Literary Influences of Writers (with Billy Collins)

Reading poet Billy Collins story in the Weekend Journal brought to mind my boyhood in western Minnesota and the Saturday morning's I enjoyed at the Hollywood Theater. His article, Inspired by a Bunny Wabbit, spoke to the "question of literary influence" on writers. Collins confesses that his "own poetry would not have developed in the direction it did, for better or worse, were it not for the spell that was cast over me as a boy by Warner Bros. cartoons."

I can relate to the "spell" of cartoons I watched most every Saturday when I was a boy. Like Billy Collins, I watched Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Daffy Duck, and Elmer Fudd on the big screen at the "Hollywood" (we actually had another movie theater a half a block away and a drive-in theater on the outskirts of town -- the Star-Lite -- in our town of less than 6000 people).

But unlike the former U.S. poet laureate, my not-so-literary influences were the ever-present cowboys -- Gene Autry (always singing!), Hopalong Cassidy, Roy Rogers (and Dale Evans), and the Lone Ranger (and Tonto). I don't remember a single film title, just lots of good guys (white hats) chasing bad guys (black hats) riding horses across the dusty prairies of the West. Of course, the good guys were always successful in their chase and the bad guys ended up "behind bars" for the rest of their days (or until next Saturday's movie).

Whether or not watching cowboy movies on Saturday mornings in the 1950's has "inspired" my writing, I've written thousands of words over the years about "good guys" (good products, good services, good news, good people). I haven't written very much about "bad guys" except references to competitive products and services (most not really "bad", just less good). Of course, the "chase" seems to have been a consistent theme ... find the right product, the right service, the right words ... throughout my years in the business world.

No doubt, my writing would have taken a different direction if I would have been influenced (as Billy Collins was) by Looney Tunes' cartoons always ending with "the unmistakable bull's-eye and Porky Pig letting us know that that is, indeed, all, folks."

Who are your literary influences? Who or what inspires your writing today?


NOTE: Photo of Hollywood Theater (no longer showing movies) by S McGee on Flickr.

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Literary Influences of Writers (with Billy Collins)