Rita Lakin

Rita Lakin is an American screenwriter with 474 produced television scripts spanning 30 productions She is also a novelist and author of The Only Woman In The Room a memoire of her life as one of the first female show runners and one of the first women in television released October 2015 Applause publishing In fiction Lakin created the Gladdy Gold Mystery sevenbook series published by Bantam Books including Getting Old Is Murder Getting Old Is The Best Revenge and Getting Old Can Kill You Lakin began writing regularly during the early 1960s for such television shows as The Doctors Dr Kildare and Peyton Place In 1968 she began working as story editor and head writer of The Mod Squad In 1972 she created The Rookies In 1977 she served as executive producer of the CBS TV adaptation of the 1954 film Executive Suite She wrote numerous Movies of the Week including Women in Chains and such miniseries as Strong Medicine and Voices of the Heart In 1981 she developed the TV series adaptation and served as showrunner of Flamingo Road In 1989 she cocreated the medical drama Nightingales She also wrote or coauthored two original theatrical plays No Language But a Cry and Saturday Night at Grossingers