Saying Goodbye to Damien Bona – Expert, Mentor, Genius, Friend
When I found out a day or two ago that author Damien Bona had been put on life support it seemed one of those cruel jokes the universe plays on you to remind you how quickly everything goes by. But today it was announced that he passed away at 57 years old. More than that, it’s irrefutable proof of how quickly people can be taken from you. Because that’s what you do when someone dies, as you find yourself falling helplessly into the first stage of grief, you don’t want to believe or accept that life can be so random and unfair. But as the acceptance begins to take hold, and the crying starts, you are left with all that they left behind and in Bona’s case, it’s a legacy.
I first met Damien Bona on the phone. I’d started Oscarwatch and of course, Inside Oscar was my only real resource for Oscar’s sordid past. You see, Bona and Mason Wiley started from the knowledge that it was all a load of nonsense and worked forward from there. They were the only ones then, and the only ones even now to expose the underbelly of our notorious Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences. Listening to Bona and reading his book was like turning on to acid in the 1960s. It blew my mind. It still blows my mind.
That Damien Bona had less than 300 Facebook friends is such a testament to who he was – someone without an ego — he doesn’t even have a Wikipedia page — something I hope is remedied, even if I have to do it. Most of us who write about the Oscars truly believe the Sun revolves around us but Bona, the smartest and wisest among us, never thought of himself that way. He was gracious to a fault, never self-serving about what he knew — which was a staggering amount. He never took sides nor advocated for his favorites. He certainly never feared the Academy, even though speaking out against them wasn’t exactly the way to get ahead in Hollywood. The Academy tried fruitlessly to block the publication of Inside Oscar, Bona told me, but it was to no avail. The book was published and is my main resource for the Academy’s history.
Over the years, I’ve chatted with him over email and he participated in our Oscar roundtables, though of course, because of this fleeting, crazy life, I only did one this year. And if I’d only done a few more, we’d have that much more of Bona’s insightful, wry observations. Whenever I would do an Oscars Roundtable the readers would hang on Bona’s every word. Little did any of us know he would be taken from us at the young age of 57. That he’s not around anymore for perspective and clarity on not just the Oscars but on politics, movies, music, life – is the thing that makes the difference between what makes life worth living and what it unbearable.
Bona wrote Inside Oscar with the brilliant Mason Wiley and he’d always said that much of the fun of writing the books was gone when Wiley passed away. The Academy had much trouble with Bona and Wiley, as you can imagine, because they shook the tree in ways people never really did, by digging into the race, layer by layer. If you’ve never read Inside Oscar you are in for a major treat. He died too young, with so much more left to say, so much more of this life left, the news is tragic, sudden and unshakably sad.
Bona leaves behind his partner Ralph, and was close friends with Writer/Director Bill Condon. Bona worked with Condon on the 81st Oscars as a research consultant. He vetted every part of the script for the show. He was particularly invaluable in terms of being able to tell you when something that you were evolving or considering or developing had already been done before. He also had specific contributions, like getting Manny Farber included in the necrology.
You can read the Oscar roundtable from year’s past here.
In the meantime, I asked two of our participants to share a few words for Bona.
Susan Wloszczyna:
The arrival of Oscar season can sometimes be a drag for those us paid to dredge up excitement for Hollywood’s annual circus of the stars. But I always looked forward to once again having a reason to interview Damien Bona about the whys and wherefores of each race. Not only was he unfailingly generous with his time, but I don’t know of one so-called Oscarologist who not only cared about the subject of the Academy Awards so deeply, but also was a true expert in the best sense of the world. Yes, he could never resist putting down a past winner he deemed unworthy or make a case for a favorite that lost. But Damien also would know the inside story of why things happened the way they did and the reasons voters selected a certain winner that year. He was one historian who knew the juice, too.
Last year, he gladly discussed the speeches of The King’s Speech with me and vetted my selection of other famous movie speeches that led to a win. Even if he was not a fan of Daniel Day-Lewis’ over-the-top performance in There Will Be Blood, he could objectively see why that “I drink your milkshake” speech was a grabber.
Because of our shared passion, we could not help but become friends as well as colleagues. For one, we were both nuts about movies with nuns — he adored The Bells of St. Mary’s, would enter deep discussions about my obsession with Come to the Stable and The Trouble With Angels without fear and gladly indulged my excitement over the arrival of Doubt, the first great nun film in ages. And, yes, he got teased about his name because of Damien in The Omen, a story he told me after I told him about the grief I suffered in high school because of my maiden name (in Damien’s honor, I will share it — it was Titzler).
The first time I ever interviewed him on the phone, it was with his co-author and friend Mason Wiley, who passed away in 1994. But I kept on talking to Damien each year. In fact, I already warned him late last year that I had a couple topics already lined up for him to comment on. And he replied as he always did: “Anytime.” The strange thing is, we never actually met in person. We had discussed having lunch sometime and I tried just this last May to see him when I was in New York. But it just never happened. Yet we had shared so much over the years, I feel like he was a friend in every sense of the word. I will miss his authority, but mostly I will miss the chance to enjoy his wry humor and benefit from his vast knowledge.
Mark Harris:
Anybody who tries to write intelligently about the Oscars owes a huge debt to Mason Wiley and Damien Bona’s Inside Oscar–some people may not even realize that they’re indebted, but that book really mattered, and still does. It’s hard to recapture the pre-Internet moment in 1986 when it hit stores; it was exciting enough to discover that someone else shared your obsession enough to list all the nominees for everything, ever, but to realize that these two men had figured out a way to write a new kind of shrewd, wry history of the entire sound era in Hollywood via the Academy Awards, never making the Oscars more important than they were but always understanding them as a valuable window into something larger… it really excited me and emboldened me as an aspiring pop-culture journalist, and so many writers I know felt the same way. I’m on my fourth copy; that book has taken a lot of loving abuse over the years. It’s unimaginable to me that both of the lively, keen minds that created it are gone.
_____
His last profile photo:
I’m saying goodbye. I’m saying thank you you for inspiring me to write deeper, to look harder, to never take things at face value. Thank you for being my friend, for making me laugh and for being your wonderful, wonderful self.
Rest in peace, brilliant, unforgettable you.
And I leave you with someone Damien left on Facebook, his 100 favorite movies. Let’s start there.
For a project I’m doing with some friends, I came up with the list of my 100 favorite movies:
A.I.: Artificial Intelligence (Steven Spielberg)
American In Paris, An (Vincente Minnelli)
Angel Face (Otto Preminger)
Arise, My Love (Mitchell Leisen)
Ashes And Diamonds (Andrzej Wajda)
Au Hasard Balthazar (Robert Bresson)
Auntie Mame (Morton Da Costa)
Autumn Afternoon, An (Yasujiro Ozu)
Awful Truth, The (Leo McCarey)
Band Wagon, The (Vincente Minnelli)
Before The Revolution (Bernardo Bertolucci)
Bells of St. Mary’s, The (Leo McCarey)
Big Sleep, The (Howard Hawks)
Breakfast At Tiffany’s (Blake Edwards)
Breathless (Jean-Luc Godard)
Casablanca (Michael Curtiz)
Citizen Kane (Orson Welles)
Cleo From 5 To 7 (Agnes Varda)
Cranes Are Flying, The (Mikhail Kalatozov)
Crime Of Monsieur Lange, The (Jean Renoir)
Daisy Kenyon (Otto Preminger)
Day Of The Outlaw (Andre de Toth)
Day Of Wrath (Carl Theodor Dreyer)
Devil’s Doorway (Anthony Mann)
Disorderly Orderly, The (Frank Tashlin)
Dreamers, The (Bernardo Bertolucci)
Early Summer (Yasujiro Ozu)
East Of Eden (Elia Kazan)
End Of Summer (Yasujiro Ozu)
Experiment In Terror (Blake Edwards)
Fallen Angel (Otto Preminger)
Funny Face (Stanley Donen)
Germany Year Zero (Roberto Rossellini)
Glass-Bottom Boat, The (Frank Tashlin)
Gods And Monsters (Bill Condon)
Good Sam (Leo McCarey)
Home From The Hill (Vincente Minnelli)
Horse Soldiers, The (John Ford)
How Green Was My Valley (John Ford)
Imitation Of Life (Douglas Sirk)
It’s A Wonderful Life (Frank Capra)
Jonah Who Will Be 25 In The Year 2000 (Alain Tanner)
Kiss Me Deadly (Robert Aldrich)
L’Argent (Robert Bresson)
L’Humanité (Bruno Dumont)
L’Invitation (Claude Goretta)
La Commune (Peter Watkins)
La Ronde (Max Ophuls)
Last Hurrah, The (John Ford)
Last Of The Comanches (Andre De Toth)
Le Marsellaise (Jean Renoir)
Lola Montes (Max Ophuls)
Love Letters (William Dieterle)
M. Hulot’s Holiday (Jacques Tati)
Magnificent Ambersons, The (Orson Welles)
Make Way For Tomorrow (Leo McCarey)
Man Who Shot Liberty Valence, The (John Ford)
Man With A Movie Camera (Dziga Vertov)
Meet Me In St. Louis (Vincente Minnelli)
Mildred Pierce (Michael Curtiz)
Night Of The Hunter (Charles Laughton)
Nora Prentiss (Vincent Sherman)
No Stars In My Crown (Jacques Tourneur)
Notorious (Alfred Hitchcock)
Ordet (Carl Theodor Dryer)
Other, The (Robert Mulligan)
Passion Of Joan of Arc, The (Carl Theodor Dreyer)
Play Dirty (Andre De Toth)
Playtime (Jacques Tati)
Portrait of Jennie (William Dieterle)
Rebel Without A Cause (Nicholas Ray)
Rocco And His Brothers (Luchino Visconti)
Ruggles Of Red Gap (Leo McCarey)
Rules Of The Game (Jean Renoir)
Rushmore (Wes Anderson)
S.O.B. (Blake Edwards)
Senso (Luchino Visconti)
Seventh Victim, The (Mark Robson/Val Lewton)
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon (John Ford)
Shop Around The Corner, The (Ernst Lubitsch)
Skin Deep (Blake Edwards)
Star Is Born, A (George Cukor)
Stromboli (Roberto Rossellini)
Sullivan’s Travels (Preston Sturges)
Sunrise (F.W. Murnau)
Tarnished Angels, The (Douglas Sirk)
Taste Of Cherry, A (Abbas Kiarostami)
10 (Blake Edwards)
There’s Always Tomorrow (Douglas Sirk)
Thin Red Line, The (Terence Malick)
Time To Love And A Time To Die, A (Douglas Sirk)
To Be Or Not To Be (Ernst Lubitsch)
Two For The Road (Stanley Donen)
Viaggio in Italia (Roberto Rossellini)
Victor/Victoria (Blake Edwards)
What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? (Robert Aldrich)
When Tomorrow Comes (John M. Stahl)
Wind Will Carry Us, The (Abbas Kiarostami)
Wooden Crosses (Raymond Bernard)
Young Mr. Lincoln (John Ford)
And I’m going to now leave my friend Damien this song by Nina Simone.
41 Comments
Trackbacks/Pingbacks
- “Inside Oscars”‘ Damien Bona Was 57 « Movie City News - [...] “Inside Oscars”‘ Damien Bona Was 57 [...]
- Damien Bona – ?? ?? 1954 To 29 January 2012 « moogiesan - [...] http://www.awardsdaily.com/2012/01/saying-goodbye-to-damien-bona-expert-mentor-genius-friend/ Rate this: Share this:TwitterFacebookLike this:LikeBe the first to like this post. [...]
Leave a Comment
Tracker Pages
Recently on AD
Follow Us!
Tags
Gallery
I still can’t believe it. He was such an influence on so many people, myself included. Still having a hard time wrapping my head around this, and I have known for a few days that he was ill. He will be missed.
So sad. Deepest condolences to all friends, family, fans and acquaintances.
I have read Inside Oscar from cover to cover two times, but also still read chapters randomly just to remind me of certain Oscar races and years. In Damien’s honor I will be slipping into a hot bath (I live in Toronto so it’s cold) and re-read several chapters about the ’70s (my favourite era for movies). Great write up Sasha. I would love to have heard Damien’s take on this year’s race (which is not really a race but a rout). I can only hope that Hugo pulls some major surprises.
I have the two Oscar books and I looooove them. I remember having some other award books before I got around to these two and I was blown away by how much information they had, specially the 1995-2000 one.
Since it was just 5 years that they covered and had to fill the whole book they wrote A LOT of things on them and it was perfect for me to read about an era when I was already into the Oscars and was kind of re-living everything again.
The first book is just insane it has everything!, I think I’ve read each book twice…maybe it’s time for a third go.
Sad. Thanks for sharing. I love the books as well.
A lovely, impassioned tribute, Sasha, to a passionate soul in Damien Bona. I, too was most inspired and excited about his ‘Inside Oscar’, one of my most treasured possessions. It illuminated, broadened, delighted and contextualised the Academy, unlike anything else I have read on the subject. I wrote the date i purchased the book on its inside sleeve – 1st September 1986, to mark what i knew was going to be a lifelong accoutrement to my passion for movies, and for the holy grail of film prizes.
Even with wonderful sites like this one and Scott Feinberg’s, Dave Karger’s – I often return to “Inside Oscar” (now dog-eared and well loved!) for some background and detail. It is indeed a terrific journey back in time. I am deeply saddened by this news. Thankfully, he lived his life with passions, with enthusiasm, and with skill – that is always inspiring and hope-filled for me. I’m off to see ‘Hugo’ again today – and will think about all that i have gained from film writers and film makers. The wonder of it all!
Shocked. He will be missed.
I’m particularly fond of his “Starring John Wayne As Genghis Khan: Hollywood’s All-Time Worst Casting Blunders”. He told it like it was, wicked proof that the truth can be more absurd than fiction.
Beautiful tribute, Sasha, and so fitting that you included his 100 favourite films, which good or bad, is one way we define ourselves. That odd bunch of us Oscar-watchers will miss him – and I’m deeply sorry for your personal loss.
This was very unexpected news. I can’t believe he’s dead at only 57. That means he was only 31 or 32 when Inside Oscar came out? So young! I’ve read that book so many times that most of what I know about the Oscars before 1980 comes from it. He is definitely a huge influence on me as a writer and Oscar historian. I kept waiting and waiting for another edition, but I knew without Wiley it was unlikely. Now it’ll never happen. Great tribute, Sasha! I wish he could have seen how this last year played out though. I’d hate to die around this time of year and miss the Oscars.
I first got to know about Damien Bona through goldderby. But, it was Sasha who truly exposed me to Damien’s work. I love his writing. I have my own copy of Inside Oscar. His writing was always so thoughtful and memorable. Whenever I read the roundtables, I made sure to read his opinion before anyone else’s.
RIP
I read Damian Bova’s books way before I came across Oscar Watch. He and Danny Peary were two of my favorite writers about Oscars and movies.
This is just so sad.
Oh this is so sad. Both his Oscar books were night-table reading for me for years. Too sad. A wonderful writer.
Amazingly yesterday I was reading Inside Oscar. A fantastic book. Bona`s work remains. And inspires and will inspire all of the awards fans forever. Here in Brazil there was also an fantastic Oscar book about the Oscars whose author died a few years ago. He was in his mid 60s I think. But his work, along with Bona`s and a few others, have inspired and and made me learn not only about the Oscar history but the hollywood and film history too.
He was a great man, it was an honor to be a part of his life. He will be greatly missed, I will always love him and never forget him as my uncle. He had such a fantastic personality. I still can not believe that today was the last time I will see him.
Sasha, what a lovely tribute to a lovely man. We will all miss him, not only during this next month (his favorite season of the year), but all year round.
His books are great. Sad news. R.I.P.
Through the years I have purchased 2 different editions of Inside Oscar. This is the book that got me hooked on Oscar. It is my movie reference as I always use my copies to look things up (constantly). May Mr. Bona RIP.
His “Inside Oscar” books are absolutely essential. Even if you have no interest in the Oscars, they brilliantly featured a great kaleidoscope of all the movies that opened in a particular year. For film historians that might be interested in what was out there in any given year, his assemblages were crucial for grounding yourself in any given year. Check out the section ‘Eligible Films That Failed To Be Nominated.’
I’ve always regretted the lack of an updated version of “Inside Oscar,” I can only wonder at what he might have written about the bizarre and warped campaigns that have emerged since the 2000 update.
Mr. bona, you will be missed.
What an amazing eulogy. I still use Inside Oscar on this site to shut up ill-informed fools all the time.
Since no one else has done it, let me quote from the book. Hmmm…how about this gem from the beginning of the 1994 section, the year that Forrest Gump beat Pulp Fiction: “The Academy struck a blow for stupidity.”
We miss you Mr. Bona.
So sad,so sad. And so young! For these days when two of the Best Supporting Actor nominees are 82!
I bought every edition of “Inside Oscar” as it came out and he kept revising it.
I’ve never dropped acid, but yes, his work and his positing the Oscars, the way he did it and so completely.Essential reading…It blows my mind that he’s gone. He was sooo young.
Are there going to be any memorial services planned for NYC? Or was he based in LA?
Thank you so much for this beautiful tribute. I was so strong all day and now I’m a puddle of tears. Susan shot an arrow through my heart with “Anytime…” You don’t know how many thousands of times he uttered that word in his life and meant it each and every time. He was a walking heart…
“Here Comes the Sun”?…a puddle I will be for a while here…such perfection.
And, Sasha, yes, 300 friends got me too because he was so incredibly humble…I was lucky to be one of the 1/3%. Damien will always occupy my heart.
Thank you again for such a touching tribute.
WIth love to you all…
Noooooooo!
His books were part of my childhood! I still remember finding Inside Oscar at the library and borrowing it out ever 2 weeks for a year!.
Then discovering there was a new updated version in the late 90s! then the Inside Oscar 2 book.
What a great writer!
I didn’t know this was coming. Bona was an Oscar god, and from his writing you just knew he was a great person.
As I recall, the original Inside Oscar was expanded several years later, then followed by Inside Oscar II.
This post is a fitting tribute — he’ll be missed.
What struck me was how objective his reasoning. He knew how to separate his preferences from his predictions, which often went against him. And he argued effectively and supported those predictions. He didn’t waste time arguing for his own preference, he was an Oscarologist. Professional.
The amazing thing is that in any prediction, anyone can use precedent to make a case for any side. Just read his book.
He looks at the contender squarely on its Oscar-friendliness, use precedent but NEVER ANCHORED by the past, not use the safety of statistics but the a deeper reasoning of past choices based on the competition there and then. Yet today, I think many Oscarologists are pushing their preferences but using Oscar precedent as crutch. Methinks half of those Oscar experts in Goldderby should retire–you wouldn’t put your hard earned money–when it’s your money on the line, that’s your true gut instincts, your true predictions, your true Oscarology, because it’s YOUR money.
I remember asking him about Meryl 10 years ago. What struck me was he saw the good in everyone’s nomination and never discounted anyone, even if there are presumed frontrunners. I learned to be careful. Inside Oscar really shows how the Academy voter ticks.
It’s only HUMAN to get emotional about who should win (but how immature to attack each other on this blog, or attack Oscar nominees).
Yet, how SUPERHUMAN to give a cool, impartial, reasoned analysis and prediction–that’s my admiration of Damien.
I admire Sasha for having predicted Meryl winning even though her heart is for Viola. Although Viola won, and all of us are genuinely happy, right now the money is still on Streep. And that may change. Still a month away! Then again, learning from someone like Damien, you just never know come Oscar night. It could suddenly all go to Michelle Williams if Weinstein thinks she she has a better shot. Or suddenly the herd, the fellowship feels Glenn needs a career trophy. Or Mara for whatever stunt suddenly becomes the IT-girl. You just never, never know.
Glad you wrote this piece, Sasha. I didn’t now who Damien was but it looks like I have some reading to do. What’s cool about writing is that even after you’ve died, people can still champion your thoughts and your work. Since Damien was an influence on awardsdaily, he remains present still.
The news of Damien’s death is a shocker. Over the past few years we’d been communicating regularly, mostly in a private facebook club made up of old high school buddies. Many of us had strong points of view that were at odds with one another, and expressed them without holding back, yet we were all friends. Maybe it was because our friendships started in childhood. I don’t know. Damien was thoughtful, kind, funny and highly intelligent. He had a dignity and a grace that few people have. He added to my life tremendously. I am going to miss him. He was a genuinely kind person. I’m sorry I didn’t get to say goodbye.
Sasha, this is unthinkable. Damien’s books have been a part of my Oscar watching life (my life really) since their inception. Of all the blogs, in all the sites, they were essential to mine……I cannot believe there will not be a follow up to the two books already released.. Damien tracked the Oscar race like no one else. I was so looking forward to the next installment but I am grateful to have the first two as his legacy. RIP Damien.
This is such sad sad news. I treasure his first Inside Oscar and often tell people it’s my favourite book. It opened me up to a whole world of Oscar obsession. I often open up and read a year chapter when about to watch a film so I can think of it in terms of its pop culture, social and historical context. His wisdom and humour will be missed. RIP.
This is unbearably sad. Damien wrote with such effortless authority, grace and humor. Every phrase was not only brilliantly logical but supported by peerless insight and wit. We’ve lost a giant. Thanks for this eulogy.
Thank you Sasha for such a lovely piece.
I’m so so saddened to hear this news about Damien Bona. How many times have I picked up his wonderful “Inside Oscar” and fallen under a spell once again, re-reading about movies and the Oscar race from some distant year. When I first stumbled across it in a bookstore years ago while travelling for work, I nearly stayed up all night reading it. Of all the Oscar writers I’ve read, Damien Bona had the best perspective on the whole thing. He and Mason Wiley were always insightful and funny as hell. Every year I wondered and hoped: will Bona ever put out another edition of “Inside Oscar”?
Thanks for a lovely eulogy, Sasha, and for sharing the list of Damien’s 100 favourite films. Seeing how few of his favourites were ever recognized by the Academy is a good reminder for us all that, for every movie that gets industry attention and Oscar love, there are many others that are just as worthy and just as well-remembered. The trick is not minding that our personal favourites might not match those of Academy voters.
And thank you, Damien, for providing many years of enjoyment to your readers. In fact, it’s been a while since I read about the 1962 race – so I think I’ll go curl up with “Inside Oscar” right now…
Inside Oscar (the 4th edition) is one of my favorite movie books ever. I’ve been an Oscar fan since the late ’60s and loved the great collection of reviews and commentary, both of the movies themselves but also of the Oscar show itself.
Very sad news, indeed. Just a couple of days ago I was wondering when “Inside Oscar Part 3″ would probably come out. Of course I own the first two books and they are kind of a bible for Oscar- and Filmlovers.
I discovered “Inside Oscar” about ten years ago when I researched the library of my alma mater for some intresting film literature. Sounds naive, but I didn´t even know that such an encyclopedic and especially ambitious work about the Academy Awards (my guilty pleasure) even existed.
There will never be “Inside Oscar 3″, too sad.
Thank you very much, Sasha, for that lovely tribute to Damien. I am Mason Wiley’s sister and have known Damien since he and Mason were freshmen at Columbia. It was their mutual love of movies that first drew them together, but their friendship went well beyond movies and sustained them both for the rest of their lives. Besides having an encyclopedic knowledge of Hollywood, Damien was among the gentlest, kindest and funniest men I have known. I am so moved to read how important Inside Oscar has been to you and others. That is a fitting tribute to its co-authors, and especially to Damien, who kept it going after Mason’s death. I am devastated by Damien’s sudden death and hope you and others on this blog will keep his memory alive.
Helen Wiley
I am saddened by this news. Thank you, Sasha, for a wonderful tribute. I can’t count the number of times I’ve gone to sleep far too late because I decide to pick up Inside Oscar just to ‘look something up quickly’ before getting into bed. Five minutes can so easily turn into an hour with that book – and I fall for it every time. It’s an outstanding achievement, and he and Mason Wiley are heroes to me and I’m sure to loads of other Oscar fans.
I should check out some of those titles I haven’t seen….
RIP our dear friend, Your friends from Portsmouth Abbey already miss your insightful contributions to ou FB page.
Good bye my dear friend.
I was stunned to hear of Damien’s untimely passing. I knew him from boarding school where we lived in the same dorm and he was a few years ahead of me. We had recently reconnected a few months ago on Facebook several decades.after high school. I remember him as a softspoken, very intelligent, thoughtful, well-mannered and humorous fellow.who wore slightly odd shoes. Talking with him was always a pleasure. We will all miss his him.
“Inside Oscar” is essential reading for any Oscar fan. It is so well written and entertaining to read. I refer to it all the time – even still. It is possibly the very best Oscar reference book ever written.
I saw him interviewed on the Oprah Winfrey show when “Inside Oscar” was first published and I was shocked at how young he was then. Such an intelligent man and a great loss to the film world.
I am very sad today about Damien Bona’s death. I would have so looked forward to an addendum to “Inside Oscar” about more current past races from his perspective.
My yellow, red and blue copies are so tattered and worn. I always hoped there would be more editions.
This is incredibly sad.
Damien Bona and Mason Wiley, thank you both for your wit and wisdom of all things Oscar and the Academy Awards and for writing “my bible” about the process. I read those books cover to cover many many times over. You are both missed!