THE WORK

In Sklar’s memoir, a journalist and Oscar-nominated screenwriter reflects on his professional and personal journey.

The author experienced paranoia from a young age as the son of playwright George Sklar, an ex-Communist whose career was negatively affected by the Red Scare of the mid-20th century. Sklar’s parents largely kept to themselves, warning their son not to stand out as an activist or objector. Despite this, Sklar enrolled at the University of California, Santa Cruz, in 1966 and began attending demonstrations. Eventually, Sklar moved to New York City and worked as a proofreader and freelance journalist. He volunteered to pick coffee beans in Nicaragua for a month at the height of the contra war, and a chance meeting with lifelong leftist activists Ellen Ray and Bill Schaap led to his biggest career break yet: editing On the Trail of the Assassins (1988), one of the books that would become the basis for Oliver Stone’s controversial 1991 film JFK, co-adapting the screenplay with Stone and earning an Academy Award nomination. Sklar’s involvement with the project marked the end of his mainstream journalism career; he began a second act as a screenwriter and instructor at the prestigious Sundance Institute. Across seven essays, Sklar’s plainspoken voice educates, entertains, and never condescends. His descriptions of life-altering blacklists, homespun island funeral ceremonies, and a dog in distress in Mexico (“By the time Sarah got back, Diane had picked him up and was cradling him like a baby. The trusting dog didn’t fuss or fight. He lay there, his head on Diane’s breast, his sweet eyes fixed on her face”) are powerful and true. He guides the reader through a fascinating journey marked by a primary inner conflict: to loudly proclaim one’s beliefs and potentially lose a livelihood, or to suffer in silence? There are no easy answers for Sklar—however, there is always the possibility of human connection, whether in hotel bars, fast cars, or Oaxacan streets.

A beautifully written account of a principled life.