BigBookSavings Interview
November 2003
It is my pleasure to introduce Author, Larry Pontius as a part of the BigBookSavings' Guest Profile Series. Raised in Jackson, Michigan, Larry attended Michigan State University, graduating with a master's degree in Advertising. He has worked as a copywriter at Leo Burnett Company in Chicago, copy supervisor at Grey Advertising in Detroit, and as creative director at Grey Advertising in Sydney, Australia. In 1974 he joined the Disney organization in Florida as director of marketing for Walt Disney World. Two years later he moved to Disney corporate headquarters in Burbank as vice president of marketing for Disneyland and Walt Disney World. In 1980 he returned to Florida and formed his own advertising and video production firm.
He is the author of two published books of poetry and the lyricist of more than 100 published songs. He lives in Longwood, Florida with his wife Harriet and two children, Rebecca and Mark.
BigBookSavings: Larry, tell us about "Waking Walt" and what inspired you to write it.
Larry Pontius: Waking Walt is a thriller based upon the urban legend that grew from what many consider the mysterious circumstances surrounding Walt Disney's death on December 15, 1966. As the preface says...
"We may never know why the official announcement of Walt Disney's death was delayed until the following day, December 16, 1966. Or why it informed the press and the world that he was already gone, unceremoniously cremated and his ashes interred in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.
"There are those who do know, however."
Over the years a lot of different scenarios have been suggested. However, the most popular story is that Walt Disney didn't die, that he was secreted away and placed in cryonic suspension until a cure could be found for his lung cancer. And that's the urban legend Waking Walt jumps off from.
As a former Disney marketing executive, you'd think that that would be the first horse out of the gate when I decided to write of book. However, it took a good friend to put me up to it.
In fact, I was a third of the way through writing another book; another legend of a man from the past who finds himself in the present, when I asked my friend, Marty Cummins for advice about the story. Marty was a great Disney fan and he know that I'd had worked there and had an insider's perspective. He listened quietly to my question about the book I was writing, and then said those fateful words, "Larry, why don't you bring Walt back?"
And that's how it happened.
BigBookSavings: As a former marketing executive for Walt Disney, did you ever get a chance to talk with him and get to know him?
Larry Pontius : Unfortunately, no. Walt was...gone...before I joined the company in 1974. However, I did have the good fortune to meet and work with a number of people who did know him. And listen to a flood of stories over the occasional adult beverage.
BigBookSavings: Larry, tell us something about Walt Disney that most people don't know.
Larry Pontius : Let's see, how about an easy one. Did you know that Walt Disney was the original voice of Mickey Mouse? You did? Well, did you know that he liked to play polo? And that during one match Walt had his collar bone broken by Will Rogers? It's true.
BigBookSavings: Did ABC, former associates of Walt Disney or any of Walt's family members express any reluctance on the publishing of your book?
Larry Pontius : Ah! The question I get asked most often. And the answer is fairly interesting. Waking Walt has been well received by former and current Disney employees and Disney fans everywhere. In fact, hardly a day goes by when I don't receive an email from somebody I've never heard of telling me they're an employee or fan and how much they enjoyed the book
On the other hand, I still haven't heard one official peep, negative or otherwise, from anyone with the Disney organization or the family.
However, that question, which nearly everyone asks, nearly scuttled the publication of Waking Walt. Why? Because it made the nearly 100 agents I ended up sending the manuscript to extremely nervous. So much so that many of them said that while they loved the story they weren't prepared to take on the Disney Company and/or family in a legal battle.
Thanks goodness my attorney and I were eventually able to convince my publisher that we were on solid legal ground and that the last thing Disney would want to do is make a stir that the media might ballyhoo.
BigBookSavings: Larry, tell us about the research you had to perform in writing this book.
Larry Pontius : I've already mentioned two of the most important research locales: on the job for nearly 8 years at Disney, and those after-work sessions, sharing the dim light and convivial atmosphere of local taverns. Of course, that was all pretty much by osmosis because then I had no thought of writing a book about anything, let alone Walt Disney. Luckily, I've got a fairly good memory.
What else? Well, once I decided that I was going to try to write what was then called Snowbird, I dug into nearly everything that's ever been written about Walt Disney, in print and on the Internet. The good, the bad, the ridiculous. Everything.
BigBookSavings: As a marketing person you must have come up with some interesting ways to promote Waking Walt. Tell us about one or two.
Larry Pontius : One thing I'm doing which is a little unusual is writing columns on Internet sites that relate to the book. For example, I write a column called "What Would Walt Think" for MagicalMountain.net, a site that covers news about Disney. My column is a look at some current Disney activities with an eye to what Walt might have to say about them if he were around today. I also write a monthly column for JimHillMedia.com which is another Disney news and views site. Both of these sites are kind enough to reciprocate with a plug for Waking Walt at the end of each column.
The most fun thing I've done to promote the book involved fortune cookies. Really! My daughter, Rebecca, works for an event management company in LA that produces things like convention shows and movie premieres. Out of the blue one day she called and said she was looking for unusual items to put in the goodie bags they were giving away to the Hollywood press and film industry people at the premiere of a new independent film.
It's a long story, but the short of it is that when the goody bags were given away all 1200 of them had one of seven different fortune cookies in it - especially created for the occasion. Here are just a couple of fortunes:
You will meet a man awakened
from cryonic suspension
www.wakingwalt.com
This cookie wasn't frozen,
but guess who was...
www.wakingwalt.com
BigBookSavings: What's next for you?
Larry Pontius: I'm spending a lot of time promoting Waking Walt and trying to squeeze in time to write my first novel. That's right, the one I was writing before I had that lunch with Marty Cummins. It's called Future King. What's it about? Well, here's the preface as a hint.
"I will tell you something else,
King, which may be a surprise for you. It will not happen for hundreds of years,
but both of us are to come back. Do you know what is going to be written on
your tombstone? Hic jacet Arthurus Rex quandam Rexque futurus.
Do you remember your Latin? It means, the once and future king."
-- Merlyn
From T.H. White's
The Once and Future King
BigBookSavings: Leave us with some writing words of wisdom.
Larry Pontius: Here's something I picked up from the advertising business as well as Ernest Hemmingway: When in doubt, leave it out.
And a couple of quotes from my favorite author, Mark Twain, "The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug." And this other one I love about editing your work; "If I had had more time, I would have written less."
Larry Pontius' Favorite Links:
www.Floridawriters.net
- The official website of the Florida Writer's Association
www.jimhillmedia.com - News and views
about the activities of the Disney organization.
www.wakingwalt.com - The Official site
for Larry Pontius and his book, Waking Walt.
www.Amazon.com - Purchase "Waking Walt"
from Amazon.com
© copyright 2002 wakingwalt.com