What Matheson is wrestling with in “Duel” is coming to grips with something so irrational, so surreal. On that day, suddenly, the lights went out and we were in pitch black. The hopes and dreams pinned to one particular man were lost. That’s not to say that America was innocent to begin with. There is much said about how America lost its innocence on November 22, 1963. As Matheson explains, in an interview you can view here, “It sounds gruesome but often a writer will go through some awful experience and then write something based on that experience.” As they were driving home, a semi truck was tailgating them and ran them off the road. Matheson and a friend were out playing a game of golf when they got news of the assassination that day. It’s more based on a significantly deep dark feeling of despair and dread. You might find this to be a surprise but “Duel,” the short story about a man fighting for his life against a demonic semi-trailer truck, that went on to become Steven Spielberg’s first major movie, has its origins in the Kennedy assassination. As we observe that fateful date in Dallas, November 22, 1963, I think of how one man created art out of the processing of his emotions from that event. One of the great writers for “The Twilight Zone,” Richard Matheson, passed away this year. Dennis Weaver in Steven Spielberg’s “Duel,” written by Richard Matheson
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