A Tribute...

Darren McGavin, an American Actor passed away on February 18th. He worked in both television and film.



This is my tribute to the actor Darren McGavin who I saw for the first time in a made for TV movie called " The Night Stalker ".

The character McGavin played, a reporter named Carl Kolchak was a writer AND a hunter of Vampires, Ghosts and Demons. Carl Kolchak didn't look perfect, he didn't dress perfect and he spent a large part of the show being abused by his boss, co-workers...even these actors playing shop keepers and cab drivers got to score points off of Carl.

If you were a kid (and I was 10 at the time I saw the first Night Stalker episode) you could relate...

And if you were a kid who wanted to write AND Hunt Vampires, Ghosts and Demons, well my gosh this movie was a gift from the Heavens. It was like someone threw open the doors and said..." here it is Anita, this is going to be your life."

Writing...Monsters.... the two can be combined.

I'll be darned.

So that's what I did.

I was already attending the " Rod Serling Academy " in the " Twilight Zone ", so I was more then ready for Kolchak and what Kolchak The Night Stalker taught me was that you could think outside the box. Heroes didn't have to be like James Bond. They could be smart and funny and less then perfect.

They could be someone like you or me....

That has been an invalueable lesson to me as a writer.

Thank You Mr McGavin.

AMM