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Local Author Wields a Mighty Pen SHORTCUTS NEIGHBORS 82 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • S U M M E R / F A L L 2 0 1 4 A t the peak of his career, Jerry Ludwig rubbed elbows, knocked back Scotch and held power lunches with a veritable Who's Who of late- 20th-century Hollywood glitterati. Along the way, he was involved with some of the most memorable big-and-small-screen productions of his time. And he came to know personally the pain suffered by those black- listed by the Communist witch-hunt conducted by Congress. A Brooklyn native, Ludwig set out to make his mark on the newspaper business at 21, landing a reporter's desk at Missouri's Neosho Daily News, covering "railroad wrecks and tornadoes." His itchy feet took him to California in the mid- 1950s where his career took a decidedly unex- pected turn. "I was hired as a film publicist at Hecht-Hill-Lancaster, actor Burt Lancaster's pro- duction company," Ludwig recalls. He stayed put for 10 years, working on such films as "Marty," "Trapeze" and "Elmer Gantry." Eventually, he caught the writing bug. "There were no film schools to attend then," Ludwig says, "but I was surrounded by amazing talent, and could ask them anything I wanted." Soon, he was churning out scripts on the kitchen table after work. The first that went into production was an episode of "Run for Your Life," a Ben Gazzara TV thriller. Ludwig penned episodes for some of the biggest hit series of the day, includ- ing "The FBI," "Columbo," "Murder, She Wrote," "Hawaii Five-O," and "Mission Impossible." He garnered two Emmys, was nominated for a half- dozen more and won numerous other awards for his work. Now a Carmelite, Ludwig has turned his writ- ing skills to novels. His latest is "Blacklist," pub- lished by Forge. This crisply written book deals with the aftermath in the lives of those who were denied work in Hollywood due to their association with the Communist party. "A novel is an entirely different ani- mal from a screenplay," Ludwig says. "As the writer, you're in control of everything, including the weather." "Blacklist" is available at BookWorks in Pacific Grove and River House Books in the Crossroads Shopping Center in Carmel. —Michael Chatfield Jerry Ludwig recently released the novel "Blacklist," which covers the lives of those in the Hollywood industry who lost their occupations due to Communist charges. Photo: Kelli Uldall