“This day was not so much a surprise to those of us who knew her well,” said Peter Gunn as he introduced his former student, Jennifer duBois ’02, author of, A Partial History of Lost Causes and recently named one of the National Book Foundation’s Five Under 35.
It was a night of memories as duBois, who participated as a student in the Writers’ Workshop series, became the first alumna to also return as a guest author in the program.
As a student duBois studied The Odd Sea, written by Frederick Reiken, and was greatly influenced by something he said at her Writers’ Workshop. She was having trouble grasping the truth in writing something she hadn’t experienced firsthand and Reiken said, “You write what you know, but you know more than you think you know.” Continue reading
Jim Fernald ’81 is a scriptwriter and former Hollywood development executive now teaching screenwriting at the European Film College in Denmark. In Los Angeles, he worked for several companies, including Centropolis, which made Independence Day, Stargate, and The Patriot, and Carsey-Werner, the producers of the television series “3rd Rock from the Sun,” “Roseanne,” and “The Cosby Show.”