{"id":160502673,"date":"2017-09-10T05:35:00","date_gmt":"2017-09-10T05:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrevas.com\/?p=160502673"},"modified":"2026-02-23T05:36:30","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T05:36:30","slug":"the-community-speaks-a-tribute-to-john-thorne","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrevas.com\/?p=160502673","title":{"rendered":"The Community Speaks: A Tribute to John Thorne"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

With Twin Peaks: The Return<\/em> now concluded, fans all over the world are sharing their personal theories as to what it all means. The conversations are all over social media, message boards and on web sites like the one you\u2019re reading now. These large-scale conversations weren\u2019t possible the way they are today after the Season 2 finale back in 1991 when \u201cHow\u2019s Annie\u201d and Bob staring back at our beloved Agent Cooper in a mirror left fans clamoring for more. In the pre-social media age, Wrapped in Plastic<\/em> magazine kept the conversation alive. John Thorne and the late Craig Miller started a magazine that for 13 years kept Twin Peaks<\/em> fans engaged and dreaming of that world we all longed to go back to. Today, a large community of fans exists due in part to Wrapped in Plastic<\/em> not letting the memory of Twin Peaks<\/em> fade away. Today we pay homage to John Thorne for all that he\u2019s done for the Twin Peaks<\/a><\/em> fan community for more than 25 years now. When we put the word out that we were collecting quotes paying tribute to John, we received responses from both those who have worked on the show and from those who have studied the show just like John has. That alone is a testament to John\u2019s value in our community. On behalf of the site, thank you, Mr Thorne, for being our trailblazer and keeping the dream alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDuring its first run, and in the long years until the new series, John Thorne \u2013 along with many others in the Twin Peaks community but more than anyone else I can think of\u2014served as the keeper of the flame.\u201d \u2013 Mark Frost, co-creator and Executive Producer of Twin Peaks and Twin Peaks: The Return<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s nothing better for a writer than to find kindred souls who appreciate the work that you do. In some ways, they then become part of that work. It\u2019s like Boswell and Samuel Johnson \u2013 how\u2019s that for an old reference? It\u2019s that notion of having someone who really gets what you do and then celebrates it. It makes them part of the family, and he has been for a very long time and still is. It\u2019s hard to image what we did early on without his watchful eye\u201d \u2013 Harley Peyton, Writer\/ Producer, Twin Peaks<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMore than anything, John is a great friend to me. When we get on the phone, it is hard to get off. He is a kindred spirit. In a way, I look up to him as a big brother, the coolest big brother possible. He\u2019s just such a smart and insightful guy and I\u2019ve never heard one vindictive word out of him ever. He\u2019s the nicest person with the kindest heart. I\u2019m proud to know him\u201d Brad Dukes, author of \u201cReflections: An Oral History of Twin Peaks.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEveryone knows how John\u2019s passion kept the show alive in the hearts and minds of fans for so many years, and how much we all owe him for that. I\u2019ve met John on several occasions and am fortunate enough to consider him a friend. He is extremely generous with his knowledge, and always eager to help other Twin Peaks \u201cstudents\u201d out with insights and encouragements. I don\u2019t think I know anyone as passionate about the show as John, or as eager to engage in meaningful dialogue and speculation about the many mysteries of Twin Peaks. I think John\u2019s most valuable contribution to the Twin Peaks community has been his deconstruction of the mythology of the show in a way that is intelligent, thoughtful, provocative, and\u2014most importantly\u2013accessible to fans as well as scholars.\u201d \u2013 David Bushman, author of \u201cTwin Peaks FAQ.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJohn Thorne and Craig Miller carried the torch for Twin Peaks through the otherwise dark ages from 1992 to 2005. Without Wrapped in Plastic to keep interest alive, sustain community, and provide resources for disparate fans, it\u2019s quite possible that there would never have been a Twin Peaks revival\u2014certainly not to the extent of what eventually emerged when the series finally came out on DVD and hit Netflix.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I didn\u2019t discover the series until 2008, so I owe John more indirectly for that legacy. What I owe him directly for is the spirit of inquiry he brought to Twin Peaks analysis. In particular, when I discovered his essay \u201cThe Transformation of Laura Palmer\u201d in 2014, the piece itself transformed my own thinking about the film. For the first time, in addition to appreciating Twin Peaks as an audiovisual experience, I began to investigate how it functioned as a cohesive narrative.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without this discovery, and the further understanding that John\u2019s own research and theorizing provided, my own Journey Through Twin Peaks videos could never have been born. And I\u2019m sure this is true for many others who write about and discuss Twin Peaks \u2013 John was unafraid to seek answers, without reducing the mystery, and we can all thank him for that.\u201d \u2013 Joel Bocko, Journey Through Twin Peaks<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe illustrious Henry Jenkins has described TV fans as poachers and detectives, and he has said that fans often tend the fire once a film or TV series has stopped being widely popular, thus helping to keep the interest alive. All of these descriptions fit John Thorne who created one of the most widely recognized fanzines, Wrapped in Plastic, exploring and debating almost every aspect of Twin Peaks. Had there been no John Thorne, it is difficult to imagine an actual \u201cReturn\u201d of Twin Peaks, and, fittingly, Thorne was used as one of the experts in Showtime\u2019s documentary about the Twin Peaks phenomenon. Thorne transcends the boundary between fan and scholar, and for me; personally, he transcends the boundary between mentor and friend, having edited a few of my pieces for Blue Rose Magazine and having agreed to co-edit the English version of my David Lynch book The Art of Paradox (2017\/2018). The Twin Peaks community is greatly indebted to John Thorne for his life-long contribution, both in terms of writing about the series and in terms of welcoming new thoughts and fans to the environment. What is a Blue Rose without its Thorne(s)? \u201c- Andreas Halskov, author<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWay back in the 90\u2019s Twin Peaks was as tough to find as Jerry Horne in the woods. When I first saw WIP (Wrapped in Plastic magazine) in a Border\u2019s Book store, I thought it must have been a mistake. I thought I was the only person that still cared about Twin Peaks. It wasn\u2019t the first time John would prove me wrong. I spent the next 15 years or so trying to complete my collection. In 2012, I finally got my hands on the illusive Mulholland Drive issue. At that time, I wouldn\u2019t have believed it if anyone had told me that in 3 years I would meet John and that two years later we would be working together on The Blue Rose Magazine.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first time I ever met John I asked him to bring WIP back. The second time, I asked again. I believe it was the 427th time that he finally relented and The Blue Rose was born. I am honored every day that I get to work along with someone who is as humble, smart, loyal and dedicated to not just Twin Peaks, but being a good writer. In the last eight months, I have learned more about shaping a sentence than I did in my four years of college. If these sentences I have written aren\u2019t as good as my writing in The Blue Rose, it is because John didn\u2019t have the chance to edit them. I have learned how to dissect a scene and connect it to something tangible; to make sure you are giving critical analysis and not just your opinion. In a day and age when everyone just spouts off what they think as if that makes it a fact, I am thrilled to be reading someone who takes a moment to stop and be sure it is based on fact.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Issue #4 we will be paying respect to the 25th anniversary of WIP and by proxy, John Thorne. We don\u2019t do this because John is the Managing Editor; we do this because it is Twin Peaks news. WIP has become intertwined in the actual world of Twin Peaks. His work of documenting what Lynch\/Frost did will always be family to one another. John hates when I call him the Godfather of Twin Peaks, so I will again repeat it. John, along with the late Craig Miller, kept Twin Peaks alive in a time without Tweets and Facebook pages. They never kept anyone out of Twin Peaks; they invited people in. \u201cTwin Peaks\u201c, the idea, is not owned by any one person. It is out there for the world to interpret. That idea of openness and community mattered to me when I had a full head of hair. And now, when I have a lot less hair up there, I am lucky to be able to not only call John a mentor and a partner but a good friend. He is too humble to say it, so I will say it for him. John is the Godfather of Twin Peaks.\u201d \u2013 Scott Ryan, author\/podcaster<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With Twin Peaks: The Return now concluded, fans all over the world are sharing their personal theories as to what it all means. The conversations are all over social media, message boards and on web sites like the one you\u2019re reading now. These large-scale conversations weren\u2019t possible the way they are today after the Season […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":160502674,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"saved_in_kubio":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[59,112,39],"class_list":["post-160502673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-twin-peaks","tag-abc","tag-david-lynch","tag-showtime"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrevas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160502673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrevas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrevas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrevas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrevas.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=160502673"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrevas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160502673\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":160502675,"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrevas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160502673\/revisions\/160502675"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrevas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/160502674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrevas.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=160502673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrevas.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=160502673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrevas.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=160502673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}