U.S. Steel and The Theatre Guild

There was a Golden Decade in American television between the years 1952-1963 when live theatre performances were aired live on the young ABC Television network.  The show was called — ”The United States Steel Hour” — and it was produced by The Theatre Guild, and we’ve never had such a perfect blending of live performance for a national audience.

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The Definition of a Bastard

One of my best friends and mentor was the late, great, Marshall Jamison and he, above anyone else, taught me many of my most important life lessons — the first of which was the definition of a “bastard.”

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The Longer I Live the Less I Know

When I was 15 years old, my writing mentor and television producer and director and friend Marshall Jamison said during one of our regular, weekly, writing meetings, “The longer I live, the less I know.”

I was rattled because he was 50 years older than I was. I argued with him that I “already knew everything!”

Marshall sat behind his desk at Nebraska ETV and smiled at me.

He nodded as I instructed him the world was “either right or wrong; black or white. What else is there to know?” I think I may have even stood up and put my fists on my hips and leaned into the neutral space dividing us between
his desk.

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More Than a Dead Rolex

After 15 years of service, my stainless steel Rolex Datejust died yesterday. The hands will only move backward instead of forward.
Rolex watches have a terrible reputation for being handsome but then dying at an early age. My Rolex never failed me a day in 15 years and I will miss its ugly magnifying bubble for the date and its dull blue face. 

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