Earl Hamner
Activity Sheet

Biography from Hawk Publishing
Earl Hamner is the author of six novels. His novels Spencer's Mountain and The Homecoming were both made into films and became the basis for the long running television series "The Waltons." Two of his books have been selected by The Readers Digest to be included in their Condensed Book Club and his works have been translated into ten foreign languages. 
His autobiographical book, The Avocado Drive Zoo was published by the Cumberland Press in April 1999 and has been selected as a Book of The Month Club. In it Hamner shares the memory of his journey from a small village in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia to Hollywood where in addition to his books he has written extensively for films and television. 
Hamner's television credits include The Today Show where he worked as a reporter. He has written for such distinguished shows as The Twilight Zone and CBS Playhouse. He is the creator and producer of the long running television drama Falcon Crest. His work in television has earned him an Emmy, the Peabody Award and six Christopher Awards. His career in television has covered half a century and began during "The Golden Age" when the infant industry was centered mainly in New York.
His motion picture credits include Where the Lilies Bloom, Palm Springs Weekend and the animated feature based on E. B. White's classic, Charlotte's Web. 
Hamner, a native of Nelson County, Virginia, lives in Studio City, California with his wife, Jane. The Hamner's son, Scott, is a writer who lives in Vermont when he is not working in Hollywood. Their daughter, Caroline, is a Family Therapist who lives in Laguna Beach, California.
The writer's hobbies are bonsai gardening and collecting vintage books. He spends his time fishing, traveling, and writing, in that order.   Hamner is proud to be Honorary Director of The Walton Museum. Located in his hometown of Schuyler, Virginia the Museum features reproductions of the sets of the Walton house as seen on television. A popular attraction is a working still which is capable of distilling "the recipe," an elixir made famous on the series. The Museum is visited by thousands of people from all over the world and supports medical and social programs for the local people. 
The writer is also the author with collaborator, Don Sipes, of a mystery novel, Murder in Tinseltown. The book is available in bookstores, from Amazon.com or through the publisher, Hawk Publishing in Tulsa Oklahoma. A juvenile novel, Odette, The Singing Goose will be published by HAWK in the spring of 2001.
Hamner's first stage play, The Driftwood Arrangement will be produced this year at the Interact Theater in Los Angeles. He is also co-producer of The Ponder Heart, a television adaptation of Eudora Welty's novel that will be seen on the PBS Masterpiece Theater. The drama is scheduled for autumn of 2001, but no actual date has been set.  Hamner has just completed the writing of an animated Christmas Special for Porchlight Productions and is at work on a stage musical to feature music inspired by Appalachian themes.

Walton's Hamner Web Page
http://www.the-waltons.com/earl.html

Hawk Publishing Web Page
http://www.hawkpub.com/hamnerandsipes.htm

TNN Online Interview
http://www.tnnonline.com/tnn/program/waltons/hamner-feature.html

Earl Hamner's Photo Scrapbook
http://www.tnnonline.com/tnn/program/waltons/hamner-scrapbook.html

BBC Radio Times: "Living Life the Walton Way"
http://www.bbctv-ap.freeserve.co.uk/wltnp2.htm