What distinguishes Thurber's time in literature?Ī. He'd be upset if he knew many think of him just as a cartoonist, because he never took that as seriously. He considered his most important contribution was as a writer. He called his house ''The Great Good Place.'' His great story, ''The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,'' is about a person who's on a drive in Connecticut.Ī. Cornwall meant a great deal to James Thurber. William Shirer, whom I interviewed for the film, called them the Cornwall Quartet. Once they came here to Cornwall, they had ties - Mark Van Doren, James Thurber, Lewis Gannett, William Shirer. He had had one eye since he was a young person. Thurber was going through a tremendously difficult period. My grandfather and Thurber met in Martha's Vineyard in 1941. Mark bought a farm with Dorothy in 1927.Ī.
Carl introduced Cornwall to my grandfather. My great-uncle Carl Van Doren lived here in 1913.
When did the Van Dorens come to Connecticut?Ī. She wrote about in Cornwall in ''The Country Wife.'' My grandmother, Dorothy, was a great repository for family history. It's a feeling tone that meant a lot to me. He'd take his nap I enjoyed playing piano for him. I knew my grandfather very well until I was 10. I was always surrounded by books, and it allowed me to live in a world with these wonderful people I didn't have the chance to know. The interest in history, biography, all was there. My father was also an English professor - at Smith, Brandeis and Boston University. My father, John, worked at Encyclopedia Britannica for many years. What of family's influence on your interest in the realm of ideas?Ī. And the cartoons grabbed me as a young person He was blind for the last half of his life, and he'd always sign the inside of his books in huge handwriting. There were all his books around the house, and he had this very distinctive handwriting. Thurber inspired me partly because I was always aware of his presence, even though I never met him, because he was very close with my grandparents. Why not do subjects that are right in your backyard, have familiarity? It has something inside that you can draw from. I find the best projects are the ones under your nose. What inspired you to make the Thurber film?Ī. Liberal arts have always been important in my family. The film is a piecing together of bits and pieces, like a building. It makes you think about a lot of subjects and how they can be integrated. Architects like to know all about everything. How did you jump from architecture to filmmaking?Ī. There are two major types: historical, where you piece together interviews and work with archives, or you can follow an event as it actually takes place, live action which is cinema verite.
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