Trivia

(1973-1975) President of the Writers Guild of America, West.

Former governor of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, a founding trustee of the Humanitas Prize, and a consultant to the National Endowment for the Humanities.

He was the founding chair of the Division of Writing at the University of Southern California's School of Cinema-Television where he was a full professor of screen and television writing.

As a young man, he was a singer with bands in New York City.

(1996-) Director of the Screenwriting Division at the University of Southern California School of Cinema-Television.