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Koenig (Laird) papers
PA Mss 148
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Title: Laird Koenig papers
Identifier/Call Number: PA Mss 148
Contributing Institution:
UC Santa Barbara Library, Department of Special Research Collections
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
3.75 linear feet
(8 document boxes, 2 half-size document boxes)
Creator:
Koenig, Laird
Date (inclusive): 1931-2017
Date (bulk): bulk 1970s-2017
Abstract: Papers of American novelist, playwright, and screenwriter Laird Koenig. The bulk of the material dates from the 1970s to 2017.
The collection is open for research.
Property rights to the collection and physical objects belong to the Regents of the University of California acting through
the Department of Special Research Collections at the UCSB Library. All applicable literary rights, including copyright to
the collection and physical objects, are protected under Chapter 17 of the U.S. Copyright Code and are retained by the creator
and the copyright owner, heir(s), or assigns.
All requests to reproduce, quote from, or otherwise reuse collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Department
of Special Research Collections at UCSB at special@ucsb.edu. Consent is given on behalf of the Regents of the University of
California acting through the Department of Special Research Collections at UCSB as the owner of the physical items and is
not intended to include or imply permission from the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright
owner, heir(s), or assigns. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the
copyright owner or their assigns for permission to publish where the UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
[Identification of Item], Laird Koenig papers, PA Mss 148. Department of Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library,
University of California, Santa Barbara.
Gift of Laird Koenig, 2019.
American novelist, playwright, and screenwriter Laird Koenig (1927-2023) was born in Seattle, Washington. Koenig attended
the University of Washington, worked in advertising in New York City, and moved to Los Angeles in the 1960s, where he began
his literary career writing novels, plays, and screenplays. Beginning in the 1970s, he spent time in France. Koenig's early
novels include
The Children Are Watching (co-written with Peter L. Dixon, 1970) and
The Little Girl Who Lives down the Lane (1974). In 1976, Koenig adapted his novel
The Little Girl Who Lives down the Lane into a film. Directed by Nicolas Gessner and starring Jodie Foster and Martin Sheen, the film would earn Koenig a Saturn
Award nomination for best screenplay.
Attention, Les Enfants Regardent, a French film adaption of
The Children Are Watching, was released in 1978. Based on a screenplay adapted from the novel by Laird Koenig and Peter Dixon, the film was directed
by Serge Leroy and produced by Alain Delon, who also starred in the leading role as "The Man." Other novels written by Koenig
include
The Neighbor (1978),
Rockabye (1981), and
Rising Sun (1986). Koenig wrote episodes for the television series
Flipper (1970) and
High Chaparral (1970), as well as the screenplays for the films
Red Sun,
Bloodline,
Inchon, and many others.
Papers of American novelist, playwright, and screenwriter Laird Koenig, including personal and biographical items, editorial
correspondence, and manuscripts to works published and unpublished. The bulk of the material ranges from the 1970s to 2017.
Personal and biographical material includes clippings and memorabilia from Koenig's years at the University of Washington,
selected reviews of his works, and family correspondence dating to the early 1970s.
Editorial correspondence and manuscripts document Koenig's literary career. Editorial correspondence includes letters from
publishers, agents, and colleagues. Interspersed within the correspondence files are clippings (including reviews of his work),
programs, playbills, and ephemera. Original manuscripts (some with handwritten annotations) cover both published and unpublished
works and include novels, plays, and screenplays.
These materials have been divided into three series: 1. Personal/Biographical, 2. Editorial correspondence, 3. Manuscripts.
Published editions of Koenig's novels and plays in English, French, German, and Spanish have been separated for cataloging,
and may be accessed through the UC Santa Barbara Library online catalog.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Little girl who lives down the lane (Motion picture)
Attention, les enfants regardent (Motion picture)
Clippings (information artifacts)
Correspondence
Manuscripts (documents)
Playbills
Printed ephemera
Publications (documents)
Theater programs
Koenig, Laird -- Archives
Koenig, Laird -- Children are watching
Koenig, Laird -- Little girl who lives down the lane
Delon, Alain, 1935-
Dixon, Peter L.
Foster, Jodie
Gessner, Nicolas
Sheen, Martin