It is very difficult for me to write about myself, and especially The Outsiders,
which was written at a horrendous time in my life, was published by a series
of mind-boggling synchronicities, and has gone further than any author
dared dream. But I’ll give it a shot.
I wrote The Outsiders when I was sixteen years old. Actually I began it when
I was fifteen, as a short story about a boy who was beaten up on his way
home from the movies.
But I didn’t just write The Outsiders, I lived it. Looking back, I realize how
important it was to me to have another life at that time. To be someone
else. To deal with problems I had to face, and write my way to some sort of
understanding and coping. This is all in hindsight. At the time, I was mad
about the social situation in my high school. I desperately wanted
something to read that dealt realistically with teen-age life.
I knew I was going to be a writer. I love to write. I began in grade school,
because I loved to read, and liked the idea of making stories happen the
way I wanted them to. By the time I was in high school I had been
practicing for years. So I was both elated and not surprised when I received
my publishing contract on the day I graduated from high school.
The Outsiders has taken me many places I never dreamed of going. It
introduced me to people I would never otherwise have met. Although the
names Patrick Swayze, Tom Cruise, Matt Dillon, Rob Lowe, C. Thomas
Howell, Emilio Estevez, and Ralph Macchio are familiar to most people, and
conjure visions of movie stars and glamour, I remember a group of
sweet, goofy, incredibly talented and at the same time incredibly normal
teen-age boys. I was involved in every aspect of filming the movie version
of The Outsiders, and the memory I cherish most is of hanging out with
“my boys."
I owe Francis Coppola a debt of thanks. Not only for the respect, kindness,
and friendship I personally received from him, but for the fact that he
made the movie for the fans of the book. He shot a faithful adaptation,
consulting me for everything from locations to wardrobe,but it was the
director to go back and asemble a more complete movie because those fans asked him to.
Fans.I receive letters from every state,from dozens of foreign countries.