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Yaddo Writer Mark Winegardner
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 Mark Winegardner Photo by availablelightphoto.com |
Mario Puzo's legendary Godfather saga, partially written at Yaddo, will be continued by another Yaddo writer, Mark Winegardner, who was selected from a field of 40 established authors vying to continue the story of the Corleone family begun in the late Puzo's popular 1969 novel about crime and power in America.
The announcement of Winegardner's selection was made February 7 on NBC's "Today Show," which featured interviews with three of the finalists in a search that was conducted by Random House on behalf of Puzo's son and literary executor, Tony Puzo, and literary agent Neil Olson of Donadio & Olson, which represents the Puzo estate. The title of the new book, due to be published by Random House in late 2004, is The Godfather Returns.
Winegardner, who was a guest at Yaddo in 1997 and 1998, is "an original writer who will bring his own vision" to the characters created by Puzo, according to Jonathan Karp, Random House vice president and executive editor. Winegardner is the author of a short story collection, That's True of Everybody (2002), and two novels, Crooked River Burning (2001), substantial portions of which he wrote at Yaddo, and The Veracruz Blues (1996). He lives in Tallahassee, Florida, where he is the director of the creative writing program at Florida State University.
Puzo's Godfather books sold more than 20 million copies each and three were made into successful movies by Francis Ford Coppola. When he first applied for a Yaddo residency, Puzo wrote on his application that he planned to work on "a novel about a mafia family" if he was invited to Yaddo. He was a Yaddo guest artist in 1958, 1960 and 1967.
The search for a writer to succeed Puzo made international news, especially after the "Today" television program began following the story of the search when Karp announced several months ago that the publishing house was looking for a well-regarded novelist at mid-career who, like Puzo when he began The Godfather, wanted to create a popular novel about a Mafia family. Each of the writers who wanted the job were required to submit a detailed proposal to Random House.
"After being deluged with proposals, it was immediately clear to all of us that Mark Winegarnder is the one. Just as book reviewers said of Mario, he is a 22-caliber literary bigshot," Karp said.
