I’ve been reading “The Unabridged James Dean: His Life and Legacy from A to Z” by Randall Riese, c 1991. The 591-page book is organized according to our 26-letter alphabet, beginning with Chapter A.

Once again, a book has me mesmerized. You’ll see in the picture one of the many items I have saved to keep me in touch with James Dean. My collection began years ago.

Perhaps the two most outstanding materials I have are James Dean gift wrapping paper you see in the photo, and James Dean postage stamps that I’ve saved. There are three stamps left, and one of my dreams is that someday a friend writes me a letter and tells me that years ago the envelope I sent them with my letter in it had a James Dean postage stamp on it. I will soon wrap a small birthday present to a family member with the wrapping paper.

Many famous people are quoted in the book. Here’s a quote from Gary Cooper Dean’s death caused a loss in the movie world that our industry could ill afford. Had he lived long enough, I feel he would have made some incredible films. He had a sensitivity and a capacity to express emotion. (p. 95)

Dean was a fan of Woody Guthrie, who is in my Books & Beyond column February 2023 with his son Arlo.

In the book we see a picture of James Dean as a baby with his young parents, Mildred and Winton Dean (p. 129). When he was 5 years old, Jimmy took tap and ballet lessons. Sometimes I review the book looking at photos of Dean. One of the fun pictures is James Dean with Elizabeth Taylor, and her quote, “The memories I have of him are very happy. I loved him a lot. He was a great talent” (p. 519).

As a young boy, he played basketball, did farm chores, and “went to Sunday meeting at Back Creek Quaker Church”(p. 561).

James Dean was born Feb. 8, 1931, and he died on Sept. 30, 1955, in a highway collision. In October of that year, there were tributes given to him on “The Steve Allen Show” and “The Ed Sullivan Show.”

The well-known singer Bob Dylan traveled to Jimmy Dean’s hometown of Fairmount, Indiana, in July 1988.

The movies I’ve watched recently with James Dean in them are “Rebel Without a Cause,” and “Giant.”

On the acknowledgements page, the author gives thanks to 77 people and organizations.

On page 383 there’s a photograph of his gravestone in a Fairmount, IN cemetery: JAMES B. DEAN 1931-1955. The original gravestone was stolen, but it is now back in the cemetery where “thousands of Dean fans still make the pilgrimage” (p. 383).

I wonder if I can find the LOOK magazines I’ve saved from the ’50s. Dean is pictured in a LOOK article in Jan. 11, 1955, and Oct.16, 1956 (p. 507). Maybe you have saved LOOK magazines too.

Your Marshall-Lyon County Library has “Giant,” and “Rebel Without a Cause,” plus “East of Eden”(1954) on DVD, plus a music collection: “James Dean: Tribute to a Rebel.” marshalllyonlibrary.org.