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Mark Dawidziak | |
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| Born | Mark Daniel Dawidziak (1956-09-07)September 7, 1956 |
| Occupation | Writer |
Mark Dawidziak (born September 7, 1956) is an Americanauthor andcritic.[1]
Dawidziak was born inHuntington, New York,[2] on September 7, 1956. He is a graduate ofHarborfields High School, class of 1974.
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A journalism graduate ofGeorge Washington University, Dawidziak has worked as a theater, film and television critic since 1979. He started his journalism career in the Washington, D.C. bureaus of Knight-Ridder Newspapers and the Associated Press. In 1983, after stints as the arts and entertainment editor at theBristol Herald-Courier inBristol, Virginia and theKingsport Times-Times inKingsport, Tennessee, he moved to theAkron Beacon Journal inAkron, Ohio as the newspaper'sTV critic (and later film critic). He is currently thetelevision critic forThe Plain Dealer inCleveland,Ohio.[3]
Dawidziak has written two non-fiction books about TV characters:The Columbo Phile: A Casebook (The Mysterious Press, 1989),[4] a history ofPeter Falk's Lt.Columbo, andThe Night Stalker Companion: A 30th Anniversary Tribute (Pomegranate Press, 1997), a history of theCarl Kolchak character played byDarren McGavin in two TV movies and the 1974-75 ABC series.[5] His 2003 book,Horton Foote's The Shape of the River: The Lost Teleplay About Mark Twain (Applause Books) details the 1960Playhouse 90 production on CBS.[6]
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In addition toHorton Foote's The Shape of the River: The Lost Teleplay About Mark Twain (Applause Books, 2003), he assembled Mark Twain's thoughts on writing and the writing process forMark My Words: Mark Twain on Writing (St. Martin's Press, 1996).[7] He also teamed with noted Twain scholar R. Kent Rasmussen for the chapterMark Twain on the Screen published inA Companion to Mark Twain (Blackwell Publishing, 2005, edited by Peter Messent and Louis J. Budd). He has twice been the visiting Twain scholar giving theTrouble Begins at Eight lecture atElmira College's Center for Mark Twain Studies. He has presented academic papers at four consecutive State of Mark Twain Studies conferences (held every four years in August at Elmira College): onThe Shape of the River in 2001; on the many similarities between Twain and Charles Dickens in 2005; on the importance ofHal Holbrook's one-man show,Mark Twain Tonight!, in 2009; and on director-producerWill Vinton's Claymation filmThe Adventures of Mark Twain in 2013.
Dawidziak and Paul J. Bauer are the authors of the first full-length biography of writerJim Tully. TitledJim Tully: American Writer, Irish Rover, Hollywood Brawler,[8] it was published by Kent State University Press in 2011 with a foreword byKen Burns.[9]
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In addition to writing two non-fiction books about the Carl Kolchak character –Night Stalking: A 20th Anniversary Kolchak Companion (Image, 1991) andThe Night Stalker Companion: A 30th Anniversary Tribute (Pomegranate Press, 1997), Dawidziak has edited three collections of works byRichard Matheson, all published by Gauntlet Press:Richard Matheson's Kolchak Scripts (2003),Bloodlines: Richard Matheson's Dracula, I Am Legend, and Other Vampires Stories (2006)[10] andRichard Matheson's Censored and Unproduced I Am Legend Screenplay (2012). His work in the horror field includes a 1994 novel (The Kolchak Papers: Grave Secrets), a play (The Tell-Tale Play), short stories, comic book scripts and the non-fiction bookThe Bedside, Bathtub and Armchair Companion to Dracula (Continuum, 2008).[11]
Dawidziak met his wife, actress Sara Showman, through the stage. In 2002, they founded the Largely Literary Theater Company, a touring troupe dedicated to promoting literacy, literature and live theater.[12] The company's artistic director, he frequently appears in Largely Literary productions asMark Twain andCharles Dickens.[citation needed] His two-act adaptation of Twain material,Twain By Three, was performed at the 103rd Annual InternationalDickens Fellowship Conference (held atCase Western Reserve University inCleveland, Ohio). His playThe Mystery of Dashiell Hammett was premiered as part of Big Read initiative atHiram College in 2009. His other plays include a two-act adaptation of Dickens'A Christmas Carol for three actors.[13]
Dawidziak is currently teaching part-time as an adjunct professor atKent State University, in addition to writing forThe Plain Dealer. He teaches the Reviewing Film and Television and Vampires in Film and Television courses.[14] His first class was in the spring of 2009.
He frequently lectures and gives talks on Mark Twain,[15] Charles Dickens, television and vampires. On October 23, 2009, Dawidziak appeared at theKent Stage, in Kent Ohio, with the lecture "Haunted Theaters, Dracula & Me".
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