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Official Name
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INGE 229 - 25th Tribute Tom Snyder
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Description
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Tom Snyder Director of Grant Development Coast Community College
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Internet Media Type
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video/mp4
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YYYY-MM-DD
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En-US
2009-02
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ISO or Range
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En-US
2009-02
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transcript of
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0:00:03.440,0:00:09.200
Okay. Uh, so state your name and spell
it for us, Tom, please. Thomas Snder,
0:00:09.200,0:00:18.160
SNY Der. And your, uh, basically your background
and where you're at now. I'm the dean of planning
0:00:18.160,0:00:23.120
and development and government relations at
Coastline Community College. Okay. and your
0:00:23.120,0:00:28.320
your briefly your background as to where you
had been involved with it. Prior to joining
0:00:28.320,0:00:34.240
the Coast Community College District in 1984, I
was the assistant de instruction at Independence
0:00:34.240,0:00:40.560
Kansas Community College. Okay. So, Tom, what was
your what was your motivation and rationale for
0:00:40.560,0:00:47.680
becoming involved with the William uh foundation?
And I'm sorry, let me try that again. So Tom,
0:00:47.680,0:00:52.160
what was your motivation rationale for becoming
involved with the William collection and
0:00:52.160,0:01:01.760
festival? You know, I never met William inch.
And when I joined the faculty at Independence
0:01:01.760,0:01:08.400
Community College in the fall of 1970, my major
motivation for getting anything done and vision
0:01:08.400,0:01:14.960
was to try and rebuild an athletic program that
had won a national basketball championship and
0:01:14.960,0:01:22.960
had a great tradition in football. So I had
not thought much about William and anything
0:01:22.960,0:01:30.000
to do with him. But in 1977 when I was the
public information officer for the college,
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we had our 50th anniversary celebration.
And the highlight of that celebration was
0:01:35.280,0:01:42.480
the dedication of the theater in the new fine
arts building in honor of William. And at that
0:01:42.480,0:01:48.320
time I had a chance to meet members of the
William family. And that opened some doors
0:01:48.320,0:01:58.000
for us to possibly take an opportunity to as
Mr. Ing had described independence in so many
0:01:58.000,0:02:06.880
of his writings in the screen on the stage
to bring people back to his home to show him
0:02:06.880,0:02:13.120
independence Kansas. Okay. I think you've got
a little faux at the end. You said to show him
0:02:13.120,0:02:16.960
independence candidates and it would be to show
them independence candidates. Okay. Remember,
0:02:16.960,0:02:19.920
try not to make eye contact with the camera
other than to glance over. Occasionally,
0:02:19.920,0:02:23.680
you got a little more eye contact with the camera
than I think we probably want. So, talking to
0:02:23.680,0:02:28.000
me basically, occasionally over there, but you
know, sort of look around the room a little bit
0:02:28.000,0:02:32.400
if you you feel like you need to look around.
I know it's tempting to look over the camera,
0:02:32.400,0:02:36.160
but try not to do that because it suddenly it
draws attention to itself when that happens. So,
0:02:36.160,0:02:40.640
try and avoid the eye contact very much. All
right. So, I'll try it again. Well, you get a
0:02:40.640,0:02:43.920
different answer this time. You didn't like the
last answer. No, the answer was okay. Answer was
0:02:43.920,0:02:50.800
okay. And um remember as they do this, they'll
want to probably find a sound bite. So it's your
0:02:50.800,0:02:55.920
pause and timing is good to allow them to get
the sound bites. That's good. Um but remember,
0:02:55.920,0:03:01.120
you kind of reestablish each of the pieces as
you go on. So try not to disconnect a complete
0:03:01.120,0:03:05.360
thought, which which you're doing a pretty good
job with. You're doing okay on that. So Tom, what
0:03:05.360,0:03:11.200
was your motivation and rationale for becoming
involved with the William Collection and Festival?
0:03:12.480,0:03:20.880
You know, I never met William. And yet, as a
youth in Independence, I would frequently walk
0:03:20.880,0:03:27.280
by the Mayan home and his home on my way to see
my scout master, Fred Fuller, who lived just over
0:03:27.280,0:03:33.760
in Westminster. And over that years, I visited
many of the same places that he wrote about the
0:03:33.760,0:03:40.960
dam and the Vertigus River, the park and the river
and the floats, and also the Niaala celebration.
0:03:40.960,0:03:48.320
So while I never met William, I actually shared
some of the same visions and I hoped that maybe
0:03:48.320,0:03:55.520
through the ING project I could help bring
the world to independence much as showed the
0:03:55.520,0:04:02.720
world about independence. Okay, that's a good
one. Let's try another pass. You had a little
0:04:02.720,0:04:08.160
longer one previously, so let's try the little
longer one. You want to catch that door, too, J?
0:04:08.160,0:04:21.440
Again, I like your start. Uh, you know, the wall
I never met. I like that part. Tom, what was your
0:04:21.440,0:04:28.320
motivation or rationale for becoming involved
with the William Inch collection and festival?
0:04:28.320,0:04:35.520
You know, I never met William Inch, but as a youth
growing up in Independence, I would frequently go
0:04:35.520,0:04:42.880
by the Mayan home, his own home on Fourth Street
on my way down to see my scoutmaster who lived
0:04:42.880,0:04:48.720
just around the corner. And as I was growing up,
we used to play army and go over the hills and
0:04:48.720,0:04:55.360
the dales down by the Vertigus Dam, which he so
eloquently described in Splender in the Grass.
0:04:55.360,0:05:02.240
And also we could fantasize about the float of
Queen Nila coming down on Labor Day activities
0:05:02.240,0:05:11.840
as pictured in picnic. So in a way though I never
met him I somewhat knew him and I appreciated very
0:05:11.840,0:05:19.680
much his desire to show independence to the world.
And when I joined the faculty in independence in
0:05:19.680,0:05:28.080
1970 and this opportunity arose, I felt maybe
this would be an opportunity to show the world
0:05:28.080,0:05:36.400
independence. Good. Okay. And I like your hold
on the camera at the end. Okay. Let's go on to
0:05:36.400,0:05:44.400
um what role did Helen Helen Helen?
Okay. Helen Helen Connell. What role
0:05:44.400,0:05:48.400
did Helen Inge Connell play in the creation of the
0:05:48.400,0:05:57.280
festival? Let me re rephrase that. What role
did Helen In Connell play in the creation of the
0:05:57.280,0:06:08.080
collection and the festival? Helen was certainly
the key to everything about the collection and
0:06:08.080,0:06:15.040
most importantly the festival. Without her
giving the blessings for the collection to go
0:06:15.040,0:06:23.040
to independence, there would not be the inch
collection. More importantly, the quality of
0:06:23.040,0:06:33.600
the festival is a reflection of Helen's wonderful
desire for parties and special events. It was my
0:06:33.600,0:06:39.520
pleasure from when she first arrived independence
in 1977 for the inch dedication to help her plan
0:06:39.520,0:06:46.080
parties. I went with her to a grand opening and a
cast party in Los Angeles for a picnic production
0:06:46.080,0:06:52.080
in 1986. Went to other special dinners around
Independence. And I know how much she really
0:06:52.080,0:06:59.760
loved having parties and hosting parties and
participating in parties. And so that feeling
0:06:59.760,0:07:06.400
of having parties and participation and hosting
became a real part of the inch festival. So, not
0:07:06.400,0:07:12.960
only was she exceedingly important and the most
critical person in fact in Independence receiving
0:07:12.960,0:07:21.600
the collection, she was more important in terms
of adding a tone that made the inch festival very
0:07:21.600,0:07:34.320
special. So, kind of a shot. Okay. Pull back
just a little bit for me, J. That's good. Okay.
0:07:35.760,0:07:38.960
Tom Helen Inconnell was very
important in the creation of
0:07:38.960,0:07:41.280
the collection and festival.
What memories do you have of
0:07:41.280,0:07:52.960
that? Well, Helen was the key to everything. She
was a wonderful woman, very appreciative of her
0:07:52.960,0:07:57.680
brother Bill, but also very appreciative
of the community of independence,
0:07:57.680,0:08:07.520
an appreciator of the arts, and a very bright
woman. Helen became my friend and a friend to
0:08:07.520,0:08:12.560
many in Independence again. Though she had not
been back to independence for many years prior
0:08:12.560,0:08:19.920
to her arrival in 1977, the dedication of the
age theater. She renewed many acquaintances.
0:08:19.920,0:08:26.080
The things that were special about Helen
was her appreciation of history and more
0:08:26.080,0:08:38.000
importantly appreciation of a social life that
reflected parties and hosting and good taste that
0:08:38.000,0:08:45.840
became so much a part of the atmosphere
and environment for the inch festival.
0:08:46.720,0:08:53.040
So that part of it is where Helen's contribution
I besize her contribution financially contribution
0:08:53.040,0:09:00.400
of the collection. Uh without winning Helen
over uh we would not have the inch festival
0:09:00.400,0:09:10.800
today. Okay. I think there's a good one
between those two. Um what did you perceive
0:09:10.800,0:09:14.960
uh stay on that chat? I like that shot.
What did you perceive as the greatest
0:09:14.960,0:09:19.040
challenges in developing the collection and
having it reside at Independence Community
0:09:19.040,0:09:33.680
College? I had a lot to learn about the theater
and about preserving works and even academic
0:09:33.680,0:09:38.960
value of works. After all, I was the assistant
dean of instruction and my most notable task
0:09:38.960,0:09:48.080
was being athletic director. So I was blessed
by having a lot of good professional counsel
0:09:48.080,0:09:58.560
uh for a very naive young man at that time working
on a very big project when we first received the
0:09:58.560,0:10:06.400
gift of library and later his record collection
which had been added on to a couple of other
0:10:06.400,0:10:14.960
uh gifts that Mr. Strange himself had given to the
college before he passed away. We invited actually
0:10:14.960,0:10:20.000
through a grant from the National Endowment for
the Humanities three scholars uh to come visit
0:10:20.000,0:10:28.720
us and one was Gene Degus from Pittsburgh State
University. Uh one was Art Mccclure, historian
0:10:28.720,0:10:34.240
from Central Missouri State University and Jackson
Brier from the University of Maryland who had the
0:10:34.240,0:10:40.000
closest ties to the National Endowment for the
Humanities. and they came out to evaluate what we
0:10:40.000,0:10:46.000
had because the National Endowment of Humanities
did not know if it was of academic value or not
0:10:46.000,0:10:53.840
worth preserving for which we had requested
money for a grant to do. When they arrived,
0:10:53.840,0:11:01.280
they began to educate me about what would make the
collection most valuable. And the first question
0:11:01.280,0:11:09.520
they said you have to determine, Tom, is what's
out there and who has it. So, in one way that was
0:11:09.520,0:11:15.840
a great opportunity for me because that gave me
an opportunity to go to New York and visit with
0:11:15.840,0:11:21.600
Dorothy Swerlo at the Billy Rose collection at
Lincoln Center, which I had been told was one of
0:11:21.600,0:11:27.920
the largest gathering spots for information about
the theater. And so, I reviewed everything they
0:11:27.920,0:11:35.120
had and William and his plays and the editorials
and everything else about it. Then I went to the
0:11:35.120,0:11:42.000
Library of Congress Madison building a couple
of days seeing what was registered by INGE that
0:11:42.000,0:11:48.720
location and then I went to the University of
Kansas which was an alumnest at that university
0:11:48.720,0:11:54.720
as well as Independence Community College and
discovered that they had some manuscripts and
0:11:54.720,0:12:02.800
they actually had the Oscar that he had won for
Splender in the Grass but it was kept in a basket
0:12:02.800,0:12:07.920
cage down the bottom of the research Arch library
except for the Oscar. It was actually in a desk
0:12:07.920,0:12:14.320
drawer in the theater department, not properly
displayed at all. This information helped me as
0:12:14.320,0:12:24.320
I began visiting with the family. And in my visits
to Haleem and out at Lagona Hills in California,
0:12:24.320,0:12:30.960
uh I became aware of what other possibilities
might exist that we could, should we say,
0:12:30.960,0:12:38.400
inherit or could be donated to Independence to
make a full collection. And that was impressive
0:12:38.400,0:12:47.360
because she had control of not only a lot of his
correspondence and other information, but she had
0:12:47.360,0:12:54.880
the manuscripts. And one of the unique things
about Bill Lynn was the way he did his writing.
0:12:54.880,0:13:03.600
He started all of his works with a short story,
generally two and a half pages. And then because
0:13:03.600,0:13:10.640
she had the works and she was with a collector and
maintained those, a scholar could go in and see
0:13:10.640,0:13:17.360
all of the versions from starting from the short
story of two and a half pages into a one act, two
0:13:17.360,0:13:23.280
acts, and sometimes three-act play. and even with
Splender in the Grass for which he won an Academy
0:13:23.280,0:13:30.880
Award watching how that story started from a very
short story moved on to Million-Dollar Baby and
0:13:30.880,0:13:36.720
eventually into the title Splender in the Grass.
They could also see the changes in the endings
0:13:36.720,0:13:45.520
and infrequently was encouraged by Josh Logan and
other people to change endings in major works such
0:13:45.520,0:13:55.440
as Picnic. uh in didn't like that frequently
but commercially there was very good advice
0:13:55.440,0:14:01.600
and so you can see where he actually changed the
ending of picnic significantly. You can see where
0:14:01.600,0:14:10.800
in earlier version of bus stop uh the professor
was uh actually killed but in the final version
0:14:10.800,0:14:20.160
of bus stop professor just moves on. So for the
scholar to understand that and is important but we
0:14:20.160,0:14:27.680
also had the library his own personal library and
so on the versions of the scripts then he would
0:14:27.680,0:14:34.640
sometimes make notations from a book he had read
or describing a character that he wanted some of
0:14:34.640,0:14:44.720
the traits of that character to be embedded in
his particular plays. So that was important to
0:14:44.720,0:14:51.040
from what I was told to the scholars. The
challenge was keeping the collection from
0:14:51.040,0:14:58.240
going to the University of Kansas or University of
California Irvine where had served as an adjunct
0:14:58.240,0:15:06.400
faculty member in later years of his career.
And so the challenge I had was convincing Joan
0:15:06.400,0:15:15.120
Kersmeer's niece Jim Aan his nephew and Luther but
most importantly Helen that Independence Community
0:15:15.120,0:15:22.480
College is where that collection should reside
once I learn its depths and what that collection
0:15:22.480,0:15:32.400
would mean to scholars. And so I had to work very
hard to convince the family that independence
0:15:32.400,0:15:40.960
cared and would be good custodians. But there were
a couple of challenges. One was in the middle of
0:15:40.960,0:15:47.520
the negotiations with the family, the state
legislature had made a major effort to merge
0:15:47.520,0:15:52.560
Independence Community College with Coffeeville
Community College and which would somewhat take
0:15:52.560,0:15:59.840
away the possibility of the collection staying in
Independence. So, I had to work out an agreement
0:15:59.840,0:16:06.400
with the Independence Library uh board that in the
event that Independence Community College ceased
0:16:06.400,0:16:11.840
to exist, the collection, they would receive and
maintain the collection. And through the efforts
0:16:11.840,0:16:19.440
of Tim Emert, we were able to solidify uh that
agreement. And that was a key to the family as
0:16:19.440,0:16:25.920
far as my argument that the collection should
come to independence and stay in independence.
0:16:28.000,0:16:32.080
Okay, that one's pretty long. I need to chop that
question up if we need all those pieces of it. Um,
0:16:32.080,0:16:36.320
well, that's that's important part of the story.
Let me go back to asking it in several pieces
0:16:36.320,0:16:39.120
though so that they can edit it together
as well as possible because I think that's
0:16:39.120,0:16:44.080
something they'll want to take, but they'll want
to um they'll want to find a whole encapsulation
0:16:44.080,0:16:50.400
of it probably at one piece. So, let me ask it
in a couple of pieces. First, what and I'm tell
0:16:50.400,0:16:54.480
you what the questions are. First, what did
you perceive as the greatest challenges? two,
0:16:54.480,0:16:58.400
how did you approach the challenges? And three,
what was the ultimate outcome of the process? So
0:16:58.400,0:17:02.720
answer them, answer each of those in a complete
thought, if you will. So the first question is,
0:17:02.720,0:17:06.400
what did you perceive as the greatest challenges
in developing the collection? And how did you
0:17:06.400,0:17:14.880
plan to proceed? The first challenge from what our
consultants and friends Jackson Brier, Gene Grusen
0:17:14.880,0:17:21.040
from Pittsburgh State University, and historian
Art Mccclure informed me was to find out what
0:17:21.040,0:17:28.880
was out there. that what did independents have
compared to what existed in New York, Los Angeles,
0:17:28.880,0:17:35.840
University of Kansas. So the first challenge
was to go out and survey uh what holdings other
0:17:35.840,0:17:46.560
museums, research libraries had. So I went to
visit with Dorothy Swordlo at the m What is it?
0:17:46.560,0:17:52.960
Okay, we'll start again. We switch. It's the Billy
Rose collection. God. Okay. So um cover it as
0:17:52.960,0:17:56.960
far as what were your challenges? Those were the
challenges and so I plan to go several places and
0:17:56.960,0:18:00.800
look at what they had basically. Then let me tell
you okay then let me I'll do it this way. I'll do
0:18:00.800,0:18:08.560
I'll talk about three challenges. The biggest
challenge and one will be identifying what was
0:18:08.560,0:18:20.240
out there at other locations. Two was convincing
the family to donate it to Independence. resigned
0:18:20.240,0:18:27.440
independence and then three uh making sure that
it remained in independence. Okay. So those those
0:18:27.440,0:18:32.800
three pieces of it and be sure and tell the story
about the um the u the award in the drawer. That's
0:18:32.800,0:18:37.440
a good you know anecdote to have as a part of it.
Well I think we'll go back and we'll talk about
0:18:37.440,0:18:41.440
and remember to give them a complete thought
each time. Um what's the greatest challenge in
0:18:41.440,0:18:44.720
developing the collection? The greatest challenge
in developing the collection was I thought that
0:18:44.720,0:18:50.320
we would have to whatever. So, um, tell me,
uh, Tom, what the greatest challenges were in
0:18:50.320,0:18:56.000
developing the collection and ultimately having
it reside at Independence Community College.
0:18:56.960,0:19:02.400
Well, with the assistance of three consultants
that were sponsored on a grant from the National
0:19:02.400,0:19:12.720
Endowment for the Humanities, Gene Grusen, Art
Mccclure, and Jackson Brier. They pointed out that
0:19:12.720,0:19:20.160
my challenge number one was to determine what's
out there. What could the collection contain?
0:19:20.160,0:19:29.840
What did other sites have? Second challenge was to
convince the family that the collection whatever
0:19:29.840,0:19:36.160
it was belonged in Independence and it's part
of Independence Community College and not at
0:19:36.160,0:19:45.280
the research university of Kansas or some other
research university. And thirdly, I had to worry
0:19:45.280,0:19:52.240
about the protecting the fact that it would remain
an independence regardless if there were any
0:19:52.240,0:19:56.800
reorganizations. How did you proceed on the first
0:19:56.800,0:20:00.000
challenge of figuring out what
was available for the collection?
0:20:04.080,0:20:10.800
Initially, based on the advice of the consultants,
I went to visit with Dorothy Swordlo at the Billy
0:20:10.800,0:20:15.760
Rose collection, Lincoln Center in New York
City. As they had indicated, it was the central
0:20:15.760,0:20:21.440
gathering spot for most things related to the
theater. So, I reviewed that collection. Then,
0:20:21.440,0:20:28.960
I went to the Library of Congress to see what
had been registered in that location by Mr. Inge.
0:20:28.960,0:20:34.160
And then I went to the University of Kansas
and discovered that while they had some of
0:20:34.160,0:20:40.080
Ina's original manuscripts, they were in a wire
basket. And the fact that the Oscar that he had
0:20:40.080,0:20:45.520
won for Splinter in the Grass was sitting
in the middle drawer of a professor over
0:20:45.520,0:20:53.920
in the fine arts division. Finally, uh we
went out to the west coast to discover if
0:20:53.920,0:20:59.360
there was anything in California at the
University of California, Irvine or UCLA,
0:20:59.360,0:21:05.600
uh which was significant that we did not
know about. Eventually, what we did not know,
0:21:05.600,0:21:11.600
but we found out was that almost everything
of significance was still within the
0:21:11.600,0:21:24.960
uh possession of the family. Okay. So then u based
on making these discoveries, how did you proceed?
0:21:24.960,0:21:30.720
I needed to put on a I don't like that. Um
and give me a give me a reintro as if they
0:21:30.720,0:21:35.920
hadn't heard that question because this may
cut in later. Okay. So after you discovered
0:21:35.920,0:21:39.920
that there were a number of things available,
what was your game plan? How did you proceed to
0:21:39.920,0:21:47.920
build the collection? Our strategy for bringing
the collection independence was to give convince
0:21:47.920,0:21:59.040
the family that this is where Bill's collection
belonged and that the community really cared and
0:21:59.040,0:22:06.560
would foster a very positive environment for the
collection. Encourage scholars to come view the
0:22:06.560,0:22:15.520
collection and make it a source of pride for those
growing up in the community. To do that, we had
0:22:15.520,0:22:25.520
to make sure that what we offered could be
sustained. As there was discussion at the
0:22:25.520,0:22:31.440
time of our solicitation to the family of the
possibility of abolishing the community college
0:22:31.440,0:22:39.680
and merging it with another community college.
So it required that I obtain an agreement from
0:22:39.680,0:22:45.680
the local independence library board that they
would accept the collection and the eventuality
0:22:45.680,0:22:50.960
that Independence Community College would cease
to exist. So it was a legal challenge that we
0:22:50.960,0:22:56.960
had to face. So I wanted to be able to tell the
family yes there would be always a home for the
0:22:56.960,0:23:03.200
inch collection and independence. Let me hold you
there. I think that's a good stopping point. Uh
0:23:03.200,0:23:07.120
what was our third point? Do we have a third
point to bring up? You had three pieces of it,
0:23:07.120,0:23:10.960
but I think we've got it covered completely
there, right? With that. Yeah. Okay. Well,
0:23:10.960,0:23:20.080
I want to go on and tell a story about how
we knew we were successful. Okay. So, um,
0:23:20.080,0:23:28.160
as this came together, what told you
that this was going to be successful?
0:23:28.160,0:23:37.200
on a visit to New York seeking funds for
the preservation of what had already been
0:23:37.200,0:23:43.920
donated. We were still working hard to
get the total collection and I wasn't
0:23:43.920,0:23:51.120
quite sure exactly everything existed. I had
only seen portions of that which Helen had
0:23:51.120,0:23:59.280
in her garage on Laguna Hills. But I had been
invited to go to see Bridget Ashenberg who was
0:23:59.280,0:24:07.120
India's literary agent in New York. And she had
been told I was coming. And so she says, "Oh,
0:24:07.120,0:24:14.320
here's a study room. I've been told to let you
see everything that we have of Bill Lynches."
0:24:14.320,0:24:20.480
I was absolutely amazed because in her group
was everything that Bill had ever submitted to
0:24:20.480,0:24:28.000
her for possible expansion into plays, short
stories, different versions that I had never
0:24:28.000,0:24:35.920
seen before and I'm just absolutely fascinated. It
was uh a person like in a candy land toy land just
0:24:35.920,0:24:41.040
looking at it. And so finally around 4:00 she
says, "Oh, don't worry about it. you're gonna
0:24:41.040,0:24:45.840
be able to spend more time with these because
Helen has told me that I could ship these to
0:24:45.840,0:24:52.160
the your college. And that was the first time
that we knew that the family really had blessed
0:24:52.160,0:24:59.600
us and that we were going to receive the entire
collection that they had in their possession.
0:24:59.600,0:25:06.000
Okay. I want to go back to the point about um
Billing had a very unique way of working. What
0:25:06.000,0:25:15.440
did you discover about that unique way of working
as some of the manuscript content came together?
0:25:15.440,0:25:19.440
Hang on for a second. Let's go to
a little tighter shot here. So,
0:25:19.440,0:25:24.640
he had pieces of everything started as a
short story went into a play and so forth.
0:25:26.960,0:25:37.360
Once I was able to see the bulk of the inch
collection, what fascinated me was the way
0:25:37.360,0:25:47.200
he worked and the fact that he started with a two
and a half page short story and then kept growing
0:25:47.200,0:25:53.840
that short story into a one-act play, into a
two-act play, and sometimes into a threeact play.
0:25:54.400,0:26:00.320
Even Splender in the Grass uh started as
a very much a short story though it was
0:26:00.320,0:26:08.480
always designed as a screenplay and it's that
capacity for the scholar to come in and observe
0:26:08.480,0:26:15.120
the growth of the work. John Connelly,
his one of his literary secretaries,
0:26:15.120,0:26:22.960
used to say that in would commit to working
no more than generally two pages a day on a
0:26:22.960,0:26:31.200
script. But John said those two pages never
needed to be edited. He was a perfectionist.
0:26:31.760,0:26:42.000
He also had a unique talent in hearing dialogue
and he could remember a conversation that had
0:26:42.000,0:26:47.600
been said 50 years ago with the exact tone for a
character that he was replicating in one of his
0:26:47.600,0:26:59.440
plays. Those factors added to the written word
make the collection exceptional for scholars.
0:26:59.440,0:27:04.960
Okay, that was a good piece.
Um, what was Jerry Lawrence's
0:27:04.960,0:27:11.760
the playwright Jerry Lawrence's role
in the development of the festival?
0:27:11.760,0:27:19.920
Without Jerry Lawrence, there would be no festival
as part of the collection. Certainly not at the
0:27:19.920,0:27:29.360
level that it has grown to uh today. One of
the challenges we had once we started having
0:27:29.360,0:27:36.720
the money to have the collection preserved and
begin publicize it is that we felt we needed a
0:27:36.720,0:27:44.320
vehicle to attract people to come see it and use
it. And at that time a couple of colleges and
0:27:44.320,0:27:49.520
particularly in Kentucky had received quite a bit
of publicity from Time magazine about they were
0:27:49.520,0:27:56.080
doing uh writers theater writers festivals and
encouraging people young people to come in and
0:27:56.080,0:28:01.280
uh write their plays and also produce their
plays and they would have a series of plays. So,
0:28:01.280,0:28:09.840
one of my visits to the West Coast, uh Jerry
invited me to come by his place in Malibu and
0:28:09.840,0:28:16.800
uh to talk about what he might do to to help the
collection and help the the college in general
0:28:16.800,0:28:25.760
promote the collection. So, walked into this very
beautiful home uh overlooking Malibu. It was sort
0:28:25.760,0:28:33.680
of a fascinating home. It was sort of redwood
in color, but embedded in the home was a room
0:28:33.680,0:28:40.800
in which the had a very large piano and it was
sort of soundproofed. And it turned out that when
0:28:40.800,0:28:47.440
they had the composers come out and help write
Maim and some of their other musical related,
0:28:47.440,0:28:53.360
they composers frequently wanted to stay up late
at night. And so they would uh he decided to build
0:28:53.360,0:28:58.720
a room that was soundproof so that the composers
could continue to work and he would hear what was
0:28:58.720,0:29:03.680
being played next morning at breakfast, but he
didn't want to hear it at midnight. That aside,
0:29:03.680,0:29:11.120
Jerry, when I suggested to him that uh the
idea of doing a a theater festival uh where
0:29:11.120,0:29:14.960
we brought in young playwrights and we would
teach them and let them see the collection and
0:29:14.960,0:29:20.880
everything what you know how different artists,
you know, created. He said, "Oh, no." He says,
0:29:20.880,0:29:25.280
"That's that's something that uh there are other
people doing that." Said, "I think you need to do
0:29:25.280,0:29:32.080
something different and new." I said, "Well, what
might that be?" He says, "Do you know that in the
0:29:32.080,0:29:41.760
United States there's no recognition of American
playrs per se?" And I said, "No, I didn't know
0:29:41.760,0:29:50.960
that." He said, "Yes, nobody recognizes us for our
lifetime achievement." He said, "The Kenny Center
0:29:50.960,0:30:00.160
does sometimes, but not on a regular basis."
And I said, "Well, would you help us in bringing
0:30:00.160,0:30:10.240
playwrights to independence?" He says, "Yes,
I'll do that." And Jerry was good to his word.
0:30:10.240,0:30:17.520
And I have no idea what he must have told David
Lavine, who was the executive director of the
0:30:17.520,0:30:24.000
Dramas Guild in New York City, when he called him
up and said, "David, I think that we should as a
0:30:24.000,0:30:30.880
Dramatist Guild uh have one of our members be
honored at Independence Community College each
0:30:30.880,0:30:39.760
year uh for lifetime achievement in theater." And
David is educated at Harvard and Columbia. And
0:30:39.760,0:30:46.480
I could just imagine he saying,"Jerry, how much
have you had to drink today because of such a wild
0:30:46.480,0:30:55.040
idea?" But eventually, David Lavine bought into
it. And between the influence of Jerome Lawrence
0:30:55.040,0:31:03.440
and David Lavine, virtually every major playwright
of the 20th century who was alive when we started
0:31:03.440,0:31:11.840
the festival uh have been so honored and that's
because of Jerry Lawrence's commitment to the
0:31:11.840,0:31:18.160
festival along with the strong support of David
de Javine and the Drama Guild of New York City.
0:31:19.200,0:31:25.200
Okay, I'd like I like that one, but I'd like a
little shorter version of that. So, um, jump ahead
0:31:25.200,0:31:32.480
to set the scene for me of, uh, the composing
going on at midnight at Jerry Lawrence's place.
0:31:32.480,0:31:42.400
And, uh, from that, how did you get to Jerry's
influence of having the festival? Oh, trying
0:31:42.400,0:31:47.200
to think what the transition is. I I can cut out
that story. I just thought that was a No, I think
0:31:47.200,0:31:53.760
it's an interesting story because the house burned
down. Jerry Jerry Lawrence was an interesting guy
0:31:53.760,0:32:02.160
and was very influential in helping create
this festival. What was Jerry's influence?
0:32:04.960,0:32:11.280
Well, without the assistance
0:32:11.280,0:32:20.320
of Jerry Lawrence and David Lavine,
the executive director of the Drama
0:32:20.320,0:32:28.400
Guild in New York, we would not have the
William Inch Festival as we know it today.
0:32:29.920,0:32:34.640
As strange as it may seem, somebody on the
West Coast and somebody very in New York
0:32:34.640,0:32:45.840
City thinking that it was right and
proper that America's top dramatist
0:32:45.840,0:32:50.720
should be honored in a small town in Kansas must
0:32:50.720,0:32:58.080
have moved some very big people in New
York to question both of their wisdom.
0:33:01.040,0:33:08.880
And so Jerry was the one from an artistic
viewpoint who put the pressure on then David
0:33:08.880,0:33:16.080
as executive director of the drums guild more or
less got the compliance and everyone from Neil
0:33:16.080,0:33:26.720
Simon Arthur Miller uh been honored who are major
playwrights today. So without Jerry's commitment,
0:33:26.720,0:33:34.720
but I want to say that that wasn't the
original concept for the inch festival.
0:33:34.720,0:33:42.880
When I first visited him, I had in mind that we
might do a writer workshop and actually have a
0:33:42.880,0:33:49.360
theater festival of college students and high
school writers and that we would have a person
0:33:49.360,0:33:54.640
come in and critique their works, similar
to what is actually now being done under the
0:33:54.640,0:34:03.520
executive director Ellison. But that's not what
Jerome Lawrence thought was important. He noted
0:34:03.520,0:34:10.480
that America did not recognize on a regular
basis their outstanding playwrights for their
0:34:10.480,0:34:20.560
lifetime achievement and he thought the William
Festival could be the place for that to be done.
0:34:20.560,0:34:28.560
Okay, good. Um, what was Jackson Brier's role
in the in the development of the festival? Let
0:34:28.560,0:34:32.720
me rephrase that. A number of important people
contributed to the development of the festival.
0:34:32.720,0:34:40.560
What was Jackson Briar's role? Jackson Brier
frequently does not get the credit that he
0:34:40.560,0:34:48.480
deserves for bringing credibility to the festival.
Jackson, professor of English at the University of
0:34:48.480,0:34:57.440
Maryland and one of the first NE consultants that
I met with leaped at the opportunity to make it a
0:34:57.440,0:35:03.120
scholars conference for those in the fields of
English and drama and begin soliciting papers
0:35:03.120,0:35:12.400
even in the early years. It is the solicitation of
those papers about the honore or about that gave
0:35:12.400,0:35:19.600
some academic clout to the festival coming from
a four-year university that we as a community
0:35:19.600,0:35:27.120
college could never do. It also had the appeal
that David Lavine uh could make to the artist
0:35:27.120,0:35:33.600
or the dramatist that's being honored to hear
and comment on what scholars around the country
0:35:33.600,0:35:42.080
had written about them. and in some depth. So
those papers that Jackson has juried over the
0:35:42.080,0:35:53.600
years on the wide range of dramatists that have
been honored uh serves as a major foundation for
0:35:53.600,0:36:03.360
the academic credibility of the festival not only
with academ but also in the theatrical community.
0:36:04.720,0:36:13.280
Okay. Um, anything else you want to add
to that one? That seemed complete. Okay.
0:36:13.280,0:36:19.120
Margaret Goen was enormously successful
in producing the Ine Festival. Why was
0:36:19.120,0:36:30.800
that? After I visited with Jerry
Lawrence and returned to independence,
0:36:30.800,0:36:37.440
I told Margaret Gohane about his
idea for honoring a playwright,
0:36:37.440,0:36:46.320
a major playwright each year. And I basically
said, Margaret, take it from there. For those
0:36:46.320,0:36:52.640
who have never had the privilege of working
with Margaret Gohane, she was an amazing woman.
0:36:54.000,0:37:04.000
She exuded class. She exuded presence, a very
bright person, a very charming person. And
0:37:04.000,0:37:10.960
I'm sure that when David Lavine first called
Independence and talked to Margaret Gohane.
0:37:10.960,0:37:16.400
That was the first indication that maybe this
festival thing could work. that here was somebody
0:37:16.400,0:37:22.560
they could relate to who knew the theater, who
knew some of the personalities in the theater,
0:37:22.560,0:37:29.520
but more importantly knew quality because she
was producing and could make a commitment as
0:37:29.520,0:37:35.520
to what the quality of the festival would be
from everything from Mike Woods productions
0:37:35.520,0:37:44.320
to stage settings uh to the entertainment to most
importantly the hospitality of the community. And
0:37:44.320,0:37:56.800
so Margaret's charm and presence, Margaret, for
those of us who were her students, we reveled in
0:37:56.800,0:38:06.720
her presence and probably do anything she
had asked us to. be it a person from Bill
0:38:06.720,0:38:15.440
Curtis to White Casten to the hundreds of
others students who she directed not only
0:38:15.440,0:38:23.520
in plays in the community college but also
in the community. a very special person and
0:38:23.520,0:38:29.120
she provided the leadership through her
charm that allowed the New Yorkers to
0:38:29.120,0:38:39.120
have confidence that if they sent their best
they would be wellreceived in independence.
0:38:39.120,0:38:47.520
Tom, as we summarize here, give me the name
of five things that happened or people that
0:38:47.520,0:38:53.360
were involved that you thought allowed
the progress of this project to become
0:38:53.360,0:39:00.560
successful. What what five things, three or
four or five things stand out in your mind?
0:39:04.240,0:39:14.800
One of the strengths of the festival has been
the ongoing loyalty of some of the early honores
0:39:14.800,0:39:22.800
most notably Robert Anderson, John Patrick and
Jerry Lawrence as they came back year after year
0:39:22.800,0:39:29.680
even after they had been honored and they would
speak to their colleagues so positively about the
0:39:29.680,0:39:37.360
experience that they had had in Independence
that others wanted to come and also some of
0:39:37.360,0:39:46.320
the major stars the stage who had worked in the
productions for Sonheim in the productions for
0:39:46.320,0:39:58.800
Ini so many who would come because they had heard
stories from others so it's that continuity of
0:39:58.800,0:40:06.880
loyalty of those individuals that help build
the festival reputation within the theatrical
0:40:06.880,0:40:15.680
community. Okay. Um what I'm looking
for now is to quickly run through the
0:40:15.680,0:40:20.720
names of a few folks that were tremendously
important to the process. So in retrospect,
0:40:20.720,0:40:23.280
as you think back to those years
of development of the project,
0:40:23.280,0:40:28.880
what what names come to mind of people that made a
major contribution to the success of the festival?
0:40:35.840,0:40:46.160
Looking historically at the development of the
festival, I'd have to start with the three NE
0:40:46.160,0:40:55.520
consultants, Art Mccclure, Jackson Brier, and
Gina Grusen, who provided us with the leadership.
0:40:56.560,0:41:03.120
I would also be remiss if I didn't acknowledge the
contributions of the ARCO Foundation providing us
0:41:03.120,0:41:10.560
the early monies to get the collection preserved.
But then there's the family. There's Helen in
0:41:10.560,0:41:21.040
Canel. There's Jim Maym. There's Luther. All
of them were important in the early years in
0:41:21.040,0:41:28.640
giving the blessings for the collection to come
to independence and stay there. Professionally
0:41:28.640,0:41:34.640
there were the agents such as Bridget Ashenberg.
There were the museum directors such as Dorothy
0:41:34.640,0:41:40.240
Swerdllove who frequently referred scholars who
came to the Bill collection. You should go to
0:41:40.240,0:41:49.040
Independence Kansas to see study another artist
and what's available. Certainly Jerry Lawrence,
0:41:49.040,0:41:58.400
David Lavine, they made such a big difference
in shaping the festival and what went on. And
0:41:58.400,0:42:06.720
picking up that work obviously is Mike Woods
who did so many of the presentations which the
0:42:06.720,0:42:14.720
dramatist so much appreciated for their quality.
And that led into Margaret Gohane and the citizens
0:42:14.720,0:42:21.360
committee led by Christine Callahan and the
faculty Del Singleton the librarian so many
0:42:21.360,0:42:28.320
other supporters Dorothy Olam and others who
and the staff who helped promote the festival
0:42:28.320,0:42:35.760
and worked hours upon hours to make it happen. And
then after the festival started, certainly Jodie
0:42:35.760,0:42:44.400
McDow and the energy she brought to the project in
energizing the community uh to support it and also
0:42:44.400,0:42:51.760
generating more contributions uh to the festival.
And there's so many others in the community that
0:42:51.760,0:43:00.560
I've probably forgotten their names, but they
made it special and made it what it is today.
0:43:00.560,0:43:03.360
Okay, good. Anything else you want?
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