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Last Updated: Aug 28, 2009 - 10:45:21 AM |
I’ve never been above shameless self-promotion. To prove that, I’m going to talk about the return – sort of – of “John Rourke.” Years ago, when I was working as Associate Editor of GUNS Magazine, I began noticing all the publicity and advertising associated with everything from retreat properties to special vitamins, all aimed at the then-growing survivalism market. I realized that amid all the gloom and doom of a potential thermonuclear war with then-Soviet Russia, the human spirit couldn’t be beaten down. People saw themselves – somehow – surviving, going on, thriving.
As the years went by, Sharon and I did a lot of thinking about survivalism and we came up with the perfect character to be “The Survivalist.” “John Rourke” was trained as a physician, a medical doctor. Rather than practice, he joined the CIA. After a harrowing survival experience – which he barely got through – he began the serious study of survival techniques and equipment. He was already a weapons expert, having grown up shooting. His father was in the OSS – the forerunner of the CIA -- during World War II, working behind enemy lines.
Rourke had a wife, named “Sarah.” Sarah Rourke was never based on my wife, Sharon. They loved each other a great deal, but Sarah eschewed violence, was repulsed by the concept of survivalism and was naïve in many ways. They had two children, “Michael” and “Annie.” The Rourke children were wholly based on Sharon’s and my two children, our son’s and daughter’s middle names their given names.
"The Survivalist" now on CD from Graphic Audio.
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Rourke’s taste in weapons reflected my own tastes at the time and, in many ways, still do. For example, Rourke carried his famous brace of Detonics CombatMaster .45s. I use a Detonics CombatMaster every day; in those days, I did occasionally carry two. The adventures of John Rourke and Sarah and the kids and Paul and Natalia went on for twelve and one-half years. Legendary producer Dino DeLaurentiis, noted for such classic films as “War And Peace,” “Barrabas” and “LaStrada,” as well as “Conan The Barbarian,” “Death Wish,” “King Kong,” “Flash Gordon” and dozens of other films, wanted to make a film version of “The Survivalist.” Dino commissioned Sharon and me to try a screenplay, as well as other writers. The problem was always the same – we couldn’t pack the first nine books into one two-hour movie, which was the fashion then. We continued writing the books and ended the series with number twenty-seven, the series also incorporating two larger but un-numbered books, for a grand total of twenty-nine novels chronicling Rourke’s adventures. The first book, for example, went into nine USA printings.
We’re often asked to pick up the series again, and we might someday. But, for those who miss “The Survivalist” or would like to experience the series in a brand new way, Graphic Audio has already released Survivalist #1 through #15 and Mid-Wake Part 1. These are fully soundscaped dramatizations. with multiple actors, sound effects, music – an audio “movie” for the mind.
Aside from the USA, “The Survivalist” has been published in Canada, Great Britain, France, Japan and elsewhere, has been in print and was and will be again available as downloadable E-Books. Some individual copies of the original books are being sold on-line for as much as a hundred dollars!
Sharon and I are excited about the fully dramatized audio versions – uncut and un-abridged, I might add –from Graphic Audio ( www.graphicaudio.net ). “The Survivalist” turned out to be a real survivor!
Visit Jerry Ahern at www.jerryahern.com
© Copyright 2009 by DOWN RANGE TV
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