Rod Serling

Rod Serling, best known for creating The Twilight Zone series, died at the age of 50 on June 28, 1975.  I am in awe of all that he accomplished by that age. I have been familiar with Serling's name since I was a child. I remember episodes of the tv show (in rerun, mind you) playing on our black and white television and Serling was a local celebrity in our town of Binghamton, NY where he spent most of his childhood and graduated from high school.

Writing today's post about him is difficult. There is so much to say and a million things you can purchase with the Rod Serling/Twilight Zone theme. How to choose? For me, what is important to know is that Serling opened the minds of a generation using horror, fantasy, and science fiction like no one before him. He subtly, and not so subtly, raised issues of racism, censorship, and anti-war activism during the family-hour on television. No one was doing that - he changed all of us.

And then, he co-wrote the screenplay for The Planet of the Apes with Michael Wilson.

The Twilight Zone Intro

Watch an episode of The Twilight Zone today in memory of Rod Serling. I wonder what he would have created for us to consider in these muddled times?