With two major Hollywood movies associated with late author James Jones due for release this fall, members of the international James Jones Literary Society, headquartered in Robinson, Ill., are gearing up for a revival of interest in Jones' work, and a barrage of inquiries about Jones' life and background.
In an effort to enhance an already bountiful body of information and lore about the famed author of From Here to Eternity, Some Came Running, and other notable works, The Society is seeking input from anyone who was acquainted with Jones during his years of growing up and beginning his writing career in Robinson, and his subsequent move to Marshall, Ill., into a writers' colony he helped found.
Those who have reminiscenes, snapshots, or memorabilia of Jones to share with The Society and the public are asked to send them to The James Jones Literary Society, c/o Juanita Martin, Lincoln Trail College, 11220 State Highway 1, Robinson, IL 62454. Submissions will be evaluated for publication in The Society newsletter, on The Society's Internet Web Site, or at the annual symposium scheduled this year on Nov. 7 at Lincoln Trail College. Each submission should include name, address, and telephone number of the sender.
Fall release dates have been set for the movie The Thin Red Line, adapted from Jones' novel of the same name; and A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries, a fictionalized version of the years the Jones family lived in Paris and later in America, adapted from a novel written by Jones' daughter, Kaylie Jones. The Thin Red Line was directed by acclaimed director Terrence Malick (Badlands, Days of Heaven) and features actors George Clooney, John Cusack, Woody Harrelson, Nick Nolte, Gary Oldman, Sean Penn, Bill Pullman and John Travolta. A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries is a Merchant Ivory film (Howard's End, Room With a View) and stars Kris Kristofferson as James Jones and Barbara Hershey as Jones' wife, Gloria.
"These films are bound to raise awareness of Jim Jones and pique interest in the details of his early life in rural eastern Illinois," said Jerry Bayne of Mt. Carmel (Ill.), president of The James Jones Literary Society.
"We're hoping that people who knew Jones long ago will search their memories for stories or anecdotes relating to Jones, for experiences they shared with him as schoolmates, or later acquaintances. There need be no literary significance to their reminiscences. All new information we can gather will be highly valued by The Society, and will contribute to the store of knowledge about a major American author," said Bayne.
Jones was born in Robinson in 1921 and graduated from Robinson Township High School in 1939, then enlisted in the peacetime Army. He witnessed the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, and after he was wounded in combat in the Pacific, he returned to Robinson to write his bombshell first novel, From Here To Eternity, published in 1951.