, across its private beaches and beyond, to the Airport in the Sky and the party cruise ship sitting offshore, the Judge tracks a shadowy killer. And as the town is forced to fight for its very existence against overwhelming odds, the Judge finds his romantic relationship compromised by an old flame, forcing him to examine and re-define his own past before he can risk a new future.

LET THE MOVIES BE YOUR GUIDE! * Hike THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE Trail! * Behold the KILL BILL Chapel! * Enter THE DOORS Indian Caves! * Swim at BEACH BLANKET BINGO's Malibu! * Escape to SOME LIKE IT HOT's Resort! * Raft the STAGECOACH River! * Explore HIGH PLAIN DRIFTER's Ghostly Lake! * Trek to the LOST HORIZON Waterfall! * Discover the STAR WARS Sand Dunes! Here is the first comprehensive guide to Southern California's outdoor filming locations taking you to more than 50 of the Golden State's most cinematic beaches, mountains, deserts, lakes, hot springs and waterfalls. Illustrated with over 100 scenic photos and 20 easy-to-read maps, Hollywood Escapes: The Moviegoer's Guide to Exploring Southern California's Great Outdours not only takes you to movie history's most memorable destinations, but also recommends places to dine and lodge along the way, from mountain hideaways to beach side resorts. Written by inveterate movie buffs and outdoors enthusiasts Harry Medved and Bruce Akiyama, these two native Southern Californians have interviewed dozens of actors, filmmakers, location scouts and rangers to help you explore Hollywood's most spectacular scenery.

When a sixteen-year-old Spanish girl sees a religious vision while praying in a convent, she becomes involved in a series of humorous adventures. Catalina is a crippled girl, supposedly cured by divine intervention after witnessing a vision of the Virgin Mary. As a result of this, she is pressured into becoming a nun in a Carmelite convent. The Bishop of Segovia, himself undergoing a crisis of faith, becomes involved in the debate about the debt owed to god by Catalina for her cure, but the girl resists all attempts to control her life, determined to marry the man she loves. She joins a troupe of strolling players and becomes the most famous actress in all of Spain.