Alum Kirk Dooley Remembers Friend Involved with 'Dallas'

THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS -- Back when the sun was setting on the 1970s, I was studying playwriting at San Francisco State University and living with two buddies who were finishing up at Stanford. I got a phone call from Mary Ann Smith in Dallas. She and her husband, Eugene — who were parents of my friends, Fay, Ann and Bragg Smith — were coming to the Bay Area for a cotton convention and wanted to take me out for dinner. I met them at the Sir Francis Drake Hotel and we had a delightful evening together. She was excited about a writing possibility for me. “Kirk, I’ve got some friends who are creating a TV soap opera that will be aired during evening prime time,” she said. “It has a Texas theme, but all the writers are from New York City and they need a Texan on the writing team. I think you would be the perfect addition. Would you be interested?” Of course! She had me at “TV.”