Colorful tales

Mike Sciacca

Thom Racina has told more than a tale or two through his many

published books, but the national best-selling author’s colorful

career contains a plethora of tidbits and anecdotes that certainly

would make for a juicy novel.

Hey, he could write a book about his own adventures.

It would surely land Racina, once again, on the best-sellers’

list.

The Palm Springs resident will be in Huntington Beach on Jan. 17

to serve as guest speaker when the Friends of the Huntington Beach

Library presents a noon lunch and lecture at the Huntington Beach

Central Library.

Racina is the first author to be presented by the Friends of the

Huntington Beach Library in the New Year.

“We’re very pleased to have Thom speak for us,” said Bea Hanser,

program chairwoman and former president of the Friends of the

Huntington Beach Library. “We will be attempting to line up one guest

speaker each month throughout the year.

“We like to find all types of authors, especially local ones, to

come and lecture.”

Racina, 52, says his appearance provides him with benefits that

extend beyond the monetary.

“What I get out of these appearances are new readers for life,” he

said.

Racina infuses a quick wit with inspirational messages and career

stories when he speaks, and he speaks well.

He has successfully put his thoughts to the written page in the

past few decades.

In addition to writing several mystery-thrillers -- currently, he

has five published, including his latest work, “Never Forget,” with

his next release, “Practice Run,” due out in the fall -- Racina has

served as a writer on several daytime dramas.

Most notably, he wrote the ratings-breaking story line “Ice

Princess,” based on his wildly-popular book “The Great Los Angeles

Blizzard,” for the daytime drama “General Hospital.”

The story line culminated in the daytime TV landmark episode of

Luke and Laura’s wedding in the early 1980s.

His writing resume includes more than 4,000 broadcast hours of

daytime TV and five Emmy nominations over 18 years while working for

the soap operas “Santa Barbara,” “Generations,” “Another World,”

“Days of Our Lives,” “Search for Tomorrow” and “Family Passions.”

Racina’s, “The Great Los Angeles Blizzard,” published in 1977 when

disaster stories were in vogue in books and at the movies, was a

best-seller at the time.

It was also the first hard-bound book to bear his “real” name.

Prior to “The Great Los Angeles Blizzard,” and while putting

himself through Chicago’s famed Goodman School of Drama at the Art

Institute, Racina wrote books he wouldn’t put his name to.

They included Westerns, romances, “even soft porn ... whatever the

publishers needed that weekend,” he said.

In the mid-1970s he graduated to mainstream publishing with a

take-off on “The Happy Hooker” called “The Happy Hustler.”

He wrote the book in one weekend. It went on to sell 3 million

copies and spawned three sequels.

He ghost-wrote three books for Xaviera Hollander and made up life

stories for Marilyn Chambers, who acted in Ivory Soap commercials

before becoming a porn star.

His work has been produced by seven major publishing houses. In

all, he authored 157 books before his breakthrough hit, “The Great

Los Angeles Blizzard.”

“It’s been a very crazy career,” he chuckled. “I’ve written for

just about everything, but writing is my true passion. If my

imagination were to die tomorrow, I’d be in a lot of trouble.”

Racina’s imagination and eye for detail set in motion the

Hollywood career of a then-unknown and would-be actor from

Springfield, Mo.

“Brad Pitt was my roommate for two years, and we had a good

friendship,” Racina said. “He told me he had come here from Missouri

and was going to be a movie star. Well, you know the rest.”

Racina obtained a role for Pitt on the daytime drama “Another

World,” which led directly to Pitt’s role in the motion picture

“Thelma and Louise,” setting him on his way to stardom.

“That was a great time, although I haven’t heard from him in

years,” Racina said. “It is just astronomical how when someone

becomes ‘famous,’ like Brad, all these layers of protection they have

surrounding them.

“That experience with him is just one of many from my very

colorful and crazy past,” Racina said.

* MIKE SCIACCA covers sports and features. He can be reached at

(714) 965-7171 or by e-mail at michael.sciacca@latimes.com.