What If Our Legends Lived On?

John F. Kennedy was the 35th President of the United States, and the youngest man elected to the office. He was assassinated at the age of 46 in 1963. Arthur Ashe was an African American professional tennis player who won more than forty singles titles. He died in 1993 at the age of 49 of AIDS-related pneumonia. But imagine if the lives of JFK and Ashe had not been cut short? In this pair of speculative biographies, two writers suppose what might have been if JFK had lived long enough to serve out his presidency and what Arthur Ashe may have done to enhance his already notable legacy.

Norma Jean Baker was a Hollywood starlet who transformed into Marilyn Monroe, a Hollywood sex symbol and one of the world's most iconic figures. Sadly, she died at age 36 in 1962 from a drug overdose. Montgomery Clift was a highly regarded actor. Dependent on drugs and alcohol, Clift was only 45 when he died of heart disease in 1966. But imagine if the lives of the costars of The Misfits had not been cut short? In this pair of speculative biographies, two writers suppose what might have been if Monroe and Clift had survived their drug-related demises.

One of the world's most iconic performers, Elvis Presley died at the age of 42 from a heart attack complicated by years of drug use. By the time she turned 18, Frances Gumm had shot to stardom as Judy Garland, playing Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. Sadly, at the age of 47, she died of a drug overdose. But imagine if the lives of these icons had not been cut short by drugs? These vividly imaginative "biographies" are thoughtful, honest, heartfelt—and entirely within the realm of possibility, as the authors engage in an intriguing exercise of “What if...?”