I was talking with friends recently about the genius of self-proclaimed “B movie actor” Bruce Campbell and his work in the Evil Dead trilogy, which inspired me to reread his funny and startlingly ego-and-bullshit-free autobiography from 2001, If Chins Could Kill. This time around, I noticed in the acknowledgments that Campbell reveals his inspiration to write the book was John Hodgman, who worked as a literary agent before becoming a professional comedian-raconteur-anthropomorphic PC.
Campbell writes:
A hundred years ago, a guy named John Hodgman contacted me by e-mail.
“Ever thought about writing a book?” he wrote. [. . .]
“Yeah, right,” I answered. “Another actor writes a lame-ass book. Snoresville, baby.”
John refused to back off, based on a series of rants and anecdotes I had posted on my website. He was convinced that if I could put together a “demo” book, a publisher would step up to the plate.
Campbell did just that, writing his first draft on the back of a lousy unsolicited screenplay some Dutch guy handed him at Cannes.
Hodgman confirms Campbell was his first client in an interview with Cracked.com, adding:
Like many whose lives have been touched by the genius of Campbell, my road with him began when I e-mailed him blindly, and to my astonishment, Bruce swiftly and politely wrote back. He showed an enormous amount of trust in me. I recommended I help him find a, you know, experienced agent, but for whatever reason, he let me do it.
And that’s all I have to say, really. I appreciate finding small connections like these between my favorite actors, authors, artists and musicians. Someday I’ll graph them all on a chart.