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Jul. 31--Most of the 1,000 fans at Staller Center for the Stony Brook Film Festival Friday evening expected Alan Alda, the actor. Instead they met Alan Alda, the writer.
Chief among Alda's credentials for the Southampton Writers Conference -- of which his festival appearance was a highlight -- is his 2005 memoir, "Never Have Your Dog Stuffed." In 11 years on "M*A*S*H," he said the only achievement that caused him to do cartwheels was an Emmy for writing the "Dreams" episode of the TV series.
The writers conference, jeopardized by the recent closing of the undergraduate program at Southampton College, showed it was alive and well in its collaboration with Stony Brook and the film festival. Introduced by fellow author Roger Rosenblatt, Alda spoke mostly of his early life, as son of an actor (Robert Alda) and a schizophrenic mother (Joan). His book takes its title from the taxidermy performed on a pet who died when he was a child. "For a memory to live," he noted, "you have to let it go." In answer to a question from the audience, he said it would be like "stuffing the dog" for him to reprise the role of Hawkeye Pierce as a retired surgeon. The most recent part for Alda, 70, was as a Republican presidential candidate on TV's "The West Wing."
The 11th annual film festival concluded Saturday with awards for Best Feature (audience choice), "Manual of Love," directed by Giovanni Veronesi; (jury choice) "Mohave Phone Booth," by John Putch; Best Short (audience) "Full Disclosure," by Douglas Horn; (jury) "Transgressions," by Valerie Weiss.
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Copyright (c) 2006, Newsday, Melville, N.Y.
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