Writing · 1937–2026 · Olean, New York, USA
Jeremy Larner (March 20, 1937 — February 24, 2026) was an American screenwriter, author, poet, journalist and speechwriter.
Born in Olean, New York, Larner graduated from Brandeis University in 1958 before writing several books throughout the 1960s, including his debut novel Drive, He Said (1964), which was adapted by co-writer/director Jack Nicholson into a 1971 film. As a journalist, Larner wrote for Harpers, The Paris Review, and Life.
He was a speechwriter for Eugene McCarthy during his 1968 campaign for president, which inspired his book Nobody Knows, serialized for Harpers in ’69, and influenced Larner’s script for Michael Ritchie's The Candidate (1972), which starred Robert Redford as leftist lawyer Bill McKay, who quickly becomes a popular public figure as he is groomed to run for a senate seat. The film earned Larner an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.
Over the years, Larner further wrote speeches for politician Bill Bradley, activist Sam Brown, Paul Newman and Redford, covering topics like the Vietnam War and environmentalism.