What Happened to the Writer?

I really love this movie. It is kind of raunchy and sentimental and that is what I liked about it, and also it took me to another time and place. I should buy it on DVD. Hopefully, it has a few special features on it, but I am not counting on that. It seems like a movie that may show up on television once and a while, but still doesn't get a lot of respect.

I was wondering why the screenwriter didn't have a long and amazing career in Hollywood. Then I found out he was a Professor at NYU who died a little over ten years ago, which kind of makes me feel down, because I think he probably had a bunch of finished screenplays that never saw the light of day. If anyone took his class at NYU, could you kindly post a few thoughts about what he was like, and if he was working on anything?