Amazing Stories from the Web
PART 11
THE MAGIC GIFT OF WRITING
Pre-Reading: Discussion Questions
1. Are you interested in true crime stories? Why/Why not?
2. Have you ever done anything stupid?
In 1997, a new film was released in the USA to huge box-office success. Critics say that it established the new genre of teen horror/crime movie, with the emphasis not on the crime itself, but on the reasons why it was committed, and what the consequences were. It also introduced several young actors to stardom, including Jennifer Love Hewitt, the star of “Ghost Whisperer” series, and Sarah Michelle Gellar, of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” fame. The film is actually a screen version of the novel with the same title, which was written by Lois Duncan, a well-known writer who lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Lois Duncan, born in 1934, is an American writer, known primarily for her books for children and young adults, especially crime thrillers. Duncan’s parents were the noted magazine photographers Lois Steinmetz and Joseph Janney Steinmetz. She was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but grew up in Sarasota, Florida. Duncan started writing and submitting manuscripts to magazines at the age of ten, and when she was thirteen succeeded in selling her first story. It is quite understandable why one of the central themes of her stories is the exploration of one’s own potential by a child. All her characters are faced with difficult situations which they have to resolve; all of them are determined to achieve success in whatever they do.
Duncan attended Duke University from 1952 to 1953 but dropped out, married, and started a family. During this time, she continued to write and publish magazine articles; over the course of her career, she has published more than 300 articles, in magazines such as Ladies’ Home Journal, Redbook, McCall’s, Good Housekeeping, and Reader’s Digest. After her first marriage, which produced three children, ended in divorce, Duncan moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to teach journalism at the University of New Mexico, where she also earned a BA in English in 1977. In 1965 she married Don Arquette, and had two more children with him. One of her most popular books is called The Gift of Magic. In it, she tells the story of a young girl who comes to terms with her parents’ separation and then re-marriage. Her heroine also seems to have some sort of “second sight”, which is called the gift of magic, and actually turns out to be a totally different gift. The last line is among the finest book endings ever written.
In 1989 the youngest of Duncan’s children, Kaitlyn Arquette, was murdered in Albuquerque, New Mexico under suspicious circumstances. Duncan’s non-fiction book Who Killed My Daughter? relates the facts and conjecture about the still unsolved case. Duncan says that she would love to write a sequel to this book, but in order for that to happen, she needs to find out who killed her daughter.
It is amazing that in many of her books written a long time before the tragedy, the writer explored the origins of crime and its impact on the victim’s family.
Duncan is an extremely prolific author. Though she is primarily known for her young adult/children’s suspense novels, she has also written a lot of poetry (which she humorously calls “my secret life”), and literally hundreds of magazine articles. My own personal favorite book by Lois Duncan is Killing Mister Griffin (1978). Its intricate plot shows the writer at her best. She tells the story about teenagers whose practical joke quickly turns into a real nightmare, skillfully bringing together all the narrative lines.
Today, Lois Duncan is the author of about fifty books, ranging from children’s picture books to adult novels, but she is best known for her young adult suspense novels. Many of those have been chosen as American Library Association “Best Books for Young Adults” and Jr. Literary Guild Selections, and they have won Young Readers Awards in 16 states and three foreign countries. In 1992, Lois received the Margaret A. Edwards Award, presented by the School Library Journal and the Young Adult Library Services Association, to honor a living author for a distinguished body of adolescent literature.
Some of her books have an unusual fate, which could become a story in itself. For example, her 1971 book Hotel for Dogs is now being turned into a film starring Emma Roberts. The producers chose this almost forgotten book because it used to be their favorite story many years ago, when they were children. In a recent interview, the author said good-naturedly, “As always happens, the film script isn’t quite like the book. In my book, the sister and brother, Andi, 10, and Bruce, 12, turn a vacant house into a haven for unwanted dogs. In the movie, Andi is 16, (that change in age was so Emma Roberts could star), and the kids are orphans, (that change was so Lisa Kudrow could be their foster mother and Don Cheadle could adopt them.) The vacant house is now a deserted luxury hotel. And, instead of the twelve dogs in my original story, there are eight “star dogs,” all of whom have two understudies who look just like them, plus fifty extras for the crown scenes. Each dog had its personal trainer to direct it on the set. And I even got to work as an extra myself! In one of the crowd scenes, I’m at the front of the crowd, being shoved aside by dog catchers. They can’t cut me out of the film, because I’m right in front of the camera. My moment of glory!”
Generations of readers who grew up on “Lois Duncan” books have been asking her to write her autobiography. That task seemed formidable until she began to leaf through her notebooks. There, she found herself in every season of her life: Springtime (as a child); Summer (as a young mother); Autumn (at the peak of her career); Winter (as the mother of a murdered child); and finally, a Second Spring, writing humorous verse for grandchildren.
Without realizing it, she wrote her autobiography as she lived it. Seasons of the Heart is the story of an ordinary woman, told in an extraordinary way. It’s Lois’s dream that it will be used in classrooms to introduce young people to poetry as a relevant and meaningful addition to their lives.
prolific (adj.) producing many works
narrative (n.) account of events, story
formidable (adj.) very great and frightening
Another amazing thing about Lois Duncan is her connection to her readers. Not only does she have many web sites, she also answers her readers’ questions, and replies to the numerous e-mails. When we read her stories in class, we wrote her a letter, and this is what she wrote back:
Dear Readers,
How thrilling it is to know that my books are read in such an exotic place as Siberia! I wish you all the best in your studies,
Lois Duncan
If you are interested in this story, you can simply enter “Lois Duncan” into the address line, or use a search engine