In March ’07, there was a tribute for Jerry Juhl in New York City.
Jerry, of course, was the gifted writer behind so much of the Muppets work, including The Muppet Show, Fraggle Rock, The Jim Henson Hour and many fine films.
The Canadian contingent that night consisted of myself [John Pattison] and Larry Mirkin, one of the producers of Fraggle Rock. People gathered and shared stories about Jerry and we talked about the part he played in our lives.
Jerry Juhl was kind enough to give me my first scriptwriting job in television as a co-writer of ‘The Wizard of Fraggle Rock’ episode of the Fraggle series. I was a puppeteer on the show, but I also pitched story ideas Jerry’s way and he was good enough to give me a shot when I pitched him this one. I have to say it was a bit of a leap of faith on Jerry’s part to do this – I had no professional experience as a TV writer at this point – but he teamed me up with Jocelyn Stevenson and a script was produced. I’d like to think I carried my weight, but it was really Jerry and Jocelyn who patiently guided me through the process and did the heavy lifting. It was a real act of generosity on Jerry’s part to take the time to do this. Being a headwriter of a series is a lot of work, and the last thing you need is someone who is going to slow you down. But Jerry was patient and generous with his time to help nurture talent.
We had a Fraggle Rock reunion in Toronto some years ago, I think in ’03, and Jerry was there. I gave him a couple of copies of Puppets Who Kill to look at. I didn’t hear from him for the longest time and assumed he didn’t like it, but one day an e-mail arrived. It said something to the effect of: ‘I bet you thought I didn’t like your show and didn’t want to write you…but the truth is I’m just lousy at keeping up with my e-mails.’ Jerry went on to praise Puppets Who Kill in the most glowing terms, calling it brilliant. What more could you ask for than
praise from the master himself.
Apart from his fine writing gifts, Jerry was truly one of the finest persons you could hope to meet. He always had time for everyone, and never an unkind word for anyone.
john pattison
puppets who kill
jan/08