The first Twilight Zone I saw was “Nightmare at 20,000 feet.” My father and I watched it together, sitting in twin wicker chairs pulled up close to a small television at our cottage. After a few moments, I moved the chair closer to my dad and looked from the television screen to him. I was stunned that this is what he did, wrote these terrifying stories. I later learned that this particular episode “Nightmare” was written by Richard Matheson, but at the time that fact was of little consolation. It was still my father who appeared at the beginning and the end of the show.
Although it was initially disturbing to think that my father was connected to this scary stuff, the thought almost immediately vanished because this was not the dad I knew. There was nothing scary about him. And I was excited to see him on television!

Excerpt AS I KNEW HIM © Anne Serling 2012

" When I first began noting down the early beginnings of REQUIEM, I had one basic idea…I wanted to analyze a human being who fought for a living but who was nonetheless a human being. I wanted a guy who would act, react, feel and think without sounding like the stereotyped, cauliflower-eared, punchy human wreck who has now become so familiar that he’s funny. I wanted the dull, slow, painfully halting speech to elicit sympathy and understanding, but not a laugh… Requiem’s basic premise is that every man can and must search for his own dignity." Rod Serling

AS I KNEW HIM