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Dennis Lehane |
FIU Creative Writing alumnus
Dennis Lehane (MFA ‘01) receives
prominent billing in the credits for the new star-studded,
Clint Eastwood-directed film that hit theaters nationwide on
Oct. 8.
Lehane penned the book, Mystic River, a psychological thriller,
on which the movie of the same name is based. The story deals with three boyhood
friends reunited following the murder of one the trio’s adult daughter. Starring in the
big-screen version of the tale are heavy-hitters Kevin Bacon, Laurence
Fishburne, Tim Robbins and Sean Penn. Critics have called the film “a
masterpiece” and “a movie so powerful you won’t
be able to forget it.”
Prof. John Dufresne still remembers
celebrating with Lehane at a local pub following word that the
then-graduate student’s
first novel, A Drink Before the War, had been accepted by a publisher.
That success, Dufresne says, had a lot to do with Lehane’s
incredible drive, and the best-selling author himself claims to
have gone through a dozen drafts of the book before striking pay
dirt.
“He arrived [at FIU] with considerable
talent and skill and, more importantly, a passion to write,” Dufresne
recalls. “All
we had to do was turn him loose. Even as a student, he stayed
up all night writing while his roommates played video games in
the
parlor. Nothing interfered with his work.”
Lehane’s undeniable writing abilities notwithstanding, his
professors in the Creative Writing Program did agree that one story
in the collection he submitted as his theses was weak, when compared
to the others, and needed reworking.
“We asked him to rewrite [it],” Dufresne
says, adding that even the first version “was still damn
good, mind you.” That
story eventually grew into Mystic River.
Lehane’s other novels includes A
Drink Before the War, Darkness, Take my Hand, Sacred, Gone
Baby Gone and Prayers for Rain (to which
Paramount Pictures holds film rights), all of which feature the
same pair of Boston private investigators. His latest book, Shutter
Island, which like Mystic River deals with new characters, was
released earlier this year.
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