Andoshen pa darryl ponicsan biography

About the Author

Includes the names: Anne Argula, Anne Argula, Darryl Ponicsan, Darryl Ponsican, Darryl Poniscan, Darryl Ponicsan's

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Works by Darryl Ponicsan

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Canonical name
Ponicsan, Darryl
Other names
Argula, Anne
Birthdate
1938-05-26
Gender
male
Nationality
USA
Birthplace
Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, USA
Places of residence
Seattle, Washington, USA
Sonoma, California, USA
La Cañada, California, USA
Education
Muhlenberg College
Cornell University
Occupations
writer
Organizations
U.S. Navy
Agent
Vicky Bijur

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GOLDENGROVE (1971) is the story of Ernie Buddusky, younger brother of Billy "Badass" Buddusky, the cocky, brash hero of THE LAST DETAIL (1970), author Darryl Ponicsan's successful first novel (the film adaptation is now considered A classic). But Ernie is nothing like Billy. A mousy, meek, sad sack, Ernest Scott Buddusky (named for Hemingway and Fitzgerald, writers much admired by his father, a high school teacher in Andoshen, Pennsylvania) has followed in his dad's footsteps and become an show more English teacher. He's at his second teaching job when we meet him, at a modern new high school near Los Angeles. His wife, the "Amazon" or Big Betty, was his student at his first teaching job in Upstate NY, and is several years younger. They have a baby boy, and she is pregnant again. There is an unreliable used car. His salary is meager and barely covers the bills. Ernie hates his job, teaching spoiled children of the wealthy, and isn't entirely happy with his marriage either. There is a complementary cast of eccentric characters, most of them teachers or administrators. Ernie edges into a sad, unsatisfactory affair with the virginal, convent-raised math teacher. There are complications.

THE LAST DETAIL was based on Ponicsan's experiences in the Navy. GOLDENGROVE is obviously drawn from his several years of teaching in public schools, and he's got the types
  • Darryl Ponicsan is an
  • Darryl Ponicsan (pronounced PAHN-i-son; born
  • Darryl Ponicsan was born in

    • SHENANDOAH – Darryl Ponicsan is perhaps best known for his novels “The Last Detail” and “Cinderella Liberty,” both of which were made into movies featuring major Hollywood stars.

    But at an open house Sunday in the new Darryl Ponicsan Room at the Shenandoah Area Historical Society, it was the author and screenwriter’s coal region stories that were the subject of conversation.

    In “Andoshen, Pa.,” Ponicsan immortalized local personalities like “Spooky the Cop,” “K.O. Mackey” and “Eggshell,” a confessed murderer.

    In “Andoshen,” a pseudonym for Shenandoah, Ponicsan followed in the footsteps of John O’Hara, who dubbed his hometown of Pottsville “Gibbsville” in his short stories.

    Thumbing through “Andoshen, Pa.,” Al Bindi came across a Ponicsan story in which he played a peripheral real-life role.

    In 1959, Bindi had taken his girlfriend home to Lost Creek and was returning to Shenandoah when he saw a man bumming a ride. He drove by and, later, found out that the man had just killed two members of his family.

    “He told police that if someone had picked him up, he would have killed them and driven their car to California,” recalled Bindi, a retired intelligence operative who lives in Shenandoah.

    Bindi knows the real-life names of the Ponicsan characters, but preferred not to reveal them.

    Andy Ulicny, president of the historical society, said the organization had a VIP opening of the new Ponicsan display Saturday. The public was invited to tour the room from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday.

    Ponicsan was born in Shenandoah, the son of Frank and Anne Ponicsan, in 1938. His parents ran an auto parts store in the borough.

    The family moved to Ringtown when he was 4, but “Shenandoah has claimed him,” Ulicny said.

    Ponicsan, 85, lives in California. He last visited Shenandoah in 2016, when he was grand marshal of the borough’s ses

    SHENANDOAH – Novelist and screenwriter Darryl Ponicsan will return to his native Shenandoah today and enjoy the hometown’s 150th anniversary celebration and be honored for his many accomplishments at several venues.

    Ponicsan, 78, made his first major mark in the literary world with his novel “The Last Detail,” which became a film starting Jack Nicholson. Another novel, “Cinderella Liberty,” also became a movie starring James Caan and for which he wrote the screenplay.

    He and his wife, Cee Cee, divide their time between his homes in Palm Springs, California, and Sonoma in northern California in the heart of the wine country. Ponicsan has a son and daughter and two grandchildren.

    Ponicsan was born on May 26, 1938, to Frank G. and Anne Kuleck Ponicsan. His father was a small auto parts store owner (K&K) in Shenandoah. He lived on East Coal Street about a block and a half from Main Street. He had one brother, Ronald, who died in 1975. Ponicsan attended Muhlenberg College, graduating in 1959 with a bachelor’s degree in English, and Cornell University in 1965 with a master’s degree.

    “My memory of Shenandoah is that it was a boom town,” Ponicsan said. “There were 30,000 people there and Main Street was full of prosperous small stores. We had three five-and-ten cents stores, which were Newberry’s, Kresge’s and Woolworth. We had three movie houses, dance halls, three shops just devoted to jewelry, a ladies hat shop. It was a great, prosperous town in those days. It was a bustling town. There were always people walking the street and always something to do.”

    Ponicsan went to elementary school in Shenandoah, but the family moved to Ringtown about 1948 and he graduated in 1955 from Ringtown High School. Ponicsan said after the move, he remembers spending much time in Shenandoah with friends.

    When he graduated from Muhlenberg, he worked as a teacher in upstate New York as he attended

    Darryl Ponicsan

    American writer

    Darryl Ponicsan (; born May 26, 1938) is an American writer. He is best known as the author of the 1970 novelThe Last Detail, which was adapted into the 1973 film of the same name starring Jack Nicholson. A sequel, Last Flag Flying, based on his 2005 novel of the same name, was released in 2017 and he also co-wrote the screenplay with Richard Linklater. He also wrote the 1973 novel and screenplayCinderella Liberty, starring James Caan. Ponicsan writes mystery novels under the pen name Anne Argula.

    Life and career

    Ponicsan was born in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, the son of Anne (née Kuleck) and Frank G. Ponicsan, a merchant. He attended Muhlenberg College, (A.B., 1959) and Cornell University, (M.A., 1965).

    He was a high school English teacher in Owego, New York from 1959–62. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1962 to 1965 aboard the USS Monrovia and USS Intrepid during the Vietnam War, attaining the rank of Yeoman3rd Class. He was a social worker for Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, California in 1965, and a high school English teacher in La Cañada, California from 1966 to 1969.

    Ponicsan also wrote the screenplays for the CBS movie A Girl Called Hatter Fox (1977), the movies Nuts (1987), School Ties (1992), the HBO movie The Enemy Within (1992), and the CBS series The Mississippi (1983). He has worked frequently with producer-director Harold Becker, penning scripts for Taps (1981), Vision Quest (1985), and The Boost (1988).

    Bibliography

    • The Last Detail (New York: Dial Press, 1970)
    • Goldengrove (New York: Dial Press, 1971)
    • Andoshen, Pa. (New York: Dial Press, 1973)
    • Cinderella Liberty (New York: Harper and Row, 1973)
    • Tom Mix Died for Your Sins (New York: Delacorte Press 1975)
    • The Accomplice (New York: Harper and Row, 1975)
    • The Ringmaster (New York: Delacorte Press, 1978)
    • An Unmarried Man (New York: Delacorte Press 1980)
    • Last Flag Flying (New Y