New KET documentary explores life of Kentucky writer behind ‘Queen’s Gambit’ & more
KET is taking a closer look at the life of Kentucky author Walter Tevis, whose work inspired the popular Netflix miniseries “The Queen’s Gambit” — and a run on chess boards — last year.
KET’s 60-minute documentary “Walter Tevis: A Writer’s Gambit” will premiere at 8 p.m. July 13 on KET. It will be re-broadcast on KET2 at 9 p.m. July 15.
“Walter Tevis is one of the best-known Kentucky writers that people have never heard of, and ‘The Queen’s Gambit’ has certainly gone a long way to rectifying that,” said Tom Thurman, who produced the documentary. “It seemed like the perfect opportunity to allow Kentuckians to view both his life and career.”
Before “The Queen’s Gambit” became a television hit, three of Tevis’ novels were turned into major films, including “The Hustler” and its sequel, “The Color of Money” which starred Paul Newman and Tom Cruise as pool hall hustlers, and “The Man Who Fell to Earth,” with David Bowie as an alien.
“There’s hardly anybody you can name ... who had better luck with translating his work into TV and movies,” Thurman said.
But Tevis struggled with alcoholism and after success as a writer had a 17-year period in which he did not publish a novel.
“He got so far into that, there was a chance he would not be able to return,” Thurman said.
But Tevis did, and Thurman said his story is ultimately one of redemption.
Walter Tevis’ early years
Tevis spent his early childhood in San Francisco. His parents, who had deep roots in Madison County, placed him in a California convalescent home when he was 10 years old and while he was still there returned to Kentucky. He was reunited with them a year later and spent the remainder of his youth in the Lexington area.
After graduating from the University of Kentucky, Tevis taught high school classes in Pulaski, Estill and Nicholas counties, as well as classes at UK and Northern Kentucky University, before eventually becoming a professor at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio.
After 14 years at the university, “he basically moved to New York, reinvented himself, became extremely prolific,” Thurman said.
Tevis died of lung cancer while living in New York in 1984, just days after “The Color of Money” was published. He was 56.
Walter Tevis’ life in his books
Elements from Tevis’ life, from his struggle with alcohol to a childhood stint in a convalescent home where the children were given regular doses of barbiturates, frequently made their way into his books.
“It is impossible to separate his biography from his work because there’s such a strong overlap,” Thurman said.
As a boy, he learned to play pool at the South Ashland Avenue home of the late Toby Kavanaugh, and the two buddies sometimes went down to the Phoenix Hotel, where they watched the professionals play.
References to New Circle Road, Henry Clay High School and other Lexington landmarks show up in “The Queen’s Gambit,” pulled straight from Tevis’ life experience.
Thurman said he hopes the documentary show will “intrigue people enough where they’ll take a deeper dive into some of his lesser known works,” such as his 1980 science fiction novel “Mockingbird.”
This past Thursday night, Tevis’ daughter, Julie Tevis McGory, joined Thurman for a Q&A and short preview of the film at Lexington’s 21c Museum Hotel, which created its Harmon Room in homage to the Beth Harmon character in “The Queen’s Gambit.” Attendees also toured the room and heard from the design team that created it.
This story was originally published July 12, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
