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Writer, Speaker, Teacher
“Shattered Love, A Memoir”
(ReganBooks, 2003)
“Writing Shattered Love was the most intense and rewarding learning experience of my life, I found that truth is the only valuable aspect of living and that no-strings love is the wellspring of truth.” wrote Richard Chamberlain in the foreword.
On one hand, this memoir takes the reader through the extensive arc of Richard Chamberlain’s career as a television, film and stage actor. On the other hand, it is a foray into various layers of the individual - personal, psychological and spiritual - with philosophical considerations illustrating his beliefs and, especially, his approach to love,
“this dynamic energy of wholeness and unity, immensely creative and intelligent.”
Richard Chamberlain explained the concept of “Shattered Love” with the following words: “My premise is that the invisible ground of being, this uncaused cause that preceded existence is divinity itself, the stupendous, immaterial power of creative love. Love is perfect unity, perfect wholeness transcending time and space, beyond the particular, utterly indivisible and impersonal. And yet, the divine contains within the mystery of its perfect wholeness a dynamic creativity and stupendous curiosity. Only such perfection,
such faultless eternal power would dare to shatter itself into time and space, into every conceivable potential of its nature, into everything it seemed not to be. God seems to be exploring its own being with total fascination and with no reservations whatsoever.
And that’s where we humans become useful. We are manifestations of divine curiosity.
We are shattered love.”
“Shattered Love” was a great success, it featured on The New York Times and
The Los Angeles Times list of bestsellers.
Richard Chamberlain went on an extensive tour after his book’s publication, from West coast to East coast, placing the actor in the limelight again, actually a limelight he had never left in the minds and hearts of those who love him and his work.
Readers appreciated, through his quest for knowledge about himself, to gain a deeper insight into his personality and philosophy; some found the book provocative enough to give rise to questioning, even self-questioning, be it in the area of sexual orientation and how society deals with homosexuality, or of their own existential, philosophical or
religious approach.
Richard Chamberlain was extensively interviewed for television, radio, the written press and internet media. He presented a public talk at his own alma mater, Pomona College, and signed copies in innumerable bookstores.
Articles, Interviews, Book Signings
and Presentations
Television Interviews
1.Date Line, NBC, interview by Keith Morrison, June 1, 2003, more
2.Today Show, MSNBC, early June, 2003, more
3. Extra TV, early June, 2003, more
4.The View, ABC, with Joy Behar, Star Jones, Meredith Viera and Barbara Walters,
June 5, 2003, more
5.NYC WB Morning Show, June 6, 2003
6.Fox and Friends on Fox News Channel, Fox and Friends on Fox News Channel, early
June, 2003
7.KTTV Good Day Live, Hollywood, June 9, 2003
8.Mornings on 2 KTVU, with Mark Pitta, San Francisco, June 10, 2003
9.WFLD, FOX News in the Morning, Chicago, June 12, 2003
10.ABC 7 News Morning Show, WLS, Chicago, June 13, 2003
11.UPN Channel 44 (Cable Channel 12), The Suzan Sikora Show, San Francisco,
June 23, 2003
12.KPFA-FM, Berkeley, KPFB-FM, Berkeley, KFCF-FM, Fresno, Interview by
Richard Wolinsky, August 28, 2003, more
13.Larry King Live, CNN, September 1, 2003, more
14.O’Reilly Factor, Fox News, September 24, 2003, more
15.One on One, Paul Costello, PBS Hawaii TV, University of Hawaii, December 4, 2003, more
Radio Interviews
1.Westwood One’s First Light, Washington DC, June 4, 2003
2.WOR-710AM, The Joan Hamburg Show “Stars in the Alley”, New York City, June 4, 2003
3.Radio Satellite, ABC Radio Network, New York, June 6, 2003
4.KPCC-FM AirTalk with Larry Mantle, Public Radio, Pasadena, June 9, 2003
5.KNBR-AM, with John London, San Francisco, June 10, 2003
6.WGN Radio, The Steven Cochran Show, Chicago, June 12, 2003
Internet and Written Press Articles and Interviews
1.Prisms of the Heart, Marjorie L. Harth, Director of the Pomona College Museum of Art and professor of art history, 2003, Pomona College Magazine, more
2.‘Dr. Kildare’ Comes Out, Bridget Byrne, May 31, 2003, E!Online, more
3.Richard, Reconciled, Bettyjane Levine, June, 2003, Los Angeles Times, more
4.Chamberlain throws open the closet door, Ann Oldenburg, June 1, 2003, USA Today, more
5.Richard Chamberlain has been married for 20 years, Mary Murphy, June 3, 2003,
TV Guide, more
6.Fast Chat: A Life In The Closet, B.J. Sigesmund, June 9, 2003, Newsweek, more
7.Out In The Open, People Magazine, June 9, 2003, more
8.The Doctor Is Out, New Memoir, New Honesty From TV's Dr. Kildare, Edward Guthmann, June 18, 2003, San Francisco Chronicle, more
9.Playing it Straight, Grace Bradberry, August 2, 2003, Weekend, more
10.Chamberlain Jumps Out of The Closet, Hawaii Yawns, Charles Memminger,
November 30, 2003, Honolulu Star Bulletin, more
11.Richard’s Redemption, Judy Wieder, January 20, 2004, The Advocate, more
Book Signings and Presentations
1.Out Professionals and The Publishing Triangle, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Community Center, 208 W 13th Street, New York City, June 5, 2003, more
2.Barnes & Noble, Broadway at 66th, New York City, June 6, 2003, more
3.Book Soup, Sunset Bvd. West Hollywood, June 9, 2003, more
4.Stacey’s Bookstore, 581 Market St., San Francisco, June 10, 2003
5.Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Bvd, Corte Madera, CA, June 11, 2003
6.Borders, 830 N Michigan Ave., Chicago, June 12, 2003
7.RJ Julia Book Sellers, 768 Boston Post RD., Madison, CT, June 13, 2003
8.Bestsellers Books and Music, 1003 Bishop St., Honolulu, August 22, 2003
9.Borders, Ward Centre, Honolulu, August 23, 2003, more
10.Pomona College, Conference by Richard Chamberlain, Lyman Hall, Thatcher
Music Building, Claremont, April 5, 2004, followed by book signing, more
Richard Chamberlain and the Rothschild giraffes of Kenya,
an extract from "Shattered Love"
(courtesy of Béatrice Herbommez)
Very rare photo featuring Richard Chamberlain feeding a Rothschild Giraffe at Giraffe Manor,
property of his friends, Jock and Betty Leslie-Melville, who were strongly involved
in animal preservation, (Nairobi, Kenya, 1977).
“Two ‘pets’ – young Rothschild giraffes – cavorted around
their extensive property. One of these majestic animals,
Daisy, was made famous by a charming book Betty
wrote about her to help finance their animal protection work.
Daisy would sometimes lean down and give you a kiss if you
approached her with a piece of carrot in your mouth…
The five horned Rothschild giraffes were vulnerable to
illegal poaching as well as encroaching villages and farms.
Jock and Betty had promoted and organized the transfer of
these rare animals to a vast national park where they’d
have room to thrive. We went along and watched the
dangerously tricky operation of rounding up and loading
wild giraffes onto trucks that would carry them to their
new home. For weeks prior to our arrival they had been fed
in the back of the truck beds of several disguised trucks
so the animals were accustomed to them. The trick was to
lure these beautiful giraffes to their prickly meal of acacia
branches while anticipating the wranglers' signal to quickly
uncover the truck gate and enclose them. Giraffes are lethal
fighters - the flick of a hoof can kill just about anything - so
they have to be coaxed along with great skill and care.
Thanks to Jock and Betty this complex forced migration was
a success, and the Rothschild giraffe continues to flourish
in Kenya."
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