American novelist
Robert Kaplow (born c. 1954) is an American novelist and teacher[1] whose coming-of-age novel was made into a film titled Me and Orson Welles.[2] The story is about "youthful creative ambition" and has received positive reviews from The New York Times which described it as "nimble, likable and smart."[2] Kaplow has written nine books and used to teach English language and film studies at Summit High School in New Jersey.[3]
Early years
Kaplow graduated in 1972 from Westfield High School in Westfield, where he wrote his first satirical sketches as a student.[4][5]
One of Kaplow's later novels is sprinkled with references to Westfield. “Westfield remains for me the geography of my youth. I'm still very drawn to the place, though I don't live there,” Kaplow said in 2009.[6]
He graduated from Rutgers University, the state university of New Jersey.
Me and Orson Welles
Kaplow conceived the idea for the book while being a student at Rutgers University. He saw a photo in the periodical Theatre Arts Monthly from 1937 with Orson Welles with a young man.[7] Kaplow wondered what the young man might have been thinking. He wrote the story, but it took about nine years to find a publisher.[7] It was made into a film by director Richard Linklater which was released in 2009.[2] The Guardian critic Sophie Martelli described the film as a "schmaltzy yet charming coming-of-age story."[8] Me and Orson Welles was a New York Times bestseller[citation needed] and the film in 2008 starred Zac Efron and Claire Danes. The movie was filmed in the Gaiety Theatre on the Isle of Man. Kaplow's most recent novel is a satire of writers, critics, and publishers. For National Public Radio's Morning Edition, Mr. Kaplow created "Moe Moskowitz and the Punsters," a series of musical and satirical pop-culture parodies.[9] These musical parodies were released on two CDs: Steven Spielberg, Give Me Some of Your Money and Cancel My Subscription: The Worst of NPR.
He has been a resident of Metuchen, New Jersey.[3]
Writing letters to a house
Kaplow admitted that he had written admiring letters to a Victorian house on the north side of Westfield. His students recalled, “He had this idea to start writing letters to the house — not the occupants but to the house.” He eventually befriended the family who lived there; they even let him housesit once.[10]
