Warwick resident wrote book that brought "American Sniper" to the screen
By Roger Gavan
WARWICK — Best selling Author Jim DeFelice, who lives in Warwick with his wife, Debra, and his son Robert, a senior at Warwick Valley High School, would rather people just think of him as a Warwick Youth Soccer coach.
But since he wrote the book, which inspired the box-office record breaking and Academy nominated film, American Sniper, notoriety may be hard to avoid.
The book, American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History, was written by DeFelice in collaboration with Navy SEAL Chris Kyle.
Published in January 2012, it appeared on the New York Times best-sellers list for 37 weeks. Its film adaptation directed by Clint Eastwood and written by Jason Hall was released in 2014.
The film enjoyed excellent reviews and extraordinary box-office support although it did not win the major Academy Awards for which it was nominated.
They included Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Actor. It did, however, win for Best Sound Editing.
"I'm just pleased that it was nominated," said DeFelice, "although I did think Bradley Cooper as well as Sienna Miller gave superb performances and I also expected Jason Hall to win for Best Adapted Screenplay."
No stranger to New York Times best seller list
DeFelice is the author of more than 50 books, both fiction and non-fiction, including numerous best sellers of which 14 have made the New York Times' national best-sellers list.
His published works include the Dreamland novels co-authored with former B-52 navigator Dale Brown and other well received non-fiction works such as "Omar Bradley: General at War."
Two familiesWhen first working on American Sniper, DeFelice stayed with Kyle and his wife, Taya, at a small ranch in Texas.
He and Kyle became good friends and later DeFelice invited the much decorated Navy SEAL and his wife to stay at his home in Warwick. The two families spent about five days together, touring the area and dining at home as well as at local restaurants.
On Feb. 2, 2013, just over one year since American Sniper had been published, Kyle and a friend Chad Littlefield were shot and killed by Eddie Ray Routh, a 25-year-old U.S. Marine Corps veteran, at a shooting range in north central Texas.
It was reported that the two had taken Routh to the gun range as therapy for his post-traumatic stress disorder.
"It was about 5 p.m. that day," recalled DeFelice. "I had one of those android phones and it started to blink. There were loads of messages from news agencies and I knew there was big trouble. So I Googled the news and discovered what happened. I was in shock and after two years, I still don't believe it."
'Some closure'On Tuesday, Feb. 24, the killer, Eddie Ray Routh, was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment without parole.
"I am glad that justice was done," said DeFelice. "There is no way to make up for the loss of those two men but it may bring some closure for their families."