Bard of Soap

» The World Turns forJEAN PASSANTE '75.

"People say to me all the time, 'Wow, you must have a really juicy life and put everything from your life into the soap,'" says Passanante, head writer for As the World Turns, which celebrated its 50th year on television last April. "But to date I have not suffered amnesia nor am I aware of any evil twins lurking in my family tree,"

Passanante is actually so busy crafting stories for the fictional residents of Oakdale that she and husband Jack Shannon lead a fairly quiet life in New York City (daughter Ruth is a Bard College junior). "I don't think people understand that it's sort of a marathon runner mentality for a writer," Passanante says of daytime television. "There's no hiatus on soaps, no downtime at all. You just keep rolling. And facing that kind of void every week can be pretty daunting. But it's also the fun part because it's a challenge."

Writing wasn't on Passanante's career radar when she graduated with a drama degree and a Phi Beta Kappa key. The former Dartmouth Players president co-starred in two John Sayles' films, but after being cast in several "unsatisfactory off-, off-Broad- way productions," she ventured into theater administration, first as artistic director of the New York Theatre Workshop then as head of New Dramatists, a playwright's organization. In 1989 she accepted a job as director of writer development for ABC Daytime at the urging of a friend. "After two years a producer said to me, 'You're spending all this time teaching people how to write for the soaps, maybe you should try it yourself,'" says Passanante, who has since won three Emmys, three Writers Guild awards and a GLAAD Media Award.

Before joining As the World Turns, she wrote for Another World and AllMy Children, where the legendary soap doyenne Agnes Nixon taught her to "Make 'em laugh, make 'em cry and make 'em wait," Passanante admits, however, that she draws most of her inspiration from former professor Peter Saccio's classes. "I actually ran into Peter about a year ago and had to confess to him that I steal mercilessly from Shakespeare's plays—at least plot and character situations—all the time. And he said, 'Well, that's okay. He stole all of them, too!'"