Sam Harper

Sam Harper is a writer/screenwriter who lives in Brooklyn, NY, and Inverness, CA, with his wife of 38 years, Anna McDonnell. They have three adult sons, Henry, Quinn, and Eliot.

Sam was a business reporter for Advertising Age Magazine in New York City before moving to Los Angeles to become a screenwriter. He worked as a story analyst for MGM, Tri-Star, and Interscope until his first movie, Rookie Of The Year, appeared in theaters. Sam’s scripts for Just Married, Cheaper By The Dozen, Cheaper By the Dozen 2, Rio, Open Season, and Housebroken followed.

Through his years in Hollywood, he got kind of tired of being referred to as “Jessica Harper’s little brother,” but he cherished the time he had with her, Tom, and their daughters.

Sam was diagnosed with PXE when he was eight years old, and in recent years has been afflicted with PXE-related macular degeneration. As his vision deteriorated, he made it a goal to demonstrate to himself and the greater PXE community that having PXE disabilities and leading an adventurous life need not be mutually exclusive. In 2017, he and his lifelong friend, Mike Romanow, crossed the country on bicycles, pedaling 4000 miles while raising roughly $57,000 for PXE. In 2019, they biked from San Francisco to Moab, Utah, raising $15,000. And in 2022, they rode roughly 500 miles from St. Augustine, FL, to Myrtle Beach, SC,raising another $13K.

Now, as a board member, while becoming more engaged with the PXE community and its challenges, he will keep raising money for PXE research by biking all 50 states before he turns 70, knees willing.