Gorton Center is showing a movie closer to home this upcoming summer: the 2025 film adaptation of Old Heart, written by former LFHS teacher Peter Ferry, who passed away in September 2024.

Screening the film at a local theater seemed like the perfect choice for Ann Kiesling, manager of Donor Engagement at the Gorton Center.

“Roger Rapoport, [the film’s director and producer], reached out to Gorton Center about renting our theater to screen the movie, and, when I found out the connection to Peter Ferry and LFHS, I knew it would be a great partnership to explore,” said Kiesling. 

What came next was determining the date that would be optimal for the screening. After navigating the limited availability in Gorton’s movie theatre, they eventually chose Sunday, July 12. 

“It was quite challenging to find a date that worked for Rapoport when our theater was available. Unfortunately, we were not able to secure a date that surrounded the Alumni programming for the summer and the fall (like Homecoming), but everyone at the district is confident that we will still have great attendance!” said Kiesling.

Along with being an author, Ferry was a beloved English teacher at LFHS for 27 years. Despite his unfortunate passing, his teachings live on through his former students, including best-selling author Dave Eggers.

“During the time in my life [when I had Mr. Ferry as a teacher], we were kind of in a difficult family situation…I wasn’t particularly motivated with schoolwork and was mailing it in,” said one of Ferry’s former students, Jon Shimp. “I knew Mr. Ferry was well-respected and someone on the serious side…I wasn’t sure about how much I was going to be able to get away with.”

When Shimp turned in one of his assignments with a lack of effort that year, Ferry pushed him to do better.

“I turned it in and figured I would just accept the consequences. He basically flipped it back and said, ‘No, you’re better than this. I won’t accept this,’” said Shimp. “He left me no option but to go back and redo it. I actually sat down, spent some time, and put some thought into what I thought was a good product.”

Shimp acknowledged that it wasn’t Ferry’s responsibility to give him a second chance, but he’s grateful that he did.

“He could’ve simply just said, ‘Look, this kid’s clearly checked out, so we’re going to give him an F and move on.’ It was a small act, but it was something that had a pretty profound influence on me, especially at that point in my life where I realized I needed to do it right the first time,” said Shimp.

Ferry’s kindness has stayed with Shimp for a long time, and he hopes that other students are afforded the opportunity to have educators like him in their lives.

“I’m 52, and I still remember Mr. Ferry and always will: he took an interest and saw something in me that I clearly didn’t at the time and challenged that to come out,” said Shimp. “It’s a credit to him as an educator and as a human being to have empathy to just pause.”

In addition to many claiming his excellence as a teacher, Ferry authored two books during his lifetime. The movie Old Heart originates from Ferry’s 2015 book, following Tom Johnson, an 85-year-old veteran who rejects his kids’ wishes for him to live in a nursing home by traveling to the Netherlands to find the woman he fell in love with while serving. Rapoport initially discovered the book through his wife.

“My wife’s a librarian, and one of the patrons at the library asked if they had it. She went out and got it for the library, read it, and then a little while later we were in a bookstore in South Haven–where Peter Ferry spent his summers–and saw that his book sold 300 copies,” said Rapoport. “I bought a copy and, when I finished it, I decided to write a play.”

After the play was written and performed, a decision was then made to turn the play into a movie, given the approaching 80th anniversary of World War II. A movie adaptation, though, usually comes with some changes being made from the source material. Rapoport explains how he–along with others–made the choice to make the main character, Tom Johnson, black in both the play and the film.

“Rather than Tom, the leading character, being a white man, we decided he would be a part of the only integrated unit in the segregated American army in the Red Ball Express,” said Rapoport. 

The Red Ball Express was an emergency truck operation in World War II that supplied Allied forces with resources following their movement across France after D-Day. Consisting of nearly 75% of African American soldiers, the Red Ball Express delivered over 400,000 tons of fuel and ammunition.

“They integrated it because they just didn’t have enough soldiers. This was the only fighting unit in the US army that was integrated,” said Rapoport. “[We thought] maybe Tom should be a black quartermaster that’s part of this group…[because] without this integrated unit, we would not have made it to Berlin. We would have run out of supplies.”

After making the change initially in the play, Rapoport said that Ferry admired it. 

“After the play, [Ferry] was talking to the director and said, ‘How come I didn’t think of that?’” said Rapoport. “That angle has made a difference because it tells another historical story beyond the one Peter created. [It fights against] this attempt to squash black history in the military.”

Screening the film in various locations, such as Lake Forest this summer, allows this message to be shared and for Ferry’s work to be introduced to new audiences. 

“We’re coming to Lake Forest now because we’re at a point where the film has reached a level where I think the book has gotten a lot more attention due to the movie,” said Rapoport.

Along with showcasing a story Rapoport believes has been untold, Old Heart and its screening provide a chance for those who knew Ferry to admire his work.

Kiesling also hopes that other LFHS students and alumni attend the event to honor Ferry’s legacy as well as to admire the story he wrote. Those interested in the event can purchase tickets here.

“He inspired so many and kept in touch with many of his students after they graduated: continuing to encourage and develop writers long after their time at LFHS,” said Mrs. Kiesling. “Although the film is not a memoir, we hope Peter’s contribution to the Lake Forest community is spotlighted and that the post-film discussion highlights his significant legacy.”