Tom Filer

Tom Filer (1925-2013) was an actor, screenwriter and novelist. Born in New York, he made his home in Santa Monica Canyon, a Southern California community of writers, actors, artists and architects, and became its greatest chronicler. His works include "The Man on Watch (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1961), "Finding Mahmoud" (iUniverse, 2001) and numerous Pushcart Prize-winning short stories. Unpublished works include "Harushima," a novel based on his wartime experiences as a Naval lieutenant in Micronesia; and "Civilization," "Goat Alley Tales," and "The Last Stand," a sweeping account of the 500-year history of Santa Monica Canyon, anchored by the story of his landlady, the mestizo owner of a rustic remnant of a Mexican land grant that once encompassed tens of thousands of acres. Filer worked as a screenwriter and actor with Jack Nicholson, Monte Hellman ("Ride in the Whirlwind") and Roger Corman, supplementing his income with lobster diving and albacore fishing. Filer taught writing at UCLA Extension, and held workshops in his home. In her first collection of short stories, author Mary Yukari Waters thanked Tom Filer and his Goat Alley writer's workshop for guiding her writing.