What is the name of the book and when was it first published?
The Strange Birth, Short Life, and Sudden Death of Justice Girl, 2013
What’s the book’s first line?
As amazing as it may seem, especially to the close friends, slight acquaintances, or even complete strangers who had the extreme misfortune to debate, argue, or shout, or scream through clenched teeth at Jonny Dirby, he never really considered himself a difficult person.
What’s the book about? Give us the “pitch”.
The golden age of live television comes to vivid life with the memorable and entertaining tale of Jonny Dirby, who unintentionally captivates the imagination of America with his creation of the hit show Justice Girl. This fun, engrossing work of historical fiction transports readers back to a time when television shows were chaotic tightrope acts balancing the agendas of actors, studio executives, advertisers, and politicians, and all of it broadcast live to fifty million viewers without the security of a safety net.
Set in 1955 in New York City, Julian David Stone’s impressive novel follows Jonny from the writers’ room of a steady network gig to a crisis of conscience when he decides to abandon his regular paycheck to claim the moral high ground against the spreading plague of McCarthyism. In a final act of defiance, Jonny alters the script of a Superman-inspired lampoon moments before it is broadcast live. What nobody can anticipate is that Jonny’s accidental creation Justice Girl and her infectious catchphrase of “Justice is served!” are about to sweep the nation and win the hearts and minds of America. Add to the mix a highly driven actress trying to get Jonny blacklisted, along with a desperate network president willing to do anything he can to get compete control of the show, and the history of television will never be the same.
The Strange Birth, Short Life, and Sudden Death of Justice Girl moves beyond the gags and gaffes of television’s golden age to plumb the depths of the media’s broader influence. Anyone interested in this time when television was a new phenomenon, with different factions fighting to use it to promote their varied agendas, will enjoy this riveting novel. Stone is an award-winning writer and director whose twenty years in the entertainment business informs his work with an insider’s perspective.
What inspired you to write the book? A particular person? An event?
I have always been fascinated by the era of Live Television from 1946 – 1956. I feel it is a largely forgotten period where in essence you had an art form that flourished for ten years before, almost overnight with the advent of videotape, disappearing virtually forever. It’s interesting to note that just last year NBC did a live broadcast of The Sound of Music and how much of their promotion was touting that it was going to be performed live. Back in the golden age of television they rarely used the word live – because it was all live.
I also had two very personal connections to the early days of television: My father had some dealings with Allen Dumont who was the creator of the Dumont Television Network that existed for about ten years in the 1940’s and the 1950’s. And from my love of The Twilight Zone tv show. Through watching this incredible show I discovered Rod Serling, and that led me to uncover his earlier work during the Golden Age of Television. He was the author of some of the most famous shows from this era and when I saw them, they had a profound effect on me.
With this era always on my mind, I began to think about what it would have been like to have been a writer during this time. From that I came up with the idea of doing a book about the inner workings and drama of doing a show from the era of Live Television.
What’s the most distinctive thing about the main character? Who-real or fictional-would you say the character reminds you of?
Jonny Dirby is a young writer in this exciting and turbulent era, trying his best to preserve his dreams of writing “important” work against the reality of the commercial demands of being a writer. Much to his surprise, overnight, he finds himself the toast of New York because of his hit creation Justice Girl. With fame and success coming faster than Jonny could ever have dreamed it would, the battle between his integrity and the demands of his new station in life as a well-known and highly successful tv writer become even more overwhelming and intense. But his integrity is not the only thing at stake. His increased notoriety comes with another grave danger, he becomes a fertile target for those who don’t agree with a lot of his beliefs, and decide to go after him for their own personal gain. And things get really interesting when the person leading the charge turns out to be none other than the lead actress on his show, Justice Girl.
What’s the main reason someone should really read this book?
To discover the excitement, fun and chaos of a largely forgotten art form which was the world of Live TV from 1946-1956. Television was never so fun or so dangerous.