Originally aired on PBS, the three-part series The Writing Code from filmmakers Gene Searchinger, Suzanne Bauman, and Norman C. Berns—traces the origin and history of writing, while also assessing its central role in culture. The first program, The Greatest Invention, looks at the creation of different writing systems. This video is part two, The Art and the Craft, which shows tools used in writing, from clay tablets and papyrus to typewriters and word processors The final program, The Literate Society, considers literacy, in the age of the Internet.
Dutch, along with Margaret Atwood emerge as the embodiment of the art and the craft of writing. We see Dutch with Homicide Detective Christopher “Vinnie” Vintevogel in front of 1300 Beaubein, Police Headquarters in Detroit, and on Vermont St and Michigan Avenue. the site, five years earlier, of a horrific triple murder which Dutch used in Mr. Paradise. There is also a scene in Mexican Town, of Dutch talking to Sgt. Manny Gutierrez from the Major Crimes Squad. Finally, we see Dutch at home at his desk.
I was so pleased that Gene and Suzanne included Dutch in the segment, The Art and the Craft. He fit in so perfectly.
This is an amazing documentary well worth watching and rewatching.
