On a lazy Sunday in 1954, twelve-year-old Jerry Schilling wandered into
a Memphis touch football game, only to discover that his team was
quarterbacked by a nineteen-year-old Elvis Presley, the local teenager
whose first record, "That's All Right," had just debuted on Memphis
radio. The two became fast friends, even as Elvis turned into the
world's biggest star. In 1964, Elvis invited Jerry to work for him as
part of his "Memphis Mafia," and Jerry soon found himself living with
Elvis full-time in a Bel Air mansion and, later, in his own room at
Graceland. Over the next thirteen years Jerry would work for Elvis in
various capacities -- from bodyguard to photo double to co-executive
producer on a karate film. But more than anything else he was Elvis's
close friend and confidant: Elvis trusted Jerry with protecting his life
when he received death threats, he asked Jerry to drive him and
Priscilla to the hospital the day Lisa Marie was born and to accompany
him during the famous "lost weekend" when he traveled to meet President
Nixon at the White House. Me and a Guy Named Elvis looks at Presley from
a friend's perspective, offering readers the man rather than the icon --
including insights into the creative frustrations that lead to Elvis's
abuse of prescription medicine and his tragic death. Jerry offers
never-before-told stories about life inside Elvis's inner circle and an
emotional recounting of the great times, hard times, and unique times he
and Elvis shared. These vivid memories will be priceless to Elvis's
millions of fans, and the compelling story will fascinate an even wider
audience.
