THE KINKAID SCHOOL
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Alum TV Writer Impacts Lives On Screen and Off
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s any fan of the hit ABC drama Grey’s Anatomy will tell you, the medical cases portrayed on the show are extremely well written and researched. One person who can take credit for this high quality writing is Kinkaid alumna Meg Marinis Vernon ’02, a writer for the show, now in its 11th season. During her nine years at Grey’s, Meg has combined her love of writing and television with her knowledge of medicine to successfully research and create extraordinary episodes.
Meg’s passion for writing started during her years at Kinkaid. While in Upper School, Meg completed an independent writing study during Interim Term with Kate Lambert and a screenwriting class with AJ Carothers ’50 that fueled this passion. She also religiously watched her favorite television shows, especially The X-Files and ER. Meg says, “I was even inspired to write my own episode of ER when I was 12. I had an early interest in and appreciation for medicine that I picked up from my grandfather, who was a surgeon.” After Kinkaid, Meg attended the University of Texas majoring in Plan II and Radio-Television-Film. She moved to Los Angeles for her senior year, finishing her coursework and interning. As she looked for her first job, Meg reached out to Katherine Campbell Van Steenburgh ’01, who had attended USC and worked in Los Angeles as an assistant for Shonda Rhimes, the creator of Grey’s Anatomy. Katherine helped Meg land an interview at Grey’s, and she was hired in 2006. With little previous medical knowledge, Meg began her career at Grey’s as an assistant and then progressed to researcher, where she quickly learned about the field. Now Meg is one of 11 Grey’s writers, and she is assigned to her own episodes. “The most rewarding part of my job is that I get to see the result of all of the hard work that goes into our story telling – it airs on television,” Meg explains. “It’s a pretty amazing feeling knowing you’re a part of something that makes people all across the world laugh, cry or throw things at their screens... whether it’s in anger or delight.” She applies her now extensive medical expertise to each episode she writes and is able to entertain and even educate her audience. Two years ago, an actress came to the writers and asked them to write a script about Kawasaki’s disease, a rare and serious illness characterized by inflammation of blood vessels that afflicts young children, including her son. If not promptly diagnosed and treated, the child can develop heart disease and potentially suffer fatal complications. Diagnosing this disease is difficult because the symptoms mimic many common viruses, but if the patient sees a doctor who can rule things out in a timely manner, the patient can receive the appropriate treatment, usually consisting of intravenous immune therapy.
Meg Marinis Vernon ‘02 on the set of Grey’s Anatomy
is now back to normal, but he could have suffered severe heart problems without the diagnosis. Meg is proud that her work on Grey’s has the ability to impact lives such as this one by reaching millions of viewers with real medical stories. What’s next for Meg? “I hope to stay with Grey’s Anatomy until the show ends since it has been such a major part of my life,” Meg says. “My husband Taylor and I used to think we would move back to Texas, but now we would like to stay in LA. I would love to work on another show and someday create a show of my own!”
Meg wrote the script, and the actress played the mother. A month after the show aired, Meg received a letter from a woman in Orange, Texas, explaining how her son had been ill and was not getting better. The woman’s sister had seen the Grey’s Anatomy episode and told her to take her son to the hospital, where his tests indicated he could have Kawasaki’s. The little boy received the IV immune therapy and
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1/14/15 8:47 AM