Thursday, October 23, 2008

Today's Blind Items - Kindness

Something a little different today. Always willing to change things up. This one is actually about the wife of a B list television star on one of the biggest comedies on television. It is not that hard, but when someone e-mailed me the story I just had to post it. It also takes place in Iowa which is odd because this is the second or third one we have had from the Iowa Writer's Workshop.

Before our subject got married she was a writer in the workshop. While there she met a male writer. This male writer did really well in the program. He graduated with tons of prospects--got himself a big agent, some money to support himself while he wrote post MFA, etc. While at Iowa, he became close friends with our subject. After a year of writing, he was ready to go--had his short story collection done, was going to hit the road to become the next Big Writing Star.

Except that he came home one night and everything--computer, disc drives, backups, paper copies, etc--of his work had been stolen in a burglary. A year's worth of work---out the door with a crackhead looking for some quick cash. Our male writer went into a tailspin--his life's ambitions were stolen from him in one night.

His support during this time came from our actor's wife, who continued to
encourage him to write, and who just helped him through that dark period, which lasted well over two years.

This feel-good story has a sweet ending, too---ten years later, our male writer
is back with a short story collection, and continues to write. Friends have helped him to set up a mini-midwest book tour, from connections he made while at Iowa, and a reading at the Knitting Factory in LA for him later this month, set up by his friend, our actor's wife.

30 comments:

  1. Rainn Wilson's wife is a writer

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  2. Wow, this is awesome. How horrible that it happened to this writer. It will never be recouped, but he will stand tall and get through this because someone else had faith in him. I hope the actor knows what he has in his wife helping this writer.

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  3. Awww, I love a good kindness!

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  4. I was going to guess Charlie Sheens wife......but would he be b list?

    Barry Watsons wife? Is he still married?

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  5. The universe will repay her kindness a million times over!

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  6. Solved. Rainn Wilson's wife also went to the Iowa Writer's Workshop.

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  7. It is Rainn Wilson's wife - Holiday Reinhorn.
    That was too easy!
    http://www.andrewporterwriter.com/ANDREW_PORTER/friends_.html
    I love a good kindness!!

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  8. It is Rainn Wilson's wife - Holiday Reinhorn.
    That was too easy!
    http://www.andrewporterwriter.com/ANDREW_PORTER/friends_.html
    I love a good kindness!!

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  9. We should make their efforts worth while and buy his book of short stories. We have to encourage real writers!!

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  10. sorry about the double post, all.

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  11. I agree, Rainn Wilson is B-list. His wife is a writer and both were pictured together yesterday. I was a little afraid at the beginning at the story, having not read the title and understood it was a kindness story. I was pretty sure that Holiday Reinhorn would turn out to have stolen the material and published it under her own name, as it happens in "Deathtrap". I'm happy to discover it isn't so...

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  12. wow farmgirl, way to go. that was quick!

    good for them. i love reading the kindnesses.

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  13. emobacca - major props to you too, since you were the first to post that.

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  14. As a graduate of the workshop, let me tell you, there are a million more stories that could leak out of that place. Many of them would not be kindnesses! Although some would. We prefer to keep them quiet so we can use them in our fiction and they sound fresh.

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  15. But who's the author? Looking over the schedule on the Knitting Factory's website, I can't see anything for this month that looks like a book reading/signing.

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  16. Oops! Should have read more carefully. I guess I was thinking "this month"=October. Good work, farmgirl!

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  17. It is Andrew Porter - I posted the link from his website.

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  18. Thanks - now I can go back to retarded guesses on the real blinds!

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  19. Good idea re helping out, FarmGirl. I will be buying this book.

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  20. Anonymous3:15 PM

    Don't have a guess, just wanted to say that that's awesome.

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  21. For all of you wanting to give him a hand:

    http://www.amazon.com/Theory-Light-Matter-Stories-Flannery/dp/0820332097/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1224801429&sr=8-1

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  22. I guess one lesson learned from this story is to hide at least one backup copy of your original work. I can't believe a thief would take paper copies and backup discs.

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  23. Holiday Reinhorn is a lovely woman and a fine writer. She's awesome and good friends with an old friend of mine.

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  24. wow, people doing the right thing in hwood, maybe there is hope, good story, thanks

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  25. ...taking back up disks and paper copies... this isn't the m.o. of a crackhead. Someone purposely tried to fuck him up.

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  26. Aww..I love a good story. When I started reading this, I was afraid the ending would be more like the actress was having an affair with the writer, or she stole his collection and published it as her own. I'm so glad the result was much better.

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  27. Ms., possibly, but it could be that he was simply cleaned out.

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  28. i just am not feeling this b item. the kindness are usually more intense or involved than this. i dont know, this was too lame and too easy, which i never say and never complain about.

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  29. Rainn and Holiday? Wow! That's awesome!

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