 stojan steve tesich (, stojan stiv teÅ¡iÄ; september 29, 1942 â july 1, 1996) was a serbian-american screenwriter,the new york times playwright and novelist. he won the academy award for best original screenplay in 1979 for the movie breaking away. ==career== steve tesich was born as stojan teÅ¡iÄ () in uÅ¾ice, in axis-occupied yugoslavia (now serbia) on september 29, 1942, but immigrated to the usa in 1957 with his family when he was 14 years old. his father died in 1962. his family settled in east chicago, indiana. tesich graduated from indiana university in 1965 with a ba in russian, where he was a member of phi kappa psi fraternity. he went on to do graduate work at columbia university, receiving an ma in russian literature in 1967. he also wrote his first plays while at columbia university. after graduation, he worked as a department of welfare caseworker in brooklyn, new york in 1968. he had been an alternate rider in 1962 for the phi kappa psi team in the little 500 bicycle race. his teammate was dave blase, who rode 139 of 200 laps and was the victory rider crossing the finish line for his team. they subsequently developed a friendship. dave blase was the model for the main character in tesich's award-winning screenplay breaking away in 1979. at a special screening of the 1985 cycling movie american flyers starring kevin costner and rae dawn chong in 1985, tesich told the audience: âmany of you are better cyclists than i ever was, but i love this sport as much as anyone." his play division street opened on broadway in 1980 starring john lithgow and keene curtis and wa
1942_births 1996_deaths 20th-century_American_poets American_people_of_Serbian_descent Best_Original_Screenplay_Academy_Award_winners Columbia_University_alumni Deaths_from_myocardial_infarction People_from_UA 3/4 ice Serbian_writers Yugoslav_emigrants_to_the_United_States