Recommended reading - The Zebra-Striped Hearse (1962):

The Zebra-Striped Hearse

By Ross Macdonald.

First published in 1962.

Published by Vintage Crime / Black Lizard.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0375701451

ISBN-13: 978-0375701450

“Ross Macdonald gives to the detective story that accent of class that the late Raymond Chandler did.” – Chicago Tribune.

Strictly speaking, Lew Archer is only supposed to dig up the dirt on a rich man's suspicious soon-to-be son-in-law. But in no time at all Ross Macdonald’s private eye is following a trail of corpses from the citrus belt to Mazatlán. And then there is the zebra-striped hearse and its crew of beautiful, sunburned surfers, whose path seems to keep crossing the son-in-law's – and Archer's – in a powerful, fast-paced novel of murder on the California coast.

“A model of his excellence…. [The Zebra-Striped Hearse] has character, statement, and style.” – The New Yorker.

On this day in movie history - Smog (1962):

Smog,

directed by Franco Rossi,

written by Franco Brusati, Pasquale Festa Campanile, Massimo Franciosa and Ugo Guerra,

based on a story by Pier Maria Pasinetti, Franco Rossi and Gian Domenico Giagni,

was released at the Venice Film Festival in Italy, on August 25, 1962.
Music by Piero Umiliani.

Cast:
Enrico Maria Salerno, Annie Girardot, Renato Salvatori, Susan Spafford, Isabella Albonico, Joan Houseman, Len Lesser, Howard Koch, Fred Catania, Max Showalter, Peter Opp, Graziella Granata, Loredana Nusciak, M. Brigham, Billie Scheibner, R.E. Brigham, Helen Pallack, Bernard Judge, Dennis Diggin, Peggy Moffitt, Suzanne Reynolds, Jerry Ray, John Phillip Law.

Born on this day – Andre Braugher:

Andre Braugher

Actor

Producer

July 1, 1962 – December 11, 2023

Credits:

The Good Fight (2022); She Said (2022); American Experience (1993–2022); Brooklyn Nine-Nine (2013–2021); Spirit Untamed (2021); BoJack Horseman (2017); New Girl (2016); Emily & Tim (2015); Axe Cop (2015); Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2011–2015); The Gambler (2014); Last Resort (2012–2013); The Baytown Outlaws (2012); House (2009–2012); Men of a Certain Age (2009–2011); Superman/Batman: Apocalypse (2010); Salt (2010); Miami Medical (2010); Passengers (2008); The Andromeda Strain (2008); Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007); The Mist (2007); Live! (2007); Poseidon (2006); Thief (2006); The Jury (2004); Salem's Lot (2004); Hack (2002–2004); Soldier's Girl (2003); Standing in the Shadows of Motown (2002); 10,000 Black Men Named George (2002); West Point: The First 200 Years (2002); American Masters (2002); One from the Heart (2001); Gideon's Crossing (2000–2001); The Practice (2001); Jackie Chan Adventures (2000–2001); A Better Way to Die (2000); Duets (2000); Frequency (2000); Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child (2000); Homicide: The Movie (2000); All the Rage (1999); Love Songs (1999); Passing Glory (1999); Thick as Thieves (1999); Louisville (1998); Homicide: Life on the Street (1993–1998); City of Angels (1998); Get on the Bus (1996); Primal Fear (1996); Law & Order (1996); The Tuskegee Airmen (1995); Striking Distance (1993); Without Warning: Terror in the Towers (1993); Class of '61 (1993); The Court-Martial of Jackie Robinson (1990); Somebody Has to Shoot the Picture (1990); Kojak: None So Blind (1990); Murder in Mississippi (1990); Kojak: It's Always Something (1990); Kojak: Flowers for Matty (1990); Glory (1989); Kojak: Fatal Flaw (1989); Kojak: Ariana (1989).

Born on this day – Marc Rocco:

Marc Rocco

Director

June 19, 1962 - May 1, 2009

Credits:

Take (2007); The Jacket (2005); Murder in the First (1995); Teresa's Tattoo (1994); Where the Day Takes You (1992); Dream a Little Dream (1989); Scenes from the Goldmine (1987); Water (1997); Wild Riders (1971).

On this day in movie history - That Touch of Mink (1962):

That Touch of Mink,

directed by Delbert Mann,

written by Stanley Shapiro and Nate Monaster,

was released in the United States on June 14, 1962.
Music by George Duning.

Cast:
Cary Grant, Doris Day, Gig Young, Audrey Meadows, John Astin, Alan Hewitt, Dick Sargent, Joey Faye, Laurie Mitchell, John Fiedler, Willard Sage, Jack Livesey, Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Dorothy Abbott, Richard Deacon, William Lanteau, Ralph Manza.

Born on this day – Rachel Caine:

Rachel Caine

Writer

April 27, 1962 – November 1, 2020

Credits:

Books:

Ash and Quill (2017); Bite Club (2011); Bitter Blood (2012); Bitter Falls (2020); Black Dawn (2012); Bridge of Shadows (1998); Cape Storm (2009); Carniepunk (2013); Carpe Corpus (2009); Chicks Kick Butt (2011); Chill Factor (2005); Copper Moon (1997); Daylighters (2013); Dead Air: The Complete Season 1 (2018); Dead Girl's Dance (2007); Devil's Bargain (2005); Devil's Due (2006); Exile, Texas (2003); Fade Out (2009); Fall of Night (2013); Feast of Fools (2008); Firestorm (2006); Gale Force (2008); Ghost Town (2010); Glass Houses (2006); Glass Houses / Dead Girls' Dance / Midnight Alley (2010); Heartbreak Bay (2021); Heat Stroke (2004); Honor Among Thieves (2018); Honor Bound (2019); Honor Lost (2020); Ill Wind (2003); Ink and Bone (2015); Killman Creek (2017); Kiss of Death (2010); Kolchak: The Night Stalker / The Night Stalker Casebook (2006); Last Breath (2011); Line Of Sight (2007); Lord of Misrule (2008); Marion, Missing (2016); Midnight Alley (2007); Midnight Bites (2016); Morganville Vampires Series 1 and 2 (2017); Paper and Fire (2016); Prince of Shadows (2014); Shiny (2011); Smoke and Iron (2018); Stargate SG-1: Sacrifice Moon (2004); Stargate SG-1: Stepping Through the Stargate (2004); Stillhouse Lake (2017); Sword and Pen (2019); Terminated (2013); The Cold Girl (2014); The Morganville Vampires (2009); The Morganville Vampires Collection (2013); The Morganville Vampires, Volume 3 (2011); The Morganville Vampires, Volume 4 (2011); The Morganville Vampires: Collection 1-8 (2010); The Morganville Vampires: Volume 2 (2010); Thin Air (2007); Total Eclipse (2010); Trapper Road (2022); Two Weeks Notice (2012); Unbroken (2012); Undone (2009); Unknown (2010); Unseen (2011); Windfall (2005); Wolfhunter River (2019); Working Stiff (2011).

Television and radio:

Dead Air (2021); Morganville: The Series (2014); Rêves et Cris (2012).

On this day in movie history - L’Eclisse (1962):

L’Eclisse,

aka The Eclipse,

directed by Michelangelo Antonioni,

written by Michelangelo Antonioni, Tonino Guerra, Elio Bartolini and Ottiero Ottieri,

was released in Italy on April 12, 1962.
Music by Giorgio Gaslini.

Cast:
Alain Delon, Monica Vitti, Francisco Rabal, Lilla Brignone, Rossana Rory, Mirella Ricciardi, Louis Seigner, Cyrus Elias, Alba Maiolini, Maria Tedeschi.

On this day in movie history - La Jetée (1962):

La Jetée,

aka The Jetty / The Pier,

directed and written by Chris Marker,

the inspiration for 12 Monkeys (1995), directed by Terry Gilliam,

was released in France on February 16, 1962.
Narrated by Jean Négroni.
Music by Trevor Duncan.

Cast:
Hélène Châtelain, Davos Hanich, Jacques Ledoux, André Heinrich, Jacques Branchu, Pierre Joffroy, Etienne Becker, Philbert von Lifchitz, Ligia Borowczyk, Janine Klein, William Klein, Germano Facetti.