Darryl Ponicsan

Darryl Ponicsan (; born May 26, 1938) is an American writer. He is best known as the author of the 1970 novel The Last Detail, which was adapted into the 1973 film of the same name starring Jack Nicholson. A sequel, Last Flag Flying, based on his 2005 novel of the same name, was released in 2017; he co-wrote the screenplay with director Richard Linklater. He also wrote the 1973 novel and screenplay Cinderella Liberty, starring James Caan. Ponicsan writes mystery novels under the pen name Anne Argula.

Life and career Ponicsan was born in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, the son of Anne (née Kuleck) and Frank G. Ponicsan, a merchant. He attended Muhlenberg College, (A.B., 1959) and Cornell University, (M.A., 1965).

He was a high school English teacher in Owego, New York from 1959 to 1962. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1962 to 1965 aboard the USS Monrovia and USS Intrepid during the Vietnam War, attaining the rank of Yeoman 3rd Class. He was a social worker for Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, California in 1965, and a high school English teacher in La Cañada, California from 1966 to 1969.

Ponicsan also wrote the screenplays for the CBS movie A Girl Called Hatter Fox (1977), the movies Nuts (1987), School Ties (1992), the HBO movie The Enemy Within (1992), and the CBS series The Mississippi (1983). He has worked frequently with producer-director Harold Becker, penning scripts for Taps (1981), Vision Quest (1985), and The Boost (1988).