William Goldman, Oscar winner for ‘Butch Cassidy,’ has died
By JAKE COYLE, AP Film Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — William Goldman, the Oscar-winning screenwriter and Hollywood wise man who won Academy Awards for “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” and “All the President’s Men” and summed up the mystery of making a box office hit by declaring “Nobody knows anything,” has died. He was 87.
Goldman’s daughter Jenny said her father died early Friday in New York due to complications from colon cancer and pneumonia. “So much of what’s he’s written can express who he was and what he was about,” she said, adding that the last few weeks, while Goldman was ailing, revealed just how many people considered him family.
Goldman, who also converted his novels “Marathon Man,” ”Magic,” ”The Princess Bride” and “Heat” into screenplays, clearly knew more than most about what the audience wanted. He was not only a successful film writer but a top script doctor, the industry title for an uncredited writer brought in to improve or “punch up” weak screenplays.
Goldman also made political history by coining the phrase “follow the money” in his script for “All the President’s Men,” adapted from the book by Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein on the Watergate political scandal. The film starred Robert Redford as Woodward and Dustin Hoffman as Bernstein. Standing in the shadows, Hal Holbrook was the mystery man code-named Deep Throat who helped the reporters pursue the evidence. His advice, “Follow the money,” became so widely quoted that few people realized it was never said during the actual scandal.
A confirmed New Yorker, Goldman declined to work in Hollywood. Instead, he would fly to Los Angeles for two-day conferences with directors and producers, then return home to fashion a script, which he did with amazing speed. In his 1985 book, “Adventures in the Screen Trade,” he expressed disdain for an industry that elaborately produced and tested a movie, only to see it dismissed by the public during its first weekend in theaters.
“Nobody knows anything,” he remarked.
Screenwriter and filmmaker Aaron Sorkin called Goldman a mentor.
“He was the dean of American screenwriters and generations of filmmakers will continue to walk in the footprints he laid,” Sorkin said in a statement. “He wrote so many unforgettable movies, so many thunderous novels and works of non-fiction, and while I’ll always wish he’d written one more, I’ll always be grateful for what he’s left us.”
Goldman launched his writing career after receiving a master’s degree in English from Columbia University in 1956. Weary of academia, he declined the chance to earn a Ph.D., choosing instead to write the novel “The Temple of Gold” in 10 days. Knopf agreed to publish it.
“If the book had not been taken,” he told an interviewer, “I would have gone into advertising … or something.”
Instead, he wrote other novels, including “Soldier in the Rain,” which became a movie starring Steve McQueen. Goldman also co-authored a play and a musical with his older brother, James, but both failed on Broadway.
James Goldman would later write the historical play “The Lion in Winter,” which he converted to film, winning the 1968 Oscar for best adapted screenplay.
William Goldman had come to screenwriting by accident after actor Cliff Robertson read one of his books, “No Way to Treat a Lady,” and thought it was a film treatment. After he hired the young writer to fashion a script from a short story, Goldman rushed out to buy a book on screen writing. Robertson rejected the script but found Goldman a job working on a screenplay for a British thriller. After that he adapted his novel “Harper” for a 1966 film starring Paul Newman as a private eye.
He broke through in 1969 with the blockbuster “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” starring Newman and Redford. Based on the exploits of the real-life “Hole in the Wall” gang of bank robbers, the movie began a long association with Redford, who also appeared in “The Hot Rock,” ”The Great Waldo Pepper” and “Indecent Proposal.”
Other notable Goldman films included “The Stepford Wives,” ”A Bridge Too Far” and “Misery.” The latter, adapted from a Stephen King suspense novel, won the 1990 Oscar for Kathy Bates as lead actress.
In 1961 Goldman married Ilene Jones, a photographer, and they had two daughters, Jenny and Susanna. The couple divorced in 1991.
Born in Chicago on Aug. 12, 1931, Goldman grew up in the suburb of Highland Park. He graduated from Oberlin College in 1952 and served two years in the Army.
Despite all his success as a screenwriter, Goldman always considered himself a novelist and didn’t rate his scripts as great artistic achievements.
“A screenplay is a piece of carpentry,” he once said. “And except in the case of Ingmar Bergman, it’s not an art, it’s a craft.”
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The late AP Entertainment Writer Bob Thomas contributed to this report.

Pittsburgh diocese hit with lawsuits over child sexual abuse
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Fourteen people who say they were sexually victimized as children by Roman Catholic priests decades ago are filing new lawsuits against the Pittsburgh Diocese.
Among the priests accused in the 12 lawsuits, filed Thursday, are several who weren’t identified in a state grand jury report released in August that named some 300 “predator priests.”
The accusers’ lawyer, Alan Perer, says they are seeking monetary damages and an acknowledgement from the diocese that it bears substantial responsibility for what happened to the accusers as children. Perer says diocese officials knew about instances of abuse, but didn’t report them. The diocese isn’t commenting.
Perer says the plaintiffs are challenging time limits in state law barring lawsuits. He says it’s not fair to prevent his clients from suing when crucial evidence was hidden.

APNewsBreak: Obama’s memoir sells more than 725,000 copies
By HILLEL ITALIE, AP National Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — First day sales for Michelle Obama’s “Becoming” topped 725,000 copies, making it one of the year’s biggest debuts.
Crown Publishing told The Associated Press on Friday that the figures include sales and pre-orders for the former first lady’s memoir include hardcover, audio and e-books editions for the United States and Canada. “Becoming” was released on Tuesday, the same day Mrs. Obama launched a national book tour . Crown also announced that it had raised the book’s print run from 1.8 million copies to 2.6 million. Reviews of the book, which traces Obama’s journey from Chicago’s South Side to the White House, have been positive, with The Washington Post praising its “impressive balance in telling the truth of her challenges while repeatedly acknowledging her lucky life.”
“Becoming” had the biggest opening of any books in 2018 by Crown’s parent company, Penguin Random House. But at least one other book this year, from Simon & Schuster, did start higher: Bob Woodward’s “Fear: Trump in the White House” sold around 900,000 copies after one day.
“Becoming” is well exceeding the pace of previous memoirs by first ladies. In 2003, Hillary Clinton’s “Living History” had first week sales of around 600,000 copies, at a time when audio sales were tiny and e-book sales nonexistent.

THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE POLICE ARE OFFERING ASSISTANCE TO BEAVER COUNTY RESIDENTS AFFECTED BY TODAY’S POWER OUTAGES. ACCORDING TO BEAVER COUNTY 9-1-1, THERE ARE CURRENTLY NO EMERGENCY SHELTERS IN PLACE FOR RESIDENTS WITHOUT HEAT OR POWER. AS A TEMPORARY SOLUTION, THE STATE POLICE HAVE ANNOUNCED THAT ITS LOBBY AT THEIR BEAVER BARRACKS ON BRIGHTON ROAD IS AVAILABLE FOR ANYONE THAT NEEDS ASSISTANCE UNTIL A MORE PERMANENT SOLUTION CAN BE OBTAINED.

THE HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP POLICE DEPARTMENT’S NEW K-9 OFFICER REPORTED FOR DUTY THIS WEEK. BEAVER COUNTY RADIO NEWS CORRESPONDENT SANDY GIORDANO HAS MORE. Click on ‘play’ to hear Sandy’s report…

Local officials say a firefighter will be okay after being rushed to the hospital this morning after part of a tree fell on crews responding to a report of power lines down in Daugherty Township. The crews were called out for a report of power lines down when the tree branch, described as being 12 to 14 feet long, fell. Three firefighters were in the path of that falling branch but only one was seriously hurt. The extent of the firefighter’s injuries is unclear but officials say he will be fine. The victim’s name is not being released. Part of Tyler Lane was closed for a while until Duquesne Light crews were able to respond.

Thousands of people are woke up in the dark on this morning after a winter storm moved through the area. The storm started with freezing rain, which iced over power lines. As the storm progressed, the precipitation changed over to snow, which  brought down trees and power lines across the area. At the storm’s peak, 22,000 West Penn customers were without power. An additional 20,000 Duquesne Light customers were without power as well. Most of the outages were reported in Butler County. However, there were 3,000 customers in Beaver County are also left in the dark. At last check, Duquesne Light reported there are still approximately 3,500 customers still without power in Beaver County. Spokesperson Jerry Bucci provided this information to Beaver County Radio News correspondent Sandy Giordano.