Short Takes : It Was Wrong to Write Him Off

DETROIT —  A teacher once told Bruce Joel Rubin he’d never cut it as a screenwriter.

Now, the writer of “Ghost,” the year’s top box office draw so far, and “Jacob’s Ladder,” last week’s top draw, is looking forward to his 30th Mumford High School reunion on Thanksgiving weekend.

“He was always interested in movies, and he was always a storyteller. I think his real thrill will be meeting that teacher who told him he’d never succeed,” said Rubin’s brother, Gary Rubin, 44, a Detroit-area contractor.

“We are so excited. There’s an article about him in our local paper and one in the L.A. Times calling him the best writer of the year, and I’m going broke buying newspapers,” said his father, Jim Rubin, 75, who now lives in West Bloomfield Township, north of Detroit.