added facts about the movie

Rating: Null/10 (12 July 2003)

I am a full-time sculptor living and working from my studio in Stratford, Ontario, Canada. Over ten years ago I moved to Northern California where I met, at a gallery opening, the American Poet William Leach. We fell in glorious love and eventually moved through New Mexico, Iowa and to Canada where he died at age 45 years of age, 6 years after I met him, we were married in hospital one year before his death. While in California he told me the story of his life including a story about being a janitor and some of the 'events' that happened during that time, he also mentioned that later friends had spoken to him about the interest in making a movie about his life, which he had no interest in, in fact the chaos this would have caused in his very private and reclusive life as a poet. Later when we were living in Iowa a friend said we had to see a very wonderful movie about a 'genius janitor' and told us the basic story of the movie. We both were in shock! This was the movie, years later, about William's life at that time. He was never able to watch the movie although he tried, but tears would stream down his face, and when I finally asked him, gently why he cried, and why he could not watch the movie, besides seeing all his friends depicted and recalling that time of his life in such detail, he replied, "I had so much to offer and I was pushing a broom". And we never spoke of it again. I think it is important that people know at some point in history that the movie was based on a real person, a very amazing person of great personal strength, a beautiful person filled with love for the world he lived in, and such a gifted poet. He wrote 6 books of poetry, all remain unpublished, he received news of 7 poems to be published in Descant, in Canada, the day after his death. If anyone has any interest in contacting me to learn more about this man, a Renaissance of splender and joy, please contact me, he was the 'genius janitor' depicted in the movie, "Good Will Hunting", and his name was William Leach, poet. Thank you! Susan Murar.