The Garner Files: A Memoir (40 page)

“After all these years, you’re still nervous?”

“I’m always nervous when I work. It keeps me on my toes. When the camera starts to roll, I’m all right.”

The Last Debate
(2000)

John Badham directed Jon Maas’s adaptation of Jim Lehrer’s novel. I’m a newspaper columnist who conspires to sway an election in favor of a Democrat. How did they know?

James Garner
has starred in numerous television shows and films, from
Maverick
and
The Rockford Files
to
The Great Escape,
with Steve McQueen, and
Victor/Victoria,
with Julie Andrews.

Jon Winokur
is the author of various nonfiction books, including
The Portable Curmudgeon,
Zen to Go,
and
Advice to Writers
. He lives in Los Angeles.

My mother, Mildred Scott Meek Bumgarner, circa 1929.
(Personal collection)

My father, Weldon Warren “Bill” Bumgarner, circa 1935.
(Courtesy of Terry Bumgarner)

With my mother and older brothers Jack (left) and Charles, circa 1930.
(Courtesy of Terry Bumgarner)

James Scott Bumgarner, age four.
(Personal collection)

At the Denver, Oklahoma, country store with the hand-operated gasoline pump, circa 1933. Left to right: brother Jack, me, my father, and brother Charles.
(Personal collection)

My first-grade class at Washington school, circa 1935. I’m in the back row, fourth from the left.
(Personal collection)

Left to right: Charles, Jack, and me, circa 1935.
(Personal collection)

My Lucky Strike “endorsement,” seventh grade at Norman Junior High.
(Personal collection)

At the Pickwick pool in Burbank, California, circa 1944.
(Personal collection)

My first “head shot,” circa 1945.
(Courtesy of Bill Saxon)

Left to right: Jack, me, and Charles, in 1949.
(Courtesy of Terry Bumgarner)