He also returned to his faith when he went back to church, and God’s plan began to unfold. “I haven’t had a drink since the day I entered the hospital-Nov. Those two weeks in the hospital and the advice of the fellow patient likely saved Umphrey’s life. A fellow patient who worked as a garbage collector told Umphrey about a program where he could get help for his alcoholism. I found myself face down in the pig pen like the prodigal son in the Bible, and at age 27, four years after graduating from Lipscomb, I ended up in a mental hospital.”įor the next two weeks, Umphrey looked deep within his soul and realized he couldn’t continue to live the way he had been living, dependent on alcohol and living without a purpose. “But I continued struggling with alcohol abuse,” he continued. He also won two awards as a television producer.
Landiss was always interested in what I was doing and in my writing.”Īfter graduating from Lipscomb in 1969, he pursued a career as a newspaper reporter and editor, winning national awards as both an investigative reporter and columnist. “I had several professors who never stopped believing in me. “I stayed pretty dry while I was at Lipscomb,” Umphrey recalled. While at Lipscomb, Umphrey studied English at the feet of legendary professor Morris Landiss, who became a mentor to him. The late- Marvin Nikolaus, a longtime professor of math, and his wife, Doris, who had just moved to Nashville from Ohio at the time, took Umphrey into their home, where they were also raising young children of their own, including son, Keith, professor of education at Lipscomb University. He was granted an opportunity to remain at Lipscomb if he agreed to live in the home of a faculty member. But after only three weeks as a Lipscomb student, Umphrey again turned to alcohol and was kicked out of the dorm.īut this time, Umphrey got a second chance. After his dismissal from EMU, Umphrey found his way to his mother, Mary’s (Phillips ’38), alma mater in Nashville. The story really begins when Umphrey was a high school student in surburb of Detroit, Michigan who dreamed of becoming a writer. The screenplay, co-written with Justin Ward, is based on the book Umphrey wrote in 1984 about convicted murderer Clyde Thompson. Fifty years later, that journey leads once again to Nashville - to a place where he will realize his dream as his screenplay-turned-movie, “The Meanest Man In Texas,” is premiering at the Nashville Film Festival with screenings on April 26 and 28. Umphrey’s road to redemption began in 1967 when he came to Lipscomb University after being kicked out of Eastern Michigan University due to low grades resulting from alcohol abuse. He also knows the healing power of redemption. Don Umphrey (’69) knows first-hand what it’s like to find himself face down and to give up on a dream.
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