John W. Clifford

John W. Clifford, age 91, passed away on March 2, 2010. He is survived by his daughter Christine Clifford, son John Shannon Clifford, granddaughter Katherine Clifford, and former wife Carol Clifford. John was a lifelong writer best known in Lawrence as the author of the film Carnival of Souls, filmed in Lawrence in 1960 and as the author of many plays produced by the Lawrence Community Theatre. In recent years he began to express himself in poems, several of which have appeared in the Lawrence Journal-World. He got his start as a writer selling jokes to comedians and went on to write a novel (The Shooting of Storey James), lyrics to songs recorded by Nina Simone, Della Reese and others, a children’s opera (Malooley and the Fear Monster) with Lawrence composer John Pozdro, many award-winning educational and industrial film scripts at the Centron Film Corporation, and many words and letters of encouragement to friends and loved ones. His warmth and humor will be much missed by his family and friends and by the arts community of Lawrence. There will be an informal memorial gathering Sunday, March 21 from 4-6 p.m. at Babcock Place, 1700 Massachusetts (please use back patio door). The family suggests memorial donations may be made to the Lawrence Community Theatre, 1501 New Hampshire.