Author John Irving wins literary peace award
The author of novels such as “The World According to Garp” and “The Cider House Rules” that examine the complexities of sexual differences and other social issues is this year’s winner of a lifetime achievement award celebrating literature’s power to foster peace, social justice and global understanding, organizers said Tuesday.
Dayton Literary Peace Prize officials chose John Irving, whose first novel, “Setting Free the Bears,” was published 50 years ago when he was 26, for the Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award. It’s named for the late U.S. diplomat who brokered the 1995 Bosnia peace accords reached in Ohio.
Sharon Rab, founder and chairwoman of the peace prize foundation, said Irving’s books often show “the tragedy of a lack of empathy and sympathy for our fellow humans ... through books — especially Irving’s books — readers learn to understand and identify with people different from themselves.”
Irving’s all-time best-selling novel, “A Prayer for Owen Meany,” examines faith, fate and social justice through the intertwined lives of two boyhood friends. Often using humor to illuminate deep topics, Irving’s works have included bisexual, homosexual and transgender people.
The National Book Award-winning “The World According to Garp” was made into a movie starring the late Robin Williams, and Irving won an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for the movie version of “The Cider House Rules,” which deals with issues including abortion.
Robin Williams speaks for himself in new HBO documentary
When filmmaker Marina Zenovich sought to make a documentary about Robin Williams, she found that she could do it largely in the late comedian’s own voice.
“Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind,” uses a wealth of archival footage to put viewers inside his thought process — mirroring a routine Williams used as an up-and-coming comic in the 1970s.
The film, which includes interviews with David Letterman and Billy Crystal, premiered Monday on HBO and is available on its streaming service, HBO Now. Friends and relatives, including Williams’ son Zak, also share memories.
“I get sad when I think about Billy and Robin because when I interviewed him (Crystal) you could really feel a sense of loss,” the filmmaker said. “I love the line in the movie when he says, ‘Everyone wanted something from him. I had no agenda. I just liked him.”
The documentary is intended to celebrate the artist, Zenovich said, and her team “handcrafted” the project with love. It was often difficult to choose among the hundreds of clips and routines.
“What’s so great is hearing people say the film is so inspiring. It’s so joyful. And I don’t know, it touches on something deep. I mean, it’s about so many things. It’s about fame, the effects of fame. It’s about talent and kind of someone with an amazing talent, watching his trajectory.”
Zenovich said she wants people to have a greater understanding of Williams and what he tried to do “and how generous he was and what a great mind he had.”