Judith Guest trusted Robert Redford with ORDINARY PEOPLE

Author trusted Redford with novel - Columbia Missourian:

After Guest, who lives in Minneapolis, wrote “Ordinary People” in 1976, she received a hand-written letter from “R. Redford.” Guest thought Redford’s letter was just fan mail, but it turned out he was interested in turning the book into a movie.

Guest soon found herself dealing with a lengthy contract. Not everything in the contract was to her liking.

“The thing that bothered me the most was the 13-episode TV show with or without my help,” she said. “I couldn’t sign my people away; these are my people.”

But after thinking it over for a weekend, Guest signed the contract.

“I thought I could sacrifice my integrity, because it was Robert Redford,” she said.

Fair enough. I’m glad she did trust him.

“Ordinary People” is a movie that’s even better than the book.

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