A renewed love affair with Elvis Presley is underway with the Elvis direct from Graceland exhibition currently on at Bendigo.
The eagerly anticipated film Elvis directed by Baz Luhrmann will be opening on 23 June.
The Graceland exhibition reflects the life of Elvis, as many artifacts from his life have been preserved from school reports to a motor bike. Elvis had a love of reading, one of the early artifacts includes his signature on a library book loan card.
Later he had a travel bookcase which was incorporated into the furnishings of his plane Lisa Marie. The following is a list of these books accompanied by a prediction of the equivalent of what he may have read today (and in some cases a link to the item itself):
- Colt’s Commemorative Edition of the American Heritage Picture History of World War II, 1966
World War 11 map by map by Simon Adams, 2019 - Churchill: The Life Triumphant, 1965
Churchill’s shadow: an astonishing life and dangerous legacy by Geofrrey Wheatcroft, 2021 - Black Belt Karate, 1974
Black Belt Magazine (electronic resource) - The Warren Report: The Official Report on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, 1964
End of days [electronic resource]: the assassination of John F. Kennedy, 2013, by James L. Swanson - Guinness Book of World Records, 1966
Guinness World Records 2022 - To Seek a Newer World, by Robert F. Kennedy 1967
Bobby Kennedy: a raging spirit by Christopehr Mattews, 2017 - The Prophet, by Kahlil Gibran 1923 (1966 printing)
- The Book of Tao, 1962
Tao Te Ching [electronic resource] :or the Tao and its characteristics - Scientific Unarmed Combat, 1954 (the art of dynamic self-defence)
- Access PDF via Internet Archive
- Cheiro’s World Predictions: the fate of Europe, the future of the U.S.A, the Coming War of Nations, the Restoration of the Jews.. , 1928
World as Lover, World as Self [electronic resource]: courage ofr global justice and ecological renewal by Joanna Macy, 2021
A family bible from the Presley’s life in Tupelo in the 1930s and 1940s was displayed separately in the first room, along with two hymnals (or songbooks).
This year will be the 45th anniversary of his passing in 1977. For some of us, this is a nostalgic reflection of our teenage years. I remember school mates writing “Elvis is Dead” on the blackboard and recording songs and the news commentary on my tape player.
Delve into Elvis's life. Explore historical newspapers on Trove and Times Digital Archives via Gale Primary Sources (access at home with your library card), YouTube and the Internet Archive
Over the years, it seems that Elvis really never left our popular culture. While exhibitions, films and of course his music remain he will always remain in the background fabric of people’s lives and here in the library, represented in the collection, perhaps we dare say - he never left the building.
Enjoy Rock and Roll Classes next month at Whittlesea Library and a range of titles from our collection.
Elvis Presley [DVD] the searcher
Elvis Presley [electronic resource] :a biography by Lily McNeil, 2012
*With thanks to Bendigo Art Gallery for providing images and information for this blog post.
