Darryl Ponicsan


Darryl Ponicsan is an American writer. He is best known as the author of the 1970 novel The Last Detail, which was adapted into a 1973 film starring Jack Nicholson. A sequel, Last Flag Flying, based on his 2005 novel of the same name, was released in 2017 and he also co-wrote the screenplay with Richard Linklater. He also wrote the 1973 novel and screenplay Cinderella Liberty, starring James Caan. Ponicsan writes mystery novels under the pen name Anne Argula.

Life and career

Ponicsan was born in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, the son of Anne and Frank G. Ponicsan, a merchant. He attended Muhlenberg College, and Cornell University,.
He was teacher of English at a high school in Owego, New York, 1959–62, He served in the US Navy from 1962 to 1965 aboard the USS Monrovia and USS Intrepid, was a social worker for Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, California in 1965, and teacher of high-school English in La Cañada, California from 1966 to 1969.
Ponicsan also wrote the screenplays for the CBS movie A Girl Called Hatter Fox, the movies Nuts, School Ties, the HBO movie The Enemy Within, and the CBS series The Mississippi. He has worked frequently with producer-director Harold Becker, penning scripts for Taps, Vision Quest, and The Boost.

Filmography