GAIL GILCHRIEST (Screenwriter) continues to distinguish herself as a screenwriter with her adaptation of Willie Morris’ best-selling novel. She most recently wrote the screenplay adaptation for Eudora Welty’s novella, The Ponder Heart, for Mobil’s American Masterpiece Theatre on PBS, scheduled for a January 2000 start, and is currently adapting Fannie Flagg’s book, Welcome to the World, Baby, for Harpo Films. Gilchriest spent five years with The Houston Post as a columnist and a reporter while freelancing for such national magazines as Elle, Cosmopolitan and Sports Illustrated. She has written two books: The Cowgirl Companion (Hyperion), a female’s guide to the glories of the True West, and Bubbas & Beaus (Hyperion), a close look at Southern men, from good ol’ boys to Southern gentlemen. Gilchriest received her Bachelor of Journalism degree from the University of Texas and studied writing at Columbia University and New York University.