The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, April 18, 1980, Page Page 7, Image 7
William Pr:
outlandis
By Teresa Weaver
Gamecock Staff Writer
Some people may not understand
a lot of William Price Fox's humor,
but it doesn't bother him at all.
Southern humor is ;? littln Hif.
ferent from that of the North, but
Fox said he has never had trouble
remembering who his audience is
when writing in the deep South
Carolina dialects.
"I really don't care if people in
theNorth understand my humor. If
' it sounds good to me. then I write
it. There's no way { can please
everybody, there's just no way,"
Fox said.
DKKSSFl) IN A blue blazer, red
checkered pants and cowboy boots,
the Columbia-born and bred author
led a near-capacity audience at the
Belk Auditorium through an hour
of "laughing at ourselves" as
Southerners.
Fox, USC's writer-in-residence,
was the fourth in the Spring
Writers Series, sponsored by the
Department of English and the
College of Humanities and Social
Sciences.
H 1
' li;
Once
for actres
By David Bakor
uarfir-uotn rum trim;
The first time one sees Deborah
Iiaffin in her new film. Touched by
Love, its hard to believe that she's
the same actress who starred as
.January in Jacqueline Susann's
Oncv is- not l-noufih. The flowing
. blond hair ha.-- been replaced by a
close cropped Bod Slew art-type
hairdo and the designer clothing
lias been ousted in favor of baggy
sweaters and woolen skirts.
Likewise. Kaffin's characterization
of Lena Canada, an introverted
nurses' aide who
becomes obsessed with helping a
young girl inflicted with cerebral
palsy, couldn't !x* farther from the
self-centered tease with a fatherfixation
she so expertly portrayed
in the earlier picture.
KAFFIN INSISTS, however,
that she didn't make Touched by
love in order to change her sexy
image. "It was the hook To Elvis.
With Love, written by Lena
Canada and based on her own true
story. I loved the story and what it
said, and the possibilities of what it
could say," Kaffin explained,
adding that "the only image I'm
striving for is to be considered a
versatile actress."
With that as her ultimate goal,
Kaffin decided not to make any
films after Once is not Enough
unui sne learned more awim iici
craft.
Aside from a cameo role in The
I
jm ^ ^11 flfeTi
n 1 B j ; ? 11
ice Fox hit:
;h homesp
A 195() graduate of USC, Fox
returned here in 1975 to become a
faculty member after spending
some time as a screenwriter in Los
Angeles. He has written several
books, a great many short stories
and more than 40 articles.
NKARLY ALL of his work
revolves around the characters
and scenes of the South he grew up
in. and it's simply because that's
what he knows best. "I'm from
here and I know the language
pretty well. It's always easier to
start with something you know real
well," he said.
Fox rpnri from twn nf hie vur?rlrt
Wednesday to the unqualified
delight of the audience. With a
unique sense of humor and an
hysterically informal delivery, the
author seemed to enjoy his stories
as much as the audience did.
He first read a short story from
the Southern Fried collection,
entitled. "You don't Smell It, You
Drink It," which he said was based
largely on the character of one of
his uncles.
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liiia.s no t El
s Deborai
Sentinel (done as a favor for best
friend Christina Raines, who was
that film's star and who makes a
cameo appearance in Touched by
Love to return Haffin's favor*,
Kaffin spent the past five years
studying with drama coach Mijton
Katselas, acting in regional
theatres, and starring in made-for
television films such as The Lasi
Convertible. Willa and Nightman
in Badham County, for which sht
received an Emmy nomination.
THE NOMINATION, Raffil
said, is one of the most exciting
things that has happened to her
"With all the awards, you can'l
help but be thrilled because you're
being acknowledged by your
peers," she said, adding that "Yon
can't put too much emphasis on
them, however, or they become an
obsession."
If the early reviews are an in
dication, liaffin stands a good
s mark witl
>un uuiiior
FOX'S FATHER had twelve
brothers and one sister, he said,
and all but the sister were involved
in making whiskey. One uncle that
he knew particularly well was
named Martin Luther Fox.
"1 had always been real fond of
Uncle M L. because he always took
a real hopeful view of things. He'd
have a million dollars one week
and nothing the next. He gave me
two pieces of advice. When I was
young he told me never to hit the
brakes on a curve. And he told me
if you're ever going to commit a
crime make it a federal one
because 0,0 state prisons will
break yoi - t" Fox added.
FOX TOLD of his days as a
Western union boy and of riding in
pickups with no floorboards before
he began reading the story of a
bootlegger that got the best of one
of his buyers.
The novelist also read an unpublished
story that will appear in
Golf Digest in a month about "the
slowest moving golf foursome in
history." The selection was long,
but endured only by laughter from
the receptive crowd.
The vintage Fox story involved a
group of elderly men, who play the
most uproariously entertaining
game of golf ever written. The
story, titled Charleston s Oldest
Foursome," is entirely fictional,
Fox said.
4*I STARTED with Golf Digest
doing profiles of players playing
the pro-am tournaments, mostlj
color pieces. Lately I've beer
doing more and more short stories
and faking them as articles. Nom
of them are remotely articles, bui
people don't know fiction fron
short stories these days," he said.
Fox teaches creative writing ii
the USC Department of Englisl
and said that he enjoys the ex
i ough
h Raff in
rhlinpo AI *jn Hcn-i
v iiuwv.V \JI >>iiii Cill \ 'OV.C*
nomination lor her performance i
Touched bv Love. She finds ill
possibility exciting t"We didn
expect the overwhelm in
response."" she said), but sh
refuses to think seriously aboi
such a thing until it happens
WHU.K M AN V of the actors \vh
appear in television series war
desperately to break into film*
Kaffin \v i 11 be abandonin
features, at leasi temporarily. fo
a starring role in an ABC sene
t I 1 K J 1 II "I O II let CtlllUiH t. I J/t
(*!!?.' Mill I ><. J no V U 1 \ / \ 4 W
scnes called Foul Play, which i
based on the film with (ioldi
Hawn,' Ratlin said
HaHin previously has refused t
do a series for fear of bein
typecast. "Vou have to be careti
i<( to avoid overexposure," she saic
"One advantage I have now is th<i
I've established myself in othe
roles that were well-receive
either critically or by the public. S
t I don't feel that 1 can be typecas
> as easily as a lot of other sene
; regulars have been."
Haffin added that she has few. i
any. trepidations about assuming.
i role that already has been e>
' plored by another actress. "Goldi
' was wonderful in the film and i'n
t not trying, by any means, to pla
the role like she did. I have my ow
interpretation. I m sure people wil
i compare, but I don't worry to
i much about it because I don't fe
i like the film is thought of as
classic. There are lots of othe
films that have roles 1 would neve
t want to step into or repeat."
William Price Fox enjoys .
reading at the Be/k auditoriun
norion/'o r?? ,.,.?.< ?.wt ...iJ-U?
rv> iviivv u1 v.hwi. V.UIIUII.I Willi
enterprising young writers.
"I don't like the preparation
involved, but I like the actual
teaching part. I like the one-to-one
teaching," he said. As he pointed
out several of his former students
who were currently writing novels.
Fox said, "I stay real close to my
students."
"/ really don't care
A/^% W m mmtm, ^
ivut ite unu&r&wnu my
good to me, then / writ
can please everybody, t
FOX HAS BEEN instrumental in
attracting many of the best-selling
: authors to the Spring Writers
Series and he feels the program
has been a huge success. Films of
all the series lectures will come out
( in May, Fox said, that will include
' thirty-minute excerpts from each
of the writers.
"It will be the best part of the
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Bonnie Raitt. one of the most
i temporary music and well known
l niifl?vir nuu'umiiiil will lw> I lw>
* viaavtli , Mill ?/V V 1 IV I VUl
i Outdoor Concert on Field A.
1 The Nighthawks, a high-energy I
) will return to USC, after two succ<
1 opening act
1 The gates open at 12:30. Contemp
r sponsoring the event, has announce
r allowed on the fields. The rain loc<
ship.
s quiet moment during his
1 Wednesday night. ^
whole series. They've got a slick
good look and it's going to be a
national thing. There's no way we
can stop it," Fox said. The importance
of the series is to present
successful authors in a truly
educational atmosphere, according
to Fox.
"The authors were answering
questions about writing and thev
if f AA /r* ? aLM
n lift C III tf/C?
humor. If it sounds
9 it. There's no way I
here's just no way. "
weren't worried about namedropping
and things like that.
They gave very direct answers to
student questions. Usually when
you're around that type of student
responsiveness, you'il tell things
you normally wouldn't on
something like the Merv Griffin
show."
:. -- . ' : :%?;.: :*-"' :'"j
- . f-l'r8
Hk'N
CfflSwImiftL * '
M,
' tr
energetic performers in comfor
her involvement in the antiured
artist Sunday at the Spring
t &B band from Washington D.C.
?ssful performances here, as the
mrarv *\rtnnik f'nmmiiton
V/VIIIMIMIW, VY ft 11/ lO |
d that no glass containers will be
ition of the show is at the Town