Rick Russo's Triumphant Return to Penn State Altoona

When asked whether he ever imagined the type of success that he now enjoys as a novelist and screenwriter, Rick Russo admits that it is far beyond what even his "arrogant imagination" ever allowed. In fact, when Russo was an assistant professor of English at Penn State Altoona in the early 1980s, he doubted whether he could support his family as a full-time writer. His wife, Barbara, envisioned a simple life highlighted by stereotypical cocktail parties where all the male faculty members were outfitted in tweed jackets.

The lives of Rick and Barbara changed dramatically, however, with the critical and popular success of Empire Falls, his fifth novel and winner of the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

"When Empire Falls came out [in 2001], it struck me as my most ambitious book," Russo relates. "Given the way my other novels had been treated critically, I thought that this book would be a moderately successful book that would do well critically, probably enhance my reputation, and give me enough money to write the next book. But once the news of the Pulitzer hit, we were in a different stratosphere. Suddenly the word 'bestseller,' which had never been uttered before in connection with a book of mine, could be spoken other than in jest. I guessed that the book would be well-received; I didn't think it would be a big seller."

A member of the Penn State Altoona faculty from 1980-84, Russo returned to the college in early October as the first recipient of the The Kjell Meling Award for Distinction in the Arts and Humanities. The award is part of a lecture series that recognizes influential artists and humanists and celebrates the scholarly and creative accomplishments of Penn State Altoona's Arts and Humanities faculty. The award is funded through The Dr. Kjell Meling Enhancement Fund in the Arts and Humanities, honoring the memory of the late Meling, who offered twenty-six years of distinguished administrative service to Penn State Altoona and the University before retiring in 2004 as associate dean for Academic Affairs and Emeritus Professor of English.

Russo, who earned his bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees from the University of Arizona, was offered his first teaching position by Meling. At the time, neither he nor his wife ever speculated that he would achieve world-renowned status.

Rick Russo with Rebecca Strzelec, assistant professor of Visual Arts, who designed the Kjell Melling Award of which Russo was the first recipient.

"I was writing short stories and probably had begun a novel, but I don't think it occurred to either of us that I would ever be able to make a living doing that," he acknowledges. "At the time, I was spending more money on postage sending my stories out than I ever got when I was paid."

Russo wrote the teleplay and received an Emmy Award nomination for Home Box Office's adaptation of Empire Falls. The two-part film starred Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Ed Harris, and Helen Hunt and aired in May 2005.

Russo's other novels include Mohawk, The Risk Pool, Nobody's Fool, and Straight Man, the latter of which draws upon the author's experiences as a college professor and depict scenes and characterizations strikingly familiar to Penn State Altoona.

Russo also collaborated with Robert Benton on the screenplays for Nobody's Fool, starring Newman and Bruce Willis, Twilight (Newman, Susan Sarandan and Gene Hackman), and The Ice Harvest (John Cusack and Billy Bob Thornton). Russo also has written a collection of short stories entitled The Whore's Child.

While his tenure at Penn State Altoona ended more than two decades ago, the college and the area that surrounds it still are sources of inspiration and fond memories.

"At times, while working on whatever novel I'm writing at the time, I still do find myself remembering Lena's Café or the house that we lived in on 17th Street or a student from one of my classes," Russo states. "I'm always looking for people. I'm always looking for situations. Because I continue to write, first and foremost, about class, the experiences of Altoona and Gloversville (New York), where I grew up, and Waterville (Maine)—where a lot of Empire Falls came from—all of these places are still really fertile ground for my stories."

At fifty-seven, Russo said he has no plans of slowing down, despite a considerable body of celebrated work.

"I want to continue telling stories and writing books," he stresses. "One of the blessings of being a writer, as opposed to being a gymnast, is that you really should be able to continue to do that into your seventies, as long as you have your health."

"I've had so much fun working in film now, too. I used to divide my time between writing novels and teaching. Now, I've had this other gift, or this kind of second career that's come along at a point when, for most people, you start thinking about how many times you've repeated yourself."

"Then something comes along that you don't know. And it's really fun to get into something that you don't know. Because screenwriting is kind of my moonlighting job and because I don't have to do the kind of projects that I wouldn't enjoy doing; instead of waiting for a studio to send me a project I might like, I can generate it myself. My life has never been more charmed than it is at the moment."

Editor's note: Russo resides in Camden, Maine, with his wife, Barbara. They have two daughters: Emily, a literary agent in New York City, and Kate, a master's degree candidate in fine arts at the University of London.