Jeremy Larner
Encyclopedia
Jeremy Larner is an author, poet, journalist and speechwriter. He won an Academy Award in 1972 for Best Original Screenplay, for writing The Candidate
.
, in the quiet but violent '50's, and had some playground rep as a basketball player in Indianapolis
, where he encountered Oscar Robertson
and other future stars on the playground courts of that city.
in 1958 (where he was close to Herbert Marcuse
, Irving Howe
, Philip Rahv
, and a fellow student named Abbie Hoffman
, who later, running a small bookstore in Worcester, Massachusetts
, became an early champion of Larner's first novel.)
In 1962, Larner was assigned by Dissent magazine
to cover the teacher's strike, and spent several months going to elementary school classes in Harlem
. His long account of what he discovered was widely anthologized, having come to the attention of Michael Harrington
, author of the book, the Other America: Poverty In The United States, which inspired John Kennedy & Robert Kennedy.
Larner's first published piece was a critique of J.D. Salinger, published in Partisan Review
in 1961. Also in that year he journeyed south to cover the lunch-counter sit-in strikes organized at black universities, and wrote several pieces for The New Leader
and Dissent.
In '63, Larner edited a taped collection of interviews with heroin addicts at the Henry Street Settlement in New York. The harrowing stories told in these interviews became the basis of one of the first books from tape: The Addict in the Street, which remained in print for 20 years. Grove Press
celebrated its publication in early '65 with a party for Larner and William S. Burroughs
, where Norman Mailer
challenged Larner to a fight.
, Mary McCarthy
and Leslie Fiedler
. For the title of this novel, Larner chose a line from the poem I Know a Man by Robert Creeley
.
The heroes of Drive, He Said were a college basketball star who has mixed feelings about his stardom and what is expected of him and his revolutionary roommate, who eventually burns the campus down. The reviewer in Playboy
magazine echoed the establishment verdict when he said, "Nothing like this could happen in America."
In 1964, Larner won the Aga Khan Prize from The Paris Review, for the best short story of the year, "O the Wonder!"
, The Paris Review, and Life.
Larner reported on the trial of Dale Noyd
, a decorated fighter pilot who had refused to train other pilots for the war in Vietnam. The account, which ran in Harper's, was selected for an anthology of the best journalism of the year.
at Harvard University.
in his campaign for President, working with him closely from the Wisconsin
primary (when LBJ, knowing he was about to lose, announced he would not run for re-election), through the California primary (at the end of which Robert Kennedy was assassinated), through the convention in Chicago, where the police were rioting in the streets as Larner wrote and faxed the famous seconding speech which Julian Bond
gave for McCarthy, just in time to save Bond (who had never met McCarthy) embarrassment, and help to put him on the map politically.
Afterwards Larner wrote a book, Nobody Knows, about his travels with the McCarthy Campaign, and most of it was serialized in Harpers Magazine in April & May 1969. This book got good reviews and was widely read by many who participated in the campaign and wondered what happened to McCarthy after the assassination of Robert Kennedy.
, was made into a movie directed by Jack Nicholson
, who collaborated with Larner on the screenplay. This film constituted Nicholson's directorial debut, and is available as part of the Criterion edition "America Lost and Found: The BBS Story."
which mobilized hundreds of thousands of people around the country, he wrote speeches for Sam Brown
, the chief organizer and spokesperson of the Moratorium, and also for Paul Newman
, who gave a statement on behalf of several actors who were advocating that war protesters miss a day of work.
During this time and afterwards, Larner spoke at many college campuses, first in behalf of the anti-Vietnam-war movement, later on movies and politics. He has spoken at one hundred universities around the country.
and starring Robert Redford
about a campaign for Senator of California.
The Candidate
was released during the election of 1972, and got mixed reviews, especially from liberal critics who thought senators were not so easily confused and led astray as the one Larner invented and Redford portrayed in the movie. Most senators of the day were insulted.
.
, did not seem to realize the movie was ironic. Quayle spoke frequently about how the movie had inspired him, causing Larner, during the 1988 elections, to write an op-ed for The New York Times
, saying, "Mr. Quayle, this was not a how-to movie, it was a watch-out movie. And you are what we should be watching out for!"
During this time, Larner occasionally wrote speeches for politicians, like Bill Bradley
, when he gave his basic position on Israel, or stars like Robert Redford
, when he spoke in behalf of environmentalism.
, and wrote an article about the condition (not diagnosed or treatable until the 1980s) and his experience of it, that caused many people to recognize and recover completely from a state that otherwise can lead to sudden death.
He first wrote the poem in 1992, and has revised it frequently since then. "Chicken on Church" and selected other poems have recently been published by Big Rooster Press.
The Candidate (1972 film)
The Candidate is a 1972 American film starring Robert Redford. Its themes include how the political machine corrupts. There are many parallels between the then-recent 1970 California Senate election between John V. Tunney and George Murphy; however, Redford's character Bill McKay is a political...
.
Childhood
Jeremy Larner grew up in IndianaIndiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
, in the quiet but violent '50's, and had some playground rep as a basketball player in Indianapolis
Indianapolis
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
, where he encountered Oscar Robertson
Oscar Robertson
Oscar Palmer Robertson , nicknamed "The Big O", is a former American NBA player with the Cincinnati Royals and the Milwaukee Bucks...
and other future stars on the playground courts of that city.
Education and influences
Larner graduated from Brandeis UniversityBrandeis University
Brandeis University is an American private research university with a liberal arts focus. It is located in the southwestern corner of Waltham, Massachusetts, nine miles west of Boston. The University has an enrollment of approximately 3,200 undergraduate and 2,100 graduate students. In 2011, it...
in 1958 (where he was close to Herbert Marcuse
Herbert Marcuse
Herbert Marcuse was a German Jewish philosopher, sociologist and political theorist, associated with the Frankfurt School of critical theory...
, Irving Howe
Irving Howe
Irving Howe was an American literary and social critic and a prominent figure of the Democratic Socialists of America.-Life and career:...
, Philip Rahv
Philip Rahv
Philip Rahv was an American literary critic and essayist.-Life:...
, and a fellow student named Abbie Hoffman
Abbie Hoffman
Abbot Howard "Abbie" Hoffman was a political and social activist who co-founded the Youth International Party ....
, who later, running a small bookstore in Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester is a city and the county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, as of the 2010 Census the city's population is 181,045, making it the second largest city in New England after Boston....
, became an early champion of Larner's first novel.)
Early career
In 1959, Larner began a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship at UC Berkeley, but finding himself unsuited for academic life he left graduate school in his first year and came to New York City at 22. He stayed there throughout the 1960s, writing five books in that period.In 1962, Larner was assigned by Dissent magazine
Dissent (magazine)
Dissent is a quarterly magazine focusing on politics and culture edited by Michael Walzer and Michael Kazin. The magazine is published for the Foundation for the Study of Independent Social Ideas, Inc by the University of Pennsylvania Press....
to cover the teacher's strike, and spent several months going to elementary school classes in Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
. His long account of what he discovered was widely anthologized, having come to the attention of Michael Harrington
Michael Harrington
Edward Michael "Mike" Harrington was an American democratic socialist, writer, political activist, professor of political science, radio commentator and founder of the Democratic Socialists of America.-Personal life:...
, author of the book, the Other America: Poverty In The United States, which inspired John Kennedy & Robert Kennedy.
Larner's first published piece was a critique of J.D. Salinger, published in Partisan Review
Partisan Review
Partisan Review was an American political and literary quarterly published from 1934 to 2003, though it suspended publication between October 1936 and December 1937.-Overview:...
in 1961. Also in that year he journeyed south to cover the lunch-counter sit-in strikes organized at black universities, and wrote several pieces for The New Leader
The New Leader
The New Leader was a political and cultural magazine begun in 1924 by a group of figures associated with the Socialist Party of America, including Eugene V. Debs and Norman Thomas, and published in New York by the American Labor Conference on International Affairs. Its orientation is liberal and...
and Dissent.
In '63, Larner edited a taped collection of interviews with heroin addicts at the Henry Street Settlement in New York. The harrowing stories told in these interviews became the basis of one of the first books from tape: The Addict in the Street, which remained in print for 20 years. Grove Press
Grove Press
Grove Press is an American publishing imprint that was founded in 1951. Imprints include: Black Cat, Evergreen, Venus Library, Zebra. Barney Rosset purchased the company in 1951 and turned it into an alternative book press in the United States. The Atlantic Monthly Press, under the aegis of its...
celebrated its publication in early '65 with a party for Larner and William S. Burroughs
William S. Burroughs
William Seward Burroughs II was an American novelist, poet, essayist and spoken word performer. A primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodernist author, he is considered to be "one of the most politically trenchant, culturally influential, and innovative artists of the 20th...
, where Norman Mailer
Norman Mailer
Norman Kingsley Mailer was an American novelist, journalist, essayist, poet, playwright, screenwriter, and film director.Along with Truman Capote, Joan Didion, Hunter S...
challenged Larner to a fight.
First novel, Drive, He Said; Writing prizes
Larner's first novel, Drive, He Said, won the Delta Prize for first novels in 1964. The prize had gone unclaimed for several years and by then had reached $10,000. The judges were Walter van Tilburg ClarkWalter Van Tilburg Clark
Walter Van Tilburg Clark was an American novelist, short story writer, and educator. He ranks as one of Nevada's most distinguished literary figures of the 20th century and is known primarily for his novels, his one volume of stories, as well as his uncollected short stories...
, Mary McCarthy
Mary McCarthy (author)
Mary Therese McCarthy was an American author, critic and political activist.- Early life :Born in Seattle, Washington, to Roy Winfield McCarthy and his wife, the former Therese Preston, McCarthy was orphaned at the age of six when both her parents died in the great flu epidemic of 1918...
and Leslie Fiedler
Leslie Fiedler
Leslie Aaron Fiedler was a Jewish-American literary critic, known for his interest in mythography and his championing of genre fiction. His work also involves application of psychological theories to American literature. He was in practical terms one of the early postmodernist critics working...
. For the title of this novel, Larner chose a line from the poem I Know a Man by Robert Creeley
Robert Creeley
Robert Creeley was an American poet and author of more than sixty books. He is usually associated with the Black Mountain poets, though his verse aesthetic diverged from that school's. He was close with Charles Olson, Robert Duncan, Allen Ginsberg, John Wieners and Ed Dorn. He served as the Samuel P...
.
The heroes of Drive, He Said were a college basketball star who has mixed feelings about his stardom and what is expected of him and his revolutionary roommate, who eventually burns the campus down. The reviewer in Playboy
Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
magazine echoed the establishment verdict when he said, "Nothing like this could happen in America."
In 1964, Larner won the Aga Khan Prize from The Paris Review, for the best short story of the year, "O the Wonder!"
Journalism
After 1964, Larner worked as a freelance journalist and published articles, essays and stories in many magazines, including HarpersHarpers
The Harpers are a fictional and semi-secret organization in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting of the role playing game Dungeons & Dragons...
, The Paris Review, and Life.
Larner reported on the trial of Dale Noyd
Dale Noyd
Dale Edwin Noyd was a decorated captain and fighter pilot in the U.S. Air Force who gained worldwide attention when he became a conscientious objector to protest the Vietnam War.-Military service:...
, a decorated fighter pilot who had refused to train other pilots for the war in Vietnam. The account, which ran in Harper's, was selected for an anthology of the best journalism of the year.
Academics
In 1965, Larner began teaching in the English Department at Stony Brook, State University of New York, although he had no degrees beyond the B.A. He taught classes in poetry and in the modern novel from '65 through '69, taking the year off in 1968, when he won an N.E.A. grant in the first year they were given to individual artists. He would later teach, for one year, at the John F. Kennedy School of GovernmentJohn F. Kennedy School of Government
The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University is a public policy and public administration school, and one of Harvard's graduate and professional schools...
at Harvard University.
Eugene McCarthy campaign, 1968
In March 1968, Larner became a principal speechwriter for Eugene McCarthyEugene McCarthy
Eugene Joseph "Gene" McCarthy was an American politician, poet, and a long-time member of the United States Congress from Minnesota. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1949 to 1959 and the U.S. Senate from 1959 to 1971.In the 1968 presidential election, McCarthy was the first...
in his campaign for President, working with him closely from the Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
primary (when LBJ, knowing he was about to lose, announced he would not run for re-election), through the California primary (at the end of which Robert Kennedy was assassinated), through the convention in Chicago, where the police were rioting in the streets as Larner wrote and faxed the famous seconding speech which Julian Bond
Julian Bond
Horace Julian Bond , known as Julian Bond, is an American social activist and leader in the American civil rights movement, politician, professor, and writer. While a student at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, during the early 1960s, he helped found the Student Nonviolent Coordinating...
gave for McCarthy, just in time to save Bond (who had never met McCarthy) embarrassment, and help to put him on the map politically.
Afterwards Larner wrote a book, Nobody Knows, about his travels with the McCarthy Campaign, and most of it was serialized in Harpers Magazine in April & May 1969. This book got good reviews and was widely read by many who participated in the campaign and wondered what happened to McCarthy after the assassination of Robert Kennedy.
Drive, He Said: The movie
In 1971, Drive, He SaidDrive, He Said
Drive, He Said is an American motion picture released by Columbia Pictures, based upon the 1964 novel of the same title by Jeremy Larner...
, was made into a movie directed by Jack Nicholson
Jack Nicholson
John Joseph "Jack" Nicholson is an American actor, film director, producer and writer. He is renowned for his often dark portrayals of neurotic characters. Nicholson has been nominated for an Academy Award twelve times, and has won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice: for One Flew Over the...
, who collaborated with Larner on the screenplay. This film constituted Nicholson's directorial debut, and is available as part of the Criterion edition "America Lost and Found: The BBS Story."
Vietnam Peace Movement
Larner continued his work with the peace movement in 1969. During the MoratoriumMoratorium to End the War in Vietnam
The Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam was a large demonstration against the United States involvement in the Vietnam War that took place across the United States on October 15, 1969. The Moratorium developed from Jerome Grossman's April 20, 1969, call for a general strike if the war had not...
which mobilized hundreds of thousands of people around the country, he wrote speeches for Sam Brown
Sam Brown (activist)
]]Sam W. Brown, Jr. was a political activist, the head of ACTION under Carter, and ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.-Early life and education:Sam W. Brown, Jr. was born July 27, 1943 in Council Bluffs, Iowa...
, the chief organizer and spokesperson of the Moratorium, and also for Paul Newman
Paul Newman
Paul Leonard Newman was an American actor, film director, entrepreneur, humanitarian, professional racing driver and auto racing enthusiast...
, who gave a statement on behalf of several actors who were advocating that war protesters miss a day of work.
During this time and afterwards, Larner spoke at many college campuses, first in behalf of the anti-Vietnam-war movement, later on movies and politics. He has spoken at one hundred universities around the country.
The Candidate
In April 1971, Larner wrote a documentary-style script for a feature film directed by Michael RitchieMichael Ritchie (film director)
Michael Brunswick Ritchie was an American film director.Ritchie was born in Waukesha, Wisconsin, the son of Patricia and Benbow Ferguson Ritchie...
and starring Robert Redford
Robert Redford
Charles Robert Redford, Jr. , better known as Robert Redford, is an American actor, film director, producer, businessman, environmentalist, philanthropist, and founder of the Sundance Film Festival. He has received two Oscars: one in 1981 for directing Ordinary People, and one for Lifetime...
about a campaign for Senator of California.
The Candidate
The Candidate (1972 film)
The Candidate is a 1972 American film starring Robert Redford. Its themes include how the political machine corrupts. There are many parallels between the then-recent 1970 California Senate election between John V. Tunney and George Murphy; however, Redford's character Bill McKay is a political...
was released during the election of 1972, and got mixed reviews, especially from liberal critics who thought senators were not so easily confused and led astray as the one Larner invented and Redford portrayed in the movie. Most senators of the day were insulted.
Academy Award
In 1973, Larner got an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for his script of The CandidateThe Candidate (1972 film)
The Candidate is a 1972 American film starring Robert Redford. Its themes include how the political machine corrupts. There are many parallels between the then-recent 1970 California Senate election between John V. Tunney and George Murphy; however, Redford's character Bill McKay is a political...
.
Political implications
Some politicians, like Dan QuayleDan Quayle
James Danforth "Dan" Quayle served as the 44th Vice President of the United States, serving with President George H. W. Bush . He served as a U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator from the state of Indiana....
, did not seem to realize the movie was ironic. Quayle spoke frequently about how the movie had inspired him, causing Larner, during the 1988 elections, to write an op-ed for The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, saying, "Mr. Quayle, this was not a how-to movie, it was a watch-out movie. And you are what we should be watching out for!"
During this time, Larner occasionally wrote speeches for politicians, like Bill Bradley
Bill Bradley
William Warren "Bill" Bradley is an American hall of fame basketball player, Rhodes scholar, and former three-term Democratic U.S. Senator from New Jersey. He ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic Party's nomination for President in the 2000 election.Bradley was born and raised in a suburb of St....
, when he gave his basic position on Israel, or stars like Robert Redford
Robert Redford
Charles Robert Redford, Jr. , better known as Robert Redford, is an American actor, film director, producer, businessman, environmentalist, philanthropist, and founder of the Sundance Film Festival. He has received two Oscars: one in 1981 for directing Ordinary People, and one for Lifetime...
, when he spoke in behalf of environmentalism.
Later work
In 1987 Larner began to write poetry, and in 1989 began to have public readings. In 1992, he wrote a long story, titled "Rack's Rules", the only piece of fiction in an anthology titled Sex, Death & God in Los Angeles. After losing his home in the 1991 Oakland Hills fire, he contributed an article to Fire in the Hills, a compilation of responses to the fire, and became a regular contributor to New Choices magazine.Sleep Apnea
Larner moved back to New York City in the 90's, where he reached a point of severe disorientation before being diagnosed with sleep apneaSleep apnea
Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder characterized by abnormal pauses in breathing or instances of abnormally low breathing, during sleep. Each pause in breathing, called an apnea, can last from a few seconds to minutes, and may occur 5 to 30 times or more an hour. Similarly, each abnormally low...
, and wrote an article about the condition (not diagnosed or treatable until the 1980s) and his experience of it, that caused many people to recognize and recover completely from a state that otherwise can lead to sudden death.
Chicken on Church
It was in New York that Larner was inspired to write Chicken on Church, both a mock-epic and a love poem to the city, particularly to the neighborhood on the end of Manhattan Island, Whitmanesque but full of specific detail and classical allusions.He first wrote the poem in 1992, and has revised it frequently since then. "Chicken on Church" and selected other poems have recently been published by Big Rooster Press.