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Dear niece of Eric, I saw your note and wanted to let you know in 1975 I was 11 years old and saw the movie. It inspired me to such a great degree that I wrote your uncle Eric's mother and told her how much i loved the movie and the positive impact it had on my life, both as a soccer player and person. She wrote me back and I remember how thrilled I was to receive her letter. I remember she mentioned how much the younger kids from the neighborhood loved to play soccer in the back yard with him and they still came over even after he passed. I have so many more memories and I still have the book. It changed my life.

I think the entire movie is available on YouTube, though in several different parts. I love this movie. John Savage was superb in the title role (just a few years before he would break wide open in "The Deer Hunter") and my mom still thinks Mark Hamill is the most beautiful young man she has ever seen. Dave Grusin, who wrote the fine score, was eventually honored with the Oscar for best original score for "The Milagro Beanfield War." I hope you finally get to see this wonderful movie about your brave relative!

This movie is actually kind of special to me since I'm Eric's niece. I never actually met him before he died since I'm Lisa Lund's daughter, and she was only 15 then. It's weird to have a family with a famous side. Sometimes when I remember that Mark Hamil (or Luke Skywalker!!) played my living uncle Mark in that movie, it's so awesome its hard to believe. I haven't had the chance to see this movie since it came out some 30 years ago, and I don't know where to find it. I wish I could find it soon. I have read the book, and obviously know the story from first hand witnesses, but it'd be cool to see the televised version some day.

I loved the book as a kid, and reordered it and read it again recently. I'm amazed at how many lines of it make up part of my internal dialogue even still today. The movie is good enough, but misses some of the fun and life described so keenly in the book. I do love seeing Lisa's daughter's comments, I really can't imagine.

I was sorry to read mom Doris' obituary, she was a splendid story-teller. If you haven't, read it the book, and take your time... this is a young man and family you'll want to get to know even more.

My parents told me a stork's tale when I was young that they went to see a movie called Eric at the cinema, and that's where I got my name. It was only when I found the movie on IMDb that I finally believed them. Incredibly, the main actor is John Savage, and my full name is Eric John Savage, with the first-born being named John as a long-term custom in the Savage family since medieval times.

I found the movie on YouTube and was keen to watch it, but my parents didn't seem so keen, and having finally watched to the end this Christmas Day, I can see why they were hesitant. Still, it's a good reminder of the bond between family, and I too I am the eldest of 3 and love playing soccer, guitar and singing. Now I need to read the book.