Award-winning alumnus to sign book

By Jennifer Koesling
Staff Reporter

Author and TCU alumnus David Alan Hall said his life has not been the same after he received a letter from a man who thanked him for rekindling his desire to read.

Hall said receiving that response after publishing his second novel The Paradise Vendor meant he was doing something right with his life, because his writing had affected someone’s views.

“Winning a Pulitzer would be great, but this is the next best thing,” Hall said. “Knowing that what I have written has had an effect on some person, keeps me going.”

Hall will be signing copies of his novel from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday at the TCU Bookstore.

After graduating from TCU in 1987 with a bachelor’s degree in radio-TV-film, Hall moved to Hollywood and pursued a career in writing because it matched his talents.

Hall said he decided not to develop a career in film because having cerebral palsy creates some physical challenges.

“It limited me in that respect, but I’m not complaining because it also focused me,” Hall said. “I spent more time working on skills to become a better writer.”

He said having cerebral palsy has not affected his success as a writer, and most of the time, his disability goes unnoticed.

“For me, having been able to consistently work is a freedom, and I feel very fortunate,” Hall said.

Hall said he has been writing consistently for the past 12 years, while working different jobs as a story analyst for movie studios, a story board consultant for short stories, a screenplay writer and film director.

After many years of writing, rewriting, and nearly 200 rejection slips later, Hall published The Paradise Vendor in 1998, and he said he expects two more publications later this year.

He has twice won the Edward E. Bryson award for fiction, received an award from the American Film Institute for his film “Shadow Games,” which was broadcast on the Movie Channel, received the Barry Levinson Award for best feature screenplay, the ABC-Capitol Cities Scholarship Award for best teleplay and an honorable mention for his unpublished novel, The Three Pound Universe.

Hall plans to speak to a few English classes next week about writing and his experiences, because he said he thinks this is an opportunity for him to give something back to TCU.

“I don’t believe creative writing can be taught, but I can save someone the time, money and grief with some practical knowledge about how things work in this industry,” Hall said.

He said he is currently working with his agent to sell movie rights for The Paradise Vendor.

Jennifer Koesling
jckoesling@student.tcu.edu