It Books Acquires Rights to Amy: My Daughter by Mitch Winehouse
It Books Acquires Rights to
Amy: My Daughter by Mitch Winehouse
NEW YORK, NY (October 10, 2011) – It Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, announced today that it has acquired Amy: My Daughter, a heartfelt and revelatory memoir by Mitch Winehouse, Amy’s father. Amy will be published worldwide in summer 2012.
Lisa Sharkey, Senior Vice President and Director of Creative Development at HarperCollins, acquired North American rights for It Books. The deal was negotiated with Robin Straus of the Robin Straus Agency acting in conjunction with the Hanbury Agency in London. The book will be edited by Senior Editor Matt Harper.
The now-legendary life of Amy Winehouse needs no introduction. A multiple Grammy-winning recording artist, Amy touched millions with her music during her short but extraordinary life. Following her tragic death in July, Mitch Winehouse is now ready to tell the incredible story of the Amy the public never got to know and understand. From her mischievous early years, through her rise to stardom, to her much-publicized struggles with addiction, Mitch will bring the many layers of her life together—the personal, the private and the public—to create a fitting tribute to his beloved daughter and best friend.
All proceeds from the book will be donated to the Amy Winehouse Foundation, the charity that Mitch has founded in Amy’s name to help children and young adults, especially those who are in need by reason of ill health, disability, financial disadvantage or addiction.
“Amy Winehouse could have been anyone’s daughter,” said Lisa Sharkey. “She was Mitch’s pride and joy and he did everything he could to save her life. Now he celebrates her extraordinary talent by giving us insight into the woman that he and the world lost way too soon. This will surely be the definitive book about Amy. Nobody else could write it.”
Mitch Winehouse said, “I feel that I need to write this book to tell the true story of Amy and to help with my personal recovery. I also want to raise as much money as possible for Amy’s foundation, so all proceeds from the book will go directly to help children who are disadvantaged through illness and substance addiction. I believe that, through Amy’s music, her foundation, and this book, her name will live forever.”
In the United Kingdom, Nick Canham, Editorial Director, Harper Non-Fiction bought UK and Commonwealth rights (excluding Canada) from Maggie Hanbury at The Hanbury Agency.
About It Books: Launched in September 2009, It Books is dedicated to publishing exceptional books in entertainment, music, fashion, design, art, celebrity, pop culture and sports. It Books has published numerous New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Los Angeles Times bestsellers including the # 1 New York Times bestsellers Sh*t My Dad Says by Justin Halpern and Red by Sammy Hagar as well as Getting the Pretty Back by Molly Ringwald, Booky Wook 2 by Russell Brand, The Red Hot Chili Peppers by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Everyone Loves You When You’re Dead by Neil Strauss, All My Life by Susan Lucci, The EveryGirl’s Guide to Life by Maria Menounos, and current bestsellers Dear Cary by Dyan Cannon and Being Kendra by Kendra Wilkinson. It Books is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, one of the largest English-language publishers in the world and a subsidiary of News Corporation (NASDAQ: NWS, NWSA; ASX: NWS, NWSLV). It Books can be found online at www.YourItList.com, www.Facebook.com/YourItList, www.Twitter.com/YourItList and www.Twitter.com/ItBooks.
(photo from Associated Press)
Russell Brand’s Tribute to Amy Winehouse
It’s been a few days since Amy Winehouse’s untimely passing, and the web is full of remembrances, well-wishes, and the like. One that has particularly stuck with this blogger is from comedian Russell Brand, who posted an honest, poignant, and compelling look back at his relationship with Amy through his eyes as a former addict. From his first meeting with her:
Carl Barrat told me that “Winehouse” (which I usually called her and got a kick out of cos it’s kind of funny to call a girl by her surname) was a jazz singer, which struck me as bizarrely anomalous in that crowd. To me with my limited musical knowledge this information placed Amy beyond an invisible boundary of relevance; “Jazz singer? She must be some kind of eccentric” I thought. I chatted to her anyway though, she was after all, a girl, and she was sweet and peculiar but most of all vulnerable.
To when he realized her musical genius:
Entering the space I saw Amy on stage with Weller and his band; and then the awe. The awe that envelops when witnessing a genius. From her oddly dainty presence that voice, a voice that seemed not to come from her but from somewhere beyond even Billie and Ella, from the font of all greatness. A voice that was filled with such power and pain that it was at once entirely human yet laced with the divine. My ears, my mouth, my heart and mind all instantly opened. Winehouse. Winehouse? Winehouse! That twerp, all eyeliner and lager dithering up Chalk Farm Road under a back-combed barnet, the lips that I’d only seen clenching a fishwife fag and dribbling curses now a portal for this holy sound. So now I knew. She wasn’t just some hapless wannabe, yet another pissed up nit who was never gonna make it, nor was she even a ten-a-penny-chanteuse enjoying her fifteen minutes. She was a f*cking genius.
I strongly recommend you read his post in full here. If you want to read more of Russell’s story through fame, addiction, and recovery in his own unique voice, check out his books My Booky Wook and My Booky Wook 2.
We’ll leave you with classic jazz-y Amy, in “Back to Black”:
Going Gaga
Thanks to her knack for unique sartorial choices, we’re predicting that you’ll bump into more than a few Lady Gagas on the street this October 31. What Amy Winehouse and her beehive and shakily-applied mascara were to trick-or-treat ’07, Gaga promises to be to oh-nine. If you’re looking for a last minute costume, check out this step-by-step video from Threadbanger (via MTV Buzzworthy Blog). Sadly, if you’re more inclined to do the muppet-poncho thing, you’re on your own.
