Jimmie TramelMany In Allen Have Read, Or At Least Heard About, The Book “the Outsiders” Which Was Made Into A Movie In The 1980s.The Story Is About A Teen Gang In Rural Oklahoma, The Greasers Who Are Perpetually At Odds With The Socials, A Rival G

Many in Allen have read, or at least heard about, the book “The Outsiders” which was made into a movie in the 1980s.

The story is about a teen gang in rural Oklahoma, the Greasers who are perpetually at odds with the Socials, a rival group. When Greasers Ponyboy and Johnny get into a brawl that ends in the death of a Social member, the boys are forced to go into hiding. Soon Ponyboy and Johnny, along with the intense Dallas and their other Greaser buddies, must contend with the consequences of their violent lives. While some Greasers try to achieve redemption, others meet tragic ends.

What many don’t know is that the reason it was made into a movie was a student petition started by Jo Ellen Misakian. Misakian was born in Oklahoma and spent the first eight years of her life in Allen. The following story was printed this week in The Tulsa World.

Librarian who had idea for ‘The Outsiders’ to become a movie is visiting Tulsa

Most Tulsans are familiar with this chapter of local movie history: C. Thomas Howell, Ralph Macchio, Tom Cruise, Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, Patrick Swayze and Matt Dillon were launched to stardom after coming to Tulsa in the 1980s to star as “greasers” in Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Outsiders.”

For Tulsa, the positives of being “The Outsiders” city continue to present day.

The city’s profile in the pop culture universe has been elevated because celebrity visitors (among them: Academy Award winner Leonardo DiCaprio) keep showing up at the Outsiders House Museum. The museum, located at 731 N. Saint Louis Ave., is dedicated to the movie and its source material, a book by Tulsa author S.E. Hinton.

But do Tulsans know about the educator who was a pivotal figure in the book becoming a movie?

Author Jo Ellen Misakian worked in the library of a K-8 school in Fresno, California, when she, in 1980, encouraged middle school students to sign a petition to urge Coppola to make a film version of “The Outsiders.”

Anyone want to calculate the odds of a big-time filmmaker giving consideration to an-out-of-the-blue pitch from a bunch of school kids?

Score one for Misakian and the kids.

Misakian should be a candidate for a hero’s welcome when she visits Outsiders turf this week for the theatrical debut of a 4K restoration of “The Outsiders: The Complete Novel.”

Tickets are sold out for a Saturday, September 25 ^th , outdoor screening at the Outsiders House Museum. The film will be shown on Circle Cinema’s newly installed 4K projector at 2 p.m. Sunday, September 26 ^th , and 7 p.m. Wednesday, September 29 ^th . A post-film Q&A with Misakian will be part of the September 26 ^th screening. The Q&A will be recorded for playback at the September 29 ^th screening. Tickets are sold out out for the September 26 ^th screening, but tickets for the September 29 ^th screening can be purchased at circlecinema.com.

Jo Ellen Misakian, whose student petition helped get “The Outsiders” turned into a motion picture, is coming to Tulsa for screenings of a new version of the film at The Outsiders House Museum and Circle Cinema.

This isn’t just a Tulsa story. It’s an Oklahoma story.

Misakian was born in Oklahoma and spent the first eight years of her life in Allen (northeast of Ada) before becoming a Californian. She’s not sure if she has ever been to Tulsa (maybe when she was a child?), but she said it’s great that Danny O’Connor of the Outsiders House Museum invited her to visit the town and museum. She is scheduled to attend the Saturday screening at the museum.

Now retired, Misakian was drawn to her career because she loves kids and loves reading. She said it seemed like a job “made in heaven for me.” Problem in heaven: It was sort of difficult to get boys at the school interested in reading. “The Outsiders” became her go-to book when she wanted to get them hooked. Boys would come back to her and say “do you have another book like this?”

Misakian also shared the book with faculty members. A teacher suggested to Misakian that “The Outsiders” would make a good movie. Hmmmm. Misakian said she brainstormed with two young ladies and asked their opinion about whether kids would endorse a petition recommending that “The Outsiders” be made into a movie. More than 100 students signed the petition.

“I’m sure the kids thought nothing would come of it,” Misakian said. “Neither did I. It was just a promotion to get them interested in reading.”

But Misakian felt obligated to do something with that petition. Since students had gone to the trouble of circulating it and signing it, she couldn’t just toss it aside.

Misakian read a Newsweek magazine in which Coppola was praised for sticking closely to the book for one of his films. Misakian identified her target. She phoned a public library and got an address for Coppola’s New York office, which was not where he was, but it turned out to be the right place to send the petition after all. Misakian said she was told the petition she sent to Coppola was forwarded to him in a packet from his New York office to his Hollywood studio. That’s why he read it.

Coppola asked Fred Roos, a producer who frequently worked with him, to check out the package, which included a letter, a petition and a copy of “The Outsiders.” Roos read the book to pass time on a flight and agreed with the kids that the book was movieworthy.

Misakian was shocked when she received a confirmation letter from Roos. She indicated that her interactions with Roos and Lucy Fisher, a Warner Bros. vice president, shattered her perceptions of Hollywood. Misakian was sent a first script for the “The Outsiders,” and it had a Western flavor. Misakian told Roos she didn’t like it. He listened and the script got a makeover.

Often, Hollywood turns great books into something less, according to Misakian. She loves the “Outsiders” book, indicating that readers (O’Connor among them) find something they can relate to in the characters. She believes the film adaptation did justice to the source material.

Before seeing “The Outsiders” for the first time, Misakian was warned to expect a surprise. These words appeared on the screen: “The film ‘The Outsiders’ is dedicated to the people who first suggested that it be made — librarian Jo Ellen Misakian and the students of The Lone Star School in Fresno, California.”

Warner Bros. sent the film and a delegation of actors to The Lone Star School for a pre-release preview.

“Those actors were not famous before the movie, but they went on to unbelievable careers after the movie,” Misakian said. “And they were nice boys. All of them were just really nice to us all.”

Misakian received a standing ovation at the school event. She told the New York Times it seemed like a fairy tale and that kids began looking for other books that had movie potential.

Misakian was asked during a recent phone interview what her takeaway is from the whole experience.

Misakian said Fisher said it best in a letter to her that dealt with kids discovering reading.

“That’s what I’m hoping,” Misakian said. “All the students who came through my library, I wanted them to discover what a joy it is to read.”