For more information:
Frank R. Scatoni
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frank@ventureliterary.com

"No Kill Date"

Venture Literary Sells Legendary Rock DJ’s Oral History of Woodstock to Simon & Schuster

On January 9, 2008, Frank R. Scatoni of Venture Literary sold World rights to legendary rock disc jockey Pete Fornatale’s Back to the Garden: An Oral History of Woodstock Forty Years Later, to Zachary Schisgal at Touchstone/Fireside, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.

In Back to the Garden, Fornatale exposes the reader to a bird’s eye view of the iconic persons, places, and events that transformed rock ’n’ roll into a cosmic reckoning. Four decades after Woodstock, Fornatale separates myth from reality and fiction from fact by interviewing all of the major participants—both onstage and off—of rock’s most storied concert. Contrary to comedian Robin Williams’ observation that “if you remember the sixties, you weren’t there,” Back to the Garden recounts vivid first-person recollections and experiences of the people behind the stage, of the legionary musicians on the stage, and of the crowd of half a million who participated in front of the stage—all combining to uniquely chronicle the one event that signified an entire generation.

August 2009 marks the fortieth anniversary of the Woodstock Music and Arts Fair. Rolling Stone called Woodstock one of the moments that changed rock and roll forever, yet its influence transcended that—it was one of the cultural touchstones of the ’60s and a truly historical event. In Back to the Garden, Fornatale will explore the festival’s origins and impact, but the bulk of this story will be spent onstage and offstage with the musicians, the audience, and the organizers. Using an oral history format that has worked well for other music books, Fornatale presents an irresistible narrative from the rock legends who have informed many aspects of our lives since 1969—legends like The Grateful Dead; Carlos Santana; The Who; Crosby, Stills and Nash; and, of course, Jimi Hendrix, whose performance of “The Star Spangled Banner” still resonates to this day.

Fornatale is a celebrated and honored rock impresario who has spent his career as a DJ, writer, television-host for HBO and PBS, and university lecturer and teacher. He has won awards in broadcasting and has been honored for his services in combating poverty and world hunger as a member of the Board of Directors for World Hunger Year. Fornatale has been a fixture on New York radio for forty years at WFUV, WNEW-FM, and K-Rock. He is the author of several books about media, pop culture, and music, including The Rock Music Source Book, Radio in the Television Age, The Story of Rock ’n’ Roll, All You Need Is Love, and most recently, Simon and Garfunkel’s Bookends published by Rodale in 2007. He was also the primary writer of “The Elvis Collection,” a trading-card series on the life of Elvis Presley. He is currently the host of Mixed Bag Radio, a weekly one-hour interview program featuring the top recording artists of the day, heard nationally on XM Satellite Radio.

To learn more about Venture Literary, visit: www.ventureliterary.com.
To learn more about Pete Fornatale, visit: www.mixedbagradio.com/
To learn more about Touchstone/Fireside, visit: www.simonsays.com/content/destination.cfm?sid=33&pid=427733