About Frank Levering
Frank Levering— writer, director and co-producer of SIMPLE LIVING WITH WANDA URBANSKA for its four broadcast seasons — is a farmer, playwright and poet. He is the author or co-author of five books, including Simple Living (Viking/ Penguin: 1992); Moving to a Small Town (Simon & Schuster: 1996); and Nothing’s Too Small to Make a Difference (John F. Blair: 2004). His many plays, including the North Carolina state award-winning It’s Your Life, have been performed in theatres around the country. In 1999, Frank founded and remains producer for the innovative environmental Cherry Orchard Theatre in Virginia. www.leveringorchard.com.
Frank was born in Mount Airy, North Carolina, and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Wesleyan University in Connecticut, where he played football, studied with poet laureate Richard Wilbur, and earned a degree in English and American Studies. After graduating from Harvard Divinity School with a master’s in theological studies, Frank worked seven years in Los Angeles as a screenwriter and free-lance journalist. Frank co-wrote the 1982 film Parasite in 3-D, a campy, cult horror film that introduced Demi Moore to the screen. Frank is a recipient of the Governor’s Screenwriting Award of Virginia.
The youngest of six in a Quaker family, Frank was raised on the family farm, Levering Orchard, just above the North Carolina state line in southern Virginia. In 1986, he moved from Los Angeles to the orchard, which is known throughout the Southeast for its pick-your-own cherries. Levering Orchard, which was founded by Frank’s grandparents in 1908, is now the largest cherry orchard in the South.