Born on this day – Katherine Woodville:

 

Katherine Woodville

Actress

March 12, 1938 – June 5, 2013

Credits:

A Chance of Thunder (1961); Armchair Mystery Theatre (1960); Black Gunn (1972); Boyd Q.C. (1960–1961); Clue of the New Pin (1961); Days of Our Lives (1977); Eight Is Enough (1979); Ellery Queen (1976); Extreme Close-Up (1973); Fear No Evil (1969); Gemini Man (1976); Ghost Squad (1964); Gibbsville (1976); Harry O (1974); Inside Story (1960); Intertect (1973); It Takes a Thief (1968–1970); ITV Play of the Week (1961); Keefer (1978); Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1975); Kung Fu (1974); Little House on the Prairie (1978); Mannix (1968–1971); Mission: Impossible (1968); No Hiding Place (1961–1965); Posse (1975); Salvage 1 (1979); Secret Agent (1964); Sergeant Cork (1964); Sir Francis Drake (1962); Star Trek / episode entitled: For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky, originally aired November 8 (1968); The Aquarians (1970); The Avengers (1961–1962); The Bold Ones: The New Doctors (1970); The Brigand of Kandahar (1965); The Crooked Road (1965); The Debbie Reynolds Show (1970); The Edgar Wallace Mystery Theatre (1961); The Greatest Mother of Them All (1969); The Healers (1974); The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case (1976); The Madhouse on Castle Street / BBC Sunday-Night Play (1963); The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1960); The Outsider (1968); The Party’s Over (1965); The Psychiatrist (1971); The Rhinemann Exchange (1977); The Rockford Files (1975–1976); The Saint (1964); The Spies (1966); The Third Man (1962); The Virginian (1970); The Wednesday Play (1964); Underworld Informers (1963); Where’s Willie? (1978); Widow (1976); Wonder Woman (1979); Young and Willing (1962); Z Cars (1964).

On this day in movie history - The Andromeda Strain (1971)

The Andromeda Strain

directed by Robert Wise,

written by Nelson Gidding and Robert Wise,

based on the novel by Michael Crichton,

was released in the United States on March 12, 1971.

Music by Gil Mellé.

Cast:

Arthur Hill, James Olson, David Wayne, Kate Reid, Paula Kelly, George Mitchell, Mark Jenkins, Peter Helm, Joe Di Reda, Ramon Bieri, Carl Reindel, Frances Reid, Peter Hobbs, Kermit Murdock, Richard O'Brien, Eric Christmas, Ken Swofford, John Carter, Richard Bull, James W. Gavin, Garry Walberg, Emory Parnell, Georgia Schmidt, Victoria Paige Meyerink, Don Messick, Michael Crichton.

On this day in movie and book history - Fire in the Sky and The Walton Experience (1993)

Fire in the Sky

directed by Robert Lieberman,

written by Tracy Tormé,

based on the book The Walton Experience by Travis Walton,

was released in the United States on March 12, 1993.

Music by Mark Isham.

Cast:

D.B. Sweeney, Robert Patrick, Craig Sheffer, Peter Berg, Henry Thomas, Bradley Gregg, Noble Willingham, Kathleen Wilhoite, James Garner, Georgia Emelin, Scott MacDonald, Wayne Grace, Kenneth White, Robert Covarrubias, Bruce Wright, Robert Biheller, Tom McGranahan Sr., Julie Ariola, Peter Vasquez, Gordon Scott, Mical Shannon Lewis, Courtney Esler, Holly Hoffman, Marcia MacLaine, Glen Lee, Vernon Barkhurst, Jerry Basham, Teresa Fox, Travis Walton, Susan Castillo, Jane Ferguson, Nancy Neifert, Charley Lang, Lynn Marie Sager, Mari Padron, John Breedlove, Frank Chavez, Louis A. Lotorto, Ronald Lee Marriott, Shinichi Mine, Scott M. Seekins, Eric Wilsey, Dana Walton, Natasha Henry.

Recommended reading:

The Walton Experience

by Travis Walton.
 
Filmed as Fire in the Sky (1993), directed by Robert Lieberman.
 
Published by A BERKLEY/MEDALLION BOOK.
First Edition.
Published 1978.
Mass Market Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0425036758
ISBN-13: 978-0425036754

Description:
The Walton Experience.

Seven no-nonsense men. They had just finished a day's work cutting trees in Arizona's Apache Sitgreaves National Forest. As the old pickup maneuvered the dark mountain road, they all saw the brilliant glow suspended in the trees.

Travis Walton got out to investigate. But when the other six went to look for him … he was gone.

Now Travis Walton reveals what happened during the 5 harrowing days of his disappearance.

On this day in the Star Trek universe - The Next Generation, Picard

Star Trek: The Next Generation (1988)
Star Trek: Picard (2020)

Star Trek: The Next Generation
Season 1. Episode 18.

Episode entitled: Coming of Age.

Released March 12, 1988.

Directed by Michael Vejar.

Written by Sandy Fries.

Created by Gene Roddenberry.

Music by Dennis McCarthy.

Cast: Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, LeVar Burton, Denise Crosby, Michael Dorn, Gates McFadden, Marina Sirtis, Brent Spiner, Wil Wheaton, Ward Costello, Robert Schenkkan, John Putch, Robert Ito, Stephen Gregory, Tasia Valenza, Estee Chandler, Brendan McKane, Wyatt Knight, Daniel Riordan, James G. Becker, Darrell Burris, Dexter Clay, Jeffrey Deacon, Nora Leonhardt, Tim McCormack, Lorine Mendell, Richard Sarstedt, Guy Vardaman.

Star Trek: Picard
Season 1. Episode 8.

Episode entitled: Broken Pieces.

Released March 12, 2020.

Directed by Maja Vrvilo.

Created by Akiva Goldsman, Michael Chabon, Kirsten Beyer, Alex Kurtzman.

Written by Michael Chabon, Nick Zayas.

Based on Star Trek: The Next Generation, created by Gene Roddenberry.

Music by Jeff Russo.

Cast: Patrick Stewart, Jeri Ryan, Alison Pill, Michelle Hurd, Santiago Cabrera, Evan Evagora, Isa Briones, Peyton List, Tamlyn Tomita, Rebecca Wisocky, Ann Magnuson, Derek Webster, Jane Hae Kim, Vincent Teixeira, Kendra Munger, Ernesto Chaverri, Jimmy Chimarios, Natalie Diaz, Alyma Dorsey, Akihiro Haga, Morgan Eliza Hill, Cort Rogers.

On this day in television history - Justified (2013)

Justified
Season 4. Episode 10.

Episode entitled: Get Drew.

Released March 12, 2013.

Directed by Billy Gierhart.

Written by Graham Yost, Dave Andron, Ingrid Escajeda, VJ Boyd, Leonard Chang.

Based on the short story Fire in the Hole by Elmore Leonard.

Music by Steve Porcaro.

Cast:

Timothy Olyphant, Nick Searcy, Joelle Carter, Jacob Pitts, Erica Tazel, Walton Goggins, Jim Beaver, Jere Burns, Ron Eldard, Daniel Buran, David Meunier, Abby Miller, Mike O’Malley, Jesse Luken, Mykelti Williamson, Cathy Baron, Don Creech, Jonathan Kowalsky, William Gregory Lee, Cleavon R. McClendon III, Louis Fasanaro.

Harold Ross, on writing:

I asked Ring Lardner the other day how he writes his short stories,

and he said he wrote a few widely separated words or phrases on a piece on paper

and then went back and filled in the spaces.

- Harold Ross.

Recommended reading - Unknown Man #89

Unknown Man #89

by Elmore Leonard.

Published by Mariner Books.
First published 1977.
Paperback.

ISBN-10: 006218928X
ISBN-13: 978-0062189288

Description:
“The greatest crime writer of our time, perhaps ever!” – The New York Times Book Review.

“An absolute master.” – The Detroit News.

“No one is Leonard’s equal,” declares the Chicago Tribune – and anyone who might doubt it would only have to read Elmore Leonard’s riveting noir classic, Unknown Man #89, to become a true believer.

Detroit process server Jack Ryan has a reputation for being the best in the business at finding people who don't want to be found. Now he's looking for a missing stockholder known only as "Unknown Man No. 89." But his missing man isn't "unknown" to everyone: a pretty blonde hates his guts and a very nasty dude named Royal wants him dead in the worst way. Which is very unfortunate for Jack Ryan, who is suddenly caught in the crossfire of a lethal triple-cross and as much a target as his nameless prey.

The twisty tale of a Detroit process server whose search for a missing stockholder leads him into more serious peril than he ever imagined possible, Unknown Man #89 is a gourmet stew of mystery, suspense, and double and triple cross, peppered with the razor-sharp dialogue for which Grand Master Leonard is justifiably famous.

Exhilarating old-school crime fiction that the late, great John D. MacDonald, Dashiell Hammett, James M. Cain, and Robert Parker would have been proud to call their own, Unknown Man #89 is a gem – nothing less than we’d expect from the man who created the incomparable U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens of the hit TV series Justified.