{"id":1322,"date":"2018-12-31T16:42:48","date_gmt":"2018-12-31T16:42:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/?p=1322"},"modified":"2018-12-31T16:42:48","modified_gmt":"2018-12-31T16:42:48","slug":"lone-star-listensauthor-interviews-by-kay-ellington-lsll-publisher-49","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/?p=1322","title":{"rendered":"Lone Star ListensAuthor interviews by Kay Ellington, LSLL Publisher"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Don Graham, whom the Dallas Morning News has called \u201cour premier scholar and critic on Texas literature, films and pop culture,\u201d is J. Frank Dobie Regents Professor of English at the University of Texas at Austin. He is also a writer-at-large with Texas Monthly magazine. He received the Carr P. Collins Prize for Best Nonfiction Book of the Year, awarded by the Texas Institute of Letters, and has served as that organization\u2019s president. He lives in Austin.<\/div>\n
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5.20.2018  Author and educator Don Graham takes a walk on the Giant side of Texas<\/h1>\n

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In 1956 a movie called Giant depicted Texas in a larger-than-life narrative. Now, more than six decades years later, author Don Graham, one of Texas’s premier chroniclers of culture, has published a book that shares fascinating back stories behind a film that continues to capture the imagination of the Lone Star State. Graham talked with Lone Star Lit via email about the myths and realities of the legendary film, and how he came to write about it.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

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LONE STAR LITERARY LIFE: Where did you grow up, Don, and how would you describe those days?<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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DON GRAHAM:<\/strong> I was born on a cotton farm in Collin County, near Lucas, a small community consisting of two churches, two stores, a cotton gin, and a school. My first three years of education were in that schoolhouse in Lucas, with eight grades in one room and high school in another. I learned a lot about Texas history, grammar, and perhaps less so, penmanship. Altogether, that world was as different from modern-day Collin County as one can imagine. When I was eight, my family moved to McKinney, and three or four years later, to Carrollton, where I attended high school. So my roots were both rural and suburban.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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When did you first pursue being a writer, and what was the outcome?<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I loved to read from very early on, and in college as an English major I wrote a lot of papers and later in grad school longer critical essays that I began to publish in scholarly journals. My dissertation on the writer Frank Norris was published, but I had grown tired of academic writing and in 1983 I wrote a very different kind of book, Cowboys and Cadillacs: How Hollywood Looks at Texas, in a personal voice.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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What do you consider to be your first big break as an author?<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Although by the late \u201980s I had published a number of books, my 1989 biography, No Name on the Bullet: A Biography of Audie Murphy, published by Viking, marked a new, more national phase than small press or university press books about Westerns or Texas literature.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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The Dallas Morning News has called you \u201cOur premier scholar and critic on Texas literature, films and pop culture.\u201d For years you have been a contributing editor at Texas Monthly and have written much about the Texas persona through art and culture. But perhaps, your most ambitious effort has been your latest book. Can you tell our readers about Giant: Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, James Dean, Edna Ferber, and the Making of a Legendary American Film?<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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My new book is a narrative account of the personalities and talents that went into the success of this epic movie. Frankly, I find some film books boring because of their extensive coverage of script changes and the like, so I decided to concentrate on the drama of the private lives and the on-screen performances of both major and minor figures.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Several reviewers have pronounced the book \u201cnovelistic,\u201d an adjective that I certainly embrace. Liz Taylor, Rock Hudson, and James Dean are endlessly fascinating, and to George Stevens, the director who pushed and pulled the whole thing together, goes the prize, and indeed he won his second Oscar for Giant.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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What inspired you to write this particular book at this particular time?<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I have long admired the film and during the past few years, I have found that millennials in my Life and Literature of the Southwest course respond very positively to this movie that many of them have never heard of, so that was one factor.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Plus, I know there are many older Texans as well as older Americans throughout the U.S. who remember Giant very fondly and I just thought the story of this amazing film\u2014and its enduring relevance\u2014would be an interesting project, and boy, was it! I loved writing about the major stars, the director, the author of the novel, indeed everybody connected with the film from Hollywood to Marfa, Texas.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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I wanted a book that moves the way the film does, that would tell an increasingly dramatic story along the way. I myself wonder why I didn\u2019t write this book earlier. In 1986 my wife Betsy Berry and I spent three nights on the Ryan Ranch outside of Marfa, owned by Clay Evans, one of the sons of Worth Evans, from whom Stevens leased the land on which to film lots of outdoor scenes. It was the thirtieth anniversary and Marfa was having a weekend celebration. Then, in 1996, I appeared as a \u201ctalking head\u201d in Kirby Warnock\u2019s fine documentary, Return to Giant. I also suspect that semesters spent in France and Australia during the Nineties were a factor in not taking up the challenge of getting the story down on paper. But believe it or not, I\u2019m glad I waited till now. Information about the film kept rolling in during the three to four years of research and writing that would result in the book.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Why do you suppose Texans remain so intrigued with Giant?<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I think Texans are so intrigued with the film because it tells them, in Technicolor images, the story in part of how Texas came to be and how the state needed to change some of its traditional culture, most notably discrimination against racial minorities. Giant melds together two great sagas\u2014Texas ranching culture, with nods toward the King Ranch\u2014and oil\u2014with a fictional portrait of the most famous wildcatter of them all, Glenn McCarthy and his Shamrock Hotel. But I do think there is another dimension to Giant\u2019s continuing popularity, and that is the story of a twenty-five-year marriage and the story of a family.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Giant gets at the truth of family life, and it\u2019s very interesting to realize that not one of the Benedicts\u2019 three children does what their parents want them to do. Instead the family proceeds through the years constantly negotiating and renegotiating the possible futures of the children while the children, grown into adults, go their independent ways. Liz Taylor is the beautiful wife and mother who holds things together and in the process educates her sometimes benighted husband about women and race. It\u2019s a great family saga.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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How old were you when you first saw Giant? Where were you, and what stayed with you from that viewing?<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I was sixteen when I saw it for the first time. This was at the grand Majestic Theater in downtown Dallas. Many things stayed with me from that movie. I was not, for example, a James Dean fan until I saw Giant. And in that great scene where he is bequeathed a piece of land on which he will eventually strike oil and become rich, I was so struck by the sliding motion he makes with his hand when he says adios to Bick Benedict and declines the offer of money in favor of land, that I later adopted that bit and have used it numerous times in the years since. I also love it when he says, \u201cI\u2019m just gonna gamble along with Madama, just gamble along.\u201d My wife and I both use this expression all the time.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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What were some of the biggest surprises you discovered as you were researching your Giant book?<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

There were many surprises. First of all, I didn\u2019t know that much about James Dean and had no idea of the amount of memoirs and biographies written about that volatile figure. Dean proved to be fascinating to write about\u2014and in that way of his, he continues to arouse strong reactions long after his death. I was also surprised\u2014and moved\u2014to find out how much George Stevens\u2019s experiences in WWII affected his life and art. Stevens filmed very disturbing footage at Dachau and two of his documentaries were introduced in evidence in the Nuremberg trials. Edna Ferber\u2019s life and career turned out to be very interesting as well. Indeed, all the longer and shorter biographical takes in the book held my attention all the way through. I was also surprised by the amount of artistic responses to the film, including other films, novels, poems, plays, short stories, installations, even a musical.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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You are the J. Frank Dobie Regents Professor of English at the University of Texas at Austin, so I’m going to ask you the question that I ask everyone who teaches and writes. Can writing be taught? Why or why not?<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know if writing can be taught, but it can certainly be improved by following certain guidelines, such as thinking of a possible audience, finding a voice, and having something that you think is important to say. My general impression is that the best guide for good writing is to read classic twentieth-century American novels.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Nonfiction is awfully important too: I mean narrative nonfiction. Stay away from jargon-ridden academic prose. The frustrating thing about teaching writing is the persistence of many students in making the same mistakes over and over. Also nobody seems to know anything about traditional grammar rules or how to diagram sentences or indeed what a sentence is. I tell students that if they stop using however, their writing will automatically improve. And yet they almost willfully, it seems, ignore lots of good advice that I give them. When I was a student, I wanted to eliminate mistakes in my writing; many of my students seem to have no interest in that at all. Finally, yes, some students improve their writing under good instruction. Inspiration alone, though, ain\u2019t gonna cut it.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Praise for Don Graham’s GIANT<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n

\u201cA noted authority on all things Texas, Graham turns his attention to film with this authoritative tale of ‘Big Texas Oil’ and the epic movie Giant . . . A delightful work of film\/cultural history for movie fans.\u201d \u2015Kirkus Reviews<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

“Don Graham digs into Giant like a wildcatter drilling for oil…He provides colorful tales with minimal Texas exaggeration and a plethora of facts and anecdotes…a book that will satisfy fans of the film.” \u2015Philadelphia Enquirer<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLively . . . deeply researched and efficiently paced.\u201d \u2015Publishers Weekly<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDon Graham is a masterful storyteller . . . Just as Giant the movie was the talk of the town back in 1956, I know Don\u2019s lively narrative will be the talk of the town today. He captures West Texas and the big screen stars perfectly.\u201d \u2015Laura Bush<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDon Graham, long a keen student of Texas literature, has given us a brilliant study of a classic American film.\u201d \u2015Larry McMurtry<\/strong>, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Last Kind Words Saloon<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDon Graham goes far behind the scenes to deftly capture the fragile egos and sexual misadventures of the legendary cast, the extraordinary determination of Stevens, and the reaction of Texans who warily embraced a cinematic self-portrait they found both troubling and irresistible.\u201d \u2015Glenn Frankel, <\/strong>Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of The Searchers and High Noon<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGraham breathes new life into the gripping story behind one of mid-century America\u2019s great epics, retold with invaluable insight drawn from the wells of cultural history, Hollywood dish and Texan lore.\u201d \u2015Noah Isenberg<\/strong>, Los Angeles Times bestselling author of We\u2019ll Always Have Casablanca<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSome films are so vital they become part of American history. Giant is one of them. Don Graham shows us how a volatile mix of some of Hollywood\u2019s biggest, most troubled, personalities \u2015 Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, the doomed James Dean \u2015 came together under the brilliant direction of George Stevens to create an epic that rivals Texas in size, scope,and sheer impact. With insight and wit, Graham gives us a highly entertaining saga of how movies are made and why they become iconic.\u201d \u2015Nancy Schoenberger<\/strong>, author of the critically acclaimed Dangerous Muse: The Life of Lady Caroline Blackwood and the upcoming Wayne and Ford: The Films, the Friendship, and the Forging of an American Hero<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGiant is a page-turning tale of giant talents and egos toiling in a remote Texas location with the legendary director George Stevens to create a classic in American film. Especially Dean is poignantly portrayed as a tortured young man whose career and life flamed out much too soon. Essential reading for every fan of the silver screen.\u201d\u2015Tom Clavin, <\/strong>New York Times bestselling author of Dodge City<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve seen the movie, of course? If not, you\u2019ll rush to get the Blu-ray when you\u2019re a few pages into Don Graham\u2019s riveting book that tells the story of Giant from start to finish. That story involves half of Hollywood, and not only the stars \u2015 Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, James Dean \u2015 but those other superstars considered for the roles: Audrey Hepburn, William Holden, Grace Kelly, Clark Gable, and many others. This brilliant chronicle will grab you like a thriller.\u201d \u2015Sam Staggs<\/strong>, author of All About All About Eve<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

* * * * *<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Don Graham, whom the Dallas Morning News has called \u201cour premier scholar and critic on Texas literature, films and pop culture,\u201d is J. Frank Dobie Regents Professor of English at the University of Texas at Austin. He is also a writer-at-large with Texas Monthly magazine. He received the Carr P. Collins Prize for Best […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1321,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[194,9,12],"class_list":["post-1322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dongraham","tag-lonestarliterarylife","tag-lonestarreview"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1322"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1322\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}