Life Is A Circus

About the Book

In this warm, informative, exciting and hilarious memoir, "Life is a Circus", Shirley Carroll O'Connor, takes you on the early adventures of the first woman publicist under the Big Top for Clyde Beatty,Cole Bros. and Ringling Bros & Barnum & Bailey Circuses.

When a  blind date in 1945 resulted in marriage to a circus Ringmaster, she had no idea that she would be recounting stories of losing eight elephants on Hollywood Blvd, sharing a car with an uncaged leopard on her honeymoon, having an eight foot "giant" stuck in her back seat or counting as good friends circus and side-show performers like "The Sheep-headed Men", the "Flipper Boy", the "Two-faced Man", and "Lavonda", a full-sized head on a platter, families shot from cannons, aerialists, clowns and the "little" people, the midgets and dwarfs.

In first hand accounts she provides humorous insight into a Circus era now long gone, and against this background is a warm love story that will appeal to readers of all ages.

After 25 years with the circus, and the death of her husband, Shirley Carroll O'Connor's career took another direction when the agency she founded with her husband, The Carroll's Agency, Inc., handled publicity for some of the biggest rock stars & theatrical productions in show business.

When you turn the last page of "Life is a Circus" you will feel as if you have laughed and shared memories with a "new best friend."

About the Author

Shirley Carroll O’Connor married into the circus in 1945. Her husband,Norman was a circus ringmaster. When you traveled with the circus, you had to do something, and at five feet, nine inches, Shirley wasn’t destined to be a trapeze performer! Instead she became the first woman circus press agent.