Dad proud of his son’s dark side
PROUD PAPA: When recently asked about his son, Joe Driver — an employee of Office Depot on Cantrell Road in Little Rock — brightened and showed off a recent photo of his boy. Not from the usual place — his wallet or even his cellphone — but from the cover of a 2016 calendar resting on a nearby shelf. No matter that you can’t see his son’s face or anything else about him. He’s dressed from head to toe in black, his face and head completely covered with a mask and hood.
No matter. Dad Joe’s face beams with pride and joy.
His grown son Adam portrays the villain Kylo Ren in the new film, Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force
Awakens, set for a Dec. 18 release. The younger Driver is a San Diego native who grew up in Indiana. He has several family members in North Little Rock, whom he regularly visits. The actor, a Marine who is tall and lanky with unusual features, earlier starred in the HBO series Girls. He also has appeared in several films, including portraying a telegraph operator in Steven Spielberg’s blockbuster Lincoln. Dedicated to his craft, he took the time to quickly learn how to operate the complicated mid-19thcentury communications equipment.
“All this success hasn’t affected him at all,” the movie star’s dad said of his son, who looks menacing on the nearby wall calendar cover. “He’s still the same down-to-earth, grounded person.”
HOME RUN: Larry Foley’s most recent documentary, The First Boys of Spring, has been added to the film, video and recorded sound collection at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum Library in Cooperstown, N.Y. The film, directed by the professor and chairman of the University of Arkansas Department of Journalism, chronicles Hot Springs’ role as the birthplace of baseball’s spring training.
TRIMMING THE TREE: Glass artist James Hayes of Little Rock has been commissioned to create glass-blown decorations for a Christmas tree in a large mall in Hong Kong and to hold glass-blowing demonstrations. He was hired by New Town Plaza in October after landing on its radar because of an ornament he did for the White House during the Clinton administration. By Monday, Hayes had completed 200 large ornaments (about 8 inches in circumference) and was working with two employees in his Pine Bluff studio to create 1,200 smaller ones.
“They can make about 100 ornaments every two hours,” said Hayes’ wife, Meg. The couple leave today for the 10-day trip.
SIGNING OFF: Stuttgart native Scott Inman, who has been serving as an anchorman for KATV, Channel 7, since 2003, has announced he is leaving television broadcasting in early 2016 to pursue other interests. Inman has worked there for 16 years, first joining in 1999 as a weekend sports anchor.
JEWEL OF PUBLICITY: The December issue of Southern Living magazine will feature a full-page article on the downtown Little Rock-based business Bella Vita Jewelry.