Story About the Book, the Movie and HOTCHNER

Story About the Book, the Movie and Hotchner

I read King of the Hill in the late 70's and it was a book that really stuck with me--just wonderful. When the movie came out, I thought it was just as good (well, almost--you can never in my opinion beat out a book with any movie.) For years I had been telling myself that I had to write Hotchner about how his memoir meant so much to me. Like a lot of things in life, I kept putting it off. Then one day, a few years ago I said "enough already" the man is in his 80's it's now or never. So, I did, a long letter not only about my love of his book but how I had shown the film to my kids at one of the homeless shelters I work at here, in NYC. I also told him about the non-profit I worked for that has been doing marvelous work since 1866! With my kids at the shelter there were a few kids that loved to read, so I gave them used copies of King of the Hill (it is OOP BTW...sadly.)-they loved it. Well a few months went by and I did not hear from Hotch--I was a tad disapointed. However, not long afterwood, my boss called me (she knew about the letter.) My organization had just received $10,000 from "Newman's Own" which is the organization that Newman and Hotchner partner--you know the salad dressing, the pasta sauce, etc. I guess after that, I truly believed in the "the power of the pen." It's nice to know that Hotchner never forgot his humble beginnings.

Anyone who tells a lie has not a pure heart, and cannot make a good soup. Ludwig Van Beethoven