10+ Things You Can Do to Make "The Father of Hollywood" a Best Seller

If there is one thing I’ve learned from my great-grandfather about life it is that friendship is one’s greatest asset! HJ Whitley changed the world in many ways and now his new found friends can help him win the honor he deserves. We're going to do our best to make “The Father of Hollywood” a best seller and here's what you can do to help. I appreciate anything and everything you're able to do!!

1. Buy it!

HJ Whitley would be honored if you chose to buy “The Father of Hollywood” for yourself and for any of your friends or colleagues. It is available at your local bookstore or by going to our website: www.TheFatherofHollywood.com or Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1616634758?ie=UTF8&tag=thefatherofho-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1616634758

2. Email

Email everyone! As HJ Whitley taught us word-of-mouth is one of the best recommendations anyone can receive. It would be great if you could email your friends and tell them about "The Father of Hollywood" and where they can purchase it.

Need help? Here's is a suggested email you can send: "My good friend, Gaelyn Whitley Keith, the great-granddaughter of H J Whitley, has just written a book that's soon to become a best seller. It's entitled "The Father of Hollywood. It's available from Amazon.com , through your local book stores and the Keith website www.TheFatherofHollywood.com . You may know her from her numerous appearances on radio and television. Thanks for spreading the word. It’s a wonderful life!”

3. Facebook

Facebook is a wonderful place to tell friends about friends! Anything you are able to post on your own Facebook page about the book, either your thoughts about the book or about HJ Whitley, would be greatly appreciated! Please join our Facebook fan page! http://www.facebook.com/pages/www.thefatherofhollywood.com/56376692545 and share it with your friends! IMPORTANT: Sharing our Facebook fan page with your friends and encouraging them to also become a fan can be one of the best ways to spread the word for "The Father of Hollywood" to become a best seller!!

4. Tweet

One way to make things go viral is to tweet about the book because Twitter is able to reach a large number of people. Some tweet topics include 'you are buying a book', 'giving the book as a gift', 'passing it out to co-workers and employees', attach a picture of where you're reading it, shout-out your favorite chapter or re-tweet someone else's comments. The key is to keep the conversation going with the Twitteratti!!

Another Tweet idea is to add hash tags so that other people can follow and help the news propagate. Use any of these popular hash tags: #biz, #social, # entrepreneur, #success, and #TheFatherofHollywood.

A sample tweet could be: I just read "The Father of Hollywood" from and you should too!! Order it from Amazon!

5. Meet up/Tweet up:

Another idea is to hold a gathering of friends, co-workers or customers and have Gaelyn stop by while on her book tour and meet/greet everyone, talk a few minutes about the book and have a book signing. If interested, please contact us at info@thefatherofhollywood.com to find out when she might be visiting your city.

6. Webinar

A great way to utilize Gaelyn Whitley Keith’s excellent speaking skills is to invite her to do a Webinar you may be hosting or by suggesting her to someone you may know who is utilizing this online medium. Think about using Gaelyn and the topics around "The Father of Hollywood" as the subject matter for your Webinar discussion. Contact Randy via info@TheFatherofHollywood.com to schedule your Webinar soon.

7. Media

Interviews! Interviews! Interviews!! TV, radio, newspaper, magazine, newsletters, blogs, online or offline media!! If you have any contacts to any online, offline, print or broadcast media where Gaelyn could be interviewed about the book, please contact Randy via info@TheFatherofHollywood.com

8. Blog

Do you have a blog or know someone who does? If so, consider an interview with Gaelyn or write about your own personal feelings about HJ Whitley. You may also want to blog about your favorite topics from the book. If your blog is a business one, and you would like to do some kind of promotion or give-away with the book, please contact us about your ideas.

9. Pictures

Pictures say a thousand words - so take a picture of yourself in an interesting place holding the book and post it on www.TheFatherofHollywood.com , or HJ Whitley Facebook fan page http://www.facebook.com/pages/www.thefatherofhollywood.com/56376692545, your own blog or tweet one. Our Facebook fan page has a contest going for people sending pics of themselves reading the book all over the world. So far we have pics of people reading on the beach, in a park, and of course Hollywood!

10+. Word of Mouth

No rocket science here - tell co-workers, friends, family, and people on the street: "Have you read the new blockbuster by Gaelyn Whitley called "The Father of Hollywood" ??" Extra points given to people who wear sandwich-boards while walking the streets handing out "The Father of Hollywood" flyers

11. Book Signing

If you would like to help organize a book signing, please contact us at info@theFatherofHollywood.com so we can schedule one in a city near you! Our team will work closely with a local independent, Barnes & Noble or Borders book stores.

12. Write a review

Go to www.amazon.com or www.barnesandnoble.com and write your own takeaways and thoughts as a result of reading "The Father of Hollywood." Some already have and we would welcome your recommendation too!

Thanks in advance for your help to making the "The Father of Hollywood" a best seller!!!

13. Nominate HJ Whitley to the California Hall of Fame.

The California Hall of Fame provides inspiration for future generations. HJ Whitley is someone whose achievements should be recognized. Nominate him today. Go to http://www.californiamuseum.org/exhibits/halloffame/nomination-form and nominate HJ Whitley into the California Hall of Fame.

13. 100STARS * 100YEARS

Stars are ready for your votes! Go to www.TheFatherofHollywood.com. You've watched hours of movies spanning the decades and now we're giving you a chance to nominate your two favorite stars of the century. Cast your vote by October 20, 2011. Then come back on Wednesday, October 26, 2011 the 100th anniversary of the first Hollywood Studio filming in Hollywood, to learn the people's choice for the Top 100 Stars of the Century. Do you know someone who deserves recognition for their outstanding acting? Nominate them today.

Whitley's Hollywood

HJ Whitley should have been the inventor of epiphanies (you know when a light bulb goes off in your head). He had a way of bringing the future into the present. It was as though he found a little piece to the puzzle and he was now able to see the whole picture. The motion picture industry did not come to Hollywood until HJ Whitley, The Father of Hollywood, had a major epiphany about the movie industry. He recognized it as the jewel - one that would make his new town world famous. Considering how strenuously others urged producers and directors to settle in a number of other excellent sites, it is amazing that one man could convince the majority of them to settle in Hollywood. On October 26, 2011 it will be the 100th anniversary of the first Hollywood motion picture being taken by a Hollywood studio, Nestor Motion Picture Company. It was a short screen test that is a major piece of Hollywood’s history. The Whitley Estate was used as its set. The motion picture was directed by the Horsley brothers and Al Christe.

HJ was fortunate to meet David Horsley when he was touring Hollywood and looked a little lost. Not only did HJ point him in the right direction he escorted him all the way to his destination. As their conversation wore on HJ had an epiphany. He realized that the movie industry would enhance Hollywood by offering it a new technologically advance industry. HJ offered David the use of his estate for filming and suggested that he might be able to lease the Blondeau Tavern on Sunset and Gower. He sould have is crew stay in H J Whitlely's Hollywood Hotel until they were able to build homes.

On October 27, 1911, Nestor Motion Picture Company opened the first Hollywood movie studio located in the Blondeau Tavern building on the northwest corner of Sunset Boulevard and Gower Street. The first motion picture stage was built behind a tavern. David along with his brother William and Al Christi operated Nestor Motion Picture Studios until May 20, 1912, when they formed Universal Film Company with Carl Laemmle. Over time and several mergers the company evolved into Universal Studios.

Soon Cecil B. DeMille and D. W. Griffith were drawn to Hollywood by HJ Whitley’s marketing campaigns. By the 1920s Hollywood was the world’s film capital. Hollywood was able to recruit the most talented actors and actresses. Rudolph Valentino, Charlie Chaplin, Jean Harlow, Gloria Swanson, W C Fields, Judy Garland, Rosalind Russell, Bette Davis, Carmen Miranda, Carol Lombard, Boris Karloff, Judy Garland, Ethel Barrymore and many others lived and held legendary parties in Whitley Heights.

You may wonder what other epiphanies H J Whitley had. There are so many that I will only give you a clue to a few of them: Hollywood’s name, the first electric lit sign in Hollywood, the world’s first telemarketing, Sunset Boulevard, Egyptian cotton, Hollywood stars, and much, much more. So have fun exploring and learning more about The Father of Hollywood, H J Whitley.

Check out Whitley's Hollywood on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLdDLeFbVow

Don't you think?

1. Whitley was the “Father of Hollywood.” He was able to convince the majority of producers, directors and actors to settle in Hollywood forever branding it as the film capital of the world.
2. First movie filmed in Hollywood filmed on Whitley Estate October 26,1911.
3. Whitley built Sunset Boulevard.
4. Whitley had the first electric lit sign in Hollywood and came up with the idea for the Hollywoodland sign.
5. Whitley built the towns of Hollywood, Reseda, Canoga Park, Van Nuys, Corcoran and 100 others.
6. Whitley brought the cotton industry to California.
7. Whitley received funding for the Ridge Route which included $10,000 of his own money and supervised its construction causing California to remain one state rather than splitting into two states.
8. Whitley was the first developer to do hillside development and changed California architecture from Victorian to Mediterranean style.
9. Whitley invented telemarketing.
10. Whitley brought electricity to Hollywood and had the first electrified house on his estate.
11. Whitley was environmentally conscious and planted over 10,000 trees in Hollywood.
12. Whitley brought rapid transit to Southern California by offering the Pacific Electric the right of way to lands in Hollywood and the San Fernando Valley.
13. Whitley had built the Hollywood Hotel. The stars in the ceiling of the Hollywood Hotel that marked the table of certain movie stars had historic value and needed to be preserved. When the Hotel was scheduled to be torn down a member of the Chamber of Commerce conceived the Walk of Fame from this idea.
    

Can you help me get H J Whitley into the California Hall of Fame? Don't you think he was a remarkable person?

http://www.californiamuseum.org/exhibits/halloffame/nomination-form

Help!!!!!!

Can you help us get H J Whitley into the California Hall of Fame?

http://www.californiamuseum.org/exhibits/halloffame/nomination-form

CA Hall of Fame Candidate Information

Nominee's Name : Hobart Johnstone Whitley (HJ Whitley)

Accomplishments: H J Whitley was one of the nation's most successful land developers, founding over 140 towns during his lifetime. Elected to the Board of Directors of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad he built over 100 towns along the railroads right of way. In 1886, he honeymooned in southern California and while on a horseback ride in the country meant a man hauling wood down a winding trail. When he asked the man what he was doing the Chinese man replied in broken English, "haully wood." HJ took a shine to the hilltop that had views to the ocean and shook hands with the owner of the property to option the purchase of 480 acres which he called Hollywood. Returning east, he established towns for the Northern Pacific. Whitley opened his personal bank in the Dakotas and unarmed, fought off a group of bandits intending to rob the bank. In 1886, Theodore Roosevelt spoke at the bank during the Fourth of July celebrations. Whitley and Roosevelt and Roosevelt became good friends. Roosevelt taught HJ wife Gigi to shoot at his ranch and HJ accompanied Roosevelt on the cattle roundup that fall. With the opening of the Oklahoma Territory in 1889 Whitley staked out land which soon became Guthrie, the future capital of the state. Asked to be Governor, Whitley refused. However, he was instrumental in the development of laws for the new state and was President of the Chamber of Commerce. Returning to California, he built his home at 839 South Flower Street and opened a jewelry store at 111 North Spring. The business became the largest diamond merchant in the west, “Tiffany’s only rival.” In 1889, he finalized the purchase of the 480 acres of the Hurd Ranch north of Prospect Boulevard, now Hollywood Boulevard, between La Brea and Cahuenga. The area called Whitley Heights is north of Franklin and east of Highland, overlooking the Cahuenga Valley. His home was located at 6643 Whitley Terrace on a lot he and his bride had chosen on their honeymoon years earlier. For the opening of Whitley Heights, he planted 10,000 trees and shrubs and invited 1,000 people to a barbeque. He has ever since been called the “Father of Hollywood.” In 1900, he formed the Los Angeles-Pacific Boulevard and Development Company assuming the position of President. In 1902 the company developed the Ocean View Tract, started the Hollywood National Bank, and built the Hollywood Hotel on a strawberry patch fronting a block at Hollywood Boulevard at Highland. He also convinced General Moses Sherman and Eli Clark to extend their trolley line to Whitley Heights. As president of a syndicate he promoted the construction of Sunset Boulevard from downtown to the sea, which opened in 1904. While president of a land and a loan company, he purchased 32,000 acres in the San Joaquin and started development of Corcoran, California. On one of his trips to Egypt, he brought back seeds of the coveted Egyptian long-staple cotton to plant on his lands in California. This was the beginning of the cotton industry in California. In 1920, with members of the Board of Control, the Los Angeles Suburban Home Company purchased 47,500 acres of the San Fernando Valley. Whitley was the General Manager in charge of development. On opening day of the first subdivision, the company hired the telephone company to call every subscriber in Southern California to invite them to a barbeque at the Patton Ranch, a 10,000 acre property which was the headquarters of the American Beet Company, the largest single field in the world, 10 miles long. Whitley was the father of telemarketing. Whitley built a 10,000 square foot villa in Van Nuys as a second home. He was an officer in five valley banks and was directly responsible for the establishment of the cities known as Van Nuys, Reseda and Canoga Park. As the motion picture industry began to grown in Southern California, Whitley Heights became the preferred home of its stars and producers. Included among the residents of the Heights were Jean Harlow, Ethel Barrymore, Charlie Chaplin, Marion Davies, W. C. Fields, Harold Lloyd, Rudolph Valentino, and latter Tyrone Powers, Bette Davis, Norma Shear, Maurice Chevalier, William Faulkner and Wallace Berry. It is amazing how Whitley attracted all of them to one town Hollywood. The first motion picture shot in Hollywood was filmed on October 26,1911 on the Whitley estate. Whitley also bought the 30,000 acre Sacramento Ranch and the 18,000 acre Estrella Ranch near Paso Robles and started the town of Whitley Gardens. He was also part owner of the Tejon Ranch. He supervised construction of the Ridge-Route connecting Southern and Northern California and kept the state from splitting and becoming two States. Whitley died at the age of 83 in 1931. Whitley Heights is on the National Registry of Historic Places. His obituary in the New York Times called him “The Great Developer” and the “Father of Hollywood.

Lasting Contributions

1. Whitley was the “Father of Hollywood.” He was able to convince the majority of producers, directors and actors to settle in Hollywood forever branding it as the film capital of the world.
2. First movie filmed in Hollywood filmed on Whitley Estate October 26,1911.
3. Whitley built Sunset Boulevard.
4. Whitley had the first electric lit sign in Hollywood and came up with the idea for the Hollywoodland sign.
5. Whitley built the towns of Hollywood, Reseda, Canoga Park, Van Nuys, Corcoran and 100 others.
6. Whitley brought the cotton industry to California.
7. Whitley received funding for the Ridge Route which included $10,000 of his own money and supervised its construction causing California to remain one state rather than splitting into two states.
8. Whitley was the first developer to do hillside development and changed California architecture from Victorian to Mediterranean style.
9. Whitley invented telemarketing.
10. Whitley brought electricity to Hollywood and had the first electrified house on his estate.
11. Whitley was environmentally conscious and planted over 10,000 trees in Hollywood.
12. Whitley brought rapid transit to Southern California by offering the Pacific Electric the right of way to lands in Hollywood and the San Fernando Valley.
13. Whitley had built the Hollywood Hotel. The stars in the ceiling of the Hollywood Hotel that marked the table of certain movie stars had historic value and needed to be preserved. When the Hotel was scheduled to be torn down a member of the Chamber of Commerce conceived the Walk of Fame from this idea.

Inspiration

Whitley loved his family, community and his nation. He never forgot a favor; nor did he fail to note a kindness. His prime directives were to always do what he felt was right and to keep his word. He was willing and able to help others. He often told others “that those who say they can and those that say they cannot are both right. Words are the most powerful things in the universe. The words you say will either put you over of hold you in bondage. There is a creative force within you. Learn to use it wisely.” Whitley taught others that success does not go to those with “luck”, rather, success is 99% hard work and perhaps, 1% luck. Whitley believed making a positive difference in the lives of others is what life is all about. Perhaps Whitley’s most inspirational attribute was that although he faced many heart-breaking tragedies as a young man he was able to overcome them and become a successful man who in the process was able to inspire others to keep striving for their own dreams.

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http://www.californiamuseum.org/exhibits/halloffame/nomination-form

The Father Of Hollywood

As a mason I felt I should inform you that The Father Of Hollywood was H J Whitley my grandfather. He owned 500 acres at Highland and Hollywood Blvd. He told me that the first movie ever filmed in Hollywood was filmed in his orchard. He built the Hollywood Hotel and the bank on the corner of Highland and Hollywood. He also developed the San Fernando Valley. He is burried in The Hollywood Forever Cemetery and on his grave site it says, "The Father Of Hollywood." It was a name given him while he was alived and appeared in many printed sources such as the Los Angeles Times.

John Whitley
www.TheFatherOfHollywood.com

Masonic Traveler

www.TheFatherOfHollywood.com
Masonic Traveler

The Father Of Hollywood

From the earliest silent films made by pioneering American filmmakers to the multimillion-dollar blockbusters of today, the movie industry of America has always had a home: Hollywood. But how did Hollywood itself get started? Who were the driving forces behind its creation and development – the visionaries and kingmakers who built the infrastructure of a worldwide industry but only received a fraction of the credit that was heaped upon the stars of the silver screen? Movie buffs nowadays have no idea that so much of what we take for granted about Hollywood was largely planned, designed, and built by Hobart Johnstone Whitley, an extraordinary individual who is not nearly as well known as he should be. “HJ” was the primary developer of Hollywood, a central figure in attracting and keeping the talent needed to make such an ambitious project successful and, in turn, transform a formerly sleepy part of California into a hugely profitable and exciting industry. Gaelyn Whitley Keith’s remarkable book, The Father of Hollywood: The True Story, goes a long way toward erasing the misconceptions concerning HJ’s life and career, and paints a truly charming portrait of the man who lived a life that itself is worthy of a fine movie. More info at www.TheFatherOfHollywood.com.
Ellen Tanner Marsh