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Show Earl Hamner's a storyteller 3 whose memories shape his art by Mike Finnegan Earl Harnner, who cre.jted the popular CBS-TV series 'The Waltons' and surves as executive producer of ABC-TV's new Sunday night adventure dram.) 'The Young Pioneers,' has been telling stones for a long time. He wrote poetry, scripted scores of radio and TV dramas and authored a few novels before attaining his greatest success with 'The Waltons.' Recently he spoke by phone from California about his latest project and also reminisced about his own life story, starting out in a closely-knit, large family in Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains that would inspire the creation of the Walton clan, "The first work that I published was a poem I wrote at age seven," Hamner recalled, "that was called 'My Dog,' And I didn't even have a dog!" The writer said that he would create stories about all kinds of things with which he was not familiar, such as "rich people living In Europe" continues to narrate each week's episode. Now Hamner's big proiect is working on 'The Young Pioneers,' which was suggested by a series of books by Rose Wilder Lane that have already inspired two pilot made-for-TV movies. And like a writer tying together plot aspects, he says the series encompasses many things. "Basically it's a love story," he evaluated. "It s also an adventure saga and an account of the opening of the west but it is basically a charming young love story." He considers co-stars Linda Purl and Roger Kern, who play the pioneer Beatons who build a home for themselves in the open wilderness of the Dakota territory in the 1870s. "absolutely ideal." "They are extremely gifted actors," Hamner praised, "and they have a stylized way of acting that gives the piece an archaic look and feel.'' According to the executive producer, "We've photographed the series softly, to give it the look of a daguerreotype." One prominent factor in the continuing plot. Hamner said, will be the friendship of the Beatons with Indians. "We've seen Indians portrayed for so long as savages," Hamner commented, "that we've taken care to present them as human beings with dignity. We'll be employing some Indian actors from several Sioux tribes." Another outstanding aspect of the episodes. ... . ''""-.,v J ' ft' .1 ( v- J I U: 1 . !' . : ,; i student his first day there, he cut quite a figure in a cut-down suit given him by one of his uncles tall, shy and quite the serious scholar. After serving in the armed forces and finishing out college at Northwestern University, Universi-ty, Hamner began writing for a Cincinnati radio station and later became a staff writer for the NBC radio network, serving as a scriptwriter for many classic programs. "One of the saddest things in broadcasting is the disappearance of radio drama," Hamner said. "There was a wonderful sort of communication that existed between radio players and their listeners." One fond remembrance for Hamner was of 'Biography in Sound,' a show in which various interviews were compiled to create a whole portrait of a famous individual. One segment, a profile of Theodore Roosevelt, involved Hamner talking to Eleanor Roosevelt about her Presidential uncle. She told him a story about the way Teddy taught her how to swim in Oyster Bay near their New York home. "He said, 'Toss her in. If she doesn't learn how to swim then, she'll never learn!" Another time one of the radio players skipped a couple of pages in the drama and, Hamner fond'y chuckled, "Everybody tried to catch up and it turned into a real mess." All told, Hamner worked in radio about nine years before heading out to Los Angeles around 1961. He turned to writing novels and his second book, the autobiographical 'Spencer's Mountain,' became a great personal success. The 1963 film of 'Spencer's Mountain strayed quite a bit from his book, Hamner said. "They switched the locale from the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Grand Tetons and rriade it into a western from my 'eastern,' " he asserted. "And if they owned half the land they had in the movie, they'd be filthy rich, unlike the poor, sacrificing people in my book." Henry Fonda's job of playing Hamner's father, however, pleased the author very much. "He had a swagger like my father's and they both shared that basic joy of living," Hamner reflected. "When I called my father to tell him that Henry Fonda would be playing him, there was quiet on the line and then he said simply, 'I'll be a son of a bitch!" James MacArthur, the co-star of 'Hawaii Five-O' who played the son in the movie, considered playing Hamner one of his most meaningful roles, the author added. 'The Homecoming,' based on Hamner's fourth novel, started the Walton ball rolling on TV. This Yuletide drama special was filmed in Jackson Hole, Wyo., to try to simulate the Blue Ridge Mountains setting of the story, Hamner said, "because it was the only place we could find nice, snowy hill country at the time of year we were filming." Patricia Neal played Olivia Walton, another role choice that Hamner found gratifying. "She was wonderful, like an earth mother," he said. "She had a totally genuine originality that Michael Learned continues to reflect in the S6fi6S. ' 1 Hamner first noticed Richard Thomas in the movie 'Red Sky at Morning' and judged that he had "the right combination of sensitivity and intellectuality" that he sought in the actor who would play the autobiographical role of John-Boy. "Although his background has been cosmopolitan," cos-mopolitan," Hamner said, "his own people originally came from Kentucky, so he's basically very close to the earth." Thomas left the series last year after winning an Emmy for the role. "We've been given the go-ahead to develop scripts for next season, which will take the family into 1941 and the war will probably touch them more acutely," said Hamner, who ' A J. . :y " , J 3v ' . - Jf.-- 1 ' ftp I A. ;W'' I :..' . ' ' :' 'The Waltons' creator Earl Hamner, now executive producer of 'The Young Pioneers,' considers himself "54 going on 16." or the intrigues of royalty but found that one could "have more passion" when writing about things which you did know. "I was always an avid reader," he said. "Our local library was open three days a week and I would take out books on anything, adult novels, biographies, reference books, children's chil-dren's stories. Once I even remember reading a history of beekeeping that was rather wild." Among the writers Hamner said he favored were Thomas Wolfe, Willa Cather and Sinclair Lewis, all regional authors, and he cited as a special favorite a book by Elizabeth Roberts called 'The Time of Man,' which portrayed the daily struggles of a hill family. He said he felt that such writers as Eudora Welty as well as the Foxfire books are carrying on the tradition of regional writing today and said that many small publications showcase the works of Appalachian writers. Hamner became the first in his family to go to college when he enrolled in the University of Richmond. "The home," he said, "gave me some perspective with which my writing could become better, looking back on things from a " Hp added that as a scholarship 'The Young Pioneers' stars Roger Kern and Linda Purl are "absolutely ideal" for their roles, according to Hamner. which were filmed on location in Arizona, will be the attention to period detail, Hamner said. The Beaton house was constructed out of sod, he pointed out, and throughout the episodes, certain facets of pioneer life will be glimpsed, such as plowing and planting. "One episode will emphasize the importance ot the chicken to the wilderness settlers," Hamner said, "with a great celebration arising over the arrival of one egg. Another episode, dealing with a diptheria epidemic, will offer an authentic look at medical practices of that time." The storyteller's skill of Hamner has been rewarded many times over with Emmys, a Peabody Award and a 1973 citation as Virginian of the Year, among many others. Perhaps the greatest award for the red-haired author, who describes himself as "54 going on 16," is that at least in his particular case the storytelling art revitalizes itself while entertaining entertain-ing others. |