Peter Heller Book Made into Movie Thriller
Written by SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel
Acclaimed author and outdoorsman Peter Heller's end-of-the-world novel The Dog Stars is getting a new incarnation with blockbuster director Ridley Scott's (Alien, Bladerunner, Gladiator) new film about a post-apocalyptic world.
Published in 2012 - eight years before Covid-19 entered the vocabulary and became part of everyone's lives - Heller's book describes the aftermath of a global flu pandemic that wipes out most of mankind.
Like Heller's other books, including Celine, The Painter and The River, The Dog Stars finds a way to counter horror with humanity and hope. In this case, the world's future may hang on the slender thread of a mechanic/airplane pilot named Hig, his dog Jasper, and misanthropic fellow survivor Bangley.
SurfWriter Girls Sunny and Patti are happy that Heller's book will reach a greater audience through the film. We have been fans of his ever since his surfing memoir Kook: What Surfing Taught Me about Love, Life, and Catching the Perfect Wave came out.
In Kook, Heller tells how, after several false starts trying to surf, he took lessons from famed SoCal surf instructor Michael Pless, "The Saint of Seal Beach" (here with SurfWriter Girls), and ended up learning about a lot more than surfing. Pless, who puts soul into surfing, shows Heller that surfing isn't just a sport, but a way of life, becoming one with the ocean and nature.
Sunny met Heller when Pless invited SurfWriter Girls to a book talk for Kook.
The next day Sunny was getting her own surfing lesson from Pless...and Heller was at the shoreline cheering her on and taking photos.
Novelist Heller, a journalist, explorer, and adventure writer for National Geographic, is perfect to write about the losses from a pandemic because he has lived life boldly and knows how deep the losses will be.
With Peter Heller (screenwriters Christopher Wilkinson and Mark L. Smith) and Ridley Scott onboard together, The Dog Stars film, like the constellation it's named for, has the potential to light up the night, bringing warmth and meaning to its viewers.
Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel hold the exclusive rights to this copyrighted material. Publications wishing to reprint it may contact them at surfwriter.girls@gmail.com Individuals and non-profit groups are welcome to post it on social media sites as long as credit is given.
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