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'Waltons' TV show creator dies at age 92

Earl Hamner Jr.

LOS ANGELES — Earl Hamner Jr., the versatile and prolific writer who drew upon his Depression-era upbringing in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia to create one of television’s most beloved family shows, “The Waltons,” has died. He was 92.

“The Waltons” aired for nine seasons and won more than a dozen Emmys.

He also was a best-selling novelist, the author of eight episodes of the classic TV show “The Twilight Zone” and, as a screenwriter, adapted the popular children’s tale “Charlotte’s Web,” into a hit 2006 film.

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