John R. Coles

John R. Coles is a graduate of the University of South Carolina, where he earned a master’s degree in Media Arts.

After four years in the United States Air Force, he worked as a film animator for South Carolina Educational Television in Columbia. In 1970, he became Director of Media for the Chester County Schools.

In 1973, he began teaching in the Media Arts Department at the University of South Carolina. During his college years, he was a member of a locally successful rockabilly band, Uncle John’s Band. In 1980, he moved to Charleston, where he managed The Charleston Adventure Theatre, a multi-media theatre for tourists.

He was a member of the Board of Directors of “Friends of The Riviera,” a group formed to save the art deco Riviera Theatre in Charleston. His book, “Movie Theaters of Charleston: Hollywood Meets the Holy City” was published in 1994.

Mark C. Tiedje

Mark C. Tiedje is a graduate of Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida, where he earned a degree in technical theatre.

He worked as Technical Director at WFTV, Channel 9, in Orlando, Florida. During his college years, he worked in summer stock with The Valley Players, in Holyoke, Massachusetts, and as an usher at the Daytona Theatre in Daytona Beach, Florida.

In 1970, he moved to Charleston, South Carolina, where he was Director of Promotion and Publicity at both WCBD-TV, Channel 2, and WCIV, Channel 4. He recently retired from the College of Charleston, where he was Media Relations Coordinator for the School of the Arts.

He is a member of the Theatre Historic Society (THS), American Theatre Organ Society (ATOS), and a former member of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) for sixteen years.

Effie LaMont
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Born in Pocatello, Idaho, Effie is the daughter of Jenny Light, former box office manager for the Roxy Theatre in New York, and John Lamont, a wrangler for Charlie Chaplin. Effie's younger sister, Lena, was a major star in the "cinema firm-a-ment" during the silent film era.

Effie received her B.A. in ceramic painting at Upsala College before attending Oxford where she met fellow student Bill Clinton. Effie refuses to discuss their relationship.

As a teenager, Effie was a wrangler for Rudolph Valentino's horse, Jadaan, during the filming of "Son of the Sheik." She was an usherette at the Shubert Theatre in New York, and a member of Russell Markert's precision dance team, the Missouri Rockets, precursor to the Roxyettes, which became the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes. Effie and her dance partner, Raoul Jones of Rio de Jeneiro, won the TransAmerican International Grand Ballroom Competition consecutively in 1941 and 1942. They remain close friends. Effie is currently Box Office Manager for the Paradise Theatre and assists with research for the book except for May and June when she skis with wealthy Norwegian recluse, Lars Nielson.