ATLANTA — Captivating bedside readers and literary critics alike since its first publication in 1953, Flannery O’Connor’s stirring short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” helped to raise the Georgian author onto a pedestal that occupied by only a handful American writers. To this day the story remains firmly entrenched in the pantheon of American literature, and has recently inspired one Atlanta filmmaker to revisit one of O’Connor’s, and indeed, the American South’s, finest literary achievements.

Ed Richardson, a career filmmaker and producer at Atlanta Metro Studios, has been a lifelong devotee of O’Connor’s work ever since his childhood. Dealt what he describes as a “short attention span” in a family of avid readers, Richardson said he has been drawn to film and the works of Flannery O’Connor from a young age. As Georgia’s burgeoning film industry produces an ever-growing number of movies and shows for an international audience, the producer and his team are in the early stages of adapting one of our state’s most enduring literary works for life on the big screen.

 “I can tell you that this story has truly not left my mind since I was first turned on to it as a kid in Ruston, Louisiana,” said Richardson of O’Connor’s work. “Nothing ever interested me until I picked up ‘A Good Man is Hard to Find’… For me, with a little perspective now, it was the literary equivalent of hearing Duane Allman’s guitar solo for the first time at the end of Wilson Pickett’s ‘Hey Jude – Unadulterated’… Before I ever knew what it meant to produce a film, from my very first reading, I could see every scene playing out before my eyes.”

Contained within a collection of stories by the same name, “A Good Man” explores the themes of morality, disillusionment, and yearning for a bygone era through an Atlanta family’s journey through the author’s home state, complete with O’Connor’s trademark Southern Gothic style. Dealing with complex questions of morals and the inevitable conflict of substance versus appearance, O’Connor’s densely-packed story attempts to examine what, if anything constitutes a truly “Good Man.”

As it happens, Benedict Fitzgerald, the accomplished screenwriter and author of the film’s screenplay, is perhaps uniquely qualified to help tackle the issues contained within O’Connor’s work. While living at an artists’ community in Saratoga Springs, New York, O’Connor met and struck up a friendship with Fitzgerald’s father, the well-known classic translator Robert Fitzgerald. When Robert, the translator of Homer’s classic works “The Iliad” and “The Odyssey,” invited O’Connor to stay at his home in Ridgefield, Conn., Fitzgerald was often babysat by the author herself. While his mother, Sally, became a noted O’Connor biographer after her untimely death from lupus in 1964 (she is buried in Milledgeville’s Memory Hill Cemetery), Fitzgerald turned to the literary arts for himself. After an accomplished career as a screenwriter including co-writing the screenplay for “The Passion of The Christ” with Mel Gibson, Fitzgerald is one of the most important creative minds involved with the film.

“I am asked very frequently about Benedict and his involvement with the film.  It’s clearly pretty easy to say that on paper, he was always the most organic choice to write the screenplay for ‘A Good Man is Hard to find,’” said Richardson. “That said, I’m always very happy to add that it was clear the moment we met, and has been reinforced throughout this entire process — he has a gift.  He has also honed his craft over many previous adaptations and operates in rarefied air.  Benedict also has a personal, abiding devotion for Miss O’Connor’s mighty work, which happens to be a perfect fit for our production team.It is an honor to work together to bring this film to a global audience.”

While the film adaptation of O’Connor’s classic story is still in the early stages of production, the pieces are in place to bring one of the author’s most enduring works to the big screen. In continuing his lifelong study of Milledgeville’s most famous daughter, Richardson offers a small bit of advice:

“As an Atlantan, I consider myself very fortunate to be just a short drive from Milledgeville, and love visiting Andalusia. I have a painting of the O’Connor family farm house hanging over my desk in my office at Atlanta Metro Studios,” said the producer. “I know your local readers have most likely been, but for those who haven’t had the pleasure, you really must make the pilgrimage. It truly feels like opening a time capsule and further serves as a very personal window into the life and habits of Miss O’Connor.”