NEVER QUIT WHILE YOU’RE AHEAD

by Deborah Elliott-Upton

When a writer tells me he is going to quit, I reply, “If you can, do. It wasn’t meant for you.” Personally, I am addicted and couldn’t quit if a doctor told me I’d drop dead mid-sentence if I didn’t. I’d be like those patients sneaking a cigarette break while cradling an oxygen tank.

Today is the anniversary of Sidney Sheldon’s birthday, a man who never quit writing though he was way ahead of most of us. During the late 1930’s, Sidney Sheldon made a name for himself in Hollywood reviewing scripts and collaborating on movies. By the late 1940’s, he’d had three musicals appearing on Broadway and earned the 1947 Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for “The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer.” When television entered into being, he decided to see what the medium could do. He ended up writing and producing every episode of “The Patty Duke Show,” writing for “Hart to Hart,” “Nancy” and “I Dream of Jeannie.” During the last year of “I Dream of Jeannie,” he decided to write a novel. He wasn’t quitting while he was ahead, but searching for a new venue for his talent. Although he was deemed a successful writer, becoming a novelist made him a household name.

That first novel, The Naked Face, earned him a nomination for the 1969 Edgar Allan Poe Award from the Mystery Writers of America in the category of Best First Novel. His second novel, The Other Side of Midnight, won a number one position on The New York Times bestseller list. Several of his succeeding novels were made into movies or TV miniseries.

In his autobiography, The Other Side of Me, he admitted struggling with bipolar disease and contemplating suicide at 17. His father intervened and convinced him not to quit life.

“Each morning from 9 until noon, I had a secretary at the studio take all calls. I mean every single call. I wrote each morning – or rather, dictated – and then I faced the TV business.”

So, a man who had lived through the Great Depression found success by writing though he had a disease that tormented him enough to think of ending his life. He didn’t quit living. Though he’d already attained success, and had severe time restraints in his later life, he decided to write his first novel. He didn’t quit his day job. In the midst of Hollywood, he managed to stay married to his first wife until her death some thirty years later. He didn’t quit when so many of his contemporaries did.

He didn’t quit while he was ahead. Why should any of us? Crossing off accomplishments on a Bucket List is one thing; giving up on a great talent is quite another. I’m so glad we didn’t miss a single moment of Sidney Sheldon’s talent.