Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, October 6, 2021 -- SEVEN
Heppner graduate, turned author, returns for book signing
By Bobbi Gordon
Author Scott McEwen,
a 1979 graduate of Heppner
High School, will be return-
ing to his home town for a
book signing event at Flood
Town Books on October
16. McEwen has written
10 books, including Amer-
ican Sniper, which is based
on the life of SEAL Chris
Kyle. Kyle is considered
the most least lethal sniper
of all time in United States
military history. American
Sniper, published in 2012,
was an immediate New
York Times best seller, re-
maining at number one for
three months.
McEwen grew up in
Heppner and was active
in the outdoors, hunting,
fishing and Boy Scouts.
He became an Eagle Scout
under the mentoring of
Glenn Ward. “I credit Ward
as truly the man who taught
me how to survive in the
Scott McEwen
wild,” McEwen told the
Gazette-Times. After grad-
uating he left Heppner and
attended Oregon State Uni-
versity, graduating in 1983.
He initially planned to go
on to medical school, but
“was frankly tired of the
university.” Instead, he
packed a single bag and
left for Europe to sort out
what he wanted to do with
his life.
While in Europe, he
lived primarily in London
but visited many countries
in the eastern bloc of the
then Soviet Union, includ-
ing Berlin. Those visits
were very formative in his
belief that “socialism and
communism are a scourge
on the face of the planet.”
After returning to the
United States from Eu-
rope, he decided to attend
law school, receiving a
scholarship and graduating
from University of the Pa-
cific in 1987. He took the
California bar and started
practicing law in Los An-
geles for a large law firm.
He said, “‘LA Law’ was
glamorous in the beginning
and thereafter became a real
drain on the soul.” After a
few years, he moved to San
Diego to get away from the
traffic and the ‘insanity’ in
LA. He practiced corporate
litigation in San Diego for
McEwen with family at the Red Carpet New York Premier
of American Sniper.
another 25 years.
While practicing law,
he began doing pro bono
work (free legal services)
for military families in San
Diego, which has a huge
Navy and Marine Corp
population. As a result, he
started doing work with
Navy SEALs, which in-
cluded Chris Kyle. He and
Chris became good friends,
drinking buddies and would
shoot long-range rifles to-
gether. During that time,
he learned about Kyle’s
war experience as a sniper,
which led to McEwen doing
research and writing what
would ultimately become
the book American Sniper.
After the release of the
book, he was approached
by multiple producers and
studios about making a
movie or a series based on
the book. Those negotia-
tions led to meeting and
getting to know Bradley
Cooper who wanted to
play Chris in the movie. “I
personally chose Jason Hall
The former Cornerstone Gallery Gift store on Main Street in Heppner was reduced to a pile of to write the script and while
Gift store torn down to make
way for new Dollar General
rubble last week, as crews came in to begin construction of the new Dollar General store. The
new store is located on the former gift store and RV park location and is expected to be built
and operational by the first of the year, according to company officials. -Photo by David Sykes.
he was working on it, Chris
was killed in February 2013
by an ex-military member
he was trying to help in
Texas. One of the saddest
days of my life,” McEwen
stated.
“Thereafter,” McEw-
en said, “It was my job to
ensure that the movie did
credit to Chris Kyle and his
memory.” The movie was
picked up by Steven Spiel-
berg to direct, but McEwen
always wanted Clint East-
wood to direct the movie.
As did Chris. “As luck (and
possibly a divine power)
would have it, Spielberg an-
nounced he was no longer
going to direct the movie.
I was then on the phone
to Clint Eastwood and the
rest is history.” The movie
was the number one gross-
ing military movie of all
time, received six Academy
Awards and multiple other
accolades.
“Since American sniper
I have written nine addition-
al books, many of which
were national best sellers,”
continued McEwen. “While
I still have a license to prac-
tice law I consider myself
a recovering lawyer at this
stage and devote most of
my efforts to writing books.
My last book, called “Hell
Week and Beyond” was
released in May of this year.
I am currently working on
a book entitled “The 2A”
which is a historical work
on the second amendment.”
“I am happy to have the
opportunity to sign books
in Heppner at its newest
bookstore and look forward
to seeing many friends who
still live in the area. I would
like to thank and recognize
some great teachers I had
while going to Heppner
High School, each of which
was influential in their own
way to my success. Jane
Rawlins, Jim Ackley and
Gordon Neiffer were pre-
scient and disciplined in
their approach. Borders to
learning and inquiry did
not exist in their minds,
and they imparted that to
me. And thank you, Walt
Pilgrim who made sure I
could type faster than most
of my legal secretaries, a
skill I highly encourage.”
“For a short period of
time, I had the number
one selling book on earth,
the number one movie on
earth and was the number
one ranked author on earth
on Amazon for total book
sales. Did it go to my head?
I hope not, because I am
just a kid from Heppner.
I was blessed with two
amazing parents, Don and
Betty McEwen (now de-
ceased) who taught me to
never give up, study hard,
work hard and never settle
for anything less than you
can achieve. I recommend
the same to all,” McEwen
added.
Ione Community School
honors students and staff
Ione Community
School recently honored
three people as September’s
students and staff of the
month. Brodie Ogden, Tom
Gates and Taylor Rollins
were all recognized for their
efforts and commitment to
the school.
Ione’s superintendent
Kevin Dinning reported,
“Brodie brings our ele-
mentary breakfast cool-
ers to the classroom every
day, and you will see him
holding the door open for
someone whenever he has
the chance. Tom is always
ready to help with a smile
on his face and our build-
ing would not run the way
it needs to be without him.
Taylor is one of our student
assistants for our athletic
director, and he is always
ready to help in any way
he can. Brodie, Taylor and
Tom have positive attitudes,
Community
Pictured (L-R): Brodie Ogden, Tom Gates and Taylor Roll-
ins. -Contributed Photo.
and we appreciate them for this educational community
continuing to contribute to in a positive way.”
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