With the buzz swirling around Steve Jobs, the movie based on
Walter Issacson’s biography of the brilliant yet narcissistic founder of Apple,
it was a priviledge to attend a screening organized by my union. The successful
screenwriter Aaron Sorkin and I both belong to the Writer’s Guild of America,
and frankly, that may be where the similarity ends. Once upon a time I penned words for Diane
Sawyer and Sam Donaldson on PrimeTime Live, but that was another lifetime
ago.
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| Aaron Sorkin |
Sorkin was going to engage in a Q&A after we screened
his latest film, so this was my second
chance to ask him a question. I blew it last time when Sorkin did a Q&A after
screening the Social Network, another
brilliant, rapid-fire tome that makes writer’s like me throw up our IPads and
search for a dog walking job. I was intimidated by the master wordsmith’s
presence and unsure of what to say, but I was younger then. This time I was not going to throw away my
shot.
Sitting in the front, I shot up my hand and was the first
person called. I said, “I loved this
film but I don’t have a question about it. I’ve waited a long time to say this.
I want to thank you for the West
Wing. I have multiple sclerosis and for
years in our support groups, we complained about the need for a poster child,
ala Michael J. Fox with Parkinson’s disease. Someone with an unpredictable affliction, but
who still gets up, takes the nasty drugs and gets on with it. Then you gave President
Jed Bartlett MS. Fiction or not, I don’t
think we could have asked for a better role model.”
