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Mark Leen with his official biography of DJ Curtin, ‘Curtin Call’.
HE’S one of Tralee’s favourite sons and now a new book about his life and career is garnering wild praise from everyone who has bought it.
Local businessman, Mark Leen, has put written and published ‘Curtin Call’ about famed singer DJ Curtin which people are describing as ‘unputdownable’.
It’s been a labour of love for Mark, who has been overwhelmed by the reaction in the past few weeks since he released the book about his great friend.
In fact, over 400 copies have already been sold and delivered all over Ireland with Mark telling us many have read the book in just one sitting.
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“I have had a tremendous outpouring of love and congratulations from people who have taken the time to read the book. DJ himself is delighted, he’s been flooded by wellwishes and fans congratulating him on the book. He laughed and said ‘even my own family here in Las Vegas are getting stuck into it as well’.”
Mark says the book is full of fascinating stories, photos and information about DJ that people will find interesting.
“A lot of people didn’t even know he had a brother Henry Curtin who toured America with the Bob Hope Orchestra, or a brother called Connie, or that Billy Curtin played in front of a hundred million people on tv in America aged just 12 in 1955,” said Mark.
Mark said that a lot of the positive feedback must be attributed to DJ’s willingness to be candid with him as they drove the highways and byways of Ireland.
Singer Tom Jones with Stella and Brendan Bowyer and D.J. and Kate Curtin in Las Vegas.
“DJ talked about the Kerry Blues days, having hit records, the band having guns put to their heads, having his face smiling on the tops of the lighted Las Vegas taxi cabs on the nightime strip and going through the heartache of losing his darling Kate,” said Mark.
With Christmas on the way, Mark is expecting the book to sell out and with just 1,000 copies printed and over 400 already sold, it’s better to place that order sooner rather than later.
“It is not, nor will not, be available in shops,” said Mark. “It is a collectors item and I post it out mostly or meet people in town with copies. It also comes with a free CD of previously unreleased material from DJ.”
DJ Curtin.
Mark was also effusive in his praise for Kingdom Printers in Tralee and Jonathan Loughnane. “They have shown their class and capacity to put out a world class product. I am exacting and I looked for a spot UV on the cover and gold leaf on his name and Bernie, Mike and Davey Keane delivered. It makes me proud to know Tralee can produce such a product,” said Mark.
If you wish to purchase a copy of ‘Curtin Call’, you can call or text Mark for a copy on 0861935277, or reach him on Facebook. Every copy sold is signed by DJ himself.
