Have you ever wondered if...

[Caffeine]

A story about a person you know about would make a good movie.

Discuss ...

[Caffeine]

There are a couple people I think about.

The first is my father.

A month after I was born he was killed in Vietnam. His name appears on the Ranger Memorial at Ft Benning along with Pat Tilman's and hundred of others.

The thing that makes my father's story unique is that he is the only US Olympic Medal winner ever killed in combat. Several articles have been written about it. My favorite appeared in ESPN.com and was written by Mark Chalifoux. In this article it recounts my father's life and how he talked Joe Frazier out of quiting the ring at the Olympic trials in 1964. Joe Frazier is quoted in the article stating that he loved my father as a brother. I also wrote my own article in Vietnam Magazine that includes a dscription of the mission my father was killed on. That was a really hard telling on my end that only scratches the surface and hints at what I feel occured to my father that night: that his 6 man recon. team was killed by US Navy SEALs.

I will have to do more research to uncover the full truth, evidence of coverup I already have, it is just the details that need to be tuned.

If anyone is ever interested in this story have at it, I am no writer.

[Caffeine]

The second figure that comes to mind is a girl that was a classmate of mine. Her name is Shirley Wolf and she stabbed an old lady to death and the story is told in true crime non-fiction in a book called, Little Girl Lost by Joan Merriam.

You can find reviews and details about Shirley and the incident at Amazon. Shirely, after she commited the murder, wrote in her diary "Today me and Cindy killed a little old lady it was fun".

The book has been out of print for years and I have know idea why it never made the screen other than the fact that at the time it may have been a bit too much.

[Jan]

(moved to Off Topic since it's not JMS/B5 related)

I don't know how interesting the stories would be but I'd love to know more about how my parents came to be the people they were. What my siblings and I do know is pretty horrific but somehow they ended up two terribly damaged people who never did less than their best for us.

Jan

[vakie]

The first person that comes to mind is my grandfather, who fought for Finland in the Winter War (1939-1940) and the Continuation War (1941-1944) against the Soviet Union during World War II. He died in 1991 when I was too young to know or understand what he and others had done for our country, and now when I do I can't ask him about it.

He was wounded several times, and eventually fought in the decisive battle at Tali-Ihantala (June 25 - July 9, 1944), the largest battle in Nordic history.

Last year they did release a movie about the battle, Tali-Ihantala 1944, and I thought it was pretty well made. Though seeing as there were about 50 000 Finnish soldiers in the battle, it's understandable they didn't have time to include him in it. The film didn't really focus on any other particular soldiers either, just on the battle itself, using an almost documentary approach, which I thought was an interesting approach for a war movie.

[*Starstuff*]

My dad.

He has turned 75 this year and what he has seen and endured escapes my understanding. He does not talk about the war at all (WWII, he was a small boy then, but suffered greatly nonetheless) or about some events he witnessed in the GDR. Only through my uncle (his half brother) I found out that my dad was once beaten severely by his army comrades because he refused to lead the military against the civilian population during the uprisings in the 60s. They nearly beat him to death, knocking out most of his teeth.

But despite everything he has seen - or maybe just because of that - my dad is a person who would go to any length to help people, protect them and stand up for them. I wish I had just a portion of his courage.

I guess though that there are already many movies out there dealing with those times and heroes like my dad. The unsung heroes, those whose names never made the paper and never were known to people who may own their lives or freedom to them.

[glindros]

Like the saying goes, everybody has at least one good book in them, they're life's story.

Day to day may not be exciting, but I can easily see that may people, family and friends have a compelling narrative to their life, that would be interesting with a modest amount of editing.

[Dan Dassow]

Biographical Film

I've wondered whether a film biography of the life of our illustrious J. Michael Straczynski would be as engaging as he on discussion boards and in real life. Knowing jmsÆ penchant for keeping his private life private (and who can blame him), I seriously doubt such a or a biography would happen within my lifespan.

If there were such a film and/or biography the logical title would be "Never Start a Fight, but Always Finish it: A Kid from New Jersey's Rise to Screenwriting Fame".

... and no, I would never suggest this on a forum that I believed that jms read.

[Jan]

... and no, I would never suggest this on a forum that I believed that jms read.

JMS may not read here but I think the Narn Bat Squad does. I think I hear boots approaching your door, Dan...

Jan

[Talwyn]

Like the saying goes, everybody has at least one good book in them, they're life's story.

Day to day may not be exciting, but I can easily see that may people, family and friends have a compelling narrative to their life, that would be interesting with a modest amount of editing.

That was really well said!

Bravo!