'I was 13 when we moved to Los Alamos,' said Larry, 'a little younger than Davey's character, but the circumstances were similar. The marriage was brief, but the family stayed in New Mexico, relocating to Santa Fe, where Larry spent his teen years and Judy would later write the manuscript for 'Tiger Eyes.' (She has since remarried, to former law professor George Cooper, with whom she has been for 33 years.) 'Anyone who thinks my life was cupcakes all the way is wrong.' 'I cried every day,' she told People magazine in 1984. By all accounts, it was a difficult transition and a difficult marriage. Shortly after divorcing her first husband in 1976, Blume married a physicist and left her native New Jersey, moving west to Los Alamos with her two children (Larry and his older sister, Randy). The New Mexico setting is an important part of the story.

'The story itself is close to me,' she said, 'and it's close to him too. Judy and Larry would ultimately co-write the script. 'I know at one point Gus van Sant called about doing 'Forever …,'' Larry Blume said, 'and we looked at each other like, 'Awesome! Great!' And then he made four or five other movies.'īut as a director, Larry was only interested in two of his mother's books: the adult novel 'Summer Sisters' and 'Tiger Eyes.' The latter was chosen because it fit the small budget (less than $2.5 million) available.

Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume