Don Cerveris
Don Cerveris (Dormont, Pennsylvania, 15 October 1926 [1]) was an English teacher at Antelope Valley High School, where Zappa was a pupil. Zappa credited him with introducing him to Zen Buddhism. .[2]
Cerveris later wrote the screenplay for Run Home Slow (1962), the first film Zappa wrote music for. Cerveris also introduced Zappa to his first manager, Mark Cheka.
As a mentor figure and personal friend, Zappa included Cerveris in his list of influences in the liner notes of Freak Out! (1966), under the heading: "These People Have Contributed Materially In Many Ways To Make Our Music What It Is. Please Do Not Hold It Against Them".
Cerveris is one of the people receiving thanks for their "very special but no less significant contributions" in The Yellow Shark liner notes.[3]
Zappa about Don Cerveris
"My English teacher at A.V. was Don Cerveris. He was also a good friend. Don got tired of being a teacher and quit -- he wanted to be a screenwriter. In 1959, he wrote the screenplay for a super-cheap cowboy movie called Run Home Slow, and helped me get my first film scoring job on it."
