What do Hunter S. Thompson, Liz Carpenter, Bill Wittliff, and the Coen brothers have in common? Continue on and find out …
In my early formative, aspiring writer/filmmaker years, there were some moments that seemed to define what direction I would eventually take in my life. Moments I will probably not forget.
Moment #1: In the early & mid-70’s, while in college in Austin TX, I worked at a resort out on Lake Travis as a waiter and bartender. Usually I worked conventions or private parties.
On one particular weekend during some type of journalist convention, I worked one of their big parties. A number of famous journalists were there, but I didn’t pay it too much attention, as my bar station was outside on the veranda where most of them weren’t. As the evening wore only a few of them periodically stepped out to my bar. Late that night just as I started to shut my area down, a guy stumbled out and lit up. He looked out over the lake across the veranda, glared up at the starry night, and silently smoked, paying me no heed.
After several silent moments, he finally slid over to the bar and ordered a drink. We had a few moments of small talk, of which he mostly complained about the sorry state of the world, and then he got silent and reflective again. I went back to packing up my bar, and just as I was about finished he asked me about my aspirations. When I informed him that I was working on being a writer, he blurted out in what I perceived as a cynical laugh. I was not amused.
Then an odd thing happened. He went soft on me. Maybe I didn’t hide my hurt feelings well enough, or he suddenly dusted off his hardened heart. Just as I was about to leave, he clumsily grabbed my arm, and said very softly and poignantly, “Write as if you’re building a stairway to the stars.” I found that very odd coming from someone like him. Once I was almost out of earshot range, he went back to his other self and yelled back to finish his remark, “Because you’re going to need a way off this lousy planet some day!” I really didn’t know what to think. Reflecting on it, I figure in his own odd way he was actually trying to give me some inspiration. Several years later, and …
Moment #2a & 2b: In the early 80’s I went to a 3-day writer conference/workshop in Austin, still not sure if I was serious about going in this direction. Of course, I had written lots of poetry, a few short stories, some essays, and even some newspaper articles, but actually working as a writer for a living? Hhmm…I didn’t know.
Well anyway, I went to this seminar to see what I could learn, and maybe figure out. On the very first day at one of the sessions I sat by this older, very friendly woman. As the day progressed I kept winding up near her at other sessions, and by the second day we were having lunch together, and becoming writing buddies.
On the last day there was session about screenwriting, which was something I was becoming more interested in but still too wishy washy to attempt. That type of writing seemed intimidating and foreign to me. Anyway, a fairly well known, local screenwriter was conducting it, and afterwards my new friend, who knew this screenwriter personally, introduced me to him. He was typical Texas-friendly, had a sparkle in his eye, and was very gracious to me. I really don’t remember the exact words he said to me. But in essence he told me that even if I never became a selling writer, going through the grueling process of writing, that I would at the very least learn a lot about myself. And that writing for film was a a rare type of mental gymnastics that few can master. And he challenged me to give ‘er a damn try.
I left that conference on a high note, with my heads in the cloud. Until a couple years later …
Moment #3: Again in Austin, I now found myself on my first feature film set.
I heard about this little indie film shooting locally from an old college film professor of mine. He knew the filmmakers because they had gone to UT (University of Texas). So anyway, I got on as an extra in a couple bar scenes, and then they asked me to be a PA (production assistant) for a few days.
We were shooting a night scene over in the downtown warehouse district, when I finally had a few moments to read the script. I had wrangled one from one of the other crew people. Appropriately at the same time, I just happened to be in the middle of writing my own screenplay for the very first time. And it was tough going, so seeing a script actually getting shot was a big deal to me then. I devoured it quickly that night, as we went far into the night’s shoot.
Wow, I was mesmerized. As I compared this script to my own, I realized for the first time how far I had to go. This was so much better than mine. I could have gotten all down, and given up at that time. And initially I did have a quesy feeling, like ‘What the hell am I doing? I can’t do this!’ But I shrugged it aside, and decided at that moment I would plunge forward, until there were no brick walls I couldn’t punch through. Well, through the years I hit a lot of brick walls, and grew quite a few callouses on my fists, but I am still kicking and fighting.
So now, once again, what do Hunter S. Thompson, Liz Carpenter, Bill Wittliff, and the Coen brothers have in common? Well, you probably have guessed it by now, but yours truly is the connection …
The person I met in Moment #1 happened to be Hunter S. Thompson, the whacked-out gonzo journalist himself. And you probably know he went the way of Hemingway (with a gun to his head) a few years back. Too bad. I just hope he found his stairway to the stars. I think he really needed it.
As for the two people I met in Moments #2a & 2b, the very nice lady was Liz Carpenter, an aide and speech writer to president LBJ and press secretary to Lady Bird Johnson, and the legendary Austin screenwriter was Bill Witliff, screenwriter to such films as ‘Legends of the Fall,’ ‘The Perfect Storm,’ ‘The Black Stallion,’ and ‘Lonesome Dove,’ to name just a few (He is also a book author, photographer, and publisher). Ms Carpenter has passed also, but he is still cranking them out. Maybe someday I’ll get to thank him for inspiring me.
Well, it’s easy now to see who was in Moment #3. The Coen Brothers, of course. They were shooting their debut film, ‘Blood Simple.’ And at that time, no one knew where they were headed. I just remember on set crew people thinking how eccentric they were. Yes, but brilliant and original. Who knew? I thought it was a pretty good script, yet you can never know if it would have been realized in production. But a good script can give you a leg up, and that film catapulted their careers. I now wished I would have paid more attention to what they were doing. Because you never know …
JAD
And next year I’ll be headed back to Austin to shoot my next project, a script I wrote my first draft of over 20 years ago. So, how about liking that project on Facebook for me? — https://www.facebook.com/OneHandClappingMovie
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