Don Carpenter

Don Carpenter (March 16, 1931 – July 28, 1995) was an American writer, best known as the author of Hard Rain Falling. He wrote numerous novels, novellas, short stories and screenplays over the course of a 22-year career that took him from a childhood in Berkeley, California and the Pacific Northwest to the corridors of power and ego in Hollywood. A close observer of human frailty, his writing depicted marginal characters like pool sharks, prisoners and drug dealers, as well as movie moguls and struggling actors. Although lauded by critics and fellow writers alike, Carpenter's novels and stories never reached a mass audience and he supported himself with extensive work for Hollywood. Facing a mounting series of debilitating illnesses, Don Carpenter committed suicide in 1995.

Don Carpenter was born in Berkeley, California, and lived in Lafayette during the early years of his childhood. He attended and graduated from Berkeley High School. In 1951, Carpenter enlisted in the Air Force and was stationed in Kyoto, Japan. During his time in the service, Carpenter was a writer for the military newspaper Stars and Stripes, where he met musician and cartoonist Shel Silverstein.

When Carpenter was discharged from service in 1955 he returned to Portland where he married Martha Ryherd. They had two daughters – Bonnie and Leha, and settled in San Francisco in the late 1950s. In 1957, Carpenter enrolled in San Francisco State College and received an M.A. when he graduated in 1961. Four years later (1965), the Carpenters settled in Mill Valley, California. Carpenter taught English for two years before publishing his first novel Hard Rain Falling (1966). From the late 1960s to the early 1980s Carpenter lived in and out of Hollywood writing screenplays for movies. Carpenter wrote a screenplay for the film Payday which was filmed in 1972 and starred Rip Torn as a country singer. He also wrote a teleplay for an episode of the 1960s television series The High Chaparral called "Once on a Day in Spring". He also wrote three Hollywood novels between 1975 and 1981.

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