Don Carpenter was born in Berkeley, California, in 1931. His early years were
spent in Berkeley and in Lafayette, Ca. Summers were usually spent with his
parents and older brother Gene at their cabin in the Sierra mountains. In 1947
he moved to Portland, Oregon, where he finished high school (his high school
nickname was "Carp"). Carpenter served in the Air Force during the Korean War,
and for a time was stationed in Kyoto, Japan, where he became enamored of
Japanese culture. During the war he worked for the military magazine Stars and
Stripes, alongside a struggling young cartoonist named Shel Silverstein, who
would later find fame as a beloved author of children's books. Years later, Mr.
Silverstein would also contribute several original songs to Carpenter's movie
Payday.
Returning to Portland, Carpenter attended the University of Portland, and
received his B.S. from Portland State College. He married Martha Marie Ryherd in
1956, and in the early sixties, they lived in San Francisco, where he received
his M.A. from San Francisco State College. He taught English for awhile, but his
early success allowed him to become a full-time writer, and he was hailed as a
serious literary figure from the moment his first novel, "Hard Rain Falling,"
was published in 1966. Around this time the Carpenter family (which now included
two girls, Bonnie and Leha) settled in Mill Valley, Ca. at 386 East Blithedale.
Carpenter was always closely involved in the Bay Area literary scene, and could
often be found in the bars and coffee shops of North Beach with fellow writers
like Evan S. Connell Jr., Curt Gentry and Richard Brautigan. Curt Gentry later
commented, "Don was really a great writer. He was truly beloved and the only
thing any of us ever resented was that he would include us as characters in his
books."
Carpenter also spent twelve years in and out of Hollywood writing for movies and
television, and once commented that he would "probably spend the next twelve
writing about it. Hollywood to me is a civilization easily as complex,
fascinating and mysterious as ancient Egypt." However, like his novels, which
were revered chiefly by other serious writers, his movie work had limited
appeal. Typically, his 1973 movie Payday was once included on a list of "the
best movies you've never seen." Carpenter wryly explained to one reporter the
movie's lack of success: "When it came out a lot of people didn't like it a lot
because a lot of people go to the movies to be entertained, and they didn't find
it sufficiently entertaining." Payday, which chronicled the ups and downs of a
country singer played by Rip Torn, was critically acclaimed and received a
standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival. If his movie work did not make him
a Hollywood success, it did give him a great deal of material, which he
disgorged in a series of "Hollywood novels" including "The True Life Story of
Jody McKeegan" (1975), "Turnaround" (1981) and especially, "A Couple of
Comedians" (1979), which Carpenter reportedly considered his best work.
Carpenter's work continued to win more critical acclaim than popular favor,
however. In the mid-70s he separated from his wife, and continued to work
sporadically for the movies. One of the most troubling chapters in his life
occurred in 1984, when his best friend, the poet and novelist Richard Brautigan,
committed suicide. "It would be my suspicion that Richard's suicide weighed on
Don," said the novelist Evan Connell.
