45 Years of The Rockford Files
Written by Jim Suva
Black Pawn Press recently released Ed Robertson’s new book, 45 Years of The Rockford Files. This is the 3rd edition of his Rockford Files book. I have always said that the previous edition, 30 Years of The Rockford Files, is my bible on the show. This new book gave me the opportunity to talk with Ed to find out how he started out as a writer and host of his radio show, TV Confidential.
According to Ed’s mom, he learned how to read and write when he was five years old by devouring TV Guide cover to cover. He would make up his own shows and then make up loglines. (A logline is a sentence-long summary or description of a movie/TV show.) In school Ed became an English major; many of his teachers recognized his talent and encouraged him to write. Within a few years after graduation, Ed published his first work.
In 1993, Ed published his first book, The Fugitive Recaptured, a behind-the-scenes history of The Fugitive, the classic TV series starring David Janssen. The success of that book led to the publication of Ed’s two books on the career of James Garner, Maverick: Legend of the West (originally released in 1994) and This is Jim Rockford: The Rockford Files (first released in 1995, for the 20th anniversary of the show). In 2005, Ed updated his Rockford book as a second edition, called Thirty Years of The Rockford Files, and again as a third edition in 2020, under the title 45 Years of The Rockford Files. Both 45 Years of The Rockford Files and the revised third edition of Maverick: Legend of the West are available through Black Pawn Press.
Ed Robertson is also host of TV Confidential, a radio show about television featuring interviews with the stars, writers, and producers of some of America’s most popular TV shows, including many of the shows that originally aired when we were growing up. Ed did a two-hour tribute to James Garner in 2014, while his previous guests have included Rockford writer/producer Juanita Bartlett plus many actors who appeared as guest stars on The Rockford Files. Here is a link: https://www.televisionconfidential.com/.
Ed not only admired James Garner, he actually met and talked with him. Ed shares some of his remembrances of Jim for the first time in 45 Years of The Rockford Files, including the thrill he felt watching Jim work one day during a visit to the set of First Monday. The revised third edition also includes about 60 pages of never before published information about Rockford, including a production memo from Stephen J. Cannell and Roy Huggins from 1975 that really sets the stage for the infamous “Glen Larson incident.” There’s also 20 new interviews, 6 new appendices, some new photographs, and a beautifully written foreword by Gigi Garner, James Garner’s daughter. The 3rd edition still has the wonderful drawings by Darin James Bristow, plus more information on the 1990s Rockford movies.
The reason Ed updated this book was to include more information about Rockford and to pay tribute to those who have passed away in recent years, such as James Garner, Stephen J. Cannell, Jack Garner, Luis Delgado, Roy Huggins, and Adele Mara, just to name a few.
James Garner passed away on July 19th 2014, and per his request, he had no memorial service. His daughter Gigi started the James Garner Animal Rescue Fund in his honor. It is a 501c3 charity with its donations going to help animals all around the world. Twenty-five percent of proceeds from the sale of 45 Years of The Rockford Files will be going to JGARF. For more information about this charity go to www.jgarf.org.
As a bonus, if you purchase 45 Years of The Rockford Files directly from Black Pawn Press, you will receive an MP3 recording of a conversation between Ed and Roy Huggins from February 1995. On this recording, Roy not only reads his original 26-page first-draft story “The Rockford Files” (which he later developed into the script for the Rockford pilot), but provides a running commentary about certain aspects of his original story that were later developed for the Rockford series. To order directly from Black Pawn Press, go to Rockford45.com.
Photo below from the collection of Ed Robertson.
Ed with Roy Huggins.
If you would like an autographed edition of 45 Years of The Rockford Files, you can order that directly from Ed himself at https://edrobertson.com/rockford-45. (Ed told me that if you order the book directly from him, you will receive the bonus recording as well as a signed copy.)
In my opinion, this is a “must-have” book for any Rockford Files fan. I consider it the most detailed and best book available on The Rockford Files. Also, it is a nice way to honor James Garner by helping support the James Garner Animal Rescue Fund.
For more information about the award-winning author, go to https://edrobertson.com/
I would like to personally thank Ed Robertson for all the time and energy that he has put into all his books. He is keeping some truly wonderful TV shows alive for years to come.
Recent Comments