Buddy as a Young Man

Here are a couple of early photos of my dad's first cousin, John Michael Hayes, Jr., who was always known to us as Buddy. He was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, as was my dad, Daniel Lawrence Harris (1907-1972). 

John Michael Hayes, Jr.
1919-2008

After college and serving in the Army, Buddy moved out to California from Massachusetts and wrote radio stories and then film screenplays. Steven DeRosa wrote a book about Buddy's work with Alfred Hitchcock on four films, Rear Window, To Catch a Thief, The Man Who Knew Too Much, and The Trouble with Harry. 

What I remember best about Buddy was his wonderful laugh, and the good fried summer squash he made for us when my parents, sister and I visited his home in southern California (which had once belonged to one of The Beach Boys! We got to shower in the Beach Boys' shower!). We also visited one summer when the Hayes family was living at a spectacular estate in Winter Harbor, Maine. He and his very gracious wife, Mel, had some very funny little kids (our third cousins, if I'm figuring correctly). My sister and I have some great lobster memories from Winter Harbor.

You can read more about Buddy's career in the Wikipedia article under his name. 

The DeRosa book is reviewed on Amazon. 

Here is an interview with Buddy about script writing: How They Write the Script: John Michael Hayes.

Buddy's obituary appeared in the New York Times in November, 2008.