Published by Page Publishing, Thor Arnold and Lee Nolan’s engrossing work offers an extraordinary glimpse of a superstar at his most delightfully fun-loving, free, and unguarded among his true friends. You will see fun and excitement in his face at every turn of the page. One of the last things that Freddie repeated to Lee on our last visit, June 1991, was to “make these photos work for you, darling!” You will see wonderful photos of Freddie, off the stage and participating in the real world. Lee was the constant photographer and has preserved a great many of these photos, which have never been seen prior to our book. Lee and I, however, continued the relationship beyond 1986 when we were invited several times to Freddie’s beloved Garden Lodge in the heart of London. Unfortunately, John and Joe have passed on. He had recently grown a mustache, cut his hair short, wore jeans and tee shirts, and blended in perfectly with the gay culture in New York-we mostly all looked alike! Freddie loved being just “one of the boys.”

Freddie felt free and absolutely cherished this newly found and so-unavailable-in-Europe nonrecognition. At that time, many of New York City’s residents and day-trippers from Long Island and New Jersey knew Queen’s music but could not identify the band members. Freddie and his twenty-four-hour attendant and loyal friend, Peter Freestone, liked our group and wanted very much to be a part of it. My close friends Lee Nolan, Joe Scardilli, and John Murphy were eager to meet Freddie when he returned in 1981 after I had first met him in 1980. In fact, the movie Bohemian Rhapsody basically skipped over this important time of his life, moving from 1980 to 1984 in maybe fifteen to twenty seconds. (Rock superstar and always dynamic front man of Queen).

The authors write, “The years 1980 until 1984, a time we call the New York days, are the final unknown piece of the jigsaw puzzle that was Freddie Mercury’s life. Together they have completed their new book “Freddie Mercury in New York: Don’t Stop Us Now!”: a must-read for any Queen fan. Lee Nolan, a longtime New York City resident and avid photographer who pursued a career in the performing arts and worked for DreamWorks Animation before retiring to Palm Springs. Thor Arnold is a New York native who graduated magna cum laude with a BSN from Columbia University, moved to San Diego in 1984 and retired from a long nursing career in 2017.

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