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Chicago Tribune
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
Column: Author Peter Ferry is back, as his novel ‘Old Heart' becomes a movie
The teacher and novelist Peter Ferry is dead. He died at age 77, less than a year ago, on the morning of Sept.17 to be precise, but he was the topic of conversation recently when a couple of creative guys were telling me about him and talking about his novel 'Old Heart' and how it became a movie. 'He was a wonderful guy,' said Gary Houston, long a prominent presence as an actor and director on the local theater scene and a former newspaperman, now a managing editor of the literary Chicago Quarterly Magazine, which published some of Ferry's short stories. 'And he really inspired me to start writing fiction even after many years of never trying.' 'I fell in love with Peter's book and immediately called him and told him I wanted to make a movie based on it,' said Roger Rapoport, a writer, investigative reporter, producer and all-around creative dynamo. (He's also the brother of former Chicago sports columnist Ron Rapoport.) 'I hadn't known him, but he was just wonderful, the perfect collaborator. He was so supportive, always coming up with great ideas and sharing his knowledge that enriched the project.' Ferry will not get to see the movie, which begins a national tour that brings it to our Chopin Theatre on June 4 for the premiere of 'Old Heart,' the feature-length movie based on Ferry's second and last novel. Among the guests will be Houston and Rapoport; co-director Kirk Wahamaki will also be there, along with actors Jamelle Sargent, Edward Gaines and Eva Doueiri, who is flying in from Amsterdam. Ferry's widow, Carolyn, will be there, as will daughter Lizzie and son Griffin, and surely others. Ferry had many friends and admirers 'Peter did get to see the stage adaptation of the novel when it was performed in Michigan,' said Rapoport, who wrote and produced the stage version and the movie. 'He liked it, was proud and I knew he could envision the film.' Ferry was a native of West Virginia who moved to Chicago as a teenager. After college at Ohio and Northwestern Universities and a few years writing and editing textbooks at Rand McNally, he spent three decades teaching English and writing at Lake Forest High School. Among his students were actor Vince Vaughn and author Dave Eggers, one of the leading literary figures of our time, who has said of Ferry, 'He was a very erudite guy with a wry wit, and he understood the strange sense of humor my friends and I had. We became fanboys of Mr. Ferry, and he was our hero and mentor. And he and I stayed in touch for the next 35 years.' Eggers told me this after Ferry died: 'I think I mention Mr. Ferry and his second career as a novelist once a week, whenever I encounter someone trying to write a novel later in life. Mr. Ferry really showed you could do it, and do so at the very highest level.' While teaching, Ferry also wrote stories for the Tribune's travel section and worked on what would be his first novel, 'Travel Writing,' published in 2008. 'Old Heart' came out in 2015 and reviewing it for this newspaper I called it 'a stunning story. In bright and precise prose.' It tells of 85-year-old Tom Johnson, a Black World War II veteran who decides, much to the alarm of his maybe-dad-should-be-in-a-nursing-home grown children, to find the woman whom he believes to have been the great love of his life, lost over decades and, perhaps, for good. And so off he goes, to a lovely town in the Netherlands. Johnson's identity as a Black veteran is an essential element of the story. 'That's the thing, on top of its inherent power, this novel, this film is so topical. It is in its way the ultimate DEI movie, a story that deals with race in the armed services, and the story of the Red Ball Express,' Rapoport says, explaining that famed trucking operation in Europe that carried supplies to the rapidly advancing U.S. forces, especially crucial following the D-Day landing. The young Tom Johnson drove for the express and the film offers terrific and dramatic flashbacks, some of which detail the reasons why the drivers were almost all Black. It was because the U.S. Army was segregated at the time, with Black soldiers not serving in combat. 'We filmed in Michigan and in the Netherlands and Peter's knowledge of both places (he had a home in Michigan and has lived and taught in the Netherlands) allowed for terrific and knowing details,' Rapoport said. 'When it was in shape to screen for various technical people, editors and such who really know movies, they were all impressed and engaged.' Houston has seen the film and likes it too. He says, 'I was so pleased that the film follows the novel faithfully. It brings out the novel's values, the idea that we should live life the way we want to, that we don't have to throw in the towel when we get old, and that irresistible notion of finding a lost love after more than 50 years.' We both almost simultaneously remembered and spoke a line from the film, when Johnson says, 'I might be old but I am still a human being.' It would be unfair to tell you how the movie ends. So I won't. All I'll say is it's nice to have Peter Ferry still with us, on the pages of his books and now compellingly and entertainingly on screens.
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Experts reveal surprising factor having a massive impact on the economy: 'It's bad for almost everyone'
Economics professors from Stanford and Northwestern Universities determined that the economic damages of a warming climate are probably six times worse than we previously thought. According to their research, every one degree Celsius rise in global temperature (or 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) leads to a 12% decrease in the world's gross domestic product. As Harvard Magazine reported, assistant economics professor Adrien Bilal and his collaborator, Diego Kanzig, took an innovative approach to modeling the economic impacts of a changing climate. Instead of solely basing their analysis on local temperature changes, they studied extreme weather patterns, warming oceans, and global shifts more thoroughly. They studied data from 173 countries over the past 120 years, looking at how temperature shocks correlated to changes in income. They found that disruptive weather is costly to nations' economies and impacts individuals' purchasing power and financial stability. Bilal and Kanzig's research reinforces the interconnectedness of economics and a warming climate. They assessed the "social cost of carbon" at over $1,000 per ton, representing the economic damage caused by each ton of carbon pollution. This is a significant increase from the $150 per ton predicted by past models that didn't consider as many climate factors, the magazine reported. The researchers predicted a future GDP decline of 30% to 50% by 2100 based on current patterns. For individuals, they predicted a 31% drop in purchasing power by 2100 due to climate change. "The effects are more uniformly detrimental," Bilal told the magazine. "It's bad for almost everyone." Estimating how rising temperatures affect the economy enables lawmakers to prepare for shifts and choose how to reduce carbon pollution in their communities. Politicians typically place less importance on sustainability and environmental protection if the perceived effects on the economy are low. However, if economic impacts are high, they will pour more time, energy, money, and resources into conserving the planet because of the direct links to their countries' economic stability and success. Bilal and Kanzig's research encourages world leaders to answer the critical question of how to invest in climate resilience and adapt to changing weather patterns to minimize the economic impacts. They suggested various ways to take local action, including coastal defense strategies, relocations to less vulnerable areas, and shifting investments. Do you think America has a plastic waste problem? Definitely Only in some areas Not really I'm not sure Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. Staying up-to-date on critical climate issues is essential to understanding the problem's gravity and being open-minded to proactive solutions. The economic impacts of rising temperatures are just one of the many reasons why it is crucial to change individual and community habits now for the health of our people and planet. However, those economic risks could be the very thing that pushes policymakers to take climate change seriously and prioritize sustainability efforts for the benefit of everyone. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
