Expression Fall 2001

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THE MAGAZINE FOR ALUMNI AND FRIENDS OF EMERSON COLLEGE

ALSO

America’s love/hate affair with reality TV Emerson’s really cookin’ this fall Highlights: Graduation, Alumni Weekend

Freeze Frame Associate Professor Eric Schaefer examines the world of film preservation, from Hollywood to home movies

C L A S S M AT E S G AT H E R FO R A LU M N I W E E K E N D

About 450 alums and their families convened in Boston last June for Alumni Weekend 2001. Some of the festivities included a dinner and awards ceremony at the Museum of Fine Arts and informal gettogethers. Above, see how many classmates you recognize. (See the full story and more photos on pages 23-25.)

CONTENTS FALL 2001

Expression For alumni and friends of Emerson College E X EC U T I V E E D I TO R

2 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 3 CAMPUS DIGEST Two new buildings are in the works, new department chairs named, the College wins a historic preservation award, and more

D AV I D R O S E N E D I TO R R H E A B EC K E R WRITER C H R I STO P H E R H E N N ESSY D E S I G N C O N S U LTA N T

6 VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED Reality TV has altered the landscape of American entertainment – but what does it tell us about ourselves and the business of television?

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RONN CAMPISI CONTRIBUTING WRITERS ERIC SCHAEFER J A N E S H AT T U C E D I TO R I A L A S S I S TA N T J ESS I CA N A D E AU

12 THE INCREDIBLE, EDIBLE EMERSON A batch of campus and alumni personalities serve up their favorite recipes

14 FREEZE FRAME Associate Professor of Visual and Media Arts Eric Schaefer examines the world of film preservation, from Hollywood to home movies

20 COMMENCEMENT 2001

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22 BOOK SHELF Cover photograph by Fred Collins EXPRESSION is published three times a year (fall, winter and spring) for alumni and friends of Emerson College by the Office of Public Affairs (David Rosen, associate vice president) in conjunction with the Department of Institutional Advancement (Jeanne Brodeur ’72, vice president) and the Office of Alumni Relations (Barbara Rutberg ’68, director).

OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS public_affairs@emerson.edu (617) 824-8540, fax (617) 824-8916 OFFICE OF ALUMNI RELATIONS alumni@emerson.edu (800) 255-4259, (617) 824-8535, fax (617) 824-7807

23 ALUMNI DIGEST Coverage of Alumni Weekend 2001 and a fundraising report, class by class

27 CLASS NOTES 33 PROFILES Meet one of Hollywood’s top voiceover artists, a young grad who works to increase the voter rolls in New England, and a radio newsman who rules Connecticut’s airwaves

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36 MY TURN College Archivist Robert Fleming views the campus through the prism of the past

Copyright © 2001 Emerson College 120 Boylston St. Boston, MA 02116-4624

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letters

IN THIS ISSUE

‘10 Tales’ Illuminates, Delights

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hared stories invariably deepen relationships between two parties (for example, alumni and their college), and Emerson graduates are no exception to this rule.

Grounded with this bias, my eyes were drawn to the article “10 Tales You Didn’t Know About Emerson College.” The confession that “every institution has its quirks, its secrets and its untold stories” was as delectable to my spirit as pollen is to bees. I wanted to read the excerpts in the hopes of uncovering the mysteries of my college. I wasn’t disappointed in the exercise.

“Ghosts At the ’Gate” sent shivers down my spine reminding me that we don’t have answers to everything; “Short and Sweet” and “The Clothes Make the Woman” reaffirmed the independence we so cherish at Emerson; three articles highlighted the diversity of our leadership then as now: “A Ski Bum, or a President,” “Bad Manners, Bad Taste” and “Drugstore of Iniquity”; “Emerson goes Prime Time,” “Location, Location, Location” and “Speech = Love” captured the visionary quality of our institution and its willingness to forever remain on the cutting edge; and “It’s Raining Men” emphasized the important task of separating fact from fiction so myths don’t rule the day. Wonderful stories! Thanks for the tales from the past. dr. peter r.k. brenner ’67 vernon, conn.

n response to Stephen Quinn’s “Brave New World” column in the last issue of Expression: To clear things up, the variety of fast food is not ‘excess’ but only a display of culture, di-

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Expression welcomes short letters to the editor on topics covered in the magazine.

The editor will select a representative sample of letters to publish and reserves the right to edit copy for style and length.

Send letters to: Editor, Expression, Office of Public Affairs, Emerson College, 120 Boylston St., Boston, MA 02116-4624.

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versity and entrepreneurship; a slice of pizza comes so protected because it prevents accidents; people do sit in cafés when it makes sense to — the long winter season does not allow for extended comfortable café experiences; and, most of all, people crowded on the train are not ‘cattle’ but just regular people trying to get somewhere. However, I’m glad that Quinn finally did appreciate Boston, even if it did take him a little time.

By the way, I became a new addition to the world of alumni this May. I received my first alumni magazine this week.

Sylvia Jacob ’01 Brookline, Mass. just finished reading the spring issue of Expression. Each article was interesting, but most enjoyable was “10 Tales You Didn’t Know about Emerson College,” which tapped two of my favorite Emerson “sources,” Professor John Coffee and Archivist Bob Fleming. I’m a recent graduate and I loved reading these items of legend and history — some that I’d heard and some that I had not.

That piece, paired with the dialogue in the “Letters to the Editor” section, reminds me that Emersonians have always had a flair for the colorful and the inventive, the contentious and the shocking. When I was a student, it took me some time to be comfortable with the general tendency toward controversy, but I now hope we will always value that Emerson is truly a place where few opinions are left unstated — or unheard! jana roe torvi ’98 quincy, mass.

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The film-preservation movement is gaining converts, and not a moment too soon. As classic films decay in dusty vaults, film preservationists rush to save these masterworks. In our cover story, Eric Schaefer, associate professor of visual and media arts at Emerson, explores how preservationists ‘stop time’ and restore important works. Next, staff writer Christopher Hennessy delves into the sometimes seamy world of reality television. From Survivor to Fear Factor to Big Brother, the genre represents a new direction in television programming. The experts we talked to (all of whom are Emerson alums) suggest it’s a development that is telling: about ourselves and our desired entertainments.

It’s fall and time to stay close to home and hearth, so we’ve asked several popular folks affiliated with Emerson College for their favorite recipes. We kitchentested most of them last summer and enjoyed the results. We hope you do, too.

Our Book Shelf section features four alums who’ve written books in the last year, ranging from a poetry collection to a pre-teen novel.

And look for our photo coverage of Commencement 2001 and Alumni Weekend 2001. Did you know that many all-time favorite Emerson faculty members gathered on campus last June?

In our Profiles section, get ready to meet one of Hollywood’s top voiceover artists, a young woman who is determined to place more people on the New England voter rolls, and a 25-year radio news veteran who is at the top of his game in the Connecticut market.

Let us know what you think of this issue!

Rhea Becker, editor

campus digest Construction work abounds around campus hile most students and faculty enjoyed well-earned vacations, construction workers toiled throughout the summer at several locations on campus.

In July the College began construction of its new Performance and Production Center by clearing the site, located between the rear of the Majestic Theatre on Tremont Street and the Walker Building at 120 Boylston St. The modern glass and steel structure will include, among many other features, two theaters, two television studios, labs and workshops, classrooms and faculty offices.

Students and visitors will enter the 11story, 80,000-sq.-ft.

Center at 10 Boylston Place, the colorful, red brick walkway that runs along the west side of the Walker Building. Vice President for Administration and Finance Robert Silverman said the building will be ready for occupancy by the fall of 2003.

Work also began during the summer on the restoration of the Majestic Theatre, which was built in 1903. Under a plan approved by the Boston Landmarks Commission, workers removed

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Site is prepared for new building

stained-glass windows from the building exterior and brought them to the Boston studios of Lyn Hovey. They will be restored when possible and replaced when missing or beyond repair. In the meantime, vinyl stained-glass window replicas have been installed.

Extensive restoration is also planned for the interior. The College has selected the firm of Evergreene Painting Studios of New York City to restore a test sample area of the walls. Evergreene has done restoration work on Manhattan’s New Amsterdam Theatre and the Academy of Music in Philadelphia.

Inside the Walker Building, space occupied previously by non-College tenants on the second and fifth floors has been converted to classrooms, seminar rooms and a storage area for the College Archives. Many of the new rooms utilize the latest instructional media technology, and one will serve as a film and video viewing room as well as a classroom.

Altogether, 480 additional classroom and seminar seats — 380 on the second floor and 100 on the fifth floor — were added during the summer, according to Construction Manager John Walden. Last summer 280 seats were added on the fifth floor.

Restoration of the Emerson Majestic Theatre continues, including treatment of its ornate stained-glass details.

ABOVE: A bulldozer clears the area where the new Performance and Production Center will be erected.

LEFT: A computer-generated image of the interior of a new theater to be built in the Performance and Production Center TOP:

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campus digest

Three departments appoint new chairs Including newcomer for the Department of Communication ast summer Emerson welcomed Phillip Glenn, former chair of speech communications at Southern Illinois University, as the new chair of the Department of Communication in the School of Communication, announced the School’s Dean, Stuart J. Sigman.

Sigman also announced that Cynthia Bartlett will serve a second consecutive year as interim chair of the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders. Bartlett took that position when former chair, Dorothy Aram, became Vice President for Academic Affairs.

The Dean of the School of the Arts, Grafton Nunes, announced a chair appointment as well. Associate Professor Robin Riley Fast will serve as interim chair for the Department for Writing, Literature and Publishing until the School of Arts is able to find a permanent chair. She replaces Professor John Skoyles, chair since 1994, who stepped down at the end of the academic year to return to teaching full time here.

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Helping to clarify mission, goals

‘AN EXCITING TIME’

Glenn comes to Emerson with four years of experience as a department chair and 15 years of teaching experience. He is the author of Laughter in Interaction (coming in 2002 from Cambridge University Press), and he’s published two other books, with another under contract. He is a specialist in “conversation analysis,” the study of the patterns and structure of talk. Glenn has also managed a professional theater company and was a Fulbright Scholar to the Czech Republic.

“I’m coming in at an exciting time in the department’s history,” Glenn ex4

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Phillip Glenn has been named chair of the Department of Communication.

plains. “It’s a strong program that is poised to assume leadership regionally and nationally in combining commitments to liberal arts and applied communication. My first year will be devoted to learning about the department, leading faculty in clarifying vision, mission and goals, and undertaking structural and programmatic initiatives to help the department achieve its goals.”

One challenge Glenn is ready to face is overseeing the department’s move from its post in the Back Bay to the Campus on the Common. The move is slated for January 2002.

What attracted Glenn to the College?

“It’s vibrant, healthy and headed in the right direction,” he says. “Emerson has a storied past as a school of expression, speech and performance and now, more recently, communication,” he explains. “I’m very excited about its current mission and potential.” Glenn sees his own interests and pursuits comfortably blending with those of the College.

TWO INTERIM CHAIRS

“I’m looking forward to a new year and to turning out a new batch of speech pathologists,” enthuses Cynthia Bartlett as she looks to her second year as inter-

im chair of Communication Sciences and Disorders.

Bartlett already has a few tasks to consider. The department is in the process of making the transition into the School of Communication, where it will join the departments of journalism and communication, a process she feels is going smoothly. Bartlett described a summer faculty retreat about the transition, led by Dean Sigman, as full of “lively and productive discussion.” She says she and the communication sciences, science, psychology and math faculty are all looking forward to exploring interrelationships with the other departments, with collaborations possible in several curricular areas.

The department faces internal changes as well, such as the search process for a permanent chair.

Among other tasks, along with the faculty in her department, Bartlett will also begin work on altering the master’s curriculum in communication sciences and disorders to meet new standards for speech pathology certification.

By January 2003, the department must offer courses that, for example, allow for contact with a wider variety of disorder areas as students who will be graduated after Jan. 1, 2005, have to meet new standards.

Robin Riley Fast, newly appointed interim chair of Writing, Literature and Publishing, said of her new role, “I’m looking forward to supporting the good work of my colleagues in WLP.” Fast, a faculty member since 1989, specializes in American poetry, fiction and nonfiction. She is the co-author of Approaches to Teaching Dickinson’s Poetry and the author of The Heart as a Drum: Continuance and Resistance in American Poetry.

campus digest

Audiologist from New Zealand is named 2001 Luterman Fellow he david luterman Center for to work with the children as well as watch therapy sessions conducted by Advanced Study of Early Childgraduate students in speech pathology. hood Deafness awarded its 2001 In this setting she “learned how critical fellowship to Oriole Wilson of Auckthe relationship among the parents and land, New Zealand. The fellowship professionals and clinicians is and how brings one language and hearing proimportant it is to get it fessional to campus each right.” year for a unique opporDuring her visit, Wiltunity to work with preson was able to observe school-aged hearing-imother programs as well. paired and deaf children She made a series of trips in a clinical setting. to newborn hearing Wilson, who is acting screening programs in clinical director of the NaRhode Island. She also tional Audiology Center had the opportunity to in Auckland and coordivisit the Massachusetts nator of the development Oriole Wilson, acting Department of Public of the Newborn Hearing clinical director of the Health and observe the Screening Program there, National Audiology Cendepartment’s newborn spent a month at the Colter in Auckland, New hearing screening prolege last summer. The Zealand, came to campus grams at Children’s HosAuckland audiology cenfor a weeklong Luterman pital and at Brigham and ter is aiming to develop a Fellowship.

Women’s Hospital. newborn hearing screenFor Wilson, the fellowship was “a ing program in conjunction with the fantastic opportunity to see the effect of National Women’s Hospital, which has newborn hearing screening programs the largest number of births each year on families.” She also noted it was a rein New Zealand. Wilson used her time markable opportunity “to work with in Boston to learn from similar prosomeone as experienced as David grams in the United States and to observe first-hand the interaction between Luterman, with his unique perspective in the world of audiology and his parhearing-impaired children, their famient-centered approach.” Wilson was the lies and clinicians. While at Emerson’s second Luterman Fellow.

Thayer-Lindsley Nursery, she was able

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PORTRAIT OF FORMER PRESIDENT CHAPIN ADDED TO COLLECTION

A new oil portrait of former College president Richard Chapin (1967-75) was unveiled in the Presidents Room of the College Library during Alumni Weekend 2001. The painting, created by Herb Randle, a Waltham, Mass.-based artist, was completed last spring. Randle worked from a combination of photos of Chapin and live sittings with the former president himself, who now lives in Maine.

College wins historic preservation award The Boston Society of Architects (BSA) has presented its Historic Preservation Award for the year 2001 to Emerson in recognition of the College’s “bold and timely realization of the potential in underutilized historic buildings to create a truly urban campus” and its exemplary standard of care for the Emerson Majestic Theatre, the Little Building, and … other historic properties.”

The award was presented by BSA official Henry Moss at the College’s undergraduate Commencement exercises on May 14. It was received by Board of Trustees Chair Ted Benard-Cutler and Vice President for Administration and Finance Robert Silverman.

Expression wins printing award The inaugural issue of Expression, Emerson’s magazine for alumni and friends of the College, has won first place in the 2001 Providence Graphic Arts Association’s Providence Gallery of Printing Excellence awards competition. New England Printing and Graphics in Lincoln, R.I., which prints Expression, was recognized for “Superb Craftsmanship in the Production of Emerson College’s Fall 2000 Expression Magazine.”

The magazine is produced by the Office of Public Affairs in cooperation with the Office of Alumni Relations and in consultation with Ronn Campisi Design. The cover illustration of the prize-winning issue was done by Stuart Bradford.

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Viewer

Reality TV has altered the landscape of American entertainment — but what does it tell us about ourselves and the business of television?

discretion

advised

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hat would you do if you were told that this very second, as you’re reading this story, a camera crew is watching you — waiting, hoping you do or say something embarrassing, inspirational, funny or downright dumb?

Would you hide? Perform for the camera? Or perhaps act no differently at all?

At ease. No cameras are watching you, but such a situation is the basis for the kind of television programming that has swept the nation — ‘reality TV.’ Through illuminating conversations with a diverse group of industry professionals currently working on the hottest shows in the industry, the reality genre offers insight into TV as entertainment, as a business, and perhaps most importantly, as a sociocultural Geiger counter.

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B Y C H R I S T O P H E R H E N N E S SY

MANDO GONZALES

ABC/MARIA MELIN

CBS PHOTO ARCHIVE

CLOCKWISE: Contestants on Survivor island must “outwit, outlast, and outplay” each other. Doug Van Gundy becomes a millionaire on ABC’s Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, a show considered by many to be part of the reality TV phenomenon. The latest cast of the MTV show The Real World lived together this year in New York City.

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WHAT’S IN A NAME

Magazine shows, documentaries, news programming — “there’s always been that kind of non-fiction programming,” says Lewis H. Gould ’72, co-executive producer of NBC’s Emmy Award-winning drama Law & Order. “What’s new is the content and the approach,” says Gould. Freelance producer Alisa M. Capaldi ’90 agrees: “I’ve been in reality TV for 10 years; it just took [the public] a little while to catch on.” Capaldi is field producer for an upcoming Fox reality show called What’s Your Life Worth?

The viewing public seems to have caught on to the new approach, often labeled ‘sensational,’ ‘tabloid,’ and ‘extreme’ by critics and viewers alike, and usually involving slick production values and novel concepts. Brian Smith ’95, a director for the CBS show Big Brother, sees the reality TV genre as consisting of “programs that mold partially controlled environments with wide-eyed contestants in the hopes of catapulting human emotions to their extremes.” This approach can include ‘game show’ formats, where a prize is awarded to contestants who overcome obstacles, as well as docudramas like MTV’s The Real World, where complete strangers from dissimilar backgrounds attempt to live and work together. (Many TV execs are marketing the more traditional game shows such as ABC’s Who Wants to be a Millionaire? as reality television.) While many complain that reality TV is anything but real, the genre has survived the semantic trap and is a clearly recognizable formula.

Nevertheless, many insiders feel reality programming is still evolving. Wilson Yau ’99, music coordinator for The Real World, admits that reality TV has grown so large and has become so popular that it’s hard to pin down a single

Alumni

Casting

Call

For this story, Expression tapped an array of Emerson alums who hold positions throughout the reality television world. Here’s the cast that we interviewed:

JAY BIENSTOCK ’87, producer, Survivor and Eco-Challenge ALISA M. CAPALDI ’90, field producer, What’s Your Life Worth VIN DI BONA ’66, Hon. ’94, producer, America’s Funniest Home Videos and many others LEWIS H. GOULD ’72, co-executive producer, Law & Order SHARI HAMMERMAN ’92, supervising editor, Boot Camp BRIAN SMITH ’95, director, Big Brother WILSON YAU ’99, music coordinator, The Real World MAGGIE ZELTNER ’99, mission developer for Bunim-Murray Productions

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definition. Jay Bienstock ’87, a producer for the mega-hit Survivor (which has been nominated for six Emmys this season), prefers the term ‘unscripted programming,’ the TV industry’s new buzzword. At the foundation of the genre, everyone seems to agree, the shows must use “real people” as part of the mix.

“It’s about real people, real events, situations and reactions,” says Shari Hammeraman ’92, a television editor who has worked in the genre for five years. Bienstock adds that the genre is defined by “taking ordinary people — people who are not famous, people who are not used to the media — and putting them in front of a camera and letting them do their thing. To me it’s really cut and dry. You sit there, you shut up and you record,” he says.

With the new focus on sensational stunts, extreme situations and environments, and high interpersonal drama has come unprecedented success. For instance, the game show, once relegated to a daytime slot, is now a prime-time shoein. The 2001 summer numbers are in: nonfiction programming appears in nearly all of the top 10 ratings slots, and competition shows like Fear Factor dominated the ratings.

And now it seems as if reality TV has entered the big leagues, with two special Emmy categories created this year.

Outstanding Non-fiction Program (Special Class) has been designated for nonfiction programs that are essentially contests, like Survivor. Outstanding Non-fiction Programs (Reality) includes shows like Fox’s documentary, American High (which follows the lives of high schoolers to show the challenges they face) and the E! network’s True Hollywood Story (which probes the origins and untold stories of famous actors, TV shows and films).

TRUTHS OF THE TRADE

With reality TV arguably ruling the airwaves, the format and formula make for an interesting case study for examining the truths of the genre and the medium itself.

TRUTH NO. 1 – WHAT GOES UP… “TV has a very short memory,” says Survivor’s Bienstock. In other words, what’s hot will inevitably soon be forgotten in favor of the next big thing. That’s how reality TV came to the forefront — when sit-coms began to flounder, he explains. Bienstock’s view is echoed by others who agree that television is a cyclical business. While some insiders contemplate the long-term viability of reality TV, veterans like Gould see it as “a trend that will ebb like every other trend,” he says.

Knowing from firsthand experience how to work with TV’s cyclical nature can put veteran producers like Vin Di Bona ’66, with more than 30 years in the industry, one step ahead of the game. “I don’t want to be involved in the curve; I want to start the next curve,” he explains. “While people are throwing folks out of the Big Brother house and off of Temptation Island and Survivor, the object of my new show, Future Diary, is to bring people together,” he says. The show will follow the story of two strangers who fall in love and must overcome obstacles to be together. An airdate remains to be set.

ATaste of

Reality

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

If you still haven’t caught any reality TV, here are a few examples of what you’ve been missing: • MTV’s The Real World has been praised for bringing to life many socially relevant issues via the stories of its cast members. Throughout its 10 seasons, the issues addressed include abortion, racism, homophobia, alcoholism, gays in the military, AIDS, violence against women and gay marriage.

• On NBC’s Fear Factor, contestants compete for $50,000 by facing phobias, including eating sheep’s eyes and lying in a sarcophagus while being covered with snakes. The show has been hailed as the ‘hit of this summer.’

• On the second season of CBS’s Survivor, a contestant chased and slaughtered a pig for food, causing angry animal rights activists to protest.

• The first season of CBS’s televised Big Brother was also Webcast continuously, 24 hours per day. The show sequesters diverse contestants in a tiny house where every move is watched by cameras. One contestant in the second season was kicked off after he held a knife to another contestant’s throat and joked about killing her.

• The stars of MTV’s Jackass frequently partake of ‘extreme stunts’ ranging from self-immolation to absorbing the high voltage of a tazer gun. In three separate incidents, young viewers of the show were hospitalized for injuries resulting from allegedly imitating the show. One young boy suffered serious burns after he allegedly had friends set him on fire.

• On Fox’s Boot Camp ordinary people tackled a real-life boot camp experience. One ‘recruit’ was barely able to finish a 1.5-mile run but in-

TRUTH NO. 2 – DARWIN COMES TO TV The rosy success of reality programming isn’t without its thorns. The more popular the genre becomes, the more players appear on the field, and the more competition each faces. The ratings wars have escalated and the demand for programming is making itself felt: the size of game show prizes is increasing, stunts are getting more outrageous, emotions more raw, and locations more exotic. “We as an industry are putting out bigger and bigger stakes,” explains freelance producer Capaldi. And only the fittest will survive, a lesson taught by some of the most successful of these shows, NBC’s The Weakest Link and CBS’s Survivor.

“The weak shows will die out — that’s a given,” says Maggie Zeltner ’99. Zeltner was a producer’s assistant on The Real World and is currently helping to develop a new reality show for Bunim-Murray, the folks behind The Real World. Zeltner recalls the first days of the super-success of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? In no time, a show unmistakably similar, called Greed, appeared, hankering for a piece of the ratings pie. Of course, Zeltner says, Greed didn’t survive the competition; the audience anointed Millionaire as the ratings winner.

On the other hand, what happens when there is no such competition? Every producer’s dream — that’s what. Di Bona lived that dream when he came up with America’s Fun-

spired her teammates and the viewing audience when she ‘dug deep’ to make it to the finish line and collapsed into a fellow recruit’s arms. With tears in her eyes, she and the other recruits cheered her physical accomplishment.

• The NBC show SpyTV gives Candid Camera a shock treatment by taking unwitting innocents and publicly embarrassing them for laughs. In one episode, people are asked to eat human flesh (really pork) as part of an audition for a phony new reality show called Cannibals. Hardly anyone refused.

• A new show, Fox’s Murder in Small Town X, further blurs the line between reality TV and narrative programming. It places real people within a fully staged and seemingly realistic story of a double-murder in small New England town. They must solve the crime before the “killer” gets to them.

niest Home Videos, a show that, after a two-season absence, returned to the airwaves last August for its eleventh season.

“When Home Videos was launched, it was as bold a launch and as successful as anything today, but it was its own island,” he recalls. And that meant big ratings. The first three shows of this new season won the time slot (8 p.m. Friday) and improved the network’s performance in the slot by 129% in total viewers, according to a Di Bona spokesperson.

“It’s the old adage, truth is stranger than fiction,” says Law & Order’s Gould, explaining one of the reasons reality TV is thriving.

Although Gould works outside the reality TV phenomenon, his perspective on this point is similar to others in the genre. Gould says the adage is not only reality TV’s secret-tosuccess, but it is also a secret to his own show’s impressive 11-year run. Law & Order’s weekly promos often boast stories that, while fictionalized, are “ripped from the headlines,” picking up on the audience’s thirst for treatments of true-life events.

Bienstock argues that the content of reality TV is different than content that might result from hours of writers’ meetings and storyboard brainstorming. He cites as an example Survivor’s first winner, Richard Hatch — a gay corporate trainer who turns out to be a Machiavellian game player

TRUTH NO. 3 - TRUTH IS STRANGER THAN FICTION

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A Case of

Sibling Reality

What happens when one of the “real people” in front of the camera is your little sister? In the chat that follows, Terri Trespicio, an Emerson College master’s student in writing, literature and publishing, interviews her sister, Lori, who is a cast member on the current season of MTV’s The Real World.

TERRI: Okay, sis, what was your opinion of reality TV shows prior to your experience on The Real World?

LORI: I only watched The Real World. I looked at it as any other sitcom or drama except I felt more passionate about those people because I knew they were real.

TERRI: Did you go into filming with an idea of what you would or wouldn’t say?

LORI: I didn’t want to cry on camera. But I did. I also wanted to be careful about what I said in the house because I didn’t want to offend my roommates or look ignorant. You can’t control how the show is edited — you don’t want to give the producers any soundbites, particularly ones you didn’t mean. It’s easier than you’d think to forget about the cameras. Sometimes I felt this obligation at times to be too honest….

TERRI: How has being on the show changed the way you watch The Real World, or shows like that?

LORI: You cannot judge a person based on what you see on TV. The editing has everything to do with it. I watch old seasons and want to call those people up and apologize for sitting alone in my living room thinking bad things about them.

TERRI: What insight do you have to offer about how people react to the show and to you?

LORI: Many people think the show is live — they try to give me advice about what to do about Kevin [a love interest on the show]. I think [that’s because] it makes people think that they are a part of it all. Also, they forget the medium…only a small portion of our lives is being shown. They think that my obsession with Kevin is all of who I am. No one considers or wants to consider that there’s more to me than that. A good friend of mine from high school said I ruined The Real World for her— she enjoyed hating people she thought she knew. But because she really does know me, the show isn’t as much fun for her as it used to be. Ironic, isn’t it?

and a nudist to boot. “Who imagines this stuff!” exclaims Bienstock. If a character as outrageous as Hatch had been suggested in a story meeting, Bienstock points out, the response might have been: “Oh, that’s not realistic.... [W]e can’t do that.”

Capaldi, a self-described armchair psychologist, believes non-actors often are at their most dramatic after she’s been able to ‘push their buttons’; but in the end, “people are really interesting,” she says matter-of-factly. Their uniqueness is often compounded by their desire for that “15 minutes,” she adds. “Everybody wants to be on TV and they’ll do anything to get there.”

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TRUTH NO. 4 – MORE FOR LESS The genre is cashing in on its low-cost, high-return formula. According to the New York Times, a half-hour episode of SpyTV (a crueler Candid Camera for the new millennium) costs NBC about $400,000 to produce, while the sit-com Friends costs $5.3 million. With no actors or writers to pay, TV insiders know that reality TV is cost-efficient. Wilson Yau, who helped cast the current season of The Real World, believes the cost-benefit ratio may have sweetened the pot when Bunim-Murray was first conceptualizing the show, now in its tenth season. “Wherever there’s a savings in production, obviously it’s like any other business, it’s tough to compete with that,” explains Gould.

And the payoff includes top ratings, Emmy nods, and success in a key demographic area — 18- to 34-year-olds, whose tastes, according to the Times, are “taking command” of the television industry.

With the recent threat of Hollywood actors’ and writers’ strikes, reality TV has many in the industry realizing another aspect of the genre’s appeal: no threat of disruptions.

MIRROR, MIRROR

The lives of the people on television reality programs have seemingly become more compelling to us than our own lives. Many former ‘cast members’ of reality shows report that after their show’s broadcast they discover some viewers regard them as characters or even actors rather than ordinary people. But in a sense the people do become characters, offers TV editor Shari Hammerman. Big Brother director Brian Smith asserts that Big Brother and similar shows can also be seen as ‘character studies,’ and that a show’s success can be measured by “how effective it is at capturing and revealing the various layers of human behavior.”

Many viewers also make snap judgments about the ‘characters’ on the shows, forgetting or unaware that the shows can air only a certain amount of footage. Those working behind the camera in both docudrama and game show categories say that the ratio of footage taped to footage aired is usually 100 to 1 (see accompanying interview with Real World cast member Lori).

As to why we love these shows and their real-life participants, the answers from the insiders focus on voyeurism, escapism and the thrill of living vicariously. Many stress that the attraction to the genre is strongest when the audience can identify with the ‘real people.’ Zeltner says viewers find ‘real people’ are more tangible and easy to relate to. For example, a housewife with two children sees her counterpart bungee jumping on television, and she thinks, ‘I could do that, too!’ Further, she offers, viewers feel the ‘real people’ are not “untouchable” celebrities; in fact, many usually return to their ordinary lives after they’ve appeared on a show.

Yau sees the other, more cynical side of the coin, believing that we enjoy watching other people’s failures and embarrassments, giving us the chance to think, “Thank God my life is better than that!” He traces this back to programs like the Ricki Lake and Jerry Springer talk shows. While these programs are nothing new, watching people’s embarrassing

experiences has become an American pastime. “The Germans have a word that seems to summarize what we are experiencing with reality TV,” says Smith. “It’s schadenfreude, ‘finding pleasure in others’ misfortune.’” Di Bona puts it another way: “In America, it’s not how well you succeed, it’s how badly your best friend fails,” he laughs.

Hammerman notes the shows also offer a chance to be inspired or moved by the average person, something Boot Camp tried to demonstrate with ordinary people performing physical feats they didn’t think they could. Many viewers

Reality TV feeds America’s

may watch to witness an ordinary man or woman become extraordinary, she explains. Even if the fame is only 15 minutes long, it’s 15 minutes with millions of people wondering what you’ll do next.

What’s next for reality TV? Will ‘extreme’ television continue to push forward or will the genre juggernaut run out of steam? It’s anyone’s guess. In the meantime, as the hidden and not-so-hidden cameras continue to proliferate, if you’re not doing the watching, you may find you’re the one being watched. n

Artifice

love affair with

by jane shattuc, Associate Professor, Visual and Media Arts This we know: “reality TV” is sexy. But is reality TV really “real” or new? We cannot escape the mischievous pleasure of its “realness,” yet we know on some level that reality TV is produced.

It’s not cinema verite. But it still smacks of authenticity against the backdrop of network drama. Take Survivor, for example. The participants may look like models, but they still are non-actors and that really is the Outback they are struggling in. Reactions are spontaneous but events and contests are orchestrated.

This playing games with the truth belongs to a long but growing lineage of programming that depends on a controlled spontaneity — the “unplanned” tears of Queen for a Day when a woman is surprised with a dream fulfilled, the hijinks of Candid Camera, the reenacted crime in America’s Most Wanted. The same manipulation of the line between reality and fiction was the stuff of 19th-century tabloids — it’s an America tradition.

Yet some historians are worried. Reality TV’s rising popularity is part of a larger trend in American culture called postmodernism, which is breaking down the orienting boundaries between the original and the image. Postmodern critics see America as a nation of images as we film, tape, digitalize and recreate everything in our everyday world. Postmodern theorist and writer Umberto Eco writes in his essay “Trav-

els in Hyperreality” of his experience here as an Italian tourist. For him, Americans take strange pleasure in the non-real as real. He visits two wax museums in California — one that features a faux Last Supper — and he is struck by our penchant for trying to approximate the real thing but preferring the substitute. Also consider the London Bridge replica in Arizona and the Serengeti Plain at Florida’s Busch Gardens. It is as if Americans want to avoid the complexity of the original setting, preferring the sanitized commercial setting.

The finest filmic embodiment of this apprehension about the postmodern condition is Peter Weir’s The Truman Show (1998). The film tells the story of an average man, Truman Burbank, who discovers that his entire world has been constructed; his life is a TV soap opera. In other words, he’s living a virtual lie. Everything in his seaside community is made to look real, but is in fact fake — even the ocean and storms.

What starts out as a genial comedy about the plasticity of American middlebrow existence fast evolves into a dark critique of how media can manipulate people, breaking down the orienting distinctions between reality and the image. Truman loves the fakery until he discovers the lack of depth in and control of his world — a life that television stages for him. This life as a virtual set may seem the stuff of fiction,

but then again the film is based on a real town, Celebration, Florida—constructed, paid for and engineered by the Disney Corporation.

Taken on its own, reality TV is a fun diversion. However, in the context of our growing culture of synthetic experience, we might pause to consider reality TV’s ramifications. With traditional TV drama, the fiction is clear. But in reality TV, the line between fact and fiction is more tenuous. Like all television, these shows are “produced” — just look at the production credits to see how much of the product is “made.” Even the participants on these shows, like most average Americans, know TV so well that they are ready actors. Prospective contestants are not presenting casting directors with a spontaneous and natural persona, but rather with what they think the program wants. Maybe they carry it off in an unskilled, rough style — but their roughness helps maintain the look of naturalness.

In The Truman Show, the fiction is unmasked; the participant rebels. In reality TV the participants knowingly maintain the fiction; they are players.

The camera is not exposed and the discussions with the producers are never filmed. But the audience wants it that way. With reality TV, postmodern critics fear that Americans have accepted the genre’s premise. The result: we want a synthetic “real.”

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The incredible

edible Emerson

A batch of campus and alumni personalities serve up their favorite recipes

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mersonians are often known for their work in the arts, but the culinary arts? To illuminate the little-known epicurean talents of the Emerson community, Expression asked a half-dozen people affiliated with the College to select a favorite recipe and tell us something about it.

This Who’s Who of Emerson Chefs ranges from Sean Driscoll ’60, owner of Glorious Food, one of New York City’s top-notch society caterers, to Emerson President Jacqueline Liebergott, who fetes her staff from time to time with homemade salsa and other delicacies.

jacqueline liebergott President, Emerson College CRANBERRY CHUTNEY

1/2 cup cider vinegar 2 1/4 cups firmly packed light brown sugar, or to taste 1/4 tsp. curry powder 1/2 tsp. ground ginger 1/4 tsp. ground cloves 1/4 tsp. ground allspice 1/2 tsp. cinnamon 2 lemons, rind grated, pith discarded and the fruit cut into sections 2 navel oranges, rind grated, pith discarded, and the fruit cut into sections 1 apple peeled and chopped coarse 6 cups cranberries, picked over 1/2 cup golden raisins 1/2 cup chopped dried apricots 1/2 cup chopped walnuts In a large saucepan combine vinegar, sugar, curry powder, ginger, cloves, allspice, cinnamon, and 1 1/2 cups water and bring the liquid to a boil, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Add lemon rind, orange rind, lemon sections, orange sections, and apple and simmer the mixture, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Add 3 cups of the cranberries, the raisins and apricots and simmer the mixture, stirring occasionally, for 30 to 40 minutes, or until thickened. Stir in 2 cups of the remaining cranberries and simmer the mixture, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Stir in the remaining 1 cup cranberries and walnuts and simmer the mixture, stirring, for 15 minutes.

Transfer the chutney to a bowl, let cool, and chill it, covered, overnight or for up to 2 weeks. Serve the chutney at room temperature. Makes about 6 cups.

“My family just loves this at holiday time. I make it before Thanksgiving and can some of it for gifts. It is also good on top of melted brie as an appetizer any time of year.” – J.L.

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david luterman Professor Emeritus, Communication Sciences and Disorders

mary ellen adams, ms ’69 Assistant Professor, Performing Arts FROSTED ZUCCHINI BARS

LUTERMAN’S MOCK CHICKEN LIVER

1 cup of lentils cooked in 2 cups water with 2 vegetable bouillon cubes 2 large onions chopped and sauteed in 2 T. of olive oil 3 hard-boiled eggs one large handful of walnuts Put all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth.

“It’s a never-fail dish. A friend gave it to me. I’ve been making it for years and it’s always a winner.” – D.L.

jim peckham Former director, Athletics Department NUT LOAF

2 cups of unsalted nuts – walnuts, cashews, pecans, peanuts (any type will do) 2 slices of whole wheat bread, crumbled into bread crumbs (Ground above items in a blender or food processor) 1/2 cup chopped onions 1/2 cup chopped green and/or red pepper 1-2 stalks chopped celery Garlic powder – if desired 1 grated medium carrot 1 bouillon cube Combine all items. Dissolve a bouillon cube in a cup of boiling water and add the liquid by 1/4 cups to combined items until you have the consistency of meatloaf. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

“My father converted to vegetarianism around 1935, and he was into organic gardening when no one knew what that was. This recipe came down to me as a kind of substitute for meat loaf. I grew up vegetarian. At Thanksgiving there was a turkey, but right next to it was the nut loaf.” – J.P.

3 eggs 2 cups sugar 1 cup vegetable oil 3 tsp. vanilla 2 1/4 cups flour 1 tsp. cinnamon 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda 3/4 tsp. baking powder dash of salt 2 cups grated zucchini 3/4 cup chocolate chips 1 cup chopped nuts Cream cheese frosting 1 stick of butter, softened 8 oz. cream cheese, softened 1 pound confectioners sugar 1 tsp. vanilla Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 15x17-in. jellyroll pan (or deep cookie sheet). Beat eggs well, add sugar, then oil. Blend well. Add vanilla. Stir in flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add shredded zucchini, chocolate chips and nuts. Spread into greased pan and bake 20-25 minutes. Do not overbake. Cool before frosting.

For frosting, mix butter, cream cheese, confectioners sugar and vanilla. Spread carefully onto soft pastry.

“Before you dismiss this idea, try it! This recipe comes from the farm and garden ‘aunts’ who always tried to use up the big, big zucchinis each summer. I’ve made it for lots of faculty meetings. I’m certain this treat must be good for everyone — all those green vegetables!” – M.A.

susan wornick ’71 Anchor, WCVB-TV, Boston MARSALA SAUCE FOR CHICKEN OR VEAL

sean driscoll ’60 President and founder, Glorious Food, New York City catering company THREE CAVIAR TART

Line puff pastry pie shell with crème fraiche.

Pre-cut tart in pie-shaped wedges.

Sprinkle chopped chives over crème fraiche.

Fill three pastry bags, one with black caviar, one with golden caviar and one with red caviar. Pipe caviars onto crème fraiche in concentric circles beginning with a solid circle of black in the center.

Decorate the edges of tart with thinly sliced lemon half-moons and finely chopped parsley.

“It’s a general crowd pleaser and it starts a dinner off in a very elegant way. It should be followed by a simple roasted chicken — what we call peasant glamour food.” – S.D.

2 T. sweet, unsalted butter or margarine 1/2 cup chicken broth 3 cloves garlic, crushed 1 pound mixed mushrooms 1/4 cup Marsala wine (regular or cooking wine) 4 chicken breasts, boneless and skinned Flour Salt and pepper Melt butter in a large frying pan or sauté pan over medium heat. Add chicken broth, garlic, mushrooms. Cook over medium heat until mushrooms are browned and cooked through. Push mushrooms to side of pan. Add enough wine to soak the mushrooms and leave enough in the bottom of pan to begin cooking the meat. Coat meat with flour (the flour will thicken the sauce). Add meat to pan, turn to brown both sides and simmer until done. Add wine to taste as you go.

Add salt and pepper to taste. Makes 4 servings. This dish can be served with wide noodles. For variation, use veal instead of chicken.

“I’ve been making and eating this recipe for as long as I can remember.

It’s not high in carbohydrates or fat.” – S.W.

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freeze by eric schaefer

frame

Film preservationists ‘stop time’ in an attempt to keep safe our favorite movies – from Hollywood to home videos

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e save historic buildings. Rare artworks are cared for and protected with great zeal. The preservation of historic documents, diaries and books is never questioned. But what about moving images — movies, television, video and, increasingly, digital images? They’re everywhere, there’s certainly no shortage of them. They’ll take care of themselves, right? Sadly, the answer is no.

In fact, moving images are far more fragile than most 17th-century manuscripts or 200-year-old paintings.

As a film historian I’m often surprised that so many people, even some of my colleagues in the field, know so little about moving image preservation. And I have to admit that it was only when I began researching obscure exploitation movies (films on controversial topics that are made outside the studio system) and discovered that many of them are lost — probably forever — that the

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RESTORING A CLASSIC. The original negative of Hitchcock’s Rear Window was ‘a mess,’ according to restorers. The 1954 masterwork has been treated to a major restoration.

PAT R O N I N C . ( 1 9 5 4 )

film is ignited it cannot be extinguished; it must burn itself out.

The unstable nature of nitrate film has made it a preservation priority. Deterioration can be slowed by placing nitrate film in cold storage, but only when it has been transferred to a more stable film stock can it truly be said to be preserved. The switch from nitrate to acetate-based film, known as “safety film,” in the 1950s eliminated the fire hazards associated with nitrate, but safety film proved to have long-term preservation problems of its own.

“Vinegar syndrome” — so named because of the strong vinegar odor the decaying film gives off — causes the film to shrink and become brittle, a process that accelerates with time.

Color fading is another monumental challenge that came about as a result of a switch from the more expensive and stable Technicolor process to cheaper color systems in the 1950s.

Polyester now serves as the base for motion picture film, and it is considered the most stable material to date, though it, too, suffers from problems.

For many years, film preservation fell, by default, to institutions such as the Library of Congress. Because the Copyright Office within the Library of Congress received “deposit” copies of films and TV shows, it now maintains the largest film and television collection in the world, with more than 300,000 film titles and 350,000 television shows. According to Mashon, the Library’s priorities are to preserve those films with the worst deterioration first, then work on items that are of “broad historical, cultural, or aesthetic importance.” He adds, “Since those latter criteria are subjective, we really do think first in terms of physical condition.” To date the Library’s Motion Picture Conservation Center in Dayton, Ohio, has preserved over 15,000 feature films, television programs and short subjects. Other archives, such as the Eastman House in Rochester, N.Y., and the UCLA Film and Television Archive have long been important contributors to moving image preservation either due to their collecting mandate or their physical proximity to Hollywood. New archives such as Northeast Historic Film (see accompanying story) have been founded to fill specialized needs.

importance of moving image preservation really began to hit home for me. So now I’m something of a preservation evangelist. I try to stress the importance of moving image preservation in my media history classes at Emerson and in my travels. That’s because every convert who is won over to the cause of preservation is one more set of eyes on the lookout for lost footage, for rare material, and even for images of everyday life that can help us come to a better understanding of ourselves and our times.

An array of challenges face preservationists ranging from technological issues to money to public perceptions.

Mike Mashon, curator in the Moving Image Section of the Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division of the Library of Congress, explains that “many people assume that because you can see a film on TV or rent it at the video store that it is preserved forever.” This is not the case.

Film bases made of cellulose nitrate were in commercial use from the 1890s through the early 1950s. Nitrate film decays to dust in a relatively short period of time, a process that can take just a few years in unfavorable storage conditions. As nitrate deteriorates it becomes highly flammable — even at relatively low temperatures — and once nitrate

THE VALUE OF OLD FILMS

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caring for your films and tapes If someone were to knock on your door and announce that he was there to destroy your home movies or videos, you’d slam the door shut. But time and the elements are already taking a toll on your films and videos — they just don’t have the courtesy to announce themselves. Moving image preservation is not solely the concern of professional archivists. Anyone with a collection of home movies or videos needs to be aware of the proper storage and handling of the materials to ensure that they can be enjoyed by family members or historians in the future.

The single greatest threats to your films or videos are extremes in temperature and humidity. Every effort should be made to keep the material in a place that is between 20 and 50 percent relative humidity. Damp basements and attics are the worst places to keep films and videos, since they are highly susceptible to damage from mold and mildew. In videos, moisture causes chemical binders and coatings to break down and release acids that accelerate deterioration as well as contribute to a host of other problems. If you have a room where a dehumidifier is in use, keep your collection there. Desiccants can also be placed in film canisters and near video boxes to eliminate unwanted moisture.

Ideally, film should be kept as cold as possible, and videotape should also be kept cool. Store your material in the coolest (and driest) room in your home. Minimally, avoid exposing moving images to extremes in temperature since the constant warming and cooling causes stress. (Virtually all home movies are on safety stock, so flammability is not a concern.) Films should be kept in plastic or metal cans that are free of rust, stored flat in stacks no more than a foot high.

Videos should be kept in slipcases or boxes to prevent dust from entering them and stored on their ends like books. Videos that are kept flat for long periods, especially in stacks, suffer from crimped edges that contribute to playback problems. When you handle home movies, wear cotton gloves or hold the film by the sides. Never touch the tape in your videocassettes.

Don’t make the mistake many already have: transferring home movies to videotape, then throwing out the original films. Preservation specialists are still debating the life expectancy of videotape, but it is generally conceded that even in the best storage circumstances it is less than that of film. Finally, remember that having those films and tapes won’t do you any good if you fail to maintain the technology on which to play them. Keep your home movie projector and VCR in good working condition with periodic cleanings. And if you’ve graduated from video to DVD, store your VCR in a place where it will remain clean and in working order for those occasional trips down Memory Lane.

garded movies as a disposable commodity. In the first half of the 20th century a movie was relegated to the vaults, where all it did was accumulate storage costs once it made its initial run. Studios would sell film prints, and even original negatives, to mine the few cents’ worth of silver that could be reclaimed from them. In the 1950s the studios realized their movies had value in filling the empty hours of local TV stations and they began to sell or lease their pre1948 film libraries to syndicators. During the 1960s the status of the motion picture changed as college film courses were institutionalized and the public began to recognize that film could be “art,” not just disposable entertainment.

The arrival of videocassette players in the late 1970s was initially fought by the major studios until they realized the 16

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profits that could be had from releasing movies on tape for home collectors.

Similarly, cable television with its multitude of specialized channels, proved to be another lucrative “ancillary market.” It took time, but the major media conglomerates no longer deny that old movies have value. Those old movies, once considered a burden, are now an “asset” to be “managed” because of their potential to generate revenues.

David Francis, chief of the Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division at the Library of Congress, has observed that “today, every moving image, whether fact or fiction, is potentially valuable.”

In recent years a series of high-profile restorations and theatrical re-releases highlighted the growing commitment to preservation, while at the same time exposed the issue of moving image preservation to a broader public. If film preservation can be thought of in terms of maintenance, then restoration is an attempt to bring a film back to its original condition. This process often means scouring studio vaults and archives around the globe for the best prints or elements from which to work.

For a theatrical feature, that can mean years of labor and perhaps millions of dollars in costs. The 1930 anti-war film All Quiet on the Western Front and Frank Capra’s paean to American ideals, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), are just two films that have benefited from restoration and have received a showcase in the National Film Registry Tour that has played in cities and towns around the country since 1995. Curator Mashon notes that the tour has played a valuable educational role: “Seeing sparkling prints of familiar films like these in a theater is a revelation to audiences used to seeing woefully inferior versions on TV and tape.”

The studios have jumped onto the restoration bandwagon as well. Two of Alfred Hitchcock’s classics starring James Stewart, Rear Window (1954) and Vertigo (1958), have recently been refurbished. Restorers Robert Harris and James Katz described the original negative of the perennial-

THE BURNING TIMES. Nitrate film decays to dust in a relatively short time, and as it deteriorates, it becomes highly flammable, even at relatively low temperatures.

ly popular suspense film Rear Window as “a mess.” A new photo-chemical solution had to be developed to revive the faded yellow layer of dye in the negative, and a new dyetransfer process resulted in blacker blacks, whiter whites and improved color. The resulting restoration allowed audiences to fully appreciate for the first time Hitchcock’s unique color scheme for each of the apartments seen from Stewart’s rear window.

More than $1 million was spent on Hitchcock’s brooding masterpiece Vertigo. The original color negative and black and white separations were unprintable, and Bernard Herrmann’s original music tracks had turned to vinegar. Yet Harris and Katz were able to create a new 65mm preservation negative from the original large-format elements (the film was shot in VistaVision, the popular 1950s widescreen process). Both the restored Rear Window and Vertigo received theatrical runs and are now available on tape and DVD, supplanting earlier, inferior copies.

VARIATIONS ON A RESTORATION THEME

Some films have not simply been restored to their original clarity and color; they have been reconstructed to follow the director’s original intent, such as Touch of Evil, Orson Welles’ baroque 1958 film noir. Universal took the film from Welles upon its completion, edited it in strict chronological sequence, and plastered credits over the director’s amazing three-minute-long opening tracking shot. Welles fired off a 50-page memo that detailed his objections and desired changes. In 1992 critic Jonathan Rosenbaum published selections of Welles’ memo, and eventually producer Rick Schmidlin was able to persuade Universal and Oscarwinning editor Walter Murch to recut the film following Welles’ outline. The resulting movie, filled with changes — some obvious, such as removing the credits from the opening shot, and some subtle — proved that Welles was still a virtuoso. Such restorations are cause for celebration among movie buffs and historians.

Cable TV channels are also helping to keep film preservation in the public eye. American Movie Classics’ annual preservation festival and Turner Classic Movies, which regularly features preserved and restored films, remind viewers of the importance of saving our moving image heritage.

On another level, television has turned into a major outlet for archival footage. Increased interest in moving image archives has been spurred by changes in the way documentaries are made and by the cable market itself. Throughout the 1980s and ’90s some of the most powerful documentaries made during the period relied heavily on archival

footage, such as Atomic Café (1982), constructed entirely of government films, newsreels, and educational movies, Vietnam: A Television History (1983) and Eyes on the Prize (1986).

Although documentaries had been made of “found footage” since the 1920s, the greater reliance on archival footage demonstrated a growing awareness on the part of filmmakers and historians as to the status of moving images as an important source of historical evidence. Critics, too, have grown more sensitive to the use of archival footage. In the recent PBS series, Jazz, filmmaker Ken Burns’ use of rare footage of jazz luminaries Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington, along with many less widely known artists, was applauded for providing the backbone of the series. Beyond the highly visible films and series noted above, anyone who watches The History Channel, Discovery, and A&E’s Biography series, to mention just a few, sees vast quantities of archival film and video in use. The expansion of cable programming has led to a demand for more, different and better archival footage. This has paralleled a new trend in the archival community: the preservation of “orphan films.”

According to director and preservation advocate Martin Scorsese, orphan films are “films in the public domain or owned by small companies that have no money for restoration: this also includes documentaries, newsreels, independent features, shorts and avant-garde films.” To that list Professor Dan Streible of the University of South Carolina adds: “Home movies, unreleased films, industrial and eduFA L L 2 0 0 1

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building an archive from the ground up Not all archives have the size and scope as that of the Library of Congress. More recently there has been a move to more specialized, regional preservation centers. One such archive is a four-and-a-half-hour drive from Boston to coastal Maine. Northeast Historic Film (NHF) was founded 15 years ago by two former film producers from Boston, Karan Sheldon and David Weiss. Their mission: to collect and preserve moving images of northern New England.

“At first NHF was an itinerant presenting organization,” says Sheldon. “We traveled light and had very little overhead. NHF began when 16mm film projection was still viable — we made 16mm copies of films and toured them around to schools and other public spaces all over New England.”

NHF has grown from operating out of a farmhouse basement to a facility in the restored Alamo Theater in Bucksport, Maine. Sheldon notes how the acquisition of the long-dormant theater changed things: “We now have the opportunities provided by a wonderful screening facility, and the headaches of renovating a 1916 building. The biggest goal is to build an adjoining three-story cold storage building, costing more than a million dollars.” In addition to the conservation facility, a study center is under construction, funded by a grant from the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation.

NHF’s collections include narrative films made in, or about, the region, as well as newsfilm and tape from TV stations, industrial movies, and one of the largest collections of home and amateur films in the nation. As NHF’s mission became known, people began to donate their old films, often assuming a 16mm Mickey Mouse cartoon was the gem in their collection. They discovered that Sheldon and Weiss were far more interested in the home movies that documented daily life in New England towns and villages. “Home movies and films by independent artists, and other films made for nontheatrical purposes, represent points of view not found in conventional mainstream cinema,” says Sheldon.

Two of the keys to NHF’s success are its ability to work with other archives and its community outreach. “Both large and small institutions now collaborate in locating unpreserved material, developing preservation strategies, and finding ways it can be useful in the classroom and to the public,” says Sheldon. One such collaboration was NHF’s location of a fragment of The Rogue Song (1930), the only major lost title in MGM’s sound film output, which was turned over to the UCLA Film and Television Archive for preservation. In turn, NHF often receives footage central to its mission from other archives. NHF has also become a part of the Northern New England community through education and outreach such as “Going to the Movies,” an exhibition on the social history of movie-going that toured the region with speakers and film screenings. For the past two years NHF has sponsored a weeklong silent film festival and a summer film symposium.

Not only does NHF play a central role in preserving New England’s history, it has become the premiere regional moving image archive in the nation, and has achieved an international reputation as the model of a small film archive.

cational movies, censored material, found footage, medical films, small- and unusual-gauge films, amateur productions, surveillance footage, test reels, government films, advertisements, student works, and sundry other ephemeral pieces of celluloid.” In other words, the vast majority of unpreserved films are orphan films. Two years ago Streible organized the first “Orphans of the Storm” symposium on issues surrounding the preservation of these movies. “When I heard the new buzzword ‘orphan film’,” Streible says, “it registered with me right away. Here was a term that 18

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brought many disparate but interesting fragments of film and film history together under a single umbrella.”

Not only did that first symposium bring together a number of films under a single umbrella, it also brought together archivists, scholars, filmmakers, curators, collectors and legal experts in a unique conversation and collaboration. Discussions about the priority of preserving orphan films were interspersed with screenings of rare footage, as well as examples of new films that made use of orphaned material. The symposium was so successful that a second one was held in March 2001 and the third “Orphans” is being organized for September 2002.

Streible explains that some orphan films “have obvious historical value that most anyone would recognize as worthy of preservation such as newsreel outtakes of FDR or amateur footage of Babe Ruth hitting his legendary ‘called shot’ home run.” But for Streible the importance of orphan films comes in collective history that is built film by film: “These are images and sounds from the neglected, marginalized or forgotten past. ‘Official’ histories and documentaries built from stock footage libraries tend to recycle the same takes again and again, offering clichéd interpretations of the past. Orphan films often contradict the official record. It’s exciting to think that maybe everything you thought you knew about ‘X’ can be called into question by a lost film found.”

The cause of film preservation received a tremendous boost when Congress created the National Film Preservation Board in 1988. Since 1989 the Board has named 25 “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant films” each year to the National Film Registry. (A separate TV/video preservation board is in the works.) Orphan films have benefited from the subsequent creation of the National Film Preservation Foundation, an independent, nonprofit organization created by Congress to raise private funds for preservation. Thus far, the Foundation has made three

where to learn more on film preservation

rounds of grants to archives to save orphan films. The most conspicuous result of the Foundation’s efforts has been the release of the DVD set Treasures from American Film Archives with contributions from more than a dozen archives. Containing 50 films, the four-disk Treasures collection includes silent features, selections from rare amateur films, forgotten newsreels, experimental movies and government films, such as the animated World War II short “Spies” that starred “Private Snafu” and was written by Theodor (“Dr. Seuss”) Geisel and directed by Chuck Jones.

The collection was named the “Best Set of the Year” by the New York Times, and was honored with the Film Heritage Award from the National Society of Film Critics.

All of these developments are encouraging, but the battle has hardly been won. Television, video and digital image preservation presents new challenges. Many have suggested digitizing moving images as a means of preservation. However, experts agree that this is not a viable solution. Mike Mashon stresses that “there is no tape or DVD format that can hold as much visual information as a frame of 35mm film.” Moreover, the media that hold digital information (whether magnetic media or DVDs and CDs) break down over time and the technology needed to read the media tends to become rapidly outmoded. One area in which digital and Web-based media do have an important role is in allowing easy access to the works. The Library of Congress has placed many early films on the Web, and archivist Rick Prelinger of the Prelinger Archives of New York City has

The switch from nitrate to acetate-based film, known as “safety film,” in the 1950s eliminated the fire hazards associated with nitrate, but safety film has its own problems.

For more information on moving image preservation, visit the following Websites: • The Association of Moving Image Archivists, http://amianet.org/ • George Eastman House, www.eastman.org • Image Permanence Institute, www.rit.edu/~661www1/ • The Internet Archive, http://www.archive.org/movies/index.html • Library of Congress Motion Picture and Television Reading Room, http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/mopic/ • National Film Preservation Board, http://lcweb.loc.gov/film • National Film Preservation Foundation, www.filmpreservation.org • Northeast Historic Film, www.oldfilm.org • UCLA Film and Television Archive, www.cinema.ucla.edu

made hundreds of the “ephemeral” educational and industrial films in his collection available to the public online at the Internet Archive.

Saving moving images for entertainment purposes or to help make historical documentaries more vivid might be reason enough to save them. But it is what these images contribute to the understanding of our history and culture that is at the heart of their preservation. In the past 20 years film history has been rewritten because of material unearthed in archives. Scholars have concluded that early cinema was not “primitive,” as originally thought, but was dynamic and shot through with experimentation and innovation. We have come to appreciate movies made outside the mainstream, such as the independent AfricanAmerican cinema and exploitation movies, and what they tell us about the people who made and saw them — as well as what they tell us about the Hollywood industry that ignored or excluded their subjects. Amateur films, regional movies, educational and industrial films are starting to expand our conception of what constitutes film history. And, increasingly, social and cultural historians are turning to moving images for evidence of how we lived, worked and played in the century just past.

For the vast majority of us, moving images form a Mobius strip, fragments of events that are endlessly replayed in our minds. We value them as part of our memories and as part of our history, individually and collectively.

And because so many of these images are shared, we must all become, at some level, curators of our moving image heritage. n Eric Schaefer is associate professor in Emerson College’s Department of Visual and Media Arts. He is the author of “Bold!

Daring! Shocking! True!”: A History of Exploitation Films, FA L L 2 0 0 1

EXPRESSION

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Commencement 2001

Campus unites in

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celebration

n may, emerson college welcomed a batch of freshly minted alumni into the fold, as more than 900 students graduated at the College’s 121st Commencement ceremonies held at the Wang Center for the Performing Arts.

The College also hosted several distinguished guests who received honorary degrees at the events. These included broadcast entrepreneur Edmund Ansin, attorney and former Emerson Board of Trustees Chair Charles J. Beard, U.S. Poet Laureate Stanley Kunitz, novelist Sue Miller and PBS president Pat Mitchell.

STUDENTS AND FACULTY ARE PRAISED AND HONORED

In her undergraduate address, Emerson President Jacqueline Liebergott congratulated the graduates on their many accomplishments while at Emerson and urged them to carry that same drive and initiative as they pursued life as Emerson alums.

Undergraduate valedictorian Ana

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e A 2001 graduate joyfully celebrates at the post-Commencement reception on Boston Common. r Media entrepreneur Edmund Ansin with Emerson President Jacqueline Liebergott t Charles J. Beard (left), an attorney with Foley, Hoag and Eliot and an Emerson Trustee for 13 years, with Board of Trustees Chair Ted BenardCutler ’51. Beard received an honorary degree at the undergraduate Commencement exercises. u An overview of the ceremonies at the Wang Center, Boston. i Pat Mitchell, president of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), delivers her Commencement address. o Novelist Sue Miller and U.S. Poet Laureate Stanley Kunitz. p Valedictorian Ana Vlieg delivers her address. a Suzanne Miller blows a kiss to the audience after being hooded as the College’s sole Ph.D. recipient this year. Her degree is in communication sciences and disorders. s A graduate sports a mortarboard customized with a film theme.

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Lucia Vlieg, who graduated with a near4.0 GPA in the B.F.A. program in writing, literature and publishing, astonished the audience with a powerful speech capped with her rendition of the song “I Believe.” Vlieg paid tribute to departed loved ones, including her Emerson mentor, George Ursul.

Two Emerson faculty were also formally honored during the undergraduate ceremony. President Liebergott conferred Professor Emeritus status upon former Professor of Communication Kenneth C. Crannell ’55, MA ’57, and retiring Professor of Performing Arts Leonidas Nickole ’49. The two men were greeted with thunderous applause when they accepted the honors.

Crannell, author of the popular textbook Voice and Articulation, taught at Emerson for almost 50 years. He urged the students to develop their own philosophies in life; his own, he offered, combined sentiments from Frank Sinatra and Stephen Sondheim —“I did it my way,” along with “I’m still here.”

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Nickole thanked his students who “[kept] me returning to the classroom.”

By his count, Nickole taught more than 8,600 students in his nearly 50 years at Emerson.

Mitchell, the undergraduate Commencement speaker, encouraged the Class of 2001 to tackle the challenges of the digital media revolution with ethical content that connects people rather than divides them. She began her speech by recalling her first job in television, which was with Boston’s own WBZ-TV. She also reminisced

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about teaching at Emerson prior to her career in the media.

Earlier in the day, at the graduate ceremony, Commencement speaker Sue Miller talked about the power of fiction to expand and transform one’s perceptions of others. Traditional fiction, she countered, “has us enter other minds blindfolded” and has the ability to expand “our moral sense,” an expansion that “insists on an enlarged sense of responsibility itself.”

Along with Miller, Stanley Kunitz, U.S. Poet Laureate, received an honorary degree of humane letters. After accepting, Kunitz read one of his poems, “The Round,” and earned a standing ovation from the appreciative audience.

In the student address for the graduate ceremony, Kate Murphy, graduating with a master’s in communication sciences and disorders, reminisced about her student teaching experiences and reminded the audience that sometimes the most powerful communication transcends mere words.

—Mark Perigard and C. Hennessy FA L L 2 0 0 1

EXPRESSION

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book shelf Works by members of the Emerson community Janet Tashjian, MFA ’94

Remy Rougeau, MFA ’98

Multiple Choice (Scholastic Inc., December 2000) ward-winning writer Janet Tashjian’s fifth book is a preteen novel about young Monica Devon, a 14-year-old perfectionist and word game expert. Monica dreams of “a world where I breeze from one activity to another, not worried about committing some critical error that sends the entire planet screeching to a halt.” To break from her worries and compulsions, she creates ‘Multiple Choice,’ a roulette-style word game that takes a dangerous turn.

The book’s creative concept may impress the reader: Tashjian includes a host of examples of Monica’s word game and ‘multiple choice’ questions.

Horn Book comments, “Readers with obsessive tendencies will especially empathize, but all adolescents can appreciate the book’s basic message—that it’s okay to choose to be yourself.”

All We Know of Heaven (Houghton Mifflin, 2001) he ordered life of cloistered monks is lucidly laid out by Rougeau, a graduate of Emerson’s M.F.A. program. Heaven tells the story of Paul Seneschal, a 19-year-old French-Canadian who takes vows to become a monk at a monastery outside Winnipeg, where he adjusts to life according to the ancient code of poverty, chastity, obedience and silence. He learns how to use sign language to communicate, to make cheese and to milk cows, and to pray regularly throughout the day. Kirkus Reviews called the book “a view of the monastic life that’s steady, whole, intelligent, and moving.”

The novel has a contemplative, peaceful cadence, as simple as the swaying of wheat stalks in the Canadian countryside.

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Denise Duhamel ’84 Don Lee, MFA ’87

Yellow (W.W. Norton, 2001) on lee, emerson’s first M.F.A. alum and current editor of the award-winning, Emersonbased Ploughshares literary magazine, pens his first book-length publication.

The seven stories and the eponymously titled short novel that comprise the collection variously detail the lives of the Asian-American residents of a fictional California seaside town, Rosarita Bay. Fiction master Charles Baxter says Lee’s stories contain “a fascinating mixture of the comic and the sorrowful.

They are concerned with love, attachments and separations within AsianAmerican families, and, as the book’s title suggests, they always touch on issues of racism and courage.” Lee’s welldeveloped characters come alive as unique and often quirky, living within the author’s eminently readable and often poignant prose. Though his cast is of one ethnicity, his themes are encompassing and grand.

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Queen for a Day: Selected and New Poems (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2001). widely anthologized poet – with poems in four volumes of the prestigious Best American Poetry series – Duhamel uses a unique voice and brash style to develop her emotionally charged content. This collection, with poems from each of Duhamel’s five books as well as new poems, will be a treat for new readers and a must-have for those who comprise her loyal legions.

Duhamel has a gift for writing and understanding the feminine form. Her finely tuned—but distinct—perception of the body tumbles out in strains of breathy lyric as well as narrative pieces: “Sometimes I dream bluebirds land on my hipbone/as though I were a round limb/ on a desert tree.” Her poems burst with people, places and pop culture (the Barbie doll the most famous example); they explore pain, celebrate joy and reverberate with a compelling honesty.

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alumni digest 450 Gather for Alumni Weekend 2001 Highlights include a historic gathering of retired faculty

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special gathering of emeritus faculty was just one of the events that drew some 450 alums and their families back to campus for Alumni Weekend 2001. The unprecedented gathering of popular emeritus faculty was held on Sunday morning of Alumni Weekend (June 15–17). Mixing casually with alums at a brunch held in the College’s Little Building Dining Hall, the faculty appeared to relish the chance to catch up with former students after many years’ hiatus.

Edna Ward, who taught the humanities for 32 years and later served as vice president for academic affairs and as associate dean, retired in 1993. “You don’t recognize half of the [former students] at this point, but this is a wonderful event.”

On Beacon Street (from left) are Libby Lebo ’51, Jane Dean ’51, Pat Davidson ’51, Eleanor Duhnkrack ’51, Kenneth Crannell ’55, ’57, who Honey Waldman ’46 and Lila Klausman ’51. retired in 1999, met with an array of former colleagues and students (“I’ve been here 42 years, so you get to have lots of favorites”), and performed in the weekend’s Southwick Recital.

Crannell lives in Saugus, Mass., and has his own consulting business. “It’s my choice to work,” he said with a smile.

Dressed in a sports jacket and a bolo tie, Coach Jim Peckham, who lives in Weymouth, Mass., said, “For 30 years, I loved Emerson, I loved the students.

alumni digest

• A special evening event honoring retiring professor Leonidas Nickole ’49 was held at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts. President Jacqueline Liebergott conferred an honorary degree, Doctor of Humane Letters, upon Nickole. The professor Professor Emeritus Leo Nickole makes was the subject of a remarks after receiving his honorary tribute that took the degree, a Doctor of Humane Letters. form of a musical exanchor of CNN Financial News. travaganza performed by decades’ The College’s Leonard J. Riendeau worth of former students. ’64 Award was given to Evelyn Wool• Alumni Achievement Awards were ston-May ’47, a longtime volunteer for conferred on three recipients: Douglas Holloway ’76, Emerson College Trustee civic and arts organizations in the Washington, D.C., area. The Helen and president of network distribution Rose Philanthropy Award was given to and affiliate relations of USA Affiliate Emerson allowed me to do things I Rod Parker ’51, Hon. ’77, veterDistribution, a corporate wouldn’t have been able to do otherservice of USA Network, wise. I looked forward to going to work MEMBERS OF an producer and writer for such television classics as All in the Sci Fi Channel and Home every day.”

THE 50TH Family and Maude.

Shopping Network; Back in Boston for the first time in REUNION Alumni Service Awards went Richard LaGravenese ’76, 20 years, former Professor Coleman CLASS TOOK to Lee Addiss ’46, Irma Mann Bender took a trip to Filene’s Basement screenwriter whose credPART IN AN Stearns ’67, Glenn Meehan ’83, its include The Fisher over the weekend. “The basic core of ORAL Helen Rose and John WentKing, The Bridges of MadiBoston is the same,” he observed. But HISTORY worth ’81. something new caught his eye: “It’s im- son County, The Horse PROJECT • More than 60 alums attended Whisperer and an uncredpressive to see the big Emerson banAlumni College courses especially deited rewrite of Erin Brockovich; and ners in the middle of town.” Bender Steve Young ’62, an at-large member of signed for the weekend, including “Crelives in Boca Raton, Fla., and is teachating your First Web Page” and “Manthe Alumni Association’s Board of Diing at Lynn University. “I don’t retire, I aging Controversy: Communicating the rectors and a senior correspondent and just keep changing jobs,” he said.

Message.”

Professors Stephen Shipps • College Archivist Robert Fleming led and John Coffee gave talks at President Jacqueline Liebergott campus tours, in which approximately the gathering. (left) with Beula Moore Peoples ’36 80 alums participated.

Jeanne Brodeur ’72, Emerand her son, Bill. Peoples was the • Some 16 members of the 50th Reson’s Vice President for Instioldest graduate attending Alumni union Class participated in a videotutional Advancement, anWeekend 2001. taped oral history project in which they nounced the creation of the reminisced about their College experiHelaine and Stanley Miller ences.

Award for Outstanding Teach• The Southwick Recital, held at the ing, an annual prize that will College Library, featured performances be given to one recipient per

by Emerson alumni and former faculty year beginning during the members Barbara Ann Ferreira ’77, Junext academic year. dith C. Espinola ’61, Michele Drabant Perkins ’84, and Kenneth Crannell.

ALUMS ENJOY AN ARRAY Professor Emeritus and former SouthOF ACTIVITIES wick performer Frances LaShoto ’44, The following is an overview ’48, was present for the event. of some of the other events A good time was had by all. n of Alumni Weekend 2001: Michael Kletter ‘66 and Judith Raphael Kletter ‘66 enjoy Alumni Weekend.

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PHOTOGRAPHS BY FRANK MONKIEWICZ

alumni digest

alumni weekend 2001 From left: Douglas Holloway ’76, Steve Young ’62, Evelyn Woolston-May ’47, Richard LaGravenese ’76 and Rod Parker ’51, Hon. ’77, after receiving awards at the gala event held at the Museum of Fine Arts.

The Emerson Majestic Theatre marquee displays an appropriate greeting during Alumni Weekend.

Bernice Smith ’42 of Littleton, Mass.; Barbara Hill ’41 of Fall River, Mass.; and David Crockett ’41, of Westerly, R.I., catch up at the brunch.

Rod Parker (left), winner of the 2001 Helen Rose Philanthropy Award, with Ted Benard-Cutler ‘51, chairman of the board of Emerson College

John Levy ’78 reminisces with a favorite former professor, John Coffee, at the Alumni Weekend brunch.

Gathered at the Museum of Fine Arts event are (from left): Greg Anderson ’91 and Gayle Anderson ’91, Mario Bario ’91, Anne Marie Boucher, Maria Amato Coates ’91, Michael Coates ’91 and Margarita Ruiz ’91.

Coleman Bender (right) greets Coach Jim Peckham at the Alumni Weekend brunch. The visit to Boston was Bender’s first in 20 years.

Madeline Yusna ’76 (left) and Shannon Sullivan ’76 get a kick out of the memorabilia display in the Library.

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EXPRESSION

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alumni digest

Upcoming Events of Interest to Alumni OCT. 24 Irma Mann Stearns Dis-

tinguished Lecture Series: Edgar Bronfman Jr. OCT. 28, Brunch with Philadel-

phia-area alumni NOV. 2, 6 PM, Alumni and Faculty

Reception at the National Speech Convention, Atlanta, Ga. NOV. 5, 5:30 PM, Job Search

Workshop: “I’m Ready to Change.” For those considering a job or career change, this workshop can help you get started. JPMorgan Chase headquarters, 270 Park Ave., New York City JAN. 13, 2002, 12 NOON, Florida

Alumni Reception, at Mar-aLago, hosted by Helen Rose, alumna and trustee, Emerson College FEBRUARY 2002, Second Annu-

al Emerson College Film Festival, Los Angeles, Calif.

FEB. 9, 2002, Career Decisions

and Management Workshop for Greater Boston-area alumni APRIL 5, 2002, New York Con-

nection: student field trip to Manhattan to meet alumni professionals from varied industries JUNE 7-9, 2002 Alumni Weekend

Please call to confirm all dates and times: 1-800-255-4259.

ATTENTION, PARENTS OF EMERSON STUDENTS

If you are interested in receiving the Parent Program’s new enewsletter, please send your email address to david_jordan@emerson.edu.

Reunion classes make their mark with donations contributions by emerson alums celebrating class reunions during 2001 topped the $1 million mark as of Aug. 1, 2001. Reunion classmates raised funds for a variety of projects as well as to benefit the Emerson College Annual Fund. In addition, several reunion alumni made significant gifts toward the College’s new Performance and Production Center and for renovations to the Emerson Majestic Theatre.

The Class of 1976 led the way in reunion fundraising with a total of $47,115 raised from 25th Reunion classmates.

Kevin Bright ’76, executive producer of the hit television series Friends, helped his class win the award for the most Reunion funds raised with a gift in honor of the late Professor Daniel Lounsbery to purchase five digital video cameras for the film department; Alicia Denise Brown also made a generous gift to the Center for Spiritual Life. The 65th Reunion class took the honors for the highest percentage of classmates making Reunion gifts by raising donations from 50 percent of 1936 classmates.

Classes raising funds for special projects included the 50th Reunion class, which contributed toward the purchase of a piano for the new Performance and Production Center; the Class of 1961, which raised funds to

Reunion Class Giving, FY 2001 CLASS

% CONTRIBUTING

1936 1941 1946 1951 1956 1961 1966 1971 1976 1981 1986 1991 1996

50% 43% 21% 45% 25% 28% 28% 14% 15% 23% 11% 8% 4%

TOTAL *Non-capital

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name a study room in the Emerson College Library; and the Class of 1966, whose support will allow the Emerson Channel to deliver 24-hour programming through the purchase of an automation system.

Gifts for campus facilities (capital gifts) were not counted toward Reunion fundraising totals but were acknowledged during Alumni Weekend. Those making capital gifts include Ted Benard-Cutler ’51, chairman of Emerson’s Board of Trustees, who has made a $2 million pledge toward renovating the Majestic Theatre; Elinore Ziff Greene ’46, who made a major contribution for a new Kermit and Elinore Greene Theatre; and Vin Di Bona ’66, Ira Harvey Goldstone ’71, Doug Holloway ’76, and Doug and Noreen Farrell Herzog ’81, all of whom have made generous commitments toward the Performance and Production Center.

“The enthusiastic support and increased giving from this year’s Reunion classes has a tremendous impact on the College’s programs,” said Jeanne Brodeur ’72, Emerson’s Vice President for Institutional Advancement. “Significant reunion giving helps programs, faculty, departments and facilities. We are truly grateful for the commitment of the alumni/ae to Emerson College.”

gifts in hand as of August 1, 2001.

CASH RAISED*

$375 2,130 1,993 16,141 5,117 13,250 10,811 3,596 47,115 10,755 2,520 3,950 1,190 $117,143

CAPITAL GIFTS

357,853 500,000 66,667 18,263 14,569 25,000 $982,352

TOTAL

$375 2,130 359,846 516,141 5,117 13,250 77,477 21,859 61,684 35,755 2,520 3,950 1,190 $1,099,495

class notes Expression welcomes Class Notes submissions. We reserve the right to edit copy and regret that we may have to withhold some items due to space limitations. Send news items and nonreturnable photos to Barbara Rutberg, Office of Alumni Relations, 120 Boylston St., Boston, MA 021164624 or e-mail Barbara_ Rutberg@emerson.edu.

Please include information on how we can contact you.

1935 was awarded the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters at commencement this year at Juniata College, where she taught for 30 years.

ESTHER M. DOYLE

1951 is president of “Parents Planning Programs for the Developmentally Disabled in Florida,” an organization that helps to create residential, work and recreational opportunities for adults with special needs. She is also a member of Gov. Jeb Bush’s Family Care Council for Developmental Disabilities.

LILA DILEVA KLAUSMAN

1957 45th Reunion JOAN (CAPPEL) MATTESON retired

and moved into a new townhouse in Orlando, Fla., but the “big news” is that she is a “proud, proud, proud grandma” because her 8-year-old grandson, Dylan Smith, will appear in the new Robin Williams movie, One Hour Photo, due to be released this fall.

1953

1960

has been an announcer on radio and at live events in and around his community of Stroudsburg, Pa., including the annual Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Monroe County telethon and the Stroudsburg freshman and JV football games.

BERNARD A. SWEET received the 2001 Joe Shearer Award presented by the Sales Management and Marketing Association of Louisville, Ky. Sweet was cited as a man who “by his contribution or spirit, involvement and participation, most typifies the example set by Joseph A. Shearer.”

JOHN MEUNIER

JOAN (GALE) MEADOWS ’54 (left), MAUREEN (DUNN) O’KEEFE ’55 and “HOLLY” GOLIGHTLY PERLO ’53 hold a mini-reunion in New York.

1961 LYN JARVIS, television specialist for the University of Vermont Extension and Agricultural Experiment Station, recently returned from Russia, where he traveled with 19 other agricultural communicators from throughout the U.S. to meet with their Russian counterparts. The meeting aimed to find innovative ways for the two countries to work together to investigate opportunities for mutual activities.

PETER KEITH WHITTEN was honored last spring by the Amicable Lodge, the oldest Masonic Lodge in Cambridge, Mass. ARTHUR B. SERINO JR. ’69 was present at the ceremony.

Peter completed his tenure as chairman of Cambridge Ma-

sonic Forum in June. He is currently serving on the Board of Directors of the Cambridge Masonic Hall Association.

1966 JUDY (LAWRENCE) BYRD has been traveling with an acting troupe called “Little Theatre of the Blue Swan.” She recently finished four weeks in Los Angeles and is on her way to London’s Palladium. She says she misses Boston and is looking forward to returning in January, when she will work as a film critic at The Boston Globe.

1968 RALPH MAFFONGELLI, of the Sheboygan Theatre Company, was one of eight people who were recently honored for their contributions to the Sheboygan, Wisc., theater scene.

1969 is the author of two books, Creating Your Own Monologue and Promoting Your Acting Career, both published by Allworth Press.

GLENN ALTERMAN

1970 GWENDOLYN JEAN BEVARD is cur-

rently working as an ESL instructor at Bellevue Community College in Bellevue, Wash.

1971 STEVE HAUSMANN has a new position with Entercom’s cluster, WEEB, WBBF, WBZA, as news/sports director.

1972 30th Reunion SUSAN HILL

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is president and EXPRESSION

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class notes

founder of Hill & Partners Inc., specializing in three-dimensional trade show marketing. Susan is a member of the IEA (International Exhibitors Association), the EDPA (Exhibit Designers & Producers Association), the South Shore Chamber of Commerce, and a supporter of the Fenway Community Health Center. Susan is at shill@hillpartners.com (in Quincy, Mass.), where there are two additional Emerson grads (JAMIE CHRISTO ’01 and ANNIE BALLEM ’00) on the payroll.

ADELE D’MAN ’92 and PETER GOLDBERG ’91 met at Emerson and dreamed of moving to New York and starting their own film production company. They launched BFGF Productions (“BF” stands for boyfriend, “GF” for girlfriend) and soon tasted theatrical success. Adele recently wrote and directed Only Life, for which she was nominated for “Best Filmmaker Acting in a Short Film” at the Bare Bones International Film Festival. Visit www.bfgfproductions. com to learn about their new film project, The American Dream.

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1973 BILL LITANT writes: “This spring,

I joined the world of academia when I became communications director of M.I.T.’s Aeronautics and Astronautics Department. As a certified air and space nut, the fit is perfect. My wife, MICHELE ORDER LITANT ’76, and I just celebrated our 21st anniversary. We met 22 years ago when I hired her through Emerson Career Services. Since that time, I’ve hired numerous Emerson graduates. We have two sons, Josiah, 19, and Micah, 15.”

1 9 74 recently celebrated 25 years with one of the nation’s most recognized radio stations, WTIC AM/FM (96.5), Hartford. John lives in Wethersfield, Conn.

NAN GILBERT is assistant director of the School of Theater Arts at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Nan says the students in the program are “wonderful, and remind me of myself and my classmates in Emerson’s theater program 30 years ago!”

JOHN ELLIOTT

1975 ELWOOD MILES and his wife, Peggy, last summer celebrated 26 years of marriage. They have a son who attends the University of Maryland at College Park on a full academic scholarship.

Fifteen years ago, Elwood began an endowed scholarship at Gallaudet University in memory of his brother, Linwood Smith, who had been deaf and an educator for the deaf. More than $95,000 has already been raised for the fund.

BILL LALLY is assistant program director and operations manager of KFI-AM (640) in Los Angeles.

ELANA MAGGAL ’84 and husband David had their first baby, Marissa Maggal Weinfeld, on Jan. 19, 2001. She has already modeled for the Fall Pottery Barn kids catalog. Elana is executive director of The Learning Annex in San Francisco. She writes: “We’re always looking for speakers in any of our markets, so if any Emerson alumni are interested, feel free to contact me at elanam@learningannex. com.” Elana

1977 25th Reunion RICHARD WALL wrote the liner notes for The Sea To The North

by Garth Hudson. This is the long-awaited first solo CD from the founding member of the legendary rock and roll ensemble The Band.

JODY (ZEMAN) ALLEN and ROB ALLEN have three children and live in Fairfield, Conn. Rob works at Dateline at NBC. Jody got her master’s at Gallaudet University in 1980 and is now teaching in Danbury. Jody and Rob recently celebrated their 23rd wedding anniversary. They can be reached at rowen44@ aol.com.

1979 and his wife, Maribel, recently had a baby, Edward Luis Friend, born May 13.

ELIZABETH TEMKIN SELLS recently performed at The Belly Room at The Comedy Store on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles. Five of her jokes were published in a new book called Joke Stew by Judy Brown.

ROBERT FRIEND

1983 STEVEN BERNSON reports that he

moved from Boston to San Diego in 1993 and then to the Los Angeles area in 1997. In 1998 he founded and became CEO of IndustryJobsNow.com.

“Like most dotcom’ers, the company folded in mid-2000,” he writes. In June 2000 he married Lorri Berman, a former senior director of domestic licensing and merchandising at Paramount Pictures.

Steven is now president of InterMedia West, a strategic marketing and business development consulting firm.

MICHAEL NELSON is an assistant public defender in Sacramento, Calif. He is married to Mary Kennedy and has two sons, ages 5 and 1.

1984 JON BOROSHOK, his wife, Caren,

and daughter Stephanie welcomed the newest member of their family, Tyler Matthew Boroshok, born June 21. The family lives in Groton, Mass.

Jon is president of TechMarcom Inc., a high-tech marketing communications/public relations agency. He’d love to hear from old friends. Write to jb@techmarcom.com.

DENISE DUHAMEL’s latest book

class notes

of poetry, Queen for a Day: Selected and New Poems, was recently published by the University of Pittsburgh Press. She is an assistant professor of creative writing at Florida International University in Miami.

EMMA PALZERE-RAE gave birth to Robert Christian Rae in April 2001. Emma, husband William Rae and big brother Edward are all “doing great.”

JODI (GOLDBERG) ROBERTS recently celebrated the birth of her third child, daughter Jamie, who joins big brothers Bryan, 10, and Michael, 6. Jodi writes: “I would love to hear from old friends and Sigma sisters.

Write jodijr66@yahoo.com.”

1985 was named vice president of client services and consulting for Information Resources Inc. Prior to working at IRI, Amy held leadership positions with several consumer goods companies and market research firms. Amy lives in

AMY FRANKEL

Chicago and would love to hear from friends. Her e-mail is SKITILUDRP@CS.COM.

1986 KAREN AGNOFF-LAMPKIN and her

husband live in Wilmington, N.C., and own Orbita Corp.

They make watch-winding boxes for Swiss automatic watches.

They have a daughter who is 20 months old and are expecting again. Karen’s best Emersonian friend, BARI ROTHMAN-MYERS, is also expecting and “hopefully [the children] will both be members of the Class of 2022.”

Karen would love to hear from all her old friends…Dave Ozer, Jay Bienstock, Shanie Herman and Stacy Vita.

LAUREN (BERESNER) KESTEN

and husband Steve welcomed their first child, daughter Madeline Hope Kesten, on Aug. 19, 2000.

CHARLES STUART writes: “After finishing up as supervising producer of the National Geographic series at Weller/Gross-

BONNIE COMLEY ’94 with famed caricaturist Al Hirschfeld. While Comley was starring in the comedy If It Was Easy…, written by Stewart F. Lane and Ward Morehouse III and produced at the Douglas Fairbanks Theatre in New York City, she was contacted by Feiden Galleries Ltd., which represents Hirschfeld. The artist drew Comley’s caricature, thereby “immortalizing” Comley.

man Productions, I went on to work for a couple of months on a show called Worst-Case Scenario. I am now looking for new television shows to develop and produce. I’m spending time with my wife, who works as senior producer at Entertainment Tonight and executive producer for Entertainment Tonight Weekend. We have two beautiful babies—twins!—Jack and Elizabeth, who just turned 1.”

1987

produced several series, including one focusing on the execution of Oklahoma bomber Timothy McVeigh.

MITCHELL ROSENWALD is enjoying living in the South End of Boston and working as a line producer for national and regional commercials. The “big news” is that his wife, Cenia Peters Rosenwald, is expecting, and they are “happy to join the club” after three years of marriage. He says be in touch and

15th Reunion TODD BIDWELL,

executive producer of Cooper Productions, was recently inducted as president of Meeting Professionals International/New England, representing over 750 chapter members in five states. In addition, Todd and longtime business partner STAN COOPER ’87 expanded their event production facility in Braintree, Mass., to 17,000 square feet of production space for scenic construction, prop fabrication and rental inventory for video, film, TV and special events.

PAULA (MODANO) LUBAS was recently named manager of marketing communications for Compaq Computer Corporation’s North America Global Sales Organization. Paula and her husband, Paul, live in Chatham, N.J., with their cat Bernie. According to Paula, “The best part of Emerson was developing and maintaining great friendships with KERRIN (KELLEHER) KISSEL ’87, MAURA (ABAD) LOWE ’87, LYNETTE (CARRACHINO) GOODART ’87 and “you too, CHARLIE MANN!” MIKE POTENZA and his wife, Laura, have a 2-year-old son, Jack. Mike is a writer/producer/editor with CBS Newspath in New York. Aside from daily news assignments, Mike has

JOHN COYLE ’80 (with son Christopher) is employed as a project manager for the Information Services division of OneBeacon Insurance (Foxborough, Mass.).

On the home front, John and his wife recently became parents to a 6-year-old boy. John writes: “Christopher came to us through the Massachusetts ‘Caring For Kids’ program. He is a challenge but has brought us much joy and enriched our lives in ways we never imagined. We hope to finalize his adoption by the end of this year.”

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class notes

NANCY (MCCUSKER) HAWORTH ’98 was married to JARED HAWORTH (who attended Emerson 1996-98) last September in Rockland, Mass. From left to right are: MELISSA BOLES ’00, JARED HAWORTH, MIKE DEBERIO ’99, NANCY HAWORTH, LORINNE LAMPERT ’01, ROBERT STIEGER (attended Emerson 1995-97), ANNE VALLIANT ’99, JUDY CRAIGO ’01, JODY GERST (attended Emerson 1996-97), AMANDA NICHOLS ’99, CLARE (WILSON) GREENE ’98, JILL (SOIFERMAN) GOODMAN ’98 and ELIZABETH SEKUL ’99. The couple can be reached at jnhaworth@yahoo.com.

in Budapest after graduating from Emerson. He received his master’s in English literature from the Claremont Graduate School; he then joined the Peace Corps, spending two years in Poland and two years in Madagascar. Since returning to the U.S., he has been in living in New York City, pursuing a Ph.D. in comparative literature at Columbia. He recently married Cheryl deJong.

1991 MICHELE (LABBEE) CRANE and her

don’t hesitate to e-mail and say hello—mrosenwald@aol.com.

1988 MARIA ANTONELLI of Cherry Hill,

N.J., is partner/director of client services at The STAR Group, New Jersey’s fourth largest full-service advertising agency. Maria and husband Vincent Buonanno recently welcomed a new addition to their family, Nicholas Joseph Buonanno. Any old Emerson pals are welcome to contact Maria at mantonelli@home. com.

PARIMALA INAMDAR is living in Bombay, India, and works at NIIT Ltd. in the area of user experience and communication design. Parimala also spent a few years in broadcasting, writing and directing for television “with some of the best people in India at the time.” Parimala’s division at NIIT has created more than 650 educational 30

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multimedia software titles and more than 10,000 hours of instructor-led training for clients like IBM, Hewlett Packard and Microsoft.

1989 has been shuttling between New York and Kenya, where she started a safari company, VirginBush Safaris Ltd. She reports that Kenya is “an amazing place with incredibly dynamic people.”

CINDI CRAIN

SAMANTHA (RUTHERFORD) SUL-

has two children, Caroline, 4 and Jack, 2, and is expecting her third in October.

She is still working part-time as LIVAN

a marketing consultant to Teradyne in Bedford, Mass.

1990 welcomed his first child in July. Chuck continues to produce soccer programming at ESPN International in Bristol, Conn. He can be reached at norchuck@gte. net.com.

PAUL DELANEY welcomed a daughter, Molly, born July 4. He says hello to all the E-Men and would love to hear from friends and classmates. Contact him at PTDGOLFER@aol.com.

WILLIAM LAMBERT lived and worked as an English teacher CHUCK SIMMONS

TINA MARTIN ’96 has been appointed director of communications for the Massachusetts Office of Business Development, which works to attract new businesses by facilitating their relocation to Massachusetts. Tina will handle long-term media relations planning and a variety of responsibilities as they relate to increased publicity for the office.

husband, John, of Northampton, Mass., announce the birth of their first child, Meghan.

Michele intends to return to her home-based business, Labbee Communications, this fall.

LIVIO SANCHEZ announces the birth of Emil Marcos Sanchez this past June. Livio was sorry to miss his 10th reunion but hopes his classmates will understand that he was “preoccupied at the time!”

NORMA (MAROTTA) WALSH and her husband, Jim, welcomed their first child, Veronica Jane, on June 7. Norma can be reached at jnwalsh1@yahoo. com

1992 10th Reunion

is engaged to Jennifer Klein. Joshua works JOSHUA FISHER

class notes

year for their short film Hate— A Comedy. DREW DAYWALT and MARICHELLE INONOG ’93 were married in October 2000.

IAN PARSONS of Somersworth, N.H., is working as a media specialist at the University of New Hampshire and is engaged to be married Oct. 13 to Jennifer Pettengill, also of Somersworth.

1994 KELLY CAROLYN GORDON received

JEFF MULQUEEN ’93 is the bassist and lead singer in the rock group The Naked Sams, who recently released a full-length CD called Nozzle, which remained the number-one-selling album at Radio Boston.com for four weeks. Jeff is always looking for opportunities to connect and work with fellow Emersonians. You can reach Jeff and hear the band’s CD at www.nakedsams.com.

1993 HOLLY BONITO recently started a new position at iN Demand (PayPerView) in Colorado as manager of broadcast operations.

Stark Raving Mad, a crime comedy starring Sean Williams (American Pie, Road Trip), was written and will be directed by DREW DAYWALT ’93 and DAVID SCHNEIDER ’92. Their first feature film also features JOHN CRYE ’93 and PAUL HUNGERFORD ’93 in supporting roles. AARON RYDER ’94 will executive produce the film for Newmarket Capital Group, along with others from A Band Apart Productions. Drew and David have

directed a number of music videos and won an award at the Aspen Comedy Festival last

WENDY (METCALF) BERTRAND

and her husband, Paul, of Billerica, Mass., are pleased to announce the birth of their daughter, Elizabeth, on Oct. 12, 2000. Wendy left her position as an account manager with Williams Communications Solutions to be at home with her daughter. Wendy would love to

1995 CHRISTINA DEJOHN has been teaching since 1998, when she received her Massachusetts certification in early childhood education. She now teaches on the island of Islesboro, Maine, working with 17 children, ranging from kindergarten to grade 2. She met the owner and chef of the only restaurant there and they have been together ever since. They are planning to move to Tallahassee this fall, where Christina plans to continue teaching and get an advanced degree in school psychology.

MICHELLE HARTIN gave birth to a baby girl, Haley Elizabeth Hartin, in March.

1995 has just published her first book, Where We Lived (a collection of short stories), as part of two-book deal with HarperCollins. Her

CHRISTINA FITZPATRICK

WHERE ARE YOU AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING? Please use the form below to submit news that you would like to share with your fellow Emersonians. Or, if you prefer, email your news to Barbara_Rutberg@emerson.edu.

New job? Recently engaged or married? New baby? Moving? Recently ran into an old classmate? Received an award? Let us know.

NAME

ORIGINAL LAST NAME

ADDRESS HOME PHONE

CLASS YEAR

CITY

STATE

ZIP

E-MAIL

YOUR NEWS

·

for Fox Family Worldwide as director of development and current programming for Fox Kids.

her Ph.D. in drama and a certificate in women’s studies from the University of Georgia.

She has been hired as a visiting assistant professor at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, for the 2001-02 school year. She can be reached at skyfalling@aol.com.

hear from old friends and can be reached at lizsmom2000@ hotmail.com.

Mail to: Class Notes, Emerson College, Office of Alumni Relations, 120 Boylston St., Boston, MA 02116-4624

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class notes

next book, a novel called What’s the Girl Worth?, will be released in July 2002. She wants to thank her teachers, Elizabeth Searle and Bill Holinger, for “encouraging me.”

1996 writes to say that she and CHRIS PATTERSON ’95 will be married in Orange County, N.Y., on Oct. 21. ALICIA TULLY ’97 will give a reading at the ceremony and several other Emerson alums will be in attendance. Nicole and Chris currently reside in New York City.

Nicole works for JPMorganChase in addition to managing her own theater company and acting in many off-off-Broadway productions. Chris is a freelance assistant film editor, and has worked on Wes Anderson’s film The Royal Tennenbaums.

T.J. SHANOFF musically directed, co-directed, produced and adapted a parody of Fiddler on the Roof last summer called The Roof is On Fiddler, which uses songs from the 1980s to tell the story. The Chicago Tribune gave the show a rave review, noting that the parody became “the most talked-about Chicago comedy show of the year” after just three performances.

KEITH WAGNER, MFA, and JULIE WOLF, MFA ’99, are delighted to announce the birth of their daughter, Rachel Adina Wolf-Wagner, born July 3.

NICOLE MAGGI

1997 5th Reunion

spent the summer in Portland, Maine, where she was production manager for the Portland Opera Repertory Theatre. She will be returning to California in the fall for her second season with Big

JOANNA GREENE

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Bear Mountain Resort. BRIAN LILIENTHAL will be returning to CalArts to pursue his M.F.A. The couple are “still not married.”

CHRISTINE LAFRANCOIS gave birth to a son, Ryan James.

1998 For the past year, residents of Eugene, Ore., have been waking up to KIM HESSEL on KEZI News, where Kim co-anchors the hour-long morning show and reports for the evening shows. After graduation she was the main anchor with KCFW in Kalispell, Mont., where she won a “Montana Broadcaster of the Year” and an SPJ award.

JANA ROE married ERIC TORVI in July and visited DisneyWorld for two weeks. Jana is a recruiter for American Personnel, a Boston-based search firm.

JEFF WAFUL is news director and staff writer at Jambands. com. He also is a contributing editor and feature writer for Relix magazine and co-host of the radio program Jam Nation, which airs Sunday nights in Hartford, Conn., on Radio 104, WMRQ, and was recently named Best Radio Show at the 2nd Annual Jammy Awards.

Waful was also named Best Writer at last year’s Jammys.

He can be contacted at Jeff@Jambands.com.

1999 PETER BROWN recently completed his second year at Suffolk University Law School. He was one of 12 students from Bostonarea law schools to receive the prestigious Rappaport Fellowship for Public Service. He worked at the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office last summer.

TOBIAS BAHARIAN ’95 has been busy in Haverhill, Mass., teaching television and radio production to high school students.

Several of his students are continuing his legacy and entering Emerson in the fall. Tobias also started a company “GlamRock Productions. com” where he manages three rock bands in Boston as well as creates music and adrenaline sports videos. He also does a radio show on Boston’s 92.5 FM. He would love to hear from old friends and can be e-mailed at i84@aol.com.

Raines. This season, she was promoted to junior member on the late Dale Earnhardt’s account and is currently working with Kevin Harvick.

EVELYN HOLMER joined the sports marketing firm, Champion Sports Group, in April 2000. She has worked as public relations rep for driver Tony

IN MEMORIAM 1930 BEE (MANELIS) KAPLAN of Longmeadow,

Mass.

1934 SIDNEY GORDON of Falmouth, Mass.

1935 ELIZABETH (HARVEY) LASSELLE of Center

Conway, N.H. 1948 MURIEL PARSONS SHAFFER of Stuart, Fla. 1951 GRACE M. KENNEDY of Worcester, Mass.

1953 STUART BISHOP of Tucson, Ariz.

1955 WILLARD B. SIMMONS of Tewksbury, Mass.

1957 WILLIAM J. BELLISSIMO of Weston, Mass.

LORA (DIMEO) CHASE

of Dover, Mass.

1958 RAMON A. BIERI of Northridge, Calif.

JOHN C. LEBLANC JR.

of Colorado Springs,

Colo.

1966 DAVE CAMPANELLA of Burlington, Conn.

1970 FATEH ALAM SIDDIQI of Karachi, Pakistan 1974 PAMELA MARY (BRYANT) JORGENSON of Tops-

field, Mass.

1982 ERNESTO SOSA of Coral Springs, Fla. 1990 NANCY ELIZABETH ALLEN DASARO of Waits-

field, Vt. 1997 DAVID BOUVIER of Pepperell, Mass.

FRIEND CHESTER L. POSEY,

former member of the Emerson College Board of Trustees, of Greenwich, Conn.

profiles H I S S TAT I O N I N L I F E Radio’s John Elliott ’74 has been on the air for 25 years, loving every minute of it in radio newsman john elliott’s expansive vocabulary, one word reigns supreme: “longevity.”

Here’s why: For the past 25 years, Elliott ’74 has held just one job in the radio industry and worked at just one radio station—Hartford’s WTIC AM/FM. Not only that, but Elliott has lived in the very same town – Wethersfield, Conn. – his entire life (except for the years he attended Emerson College).

As co-anchor of the Craig and Company morning drive-time show for the past two decades, Elliott is one of the best-known radio news anchors in the state of Connecticut. In fact, according to spring 2001 Arbitron data, more people ages 18 to 49 listen to Elliott than any other radio newsman in the state.

When Elliott graduated from Emerson he knew he wanted to make a living with his voice and was interested in current events. He decided to become a television newsman, applying to all the Hartford-area stations.

“Then a friend said, ‘Have you thought of doing radio?’ ” he recalls.

Elliott soon found a job as a “summer replacement” at WTIC. “But I never left. I’ve been the only newsman there since 1978,” he says.

Winner of more than a dozen Associated Press awards, Elliott has anchored the Craig and Company show with Gary Craig for 20 years, which “is a long time for a morning show,” Elliott says.

“Newsman Extraordinaire” was the moniker given to Elliott by Gary Craig because John not only could read and write the news, he could also sing, write

breast cancer research.

In 1985, Elliott spearheaded an on-air drive that raised more than $100,000 to help feed starving children in Ethiopia.

Food supplies were often diverted from their destinations due to the civil war raging there, Elliott explains, so he decided to personally oversee the delivery. “I traveled there, purchased the grain with the help of the organization Save the Children and

RADIO NEWSMAN JOHN ELLIOTT LOOKS BACK ON A LONG CAREER IN THE HARTFORD MARKET comedy material and host live public events. Craig and Elliott are known as the Johnny Carson and Ed McMahon of the Hartford radio market.

Elliott has conducted lengthy interviews with an array of celebrities, including Madonna, Elton John and Sylvester Stallone. He is a talented singer who has coauthored (with Craig) some 50 parody songs that have been broadcast on radio stations around the country. And he has helped charitable causes raise money, including the Ronald McDonald House, the American Red Cross and the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, which supports

went out into the field while they ground it. The experience was lifedefining,” he says. Elliott reported live from his desert campsite.

Elliott heaps praise on a number of his Emerson professors: Dan Lounsbery (“he was so gifted in a philosophical way about the industry”); George Quenzel (“an absolutely phenomenal teacher”); and Pat Mitchell (“she really made a difference in my life and taught me how to interview people”).

Elliott couldn’t be happier about his career. “It’s the only job I’ve ever had,” he says with enthusiasm, “and it’s been a great life.”

— Rhea Becker FA L L 2 0 0 1

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profiles

T H E S I LV E R VO I C E O F T H E S I LV E R S C R E E N Andy Geller ’82 is the familiar voice behind all those movie trailers

ABC

INC.

andy geller ’82 has the power to thrill you, to make you laugh, to get you geared up for action or to lure you into a romantic adventure.

His power lies in his voice. As one of Hollywood’s most sought-after voiceover artists, Geller’s sonorous tones are ubiquitous. In fact, anyone who’s ever stepped into a movie theater in the last 10 years, has heard his voice in the trailers for dozens of major feature films, including Legally Blonde, The Sixth Sense, Air Force One, Toy Story 2, The Full Monty, Armageddon and The Animal. Geller is the one who beckons you to the next new film with brief bursts of dramatic description and utters the phrase “Opens Friday in a theater near you.” Some of Geller’s power is derived from the fact that movie-industry analysts say that up to 50 GELLER’S MOST PRECIOUS COMMODITY, percent of movie HIS THROAT, IS NOT INSURED . . . AND audiences choose THE PRECAUTIONS HE TAKES TO PRESERVE to see specific HIS DULCET SOUNDS ARE FEW. films based on the Los Angeles, where he worked on The “Sometimes there are four movie trailers.

Mark and Brian Show, a morning radio or five different concepts,” Geller also happrogram on KLOS. One day, an execuhe says. “I read pens to be “the tive from Fox Television heard Geller’s them all and then voice of ABC Televishow and hired him to do the promo someone chooses sion,” a post that for a new TV program that became a the best ones to be Geller says “is an smash hit — Beverly Hills 90210. His ‘finished.’ Then a honor” to hold. voiceover career skyrocketed. series of ‘tags,’ He is responsible Andy Geller is the official Today Geller lives near Los Angeles which are lines like for the majority announcer for ABC Television, with his wife, Nanette, and their three ‘Coming soon’ or of announcehome of The Practice.

‘Coming this October,’ children (a fourth is “coming soon”). ments that proGeller’s most precious commodity, are recorded so the anmote network prohis throat, is not insured. “We looked nouncement can be edgrams. He’s the man, too, who into it, but it cost too much,” he says. ited for various uses.” intones, with the perfect dramatic flair, The precautions he takes to preserve He often nails the reading in just a the line that precedes NYPD Blue: “The few takes, using appropriate emotion to his dulcet sounds are few. “I don’t do following police drama contains adult vocal exercises, I don’t do warm-ups; I match the program or film he is prolanguage and nudity. Viewer discretion just take really good care of myself,” he moting. “Doing promos for Millionaire is advised.” says. One thing he is certain of, howevis different from announcing The PracGeller explains the process of er: “I know I can’t yell at the kids.” tice,” Geller explains. recording promotional spots. He reAndy Geller is a man who likes the After graduating from Emerson in ceives 99 percent of his scripts a mosound of his own voice and, fortunately, ment beforehand, what is known in the 1982, Geller started out in radio, workso do movie audiences from coast to ing on air at WFNX in Boston and business as a “cold read.” The recordcoast.

— Rhea Becker WAAF in Worcester. He soon moved to ing session takes under an hour.

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profiles

G OT P O L I T I C S? S H E D O E S !

Activist Malia Lazu ’99 helps turn around low voter turnout in New England spend a few minutes with the bubbly and articulate Malia Lazu ’99 and you’ll be ready to vote this young woman into any office she’s running for. Although she’s not on a ballot yet, this hip-but-savvy woman is intimately involved in the Boston political scene.

As program director for Boston Vote, a nonprofit organization she helped found, Lazu is making a direct impact on the election process.

Boston Vote is a nonpartisan network of 90 organizations in Boston, ranging from churches to health centers to multi-service organizations “coming together to educate their constituencies about voting,” Lazu explains. Last November, the Boston Herald wrote about the organization, spotlighting its mobilization and education LAZU CREDITS HER MOTHER WITH INSTILLING IN HER A NEED of area voters. Lazu TO CHALLENGE ASSUMPTIONS AND EXPLORE NEW IDEAS. LAZU adds that Boston Vote PLANS TO ‘CONTINUE TO BE AN ACTIVIST NO MATTER WHAT I DO.’ focuses on urban cenpresence in Worcester and Springfield. ters with traditionally low voter turnout. ing in her a need to challenge assumpIn May, the organization called together tions and explore new ideas. Lazu Lazu came up with the idea for its first statewide meeting, with 15 cities describes herself as multi-racial, Boston Vote in her sophomore year at participating. with black, Puerto-Rican and ItalianEmerson, while working for the ComLazu graduated with a B.S. in comAmerican roots, and she was raised in monwealth Education Project, a board munication, politics and law and Hawaii. “I’m as American as you can of activists and organizations that fund earned Emerson’s graduate certificate get,” she says. local projects like Boston Vote. Lazu in public relations. She feels Emerson In preparation for last year’s elecwas approached by two longtime comtions, Lazu certainly had her hands full. professors like J. Gregory Payne, munity activists, Judy Burnett and BarMichael Brown, Walt Littlefield and Anbara Gomes-Beach, who wanted to help The weekend before the November thony DeLuca helped her learn “how to elections, she led a successful “Get-outher with her idea. Soon after, George take [my] feelings and make them into the-Vote” campaign in areas of metro Pillsbury, development director for the decisive arguments, debatable issues.”

Boston. Nearly 300 volunteers canProject, arranged funding for the fledg“I think I will continue to be an acvassed the streets and churches and ling group. phoned more than 4,000 people to per- tivist no matter what I do,” Lazu says.

“We just don’t know why we should She was one of two Emersonians feasuade them to vote. They even teamed take time out on a Tuesday to vote for up with local radio stations to broadcast tured in a February 2001 Herald spread people who we think are crooks,” she profiling “20 young Bostonians who last-minute reminders from sound explains. “There is a need for marketare making black history right now” trucks in several neighborhoods. The ing politics differently.” Boston Vote and the Boston Tab a month earlier proresult? Voter turnout in those areas aims not only to provide prospective filed her as part of a “new guard of civil went up an impressive 20% from the voters with information (when, where, rights leaders in Boston.” She admits last presidential election. “It was hard and how to vote, ballot question details, etc.), but Lazu’s concept also focuses on work, [but it showed] if you’re willing to she would even run for President. The determination in her voice and her cundo the work, it will pay off,” Lazu says. “revamping the argument” — figuring ning smile suggest she’s already countBoston Vote has now expanded into out what’s going to motivate people to ing the votes.

Chelsea, Lowell, Lawrence, and by the get out and vote.

— Christopher Hennessy end of the year Lazu hopes to have a Lazu credits her mother with instillFA L L 2 0 0 1

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my turn

Father Time The College Archivist pays his respects to the Emerson neighborhood’s living past, ‘ghosts’ and all by robert fleming

A

s I travel through Boston on the way to my job at the Emerson College Library, I sometimes feel like the lead character in the hit film The Sixth Sense. Yes, I see dead people. Ascending from the darkness of the Boylston Street subway station into the light of another day dawning on Boston Common, I sense the spirits of those who traveled the same path in days past. I see the outlines of low-rise structures that once stood where taller buildings now stretch toward the sky, and I hear the echoes of events that shaped this historic corner of downtown Boston known as the Theatre District.

Watching the construction of the new Ritz-Carlton Hotel and Residential Towers on Tremont Street, I think back to the first time that this street became a fashionable residential address. In 1812, architect Charles Bulfinch designed an elegant row of 19 brick townhouses situated along Tremont street.

From these gracious Greek Revival residences, Boston’s venerable families, with names such as Lowell, Quincy and Lawrence, could gaze out their windows and across Tremont Street to the stately elms that once bordered the Common.

When the new Loew’s Theatre on the Common opened this summer, I was reminded of earlier generations of theatergoers who congregated on this block of Tremont, and the actors and playwrights whose work they clamored to see. The first theater on this site, the Haymarket Theatre, was built in 1796 and hosted performances by the great stars of the London stage, as well as productions with a decidedly local flavor, such as The Battle of Bunker Hill 36

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by Bostonian John D. Burk.

In 1889, the Tremont Theatre opened. This venue presented a variety of theatrical fare, from Shakespearean tragedies to musical comedies by George M. Cohan. Among the shows playing at the Tremont in 1897 was a production of Shakespeare’s Richard III, presented by Emerson alumnus and third president Henry Lawrence Southwick and his talented company, many of whom were faculty or students at the College.

At that time, Emerson was located just a few long blocks down Tremont Street, at the corner of East Berkeley Street in Boston’s South End. In 1948, the Tremont was remodeled as a movie house and renamed the Astor. It was demolished in the mid1980s, in the name of urban redevelopment, which is, happily, finally taking place. Loew’s has brought a new movie

theater to this site, and Emerson College has come full circle back to Tremont Street.

At the turn of the century, the neighborhood sidewalks were teeming with throngs of pedestrians. By 1930, the Great Depression and the rising dominance of radio and, later, television brought economic decline to the district, reducing street traffic to levels incapable of sustaining economic viability. Now, as I navigate the crowded sidewalks of Boylston Street each evening, I experience a renewed vitality. Although it is sometimes difficult to chart a clear course, I take consolation in the fact that it has not always been so on this block – busy, exciting, full of life.

Taking the long view, I see that neighborhoods and institutions evolve and endure beyond the average human lifespan and that we should make the most of the relatively short time we have in the city that surrounds us and in the neighborhood that Emerson College calls home. Above all, we should endeavor to leave our surroundings in better shape than we found them, keep a record of our accomplishments as well as the mistakes that we’ve made and the lessons that we’ve learned, so we can pass them along to those who follow in our footsteps. n

Robert Fleming is assistant director for Access Services and Archives at the Emerson College Library.

Why Emerson College?

Because it creates bonds that last a lifetime.

That’s why Arthur Schiff ’61 of Coral Springs, Fla., a national leader in direct response advertising and marketing, supports the College.

“Nineteen sixty-one was a special year,” says Schiff, who is best known for creating the entertaining and successful Ginsu Knife television marketing campaign. “Carl Yastrzemski took over left field from Ted Williams, JFK became President and I graduated from Emerson College.

“The first two were important historically, but the three had a profound effect on my life. It meant I had acquired the tools I would need to succeed in my profession. And that I had shared experiences with students and professors that would connect me forever

ARTHUR SCHIFF ’61,

to the College and its alumni.

MARKETING EXPERT, SHOOTING A PROMOTIONAL VIDEO IN FLORIDA

“Whenever Emersonians meet, an instant bond unites us. It doesn’t matter if you’re Class of 1961 or 2001. We’re all Emersonians. We

stature while preserving its ethos and

have a lot in common. We look out for each

character. When I give to the Annual Fund,

other.

I’m supporting both innovation and tradition.

“Emerson has added some amazing new facilities in recent years. It’s grown in size and

I’m giving something back to a school that has done so much for me.”

For information about the Annual Fund, contact Emily Lane, Office of Institutional Advancement, Emerson College 120 Boylston St., Boston, MA 02116-4624; (617) 824-8543.

FRANK MONKIEWICZ

Historic gathering

An esteemed group of retired faculty (along with several current faculty) convened at Alumni Weekend 2001 to meet former students and catch up with each other. They are (standing, left to right): Jim Peckham, Leo Nickole, Steve Shipps (current), Tom Dahill, Kenneth Crannell, Ted Romberg, David Luterman, Michael Brown (current), Oliver Woodruff, Coleman Bender, Leslie McAllister, Charles Klim, Gregory Payne (current); (sitting) Frances LaShoto, George Quenzel, Edna Ward, Charlotte Lindgren, Joan Brigham (current), John Coffee (current) and Phil Amato (current).

Emerson College 120 Boylston Street Boston, MA 02116-4624

Non-Profit US Postage PAID Permit No. 902 Providence, RI