Booksteve talks with SET SAIL WITH McHALE co-author Steven Thompson
BOOKSTEVE-Start with the basics. Tell me just a little about your background.
STEVEN-Sure. As a child in the early ‘60s. I told my parents I wanted to be a writer after seeing all the fun Dick Van Dyke and his cohorts had on TV. They bought me a typewriter before I even knew the alphabet!
BOOKSTEVE-Awesome! So, when did you become a writer?
STEVEN-Actually, before they started to go away, I managed bookstores for almost three decades beginning in 1982. I was always writing but I actually sold my first magazine article in 1989, my second in 1990, and nothing else really until 2007 when Bear Manor Media published my first short story—Johnny Dollar in “The Duffy’s Tavern Matter”—in It’s That Time Again! Vol. 3. Since then, I’ve written, ghosted, or worked behind the scenes on more than 150 books and magazines as a researcher, transcriptionist, proofreader, editor, designer, and/or publisher. I’ve worked on numerous books with Bear Manor favorite Martin Grams, Jr.
BOOKSTEVE-Why McHale’s Navy?
STEVEN-Well, it wasn’t my idea. My Facebook friend Denny Reese had started writing the book several years back. I had helped him early on with some research but it was his project, not mine. I had always been a big fan of the show, though, both from when I was a kid and when it was in endless reruns in the ‘70s.
BOOKSTEVE-So, how did you end up as co-writer?
STEVEN-Well, as often happens when one is a writer, Denny hit a wall. I’ve been there many times myself, and actually abandoned several writing projects that were pretty far along. So I GOT where he was coming from, but it made me sad because I had been looking forward to reading his book. I’ll be honest, I can’t recall the exact circumstances but at some point, I offered to edit what he had already written so we could see what still needed to be done. He sent me what he had and I made some extensive notes. I also started watching the episodes, in order, and writing full summaries. Before I knew it, I was researching old magazine and newspaper articles as well as digging through books in my home library. You know I have a fairly extensive library right here, don’t you?
BOOKSTEVE-Heard of it, yes.
STEVEN-Anyway, I told Denny some more segments I’d like him to write and he started in on those. I added about 200 pages or so of my own, then re-edited and partially rewrote the whole manuscript a couple of times to give it more a sense of “flow.”
BOOKSTEVE-Now, you actually knew one of the show’s stars, right?
STEVEN-Yes, Bob Hastings. I got to act alongside him for 13 or 14 years between 1989 and 2012 at Cincinnati’s Old Time Radio and Nostalgia Convention. He was a “no small parts” actor. He gave his all for everything. I always say I learned more just sitting next to him and watching him all those years than I ever did from the acting classes I took right out of high school. Denny had made contact with another of the show’s stars, Gavin MacLeod, but he begged off an interview due to illness. As of this writing, the only surviving member of the series’ great ensemble cast is John “Bobby” Wright, and all attempts to reach him failed. I did get hold of co-star Carl Ballantine’s daughter, Sara, who contributed a lovely Foreword with lots of her memories of the series.
BOOKSTEVE-So what was McHale’s Navy about anyway?
STEVEN-The original premise had actually been for a dramatic World War II series with comedic elements. The resulting series was a goofy comedy. Academy Award-winning actor Ernest Borgnine was—pardon the expression—the series’ anchor. He played Lt. Cmdr. Quinton McHale, a pre-war reprobate who was drafted because he knew the Pacific Islands and their natives like the back of his hand. The Navy needed him, so he was given command of a PT Boat and more than a little leeway as far as rules and regulations…by everybody, that is, except his immediate superior, Capt. Wallace B. Binghamton. Binghamton hated the shenanigans McHale and the men under his command got up to and housed them on a small island of their own in hopes they wouldn’t corrupt the rest of the sailors in the Navy. He was always trying to find a way to get McHale transferred or, better yet, court martialed. All that would have made for a potentially good sitcom but McHale’s Navy came with a secret weapon.
BOOKSTEVE-Of course. Joe Flynn.
STEVEN-Oh, no. Flynn was great, of course, and made for an unofficial comedy team with Bob Hastings as the ultimate sycophantic sidekick. In fact, the book is dedicated to Flynn and Hastings but the secret weapon was the great Tim Conway. Arguably one of the funniest men who ever lived, McHale’s Navy was Tim’s first TV exposure after changing his name from Tom Conway not long before the first episode was shot. He’d win numerous awards for his role as the bumbling, naïve, ensign the captain originally assigns to whip McHale’s men into shape. Of course, he ends up becoming one of the gang, even if they rarely take him seriously as an officer.
BOOKSTEVE-So this is the same Tim Conway who went on to be known for his many flop series attempts before finally being remembered as Carol Burnett’s long-running sketch comedy co-star?
STEVEN-Of course! There couldn’t be TWO of them! Tim was one of those actors who make for a spectacular supporting player but aren’t able to carry a series or be tied down to one role. Even on McHale’s Navy, he often found an excuse to appear in disguises. I’ve heard some folks say a little Tim Conway goes a long way but he shines in this early series. Like Hastings, Tim is often—especially in later episodes—paired directly with Joe Flynn for silly comedy. The two became great friends in real life and even co-starred again on one of Tim’s later attempts at a sitcom.
BOOKSTEVE-Okay, it sounds good but why does McHale’s Navy need a book? Plenty of old TV shows don’t have books.
STEVEN-Very true. But a book sort of…well… legitimizes a show. I Love Lucy has many books, The Dick Van Dyke Show has several, even Maverick (Hey, Ben, it’s a plug! Keep it in, please.) has a few books out about it. McHale’s Navy also suffers from something unique to it and that’s the perception of its casual racism in its treatment of the Japanese, who were, after all, the enemy in the South Pacific during the war. Japan had undergone a major transformation in the two decades since the war, ending up as one of the US’s staunchest allies, Thus, the show only rarely used the “J word,” settling most often on the other “N word” to describe the enemy. Set Sail with McHale plays up the humor, the messages behind the episodes, and with tons of trivia about all involved. Denny and I really think anyone who ever enjoyed an episode will love the book.
BOOKSTEVE-What if they’ve never even heard of the show?
STEVEN-Then we hope our amazing cover, designed by award-winning designer Craig Yoe around licensed art by the great Tom Richmond will make them curious enough to want to read about the show, then find some episodes online, on DVD, or on some of the antenna stations. The ultimate goal is to make the reader want to set sail with McHale, too!