A fortnightly rant, FL-S style: HALFTIME SHOW. A shoutout to a good friend from my junior high school days in Mo.Co., Maryland.
Back in the day, my friend Kathy Kearns told me and a bunch of other kids that her dad had invented something very important: the intermittent windshield wiper. And I am sure that my reaction to her revelation was “okay, sure, whatever”.
Teenagers exaggerate. So, it never dawned on me that my friend was being truthful.
She was.
About 15 years ago, I read an article in The New Yorker about her dad, the late Robert W. Kearns, and his patent infringement cases against Ford and Chrysler. Years of fighting these industrial behemoths over his intermittent windshield wiper invention sent the man over the edge and left his family in tatters.
I had no idea the hell my friend and her family had endured. I just didn’t know.
The story of Dr. Kearns’ invention and his fight for monetary damages and public credit is now the subject of a major Hollywood feature film, Flash of Genius, starring Greg Kinnear and Lauren Graham, co-starring Alan Alda.
So my friend Kathy, her younger brother Bob, their siblings, and mom Phyllis are central characters in this week’s big Hollywood release. That’s a mind-blower.
The film premieres in area theaters, today. Here’s the trailer:
This is a great story. We’re looking forward to seeing it on the big screen. I hope you will, too.
And I wish my friend Kathy and her family all the best.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: Flash of Genius, Greg Kinnear, Lauren Graham, Robert Kearns, Alan Alda, Ford, Chrysler, Montgomery County Md., Bob Kearns
Things like this are very cool. I’ve had occasion to get to know Adrian Cronauer somewhat over the my years in D.C.; he’s now a local lawyer.
I’m going to go see this movie, when I have time. My parents rented an apartment from Greg Kinnear’s grandparents in Logansport, Indiana, and were social friends with his parents. Apparently, though I’m sure only our parents remember it, Greg and I were playmates as toddlers.
It would certainly be nice if this movie won him his long-deserved Oscar.