Laker Jim's

Gregory McDonald

Our good pal Jake recently did an interview for the site with Mr. McDonald. Jake said that he is a really cool guy.  Gregory's appearance did remind him a little of Fletch.  Big guy, tanned.  This quick interview was over lunch earlier this week.  He signed a few of my books, and I got my picture with him.  He still looks great, just like his pictures on his books!  I hoping to have another interview with him soon.

Jake:  How did you come up with the character Fletch?
Gregory McDonald:  I would here from other people in the newsroom about other reporters doing these things for stories, and that gave me an idea.  He was running around in my head for quite some time before I actually wrote the book.

Jake:   How did you think of the name Fletch?
Gregory McDonald: I was thinking of arrows, and how he was straight, like an arrow.  (Fletcher was a popular arrow maker.)

Jake: And the response to the book was good.
Gregory McDonald: I never intended to write a sequel to Fletch.  If I did, I never would have put him in Rio with 3 million dollars.  But the response was so overwhelming, I had to write more.  I was going to pick up the story in Rio, but I didn't have the money to go there.  So, I wrote Confess, Fletch with the setting of Boston, where I was living at the time.  And it was the first time that a book and it's sequel both won the Edgar Award for best mystery.

Jake:  And you wrote nine total, ending with Fletch, Too.
Gregory McDonald:  I think I really wrapped up the Fletch character in Fletch, Too.  He discovered who he was, his mortality. I think I can tell a lot about a person by the Fletch book they like the best.

Jake:  What about the Son of Fletch books?
Gregory McDonald: I never wanted to have Fletch in the title of those books, but my publisher disagreed.  I originally wanted to call them Jack's Story and Jack and the Perfect Mirror.

Jake:   Any future Fletch books?
Gregory McDonald:  I get asked that all the time, but no.  And I miss the character, but Fletch, Too really ended the series.

Jake:   What about the movie?
Gregory McDonald:  Everybody from 12 to 72 in Hollywood wanted to play Fletch.  But I kept throwing a monkey wrench into their plans.  I never really watched Chevy on Saturday Night Live, and when his name came up for Fletch, I didn't throw the monkey wrench.  And I watched it recently, and I think Chevy and Michael Ritchie did a good job with it.

Jake:  What about the disguises that were in the book?
Gregory McDonald: I would change a lot when I was working for the newspaper.  I would be
on the streets during the day, and at night, I would change into a black tie
for dinner.  So I had all of my clothes in my car.

Jake:   What about Fletch Lives?
Gregory McDonald: We went back and forth for a long time, and in the end, they decided to go with an original script, instead of a book.

Jake:  What about the rumor of Fletch 3?
Gregory McDonald:  Universal wanted to do it, but there was an eventual time limit, and it expired.

Jake:  Have you watched any of Kevin Smith's movies?
Gregory McDonald:  Yes.  I really enjoyed Dogma.

Jake:  What's the current status of Fletch Won?
Gregory McDonald: I have every reason to believe that Kevin is quite tired after editing his new movie and all the promotion.  I know he wants to do a movie about fatherhood, which I understand will be a short 4 week shoot.   I look forward to the film adaptation of Fletch Won.

Jake:   What do you think about Jason Lee?
Gregory McDonald: I've watched his movies, and I think he would make a good Fletch.

Again, I would like to thank Jake for taking the time to do and type up this great interview with the creator of Fletch. I would also like to thank Gregory McDonald for taking the time to chow down with our good buddy. I hope to get more interviews from Jake w/ Gregory soon.

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