My narrative song cycle titled All Hang Separately has been 30-plus years in the making. Here are a few highlights along that journey:
- 1993: I joined a marketing agency in Des Moines then known as Meyocks Benkstein Associates. One of my initial clients was the National Farmers Organization (NFO).
- 1996: I first recorded the idea of writing a screenplay about NFO.
- Late ’90: I started research for the screenplay that included reading two books by Willis Rowell. The first was National Farmers Organization: A Complete History—an “official” version of the NFO story. The other was Mad as Hell, Willis’ personal memoir of his involvement in the organization. The latter had more curse words.
- Early 2000s: I approached Willis and signed an agreement for rights to adapt his memoir.
- 2006: I shared an abbreviated draft of the screenplay with Willis. Unfortunately, he died shortly thereafter. He was 86 years old.
- 2006-2023: My career at Meyocks created additional demands, and I did little with All Hang Separately other than to note I should finish it sometime.
- 2024: After retiring from Meyocks, I turned my attention back to the screenplay and finished the first full draft in August. I attended my first Okoboji Writers’ and Songwriters’ retreat in September, splitting time between the screenplay and songwriting sessions. (In my retirement, I also started writing song lyrics and engaged a couple local artists to write music for them.)
- 2025: I first wondered about bringing All Hang Separately to life in another form involving songs. Then in September, I’m sitting in a session of the Okoboji Writers’ and Songwriters’ Retreat and a presenter shares a story about Aaron Sorkin‘s A Few Good Men. As this speaker tells it, Mr. Sorkin had apparently been shopping his screenplay without success—and thus developed the story as a stage play to bring it to life. Whether that story is true—or it just should be—I took it as a sign from the universe to develop All Hang Separately as a narrative song cycle. That led me to conversations with Willis Rowell’s daughter, Debra.
- 2026: I reached out to the family of Oren Lee Staley, the inspirational leader of NFO, and eventually connected with three of Staley’s children: Janice (and husband Terry), Gregg (and wife Nancy) and Cathy. Look for more information on those conversations in a subsequent project update. I also reached out to the Weary Ramblers and was humbled by their willingness to collaborate on the project.
- 2027: All Hang Separately will be released as a narrative song cycle.
Long and winding, right?
Doug