Earl Hamner |
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To begin with, the University of Cincinnati students were relieved to
know that the literature professor who tried to steer alumnus Earl Hamner into a different career was not from UC. Still, the story appropriately
set the tone for Hamner's emphasis on writers believing in themselves
and being persistent.
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"When
I moved to New York, I learned that I had grown up with a disease
called familism, a social disorder in which the family is considered
more important than any other social group or individual. Not knowing
that we were afflicted, we just thought we loved each other. Even
with a highfalutin name for it, I still call it 'love.' This was
the family I wrote about in 'The Waltons.'"
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"Gaining confidence as a writer can come from accomplishing
something," Hamner said, "but sometimes it is necessary to simply
go on the belief that you are a good writer." That philosophy has
steered Hamner's life.
Growing up in Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains, he published his first
work at age 6 -- a poem in the Richmond Times Dispatch about his dog,
new blue sweater and red wagon. Strangely enough, he had none of those
things.
"My father started looking at me rather oddly," he said. "I
think he worried about me from that time into my late 20s when I invited
him to Radio City Music Hall to see the premiere of the movie I had written.
He was rather relieved by then."
In all seriousness, Dad periodically did have things worth worrying about
during those times. Not only did World War II interrupt Earl's studies
at the University of Richmond, he was later denied entrance into another
college because prior exams had not been completed.
Persistence and the wise insight of his friend Irv Reingold led him to
Cincinnati.
The college was a good fit. "We were taught by working professionals
in broadcasting," he told the class, "as well as highly qualified
academic people from the university. I also got a job at WLW radio station
while I was still a student."
After graduation, Hamner stayed on the WLW writing staff for a while,
before moving to New York City to break into television. Once there, he
quickly grew frustrated when executives repeatedly informed him, "You're
a radio writer. You can't write for the eye."
He knew differently. Plus he was getting good at being persistent. One
day, he offered to write a script for free, using the same material given
to an agency's best writer with the promise that his would be better.
Hamner recalled that the executive declined the offer, but added, "With
that kind of arrogance, I will give you an assignment."
New York turned into a golden opportunity -- writing for the "Today
Show," interviewing such illustrious people as Eleanor Roosevelt
and Tallulah Bankhead, and marrying Jane, his bride of nearly 50 years.
But it wasn't long before the siren call of the silver screen lured him
to the opposite coast.
NEXT PAGE | Hollywood nearly fatal
