Family, friends and associates recently bid farewell to one of the first black female writers in Hollywood, a pioneer who died suddenly on July 8 of an apparent ruptured aorta.
Judi Ann Mason, also referred to by close friends as "JAM," was a playwright, writer and television producer.
During a memorial service held on July 17 at The Church On The Way in the Van Nuys district of the San Fernando Valley, industry insiders who worked with Mason over the years paid homage to her as a writer who paved the way for others to follow in her footsteps.
Mason wrote the scripts for many television shows, including "Good Times," "A Different World," "Beverly Hill 90210" and "I'll Fly Away." She was also a co-writer on "Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit," starring Whoopi Goldberg.
Born in Shreveport, Louisiana, to the late Rev. Walter Mason Sr. and Zeola Stewart Mason, Judi Mason came to Hollywood to pursue her writing career after graduating summa cum laude from Grambling State University in 1977, where she also pledged Delta Sigma Theta.
Practically a lone black female writer when she started, Mason had to deal with racial overtones and white writers who had a tendency to portray black characters with all of the negative stereotypes of that era. Mason strived to give black characters more realistic dialogue that portrayed the diversity of black life.
According to friends, Mason stood up to the powers that be and demanded more black writers. When black writers did come along, Mason was more than generous in her support and encouragement, helping many along the way during her 25-plus years in the industry.
"She did that for so many people," said Tina Andrews, an award-winning writer and former actress who portrayed a love interest in the first interracial relationship on daytime television.
Andrews recalled a time when she was playing a nurse studying to be a doctor on "Guiding Light." She said she had grown unhappy with the lines written by white writers for her character. She soon met Mason, and they both agreed that more blacks were needed to write dialogue that didn't perpetuate the negative stereotypes of black people. Mason encouraged Andrews to start writing her own scripts instead of waiting for white writers to get it right.
Andrews took Mason's advice and eventually authored "Sally Hemings, An American Scandal: The Struggle To Tell the Controversial True Story," a book about President Thomas Jefferson and his black lover. CBS turned the book into an acclaimed CBS mini series in 2000 — with Andrews as the scriptwriter.
"There was such a sisterhood," Andrews said of Mason's relationships with colleagues. "She wasn't angry about helping other writers. Judi was like the godmother to African American female writers. We called her the woman with the broken foot because she kicked in so many doors for us. People have to know this woman. She's not just a footnote. She was very giving of her time."
Olivia Brown, who played Trudy on "Miami Vice" in the 1980s, attended the service with her stepmother, Ja'Net DuBois, of "Good Times" fame.
"I am heartbroken," said DuBois. "I've lost a sister, a friend...and I can't say anymore."
Raeven Larrymore Kelly, at three years old, worked with Mason on "I'll Fly Away."
"My mother taught me how to read reading her lines," said Kelly, who also played the young Tina Turner in "What's Love Got To Do With It." "Her words gave black women a voice on screen. As a former child actress I am honored to have known her."
Mason not only had an impact on female black writers and actresses, but black men also found strength in her experience and sage advice. Actor T.K. Carter, who spoke during the service, talked about all the laughs they shared and the encouragement Mason gave to him when he felt discouraged.
"She told me I couldn't stop," Carter said. "I had to keep going."
Stage actor Charles Reese called Mason "a woman warrior for our cultural arts village, and especially a spirit warrior for African American women here and abroad."
At the time of her death, Mason was in pre-production for her first independent film, "Motherland," about a college history instructor taking middle-class African American students to Africa.
"I was so engrossed with her, she was so down to earth...you rarely hear people in this industry talk openly about God," said Ken Smart via phone from London. Nigerian-born Smart said that Mason had selected him to play the African prime minister in "Motherland."
"She was so confident about what she was saying," he recalled. "On a daily basis she said things that inspire me, encourage me. My life has changed. When I talk to this woman she gives my life purpose and direction."
Actor Louis Gossett, Jr., said that Mason always reminded him that the measure of his success was determined by his faith in God.
"It is easy to trust God when everything is going well, but we have to trust God when things appear bad," he said.
Mason is survived by a daughter, son, one brother, two sisters, and a host of nieces, nephews, family and friends.
Pat Munson is a writer for the L.A. Watts Times.
Photo of Ja'Net Dubois and Olivia Brown by Pat Munson; photo of Judi Ann Mason courtesy of The Writers Guild of America
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