Skip Hollandsworth
Encyclopedia
Walter Ned Hollandsworth (born November 9, 1957), better known by his pen name of Skip Hollandsworth, is a journalist and screenwriter, and is one of Texas’ best-known writers. He is the Executive Editor of Texas Monthly
magazine, and also writes for Glamour magazine
. In April 2010, the American Society of Magazine Editors
awarded Hollandsworth the National Magazine Award
for Feature Writing for “Still Life,” the story of John McClamrock
.
Hollandsworth co-wrote the Richard Linklater
movie Bernie
, a comedy film starring Jack Black
, Matthew McConaughey
and Shirley MacLaine
, about the 1996 murder of 81 year-old millionaire Marjorie Nugent in Carthage, Texas
by her 39 year-old homosexual companion, Bernhardt "Bernie" Tiede
. The film made its world premiere at the 2011 Los Angeles Film Festival on June 16, 2011.
Hollandsworth grew up in Lexington, Kentucky
where his father was the pastor at Meadowthorpe Presbyterian Church from December, 1961 to December, 1968. When he was eleven years old, Hollandsworth moved with his family to Texas, settling in Wichita Falls in December, 1968, where his father served as pastor of the Fain Memorial Presbyterian Church.
Hollandsworth’s father, uncles and grandfather graduated from the Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond
, Virginia. His family assumed that he, too, would become a Presbyterian minister, but Hollandsworth, in the November, 1985 issue of Texas Monthly
, wrote that, "It is a wonder that preachers’ kids ever consider the ministry in the first place. Every day while growing up we watched the quest of common men trying to deal with uncommon passions. Through our front door came drunkards, adulterers, men who had done time, bigots, gossips, and deacons so self-righteous that my father would hide in the closet and make me tell them he was not at home. Couples arrived at the doorstep to talk about their crumbling marriages. Garden committee members marched in to lambast the quality of the flowers in the sanctuary. There were worried phone calls about devil worship, abortion, and the theological propriety of putting peace signs on the walls of the church. And we witnessed our share of church scandals, from the man accused of stealing money from the offering plate to the bridegroom, who at one of the first weddings my father ever performed, stole my father’s checkbook, forged $1,000 worth of checks, and took his wife on an extended Florida honeymoon. As minister’s children, we could not help but be fascinated yet repelled by church ways.”
From an early age Hollandsworth became equally fascinated with the North Texas State Hospital
, an in-patient mental health facility owned by the State of Texas
, located in Wichita Falls, which he described as "a small, starkly normal city of about 100,000 people." In the June, 2010 issue of Texas Monthly
, Hollandsworth wrote about riding past the state hospital in the back of a pickup truck with his friends on Friday nights, looking for madmen. "For us, the state hospital, which nearly everyone referred to as LSU, or Lakeside University, because it was located across from Lake Wichita, was our real-life haunted house. The fact that two thousand adults were being treated for 'insanity' out in those buildings, just past the city limits sign, simply tortured our imaginations." As he became a teenager, he kept returning to the hospital, volunteering in different departments, even playing his cello for some of the patients, drawn "for reasons I couldn't then explain" to what he described as this "community of odd souls who had never been able to make it on the outside." Hollandsworth wrote in Texas Monthly
that he eventually realized that it was those trips to the state hospital that eventually led him into journalism:he went into journalism because he loved visiting the local state hospital:
“Years later, while I was giving a speech to a college class, I was asked why I went into journalism. I suddenly blurted out, “I think it all started when I went out to the state hospital.' Although this had never occurred to me before, it instantly seemed right. I realized that what I loved about my visits was that I got the chance to study people who went right up to the line of normal behavior—and then, inexplicably, stepped over it. I was captivated by the patients and tried to fathom what it felt like to be swept away by madness.”
.
school newspaper, The Daily Skiff, covering the football team. In a September, 2011 interview, Hollandsworth commented that he "found the cheerleaders far more interesting than the games themselves..." During one game, Hollandsworth said, "a cheerleader ran onto the field during a timeout to do a cheer, and I watched, barely able to breathe, as the last of the late afternoon sun caught her blonde hair and smiling face, illuminating her like perfectly placed museum lights illuminate a painting."
After graduating from Texas Christian University, Hollandsworth worked as a reporter and columnist for newspapers in Dallas, Texas
. In 1981 he worked as a sports reporter for The Dallas Times-Herald. He joined Texas Monthly
magazine in 1989. He has also has worked as a television producer and documentary filmmaker.
. Publishers Weekly
, in reporting about the book sale, stated that the Texas killer was "so notorious in his day that when Jack the Ripper
terrorized London
, it was believed he might have moved there." Hollandsworth, Publishers Weekly
reported, believed the killer was a member of high-society, "protected by the local establishment." The book was never published.
his interview with Candy Barr
, one of the first American porn stars. In 2003, Hollandsworth, while working on his book for Harper Collins, was contacted by an agent from the William Morris Agency
about writing a book and screenplay about Barr. According to Gary Cartwrighht of Texas Monthly, he and Hollandsworth worked on the Candy Barr project during 2003, but the project was abandoned when Barr complained that too many writers had "told and retold" lies about her and withdrew from the project.
have launched a number of film and television projects including the CBS telepic Suburban Madness
,, and The Goree Girls
, a film starring Jennifer Aniston
in her first singing role. The movie, set in the 1940s, tells the story of several women in a Texas prison who form a country-western band and became famous.
The 2010 National Magazine Award
for Feature Writing.
A National Headliners Award.
The City and Regional Magazine gold award for feature writing.
The Texas Institute of Letters O. Henry award for magazine writing.
The Charles Green award for outstanding magazine writing in Texas.
Hollandsworth has been a finalist four times for the National Magazine Awards. His work has been included in such publications as Best American Crime Writing and Best American Magazine Writing.
Peterson) in June 1995, in Dallas, Texas. The marriage is his second.
Texas Monthly
Texas Monthly is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Austin, Texas. Texas Monthly is published by Emmis Publishing, L.P. and was founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy, Texas Monthly chronicles life in contemporary Texas, writing on politics, the environment, industry, and education...
magazine, and also writes for Glamour magazine
Glamour magazine
Glamour magazine means:* Glamour magazine, a U.S. publication aimed at a predominantly female readership* a girlie magazine aimed at a male readership featuring photographs of women...
. In April 2010, the American Society of Magazine Editors
American Society of Magazine Editors
The American Society of Magazine Editors is an industry trade group for editors of magazines published in the United States. The group advocates on behalf of member organizations with respect to First Amendment issues, and serves as a networking hub for editors and other industry employees...
awarded Hollandsworth the National Magazine Award
National Magazine Award
The National Magazine Awards are a series of US awards that honor excellence in the magazine industry. They are administered by the American Society of Magazine Editors and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York City...
for Feature Writing for “Still Life,” the story of John McClamrock
John McClamrock
John McClamrock was a Dallas high school American football player who received media attention and sympathy from many Americans after an accident that left him with near-total paralysis in 1973....
.
Hollandsworth co-wrote the Richard Linklater
Richard Linklater
-Early life:Linklater was born in Houston, Texas. He studied at Sam Houston State University and left midway through his stint in college to work on an off-shore oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. While working on the rig he read a lot of literature, but on land he developed a love of film through...
movie Bernie
Bernie (2011 film)
Bernie is an American comedic film directed by Richard Linklater, and written by Linklater and Skip Hollandsworth. The film stars Jack Black as Bernie Tiede, Shirley MacLaine as the elderly widow, Marjorie Nugent, and Matthew McConaughey as the local District Attorney. It made its world premiere...
, a comedy film starring Jack Black
Jack Black
Jack Black , is an American actor and musician, notably of Tenacious D.Jack Black may also refer to:* Jack Black , late 19th - early 20th Century author and hobo* Jack Black , drummer for 1970s UK punk band The Boys...
, Matthew McConaughey
Matthew McConaughey
Matthew David McConaughey is an American actor.After a series of minor roles in the early 1990s, McConaughey gained notice for his breakout role in Dazed and Confused . He then appeared in films such as A Time to Kill, Contact, U-571, Tiptoes, Sahara, and We Are Marshall...
and Shirley MacLaine
Shirley MacLaine
Shirley MacLaine is an American film and theater actress, singer, dancer, activist and author, well-known for her beliefs in new age spirituality and reincarnation. She has written a large number of autobiographical works, many dealing with her spiritual beliefs as well as her Hollywood career...
, about the 1996 murder of 81 year-old millionaire Marjorie Nugent in Carthage, Texas
Carthage, Texas
Carthage is a city in Panola County, Texas, United States. The population was 6,664 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Panola County, and is situated in East Texas near the Louisiana state line.-Geography:...
by her 39 year-old homosexual companion, Bernhardt "Bernie" Tiede
Bernhardt "Bernie" Tiede
Bernhardt "Bernie" Tiede is a convicted murderer, who confessed to killing the wealthy 81 year-old widow Marjorie Nugent in Carthage, Texas on November 16, 1996...
. The film made its world premiere at the 2011 Los Angeles Film Festival on June 16, 2011.
Biography
Hollandsworth was born on November 9, 1957 in Kannapolis, North Carolina. He is the son of the late Reverend Walter Ned Hollandsworth, a Presbyterian minister, and Peggy Hollandsworth.Hollandsworth grew up in Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 63rd largest in the US. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region...
where his father was the pastor at Meadowthorpe Presbyterian Church from December, 1961 to December, 1968. When he was eleven years old, Hollandsworth moved with his family to Texas, settling in Wichita Falls in December, 1968, where his father served as pastor of the Fain Memorial Presbyterian Church.
Hollandsworth’s father, uncles and grandfather graduated from the Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
, Virginia. His family assumed that he, too, would become a Presbyterian minister, but Hollandsworth, in the November, 1985 issue of Texas Monthly
Texas Monthly
Texas Monthly is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Austin, Texas. Texas Monthly is published by Emmis Publishing, L.P. and was founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy, Texas Monthly chronicles life in contemporary Texas, writing on politics, the environment, industry, and education...
, wrote that, "It is a wonder that preachers’ kids ever consider the ministry in the first place. Every day while growing up we watched the quest of common men trying to deal with uncommon passions. Through our front door came drunkards, adulterers, men who had done time, bigots, gossips, and deacons so self-righteous that my father would hide in the closet and make me tell them he was not at home. Couples arrived at the doorstep to talk about their crumbling marriages. Garden committee members marched in to lambast the quality of the flowers in the sanctuary. There were worried phone calls about devil worship, abortion, and the theological propriety of putting peace signs on the walls of the church. And we witnessed our share of church scandals, from the man accused of stealing money from the offering plate to the bridegroom, who at one of the first weddings my father ever performed, stole my father’s checkbook, forged $1,000 worth of checks, and took his wife on an extended Florida honeymoon. As minister’s children, we could not help but be fascinated yet repelled by church ways.”
From an early age Hollandsworth became equally fascinated with the North Texas State Hospital
North Texas State Hospital
The North Texas State Hospital is an in-patient mental health facility owned by the State of Texas and under the Texas Department of State Health Services.Its two campuses in Wichita Falls and Vernon.-Wichita Falls Campus:...
, an in-patient mental health facility owned by the State of Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, located in Wichita Falls, which he described as "a small, starkly normal city of about 100,000 people." In the June, 2010 issue of Texas Monthly
Texas Monthly
Texas Monthly is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Austin, Texas. Texas Monthly is published by Emmis Publishing, L.P. and was founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy, Texas Monthly chronicles life in contemporary Texas, writing on politics, the environment, industry, and education...
, Hollandsworth wrote about riding past the state hospital in the back of a pickup truck with his friends on Friday nights, looking for madmen. "For us, the state hospital, which nearly everyone referred to as LSU, or Lakeside University, because it was located across from Lake Wichita, was our real-life haunted house. The fact that two thousand adults were being treated for 'insanity' out in those buildings, just past the city limits sign, simply tortured our imaginations." As he became a teenager, he kept returning to the hospital, volunteering in different departments, even playing his cello for some of the patients, drawn "for reasons I couldn't then explain" to what he described as this "community of odd souls who had never been able to make it on the outside." Hollandsworth wrote in Texas Monthly
Texas Monthly
Texas Monthly is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Austin, Texas. Texas Monthly is published by Emmis Publishing, L.P. and was founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy, Texas Monthly chronicles life in contemporary Texas, writing on politics, the environment, industry, and education...
that he eventually realized that it was those trips to the state hospital that eventually led him into journalism:he went into journalism because he loved visiting the local state hospital:
“Years later, while I was giving a speech to a college class, I was asked why I went into journalism. I suddenly blurted out, “I think it all started when I went out to the state hospital.' Although this had never occurred to me before, it instantly seemed right. I realized that what I loved about my visits was that I got the chance to study people who went right up to the line of normal behavior—and then, inexplicably, stepped over it. I was captivated by the patients and tried to fathom what it felt like to be swept away by madness.”
Education
Hollandsworth graduated in 1979 with a B.A. in English from Texas Christian UniversityTexas Christian University
Texas Christian University is a private, coeducational university located in Fort Worth, Texas, United States and founded in 1873. TCU is affiliated with, but not governed by, the Disciples of Christ...
.
Career
Hollandsworth began his career as the sports reporter for the Texas Christian UniversityTexas Christian University
Texas Christian University is a private, coeducational university located in Fort Worth, Texas, United States and founded in 1873. TCU is affiliated with, but not governed by, the Disciples of Christ...
school newspaper, The Daily Skiff, covering the football team. In a September, 2011 interview, Hollandsworth commented that he "found the cheerleaders far more interesting than the games themselves..." During one game, Hollandsworth said, "a cheerleader ran onto the field during a timeout to do a cheer, and I watched, barely able to breathe, as the last of the late afternoon sun caught her blonde hair and smiling face, illuminating her like perfectly placed museum lights illuminate a painting."
After graduating from Texas Christian University, Hollandsworth worked as a reporter and columnist for newspapers in Dallas, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. In 1981 he worked as a sports reporter for The Dallas Times-Herald. He joined Texas Monthly
Texas Monthly
Texas Monthly is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Austin, Texas. Texas Monthly is published by Emmis Publishing, L.P. and was founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy, Texas Monthly chronicles life in contemporary Texas, writing on politics, the environment, industry, and education...
magazine in 1989. He has also has worked as a television producer and documentary filmmaker.
"The Midnight Assassin" Book
In January, 2003, a book proposed by Hollandsworth entitled "The Midnight Assassin," about the man said to be the first serial killer in American history, was purchased for a "significant" six figures by HarperCollinsHarperCollins
HarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
. Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...
, in reporting about the book sale, stated that the Texas killer was "so notorious in his day that when Jack the Ripper
Jack the Ripper
"Jack the Ripper" is the best-known name given to an unidentified serial killer who was active in the largely impoverished areas in and around the Whitechapel district of London in 1888. The name originated in a letter, written by someone claiming to be the murderer, that was disseminated in the...
terrorized London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, it was believed he might have moved there." Hollandsworth, Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...
reported, believed the killer was a member of high-society, "protected by the local establishment." The book was never published.
Candy Barr Book and Screenplay
In September, 2001, Hollandsworth published in Texas MonthlyTexas Monthly
Texas Monthly is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Austin, Texas. Texas Monthly is published by Emmis Publishing, L.P. and was founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy, Texas Monthly chronicles life in contemporary Texas, writing on politics, the environment, industry, and education...
his interview with Candy Barr
Candy Barr
Candy Barr was an American stripper, burlesque exotic dancer, actress in one pornographic movie, and model in men's magazines of the mid-20th century....
, one of the first American porn stars. In 2003, Hollandsworth, while working on his book for Harper Collins, was contacted by an agent from the William Morris Agency
William Morris Agency
WME is the largest talent agency in the world, with offices in Beverly Hills, New York City, Nashville, London, and Miami. WME represents elite artists from all facets of the entertainment industry, including motion pictures, television, music, theatre, publishing, and physical production...
about writing a book and screenplay about Barr. According to Gary Cartwrighht of Texas Monthly, he and Hollandsworth worked on the Candy Barr project during 2003, but the project was abandoned when Barr complained that too many writers had "told and retold" lies about her and withdrew from the project.
Journalist
Hollandsworth’s articles in Texas MonthlyTexas Monthly
Texas Monthly is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Austin, Texas. Texas Monthly is published by Emmis Publishing, L.P. and was founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy, Texas Monthly chronicles life in contemporary Texas, writing on politics, the environment, industry, and education...
have launched a number of film and television projects including the CBS telepic Suburban Madness
Suburban Madness
Suburban Madness is a drama based on a true story starring Sela Ward as PI Bobbi Bacha of Blue Moon Investigations.Suburban Madness is based on the true story of 44 year old Clara Harris a successful Texas dentist and mother of young twins, who hired private investigator Bobbi Bacha, played by...
,, and The Goree Girls
The Goree Girls
The Goree Girls is an upcoming musical film set in the 1940s which tells the story of eight Goree Prison inmates who form a country-western band. Filming was set to take place during January 2010, but was pushed back to accommodate Aniston's filming of Just Go With It. Ellen Pompeo also agreed to...
, a film starring Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer Joanna Aniston is an American actress, film director, and producer, best known for her role as Rachel Green on the television sitcom Friends, a role which earned her an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.Aniston has also enjoyed a successful film career,...
in her first singing role. The movie, set in the 1940s, tells the story of several women in a Texas prison who form a country-western band and became famous.
Awards
Hollandsworth has received the following journalism awards:The 2010 National Magazine Award
National Magazine Award
The National Magazine Awards are a series of US awards that honor excellence in the magazine industry. They are administered by the American Society of Magazine Editors and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York City...
for Feature Writing.
A National Headliners Award.
The City and Regional Magazine gold award for feature writing.
The Texas Institute of Letters O. Henry award for magazine writing.
The Charles Green award for outstanding magazine writing in Texas.
Hollandsworth has been a finalist four times for the National Magazine Awards. His work has been included in such publications as Best American Crime Writing and Best American Magazine Writing.
Marriage
Hollandsworth married Shannon (néeNEE
NEE is a political protest group whose goal was to provide an alternative for voters who are unhappy with all political parties at hand in Belgium, where voting is compulsory.The NEE party was founded in 2005 in Antwerp...
Peterson) in June 1995, in Dallas, Texas. The marriage is his second.