Besides being Mother’s Day, May 11th (tomorrow) is also Twilight Zone Day. It’s an important day to me because I met Rod Serling, creator of The Twilight Zone TV series, around 1970, five years before he died. It was a turning point in my life.
Before I tell you about it, left click on the black box at the top left of this post.
See anything strange happen?
Welcome to The Twilight Zone.
The Twilight Zone television series ran on CBS from 1959 to 1964. I’m told 156 episodes aired and Serling wrote 92 of them, which is still mind boggling to consider.
But Serling was a brilliant writer, which is why I so badly wanted to meet him when I was still in high school and heard he was speaking in Youngstown, Ohio. I had dreams of being an author like him.
I loved his show’s blend of psychology and theatre. I don’t like scary movies, but I do love psychological twists and mysteries. Serling specialized at it. He scared you by getting into your mind.
It helped that his TV series had many great actors in it, from Robert Redford, William Shatner, Burt Reynolds, Robert Duvall, Dennis Hopper, Carol Burnett, James Coburn, Charles Bronson, Lee Marvin, Peter Falk and Bill Mumy, to such legends as Buster Keaton, Art Carney, Mickey Rooney, Ida Lupino and John Carradine.
Of course, Serling himself introduced each episode of The Twilight Zone and also ended each. This made him famous, which probably planted the seed in my mind that I could be an author and a sometime TV show personality, and both would help my career. It sure did for Rod Serling. No wonder I’m in the movies The Secret and The Opus. I learned it from Rod.
But meeting Rod was a disappointment, at least to my young mind.
I expected him to be a deity of some sort. I expected him to be in control of his life and surroundings; a master of the world.
He was a short man with tight lips, a day old beard, and a chain smoking habit.
He was self-depreciating; saying he was the only boxer in the Army who had to be carried both in to and out of the boxing ring.
He was afraid. He said though he writes scary scripts, if there was a bump in the middle of the night, he’d be the first one outside in his skivvies.
He was also unhappy. He said, “I was traumatized into writing by war events. By going through a war in a combat situation and feeling the desperate sense of terrible need for some sort of therapy. To get it out of my gut, write it down. This is the way it began for me.”
Still, I wanted to talk to Serling. He was a living genius with words. He wrote plays, such as Patterns and Requiem for a Heavyweight, and TV shows, that I loved. They were emotional and intellectual.
But I was shy, insecure, and still in high school. I didn’t know if I could ask him anything.
Yet I was standing in the presence of greatness.
This was my moment.
I finally got up the nerve to ask the great scriptwriter if he ever planned to write his autobiography. I personally wanted to know his story.
He seemed surprised.
“About me? My life story?,” he asked. “No. Nothing really interesting has ever happened to me. I think my life story would be boring.”
That’s when I realized that the great Rod Serling was human.
He was like me. He was full of dreams and doubts. He was full of talent and trepidation. He was full of fear and faith.
That’s also when I decided that if this nervous little guy with the cigarette in his hand could become a world famous writer, then maybe I could, too.
I decided to be a writer right then and there, which led to my writing many books, from Hypnotic Writing to The Attractor Factor, and much later even starting my own Miracles Coaching program to help inspire others to live their dreams, too.
Serling also taught me about the importance of action. It’s one reason I am so prolific today. He said, “The instinct of creativity must be followed by the act, the physical act of putting it down for a sense of permanence. Once you get that prod, that emotional jar, that, ‘I have witnessed something.’ Or, ‘I have felt something.’ Or, ‘I have seen something.’ Or, through observation, ‘I have been moved by an event.’ I think the answer is, ‘Get it down. Get it down quickly. Write it down.'”
It’s ironic but Rod Serling died on June 28, 1975 and never wrote his life story, sticking with what he told me when I met him, that he thought his life was boring; yet at least three biographies came out after his death. Obviously there was something interesting in his life story, after all.
I think Rod missed the great gift he lived but didn’t see: his own life as an inspiration to others – like me.
Happy Twilight Zone Day.
Ao Akua,
Joe
www.mrfire.com
PS — Rod Serling was an advisor for the Famous Writers School at one point, as was copywriter John Caples, another writing legend who influenced me. I think both would have loved my Miracles Coaching program. They believed in dreams, too.
16 Comments
Hi, Joe, saw this on twitter–LUV the photo! Also enjoyed the article. What’s your most favorite TZ episode? Happy TZ Day!
p.s. Hey, is it possible to have your zeropoint “Intention” machine set up near your hot tub? I’m betting the positive effects from your gratitude work would be greatly magnified, if you could do both at the same time–S
YOUR life Mr. Vitale is a great inspiration to me. Thank you.
Joe, thanks for sharing these memories with us… I also followed the TZ series and remember faithfully watching the series on Friday nights on CBS.
One of the traits that struck me the most about Rod Serling was shared in an interview with Marc Scott Zicree (author of The Twilight Zone Companion) last year. Marc had complete access to Rod Serling’s garage full of old notes,artifacts and manuscripts, which his wife made available while he was researching his biography. Serling’s wife pointed out that Rod Serling was a constant “listener and observer” of everyday events. He was a keen observer of every detail of life that was flowing before his eyes, and he would note them and eventually package them into scripts for his TZ series.
Wow!!! that blew me away when I first heard it. I whisper to myself when I think of Serling,
” how much of life that goes on before me, the seconds, minutes, hours etc that I do not notice because of their expedience yet they hold capsules of eternal significance.”
Thanks for sparking the creative memories, Joe…
MikeR
Thanks Joe, as aspiring writer words of insperation are always help the cause. Rod knew how to be in the now
Dinoj
Hi, Mr Fire,
How are you doing ?
I loved that serie. It was called “la 4ème dimension” in France. It was one of the most enternaining show I’ve never watched (well, I loved “Quantum leap” too..and I’m a fanatic of “House Md” now). I’m still watching it from time to time when I can find some episodes in streaming. I remember there were one or two sequels in the 80’ies, but nothing was worth the original “Twilight zone”.
One of the episode I still have in mind is “To Serve Man”, where humans discovered at the end that the famous book the aliens were carrying “to serve man” was in reality a cookbook and not a kinda “perfect & peaceful martians guide towards humanity” bible.
Your encounter with Rod Sterling, even if it had’nt been what it was supposed to be in your young lind, was kinda a blessing, see who you are today.
Have a nice day & say some purrrrs to Tiger ,
Bea
Greetings from Sao Paulo, Brazil!
Thanks for sharing!
His story reminds me of Big Fish, the book by Daniel Wallace and the movie by Tim Burton. Big Fish (but not his son) was aware that his gift was his story-telling, his ability to see (and tell) his world through eyes of awe and wonder.
Beijo!
Lucia
Thanks, mr.Fire! I’m glad 🙂
Hi Joe,
Sometimes I felt like Zelig, the character Woody Allen created, who was in the middle of all kinds of famous people and events.
I had some of the same kinds of responses you shared with a number of famous people I got to hang out with and/or work with over the years.
As a kid, John Wayne was my hero, my dad’s too. Imagine moving from North Dakota at the age of 20, then two years later being able to spend time with and talking with and working with your hero. John Wayne was a kind man, who didn’t exercise his power unnecessarily. What an inspiration. But he had his human frailties just like the rest of us. I actually got drunk with him one night. Not our finest hours, to be sure, but what a memory!
When I interviewed Wayne for my syndicated radio show, he ordered up lunch in the office, made coffee for me and spent time showing pictures he’d taken on his recent trip to Viet Nam. Later, when we worked together on a documentary, he took time to introduce me around. He did the same for others too.
I’ve spent a lot of time with many other stars in show biz and some political ones too. And while I’m not just trying to drop names (no more here) what I did discover was the greater the person (not “star power) the greater his/her humanity and humility. And the greater those qualities shined, much of the time, the greater their longevity and success.
Most people who find themselves elevated in the eye of the public fail to realize this at their own peril.
All the best,
Tom
P.S. One man, not a widely known celebrity, who you and I have corresponded about, was Lester Levinson. The most calm and serene human being I’ve ever been around.
Hi Joe,
It’s cool that you got to meet your hero/teacher, Rod Serling. Maybe…you weren’t as shy as you thought because it takes courage to go up and speak to someone you admire so much. Sometimes, it’s even hard to speak properly. But you did it.
I had to send you this link. If you have a minute….find out what happens when you cross Klingons with The Twighlight Zone? Sit down – it’s not pretty. lol …. And, I could have done without the “gaseous” parts but it’s definitely a creative, unique way of watching The Twilight Zone…. enJoy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_GZ4h9cdAY&feature=related
Muchos Grazie,
Nancy
Hi Joe, I’m your fans. I like your books, I just bought your books: Hypnotic Writing and Buying Trances. They are good books. I love them. I’ll be a good copywriter. Thanks.
Hello Joe
Twilight Zone was my favorite on my childhood. I’m not surprised so much that you know it’s creator – because I believe everything is connected. So it is.
Sort of off topic here but I listened one of your conferences on your Video blog and you mentioned about a TV show that illustrating the rich people as always bad, acquisitive, selfish ect. Can’t remember the name of the show.
But last week on “Weeds” (that TV show that I hate much – about a mom who had to sell drugs to take care of her kids) a friend of the main drug dealer mom character giving the DVD of The Secret to her with telling her “it can change your life” with sarcastic tone of voice and then that “mom” character were throwing the DVD right away from her shoulder and rolling her eyes… She throw it away like it is a total crap!
That is a strong message to the people who watching this TV show continuously; “you cannot change your life with that new-age mambo jambo so you have to keep doing things what you are doing right now and nothing will be fine or change in the future”… And what the main character of this TV show doing to earn money is SELLING DRUGS… She’s ignorant, she’s pessimistic, also debauchee enough to sleep with her best friend’s boyfriend. AND that character is also believing the new discoveries about the attracting energy of the human mind is nothing but a crap.
The scene on that TV Show was very very short. All that throwing The Secret DVD away was only 3-4 seconds. But it’s powerful enough to make a lot of people that their life will always be the same, nothing more and nothing better.
What they did on Weeds is just a shame…
Thank you for sharing this, Joe.
I too am a Rod Serling and Twilight Zone fan. Thank you for telling this great story, and for being an inspiration yourself on a whole new generation of writers, dreamers, and entrepreneurs like me.
Best,
James
Hi Joe,
Just wanted to comment on this post.
You may or may not realize this, but that decision 30 + years ago, to become a writer has influenced so many people in more ways than you could possibly imagine.
I was led to Dr. Robert Anthony’s book “Beyond Positive Thinking” about 3 years or so ago, and because of your decision to become a writer and everything else you’ve done in your career, you wrote the forward to that book. That book is so phenomenal that after reading your forward I just had to look you up on Google, which has led me to many books and programs from you, and opened the doors to the whole new world of info/internet marketing for me.
It has allowed me to pretty much slow down my other business, because of the success I’ve had working from home and so on. And it all began with the forward that you wrote in that book.
I can go on and on, but my point here is that we never know, who will get influenced and in which ways by the decisions that we choose to make.
I’m glad that you made yours, thanks for everything you’re doing, and keep up the great work.
Cheers,
Vitaly Grinblat
I enjoyed reading your story about Rod Serling. I wished I could have met him. Also, thank you for letting me know that one of my favorite TV shows of all time has a day that falls on my birthday.
Sorry to say I’m not familiar with your work but I will check you out. I stumbled on to your site while searching for a writing school with Rod’s name attached to it. In the fall of 1970 I found an ad that required a sample of my work. I sent in a poem. Two days after I went into the military a representative showed up I guess to interview me. I never realy got into the writing market but if I had it would have been Mr. Serling’s fault.