The Posthumous Persistence of George E. Turner, by Michael H. Price

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9 Responses

  1. MARK WHEATLEY says:

    So did I miss something? Where is that post card? And BTW – both versions of the KONG book are tops. Better than any remake or sequel to the movie.

    • Michael H. Price says:

      Hmmm. Postcard missing, all right. Certain that image had transmitted with original package. I'll inquire accordingly.

  2. Joe Staton says:

    What strikes me as strange is that Friends would even need storyboarding. They sit, they talk.

    • Michael H. Price says:

      Yeah, George (E.) Turner said FRIENDS wasn't a particularly challenging storyboarder gig. He'd rather've been working on some Western or S-F project. Said he liked the camaraderie amongst the FRIENDS unit, and he enjoyed the second-unit directing chores. Except for having to deal with the laughing coaches.

  3. Marilee J. Layman says:

    The George Turner I know of was an Australian SF writer who mostly wrote about how humans managed when their bodies or environments are drastically changed. Horrible enough!BTW, I'm listening to Mortal Coils right now. It reminds me of a lot of early folk — Leadbelly, Guthrie, etc. — with the very specific stories and places and the unpolished music. The hard times, the tough relationships, the casual bigotry. I've been enjoying it.

    • Michael H. Price says:

      Quite a few George Turners around, then and now. That's why this particular George Turner used the middle initial.My thanks for the thoughtful response to "Mortal Coils" — an album very much in the debt of Guthrie and Leadbelly, and particularly inspired by Woody G.'s "Bound for Glory" and his cycle of Dust Bowl Ballads. We thought briefly about titling the CD "Rebound for Glory." Also recommended, in this light: the "Lost Country" CD's of Jim & Susan Colegrove and their music-making accomplices (www.thecoolgroove.com), and of course Levon Helm's new "Dirt Farmer." All very much of the style that Jim Colegrove calls "industrial resistance music."A school-days friend once asked: "Who is this 'Woody' that Bob Dylan keeps referring to? Is that the same 'Woody' that the Beach Boys sing about?" (One of those "Say WHAT?" moments.)

      • Marilee J. Layman says:

        Thanks for the recommendations! Yes, I can definitely see that "woody" in different circles would be disconcerting!

  4. Larry Shell says:

    Long before I met George, I had read and re-read his King Kong book, which is one of the best books ever written on an individual film, in my opinion. I'm so glad I was able to meet, eat and spend a little time with George on one of my all too infrequent trips to California. He left a definite impression on me to this day. I was impressed by his tales of storyboarding FRIENDS, hey somebody's got to do it, and it was, to me, a prestige gig, working on a top TV show although I'm sure he'd have rather been working on Buffy or some similar genre program. Another great article, Mike!

  5. Anonymous says:

    I knew George. I used to hang out at his house in Amarillo. I was friends with his two oldest boys, Lowell and David. Lowell and I spent a lot of time listening to George tell us about stuff he had done. George and Vincent Price were friends and like to pull pranks on people. They got a good storey going about ghost lights out on the old Palisades road, south of Amarillo, at the time. I moved away from Amarillo in the early 80 s and never saw the Turners again. Glad to hear that George got out of there too.