former Student remembers Lew Hunter

To know Lew Hunter was to know a force of nature. (The same can be said for his wife, Pamela!) I first learned this in 2007 or 2008 when I saw them at an event put on by the Omaha Film Festival. (I re-learned that lesson every time I was lucky enough to be around them.)

We were in a classroom at UNO. Around the desk and whiteboard, Lew had placed a slew of “storytellers,” toys and figurines that could inspire a story. After we learned a bit of the writing craft, we each had to submit three ideas for possible screenplays and Lew would help us develop our initial idea a little more by asking questions and spitballing possible ideas. Then the class would vote on your idea they liked best with the encouragement to write it. (I still have my paper with my list of ideas, and went on to write one of them that I submitted as part of my application to Lew’s Writing Colony.)

Not only was this condensed version of his UCLA 434 class a great exercise and inspiration for burgeoning writers, but the energy Lew exuded, and the love and adoration between Lew and Pam was palpable. They were special and I wanted to be a part of this.

When I made my way to Superior to learn from Lew, I joined the ranks of hundreds or thousands of writers over decades who have recognized Lew as a font of knowledge, inspiration, and encouragement. Who can say the number of lives he touched? Lew taught at UCLA, he taught all over the world, and he taught those who would make the pilgrimage to Superior, Nebraska, a place he called “the Middle of Everywhere.”

I attended Lew’s Colony six times between 2008 and 2018. I met my husband, Andrew Wassom, at my second Colony in 2012. We married in the backyard gazebo in May 2019.

What I experienced in the Day House (or the Colony House) at each Colony was magic, or what I called ‘Heaven’. What else would you call it when you get to escape the ‘real world’ for two weeks to focus on your passion, learn from a caring professional, and be surrounded by other “gotta be” writers? My time there was well spent. I wrote several screenplays for feature length films as well as a pilot for a TV show. I fostered friendships with the people around me and I tried to soak it all in, moments of elation to savor for future days.

Lew meant a lot of things to a lot of people. His kindness and interest in others, his humor, his life experiences, his whole being made him someone that you felt honored to know. His presence was a much needed reminder about who you can choose to be in an industry and a world that is known to be too many rough things.

My life has been forever altered for knowing Lew Hunter. He called me a surrogate daughter. He and Pamela took pride in the love that bloomed between me and my husband, two goofy Nebraska kids who came looking for guidance on writing and found something more.

Lew’s legacy is one of vulnerability, curiosity, “seat of pants to seat of chair,” “Write On,” belly laughs, tenderness, connection, and love. The world feels a little less vibrant without him, but he’d want us to create something wonderful with it.

We love you, Lew. Thank you, Pamela, for sharing your love with all of Lew’s starry-eyed “gotta be” writers. You two created Heaven on Earth and offered it to anyone who arrived on your doorstep, no matter where you were.

Write On.

With love and admiration,

Danielle P. Smith

Chester, Nebraska