Wikipedia and Me. Some Kind of Affair, but is it Love?

Through the kindness of strangers some fragments of what you might vaguely describe as my life have found their way onto Wikipedia.

This has not been without incident, however, as those wonderful nameless editors seem to constantly pick at the facts based upon their Googling of the vast depths of the internet. Unfortunately, those depths are not as deep as real life, and often they catch no fish because the objects of their desires are buried not in cyberspace, but in books, magazines, archives and personal recollections.

In the wake of an announcement that Wikipedia will begin to fuss with the biographies of living people and since, as near as I can tell, I'm still living, I can only assume that they will want to fuss with me as well. They've done it before and I expect them to do it again.

I'm posting below the current Wikipedia entry for myself with the positive assertion that to the best of my knowledge it represents (albeit in a rather skimpy form) things that really happened in my life. I've been astonished to find that -- having read this -- total strangers have gotten in touch with me because they, too, recall the people, places and events recounted on Wikipedia. One point for them.

This may not be the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval, but it is the Edward Summer Seal of Approval. Everything you read below is true as far as it goes. There's much more to it of course and perhaps there is some way for me or someone to fill it in better.

It's all very flattering that it exists and it's posted here with embarrassment in order to affirm its validity.

Feel free not to read it.

Edward Summer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Edward Summer has been an award winning painter, motion picture director, screenwriter, internet publisher, magazine editor, journalist and science writer, comic book writer, novelist, book designer, actor, cinematographer, motion picture editor, documentary film maker, film festival founder, and educator.
Among his better known works are the ground-breaking collection of Carl Barks stories Uncle Scrooge McDuck: His Life and Times, the Dinosaur Interplanetary Gazette (one of the pioneering online magazines), the first motion picture based upon Robert E. Howard's character Conan The Barbarian, the novel Teefr, and a prequel The Legend of Teddy Bear Bob.

Contents [hide]
1 Early Work
2 Theater
3 Motion Pictures
4 Comic books
5 Magazines
6 Digital Nitrate Prize
7 Constructive Living
8 Filmography
9 References
10 External links
[edit]Early Work

Born in Buffalo, New York, Summer studied painting at the Albright Art Gallery (now called the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Albright Art School, and with the noted water-color painter Sandra Chessman. He was also acquainted from childhood with another noted water-colorist, Robert Blair.[1]

Charles Summer, his father, was an amateur photographer who owned a then uncommon Exacta single lense reflex camera. The world-famous photographer Milton Rogovin was a family friend and early on exposed him to fine-art photographs.
At fifteen, Summer had a special one-man exhibit of his drawings in a group show at the Buffalo Museum of Science.
[edit]Theater

Studio Theater (now called Studio Arena Theater ), Buffalo, NY. appearance in Many Moons, based on a James Thurber book, choreographed by Michael Bennett. Director: Roberta Sharpe circa 1961.

Worked with Fred Keller and Neal Du Brock as actor and stage manager. Also Joe Krysiak founder of Project Artaud. [2]
[edit]Motion Pictures

Encouraged by experimental film maker Peter Adair, Summer ultimately attended the first year of the New York University School of the Arts (then under the NYU School of Education and called the School of Television, Motion Pictures and Radio). Haig Manoogian, instrumental in starting the career of Martin Scorsese by producing the film "Who's That Knocking at My Door" headed the school and was one of the main instructors.

At NYU, Summer continued painting and studied with, among others, acclaimed photo-realist Audrey Flack. Harry Hurwitz, director of "The Projectionist" was also an instructor and personal friend.

His student film "Item 72-D, The Adventures of Spa and Fon" not only won multiple awards, but was shown worldwide at many film festivals. It was the first film shown at the now famous Film Forum movie theater in New York City when the Film Forum was only a tiny loft space on West 88th Street in Manhattan. Hervé Villechaize, then unknown was one of the stars of "Item 72-D, The Adventures of Spa and Fon" Villechaize went on to fame in The Man with the Golden Gun and as a recurring character in the television show Fantasy Island. A co-writer of the film, John Byrum went on to write and direct numerous other films. Both Manoogian and Scorsese were advisors to the project.

Other early films included: Solstice (1968) - Film Editor High in the Wind Rivers (1970) - Cinematographer, Film Editor Street Scenes 1970 (1970) - Cinematographer, Sound Recording, Film Editor

As a fellow of the National Endowment for the Arts, Summer received a grant to produce a documentary about the history of American Comic Strip and Comic Book art. This unfinished film covered, among other people, Jack Kirby, Milton Caniff, Carl Barks, Chuck Jones, Ray Bradbury, Dick Huemer and Ralph Bakshi.

He worked with CBS Camera Three on a two-part series covering the history of comic books and comic strips.

In 1975, Summer helped his friend Brian De Palma re-do all of the promotional materials for Phantom of the Paradise. As a result, producer Edward R. Pressman approached Summer for other projects. The result was Conan The Barbarian which took nearly seven years to bring to the screen. The original treatment/screenplay was written by Summer with some collaboration by Roy Thomas who had written and edited the Marvel Comic Book series.

2003 Founded The Buffalo International Film Festival.
[edit]Comic books

Gold Key Comics Several science fiction adaptations for Starstream. Born of the Sun. Shaka
Marvel Comics Plot Red Sonja Issue One. Red Sonya and the Unicorn. This story largely defined Red Sonja's personality and "inner nature."
Plot: The Invaders Involving the revival of the Golem to defeat the Axis.
Plot: Conan The Barbarian The Devourer of the Dead Story about origin of Egyptian pyramids.
Editor: Superman the Movie Magazine, DC Comics
Summer was instrumental in beginning the process that resulted in Shuster and Siegel receiving lifetime financial benefits from their creation of Superman.
[edit]Magazines

Founding editor and co-publisher: The Dinosaur Times
Contributing writer: Written By, Time Magazine, New York Times, Circus, Films in Review, The Perfect Vision, The Absolute Sound, Home Theater Magazine, Skeptical Inquirer, Skeptical Briefs, The Monster Times.
[edit]Digital Nitrate Prize

In 2005, Edward Summer founded The Digital Nitrate Prize in order to encourage the research necessary to properly transfer and preserve the worlds motion picture heritage using the developing digital media. Based upon the X Prize, the Digital Nitrate Prize will offer a cash prize for the first individual, group or corporation which is able to exactly duplicate the look of nitrate film (nitrate motion picture film) using digital transfer and digital projection.
[edit]Constructive Living

Edward Summer is a certified instructor of Constructive Living.[3] He studied with David K. Reynolds in Los Angeles, New York, West Virginia and Tennessee.
[edit]Filmography

1968 - Solstice - Producer, Editor
1968 - DeFeet - Producer, Director, Cinematographer
1970 - Item 72-D: The Adventures of Spa and Fon - Producer, Director
1970 - Street Scenes, 1970 - Director/Cameraman, Editor
1970 - High in the Wind Rivers - Director/Cameraman
1982 - Conan the Barbarian - Associate Producer
1989 - Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland - Screenplay
2005 - Silent Music - Producer, Director (In Production)
2005 - The Magic of Magic - Producer, Director (In Production)
2006 - Clicker Clatter - Producer
2007 - Sirens - Producer (In Production)
2007 - Calvin of Oakknoll - Executive Producer, Consulting Director (In Production)
[edit]References

^ Conan The Phenomenon by Paul Sammon, Dark Horse Books, 2007.
^ Interview with Edward Summer http://artaudsf.org/Archives/EdSummer.html.
^ A Handbook For Constructive Living by David Reynolds.Morrow, 1995, page 266.
Partial Comics Bibliography
[edit]External links

Edward Summer at the Internet Movie Database
The Dinosaur Interplanetary Gazette
The Buffalo International Film Festival
Summer Stuff Blog
The Digital Nitrate Prize Website
Article: Richard Williams: The Animator Who Never Gave Up
Library of Congress: Orphan Works Legislation Advocacy
Articles in New York Daily News
ZoomInfo Profile
References
Categories: Living people | American comics writers | American screenwriters | American film directors | American film producers | American film editors | American magazine editors | American online publication editors | Writers from New York | People from Buffalo, New York

Life as a Catalyst

It occurs to me far too often how little I've managed to accomplish over decades of eating, breathing and sleeping.

And yet, an awful lot of interesting things have gone on around me.

I'd like to think that some of them would not have happened if I hadn't been in that spot at that particular moment.

There's some consolation in it.

Not easy to prove, of course, but I can make a case for it....