A Visit With Ken Burns

They’re on a different plane. They’re too cool for the rest of us, legends in their own minds. They’re aloof, self-absorbed, and supercilious. They’re all glitz and glitter with very little depth.

 

No doubt that assertion is true in many cases, but definitely not with Ken Burns.

 

Yes, that Ken Burns, the highly acclaimed historian and documentary filmmaker who visited Collegiate Thursday to speak to student groups from the Lower, Middle, and Upper Schools about his body of work, his motivation, and his passion for his calling.

 

Last night, at the culminating event of Collegiate’s Centennial celebration, he spoke on “Sharing the American Experience” at the Greater Richmond Convention Center.

 

His message to our students in the Oates Theater was clear, meaningful, relevant, and profound.

 

“The ultimate message, the thing that it distills down, is the value of knowing your past,” he said several minutes before he took the stage. “You can’t possibly know where you are and, more importantly, where you’re going, if you don’t know where you’ve been. We live in a media culture in which we place an extraordinary amount of value on a disposable present. People think that they can be blissfully unaware of the historical ties that brought us to this moment. Or perhaps in a consumer’s society that they can be protected from the vicissitudes that inevitably visit everyone.  I’m there to say that when those vicissitudes hit, history can be a really important teacher and an important comfort.”

 

Burns arrived at the Hershey Center 30 minutes before his initial presentation. First came a round of introductions, hand-shaking, and photo-ops. What resonated immediately were his genuine, unpretentious, down-to-earth nature and free, easy manner with which he spoke to folks whom he was meeting for the first time. He’s friendly and unassuming. He looks you in the eye, repeats your name, and listens, a skill no doubt honed through 40 years of experience researching and presenting the stories of American life and culture. 

Call him “the humble celebrity.”

 

Burns’s audiences were treated to a montage of his classic work followed (by design) by relatively short talks because he felt that his greatest impact would come from interaction with our intrigued and curious students.

 

He shared that the secret to success in any field is really no secret: know who you are, know what you want to do, and persevere.

 

When asked about the most important person in American history, he cited three Presidents: George Washington, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. He also mentioned jazz musician Louis Armstrong for his artistic contributions, Jackie Robinson for courageously breaking the racial barrier in baseball, and Mark Twain for his literary excellence.

 

He spoke of his work depicting war and reflected upon the contradiction between the worst (man’s inhumanity to man) and the best (selflessness, self-sacrifice, and the willingness to die for one’s comrades and country).

 

When asked about his favorite parts of documentary making, he mentioned three elements: shooting the footage, editing to make it as good as it can be, and, “right now…answering your questions.”

 

He spoke of his inspiration. Just before he turned 12, his mother died after a long battle with cancer. Soon after, he watched his father shed tears as he watched a movie on television. He decided then and there, he related to become a filmmaker in order to tell stories and evoke emotions from viewers.

 

He spoke of his passion for his craft.

 

“You know,” he said, “I feel like I’ve got the best job in the country. You get up, and Friday isn’t a day of relief, and Monday isn’t a drudge. I work every day, and it’s always exciting. (Former President) Harry Truman said it best. ‘The only thing that’s new is the history you don’t know.’”

 

A native of Brooklyn, NY, and now a resident of Walpole, New Hampshire, Burns has produced a body of work which includes such classics as The Civil War, Baseball, Mark Twain, Jazz, The Roosevelts: An Intimate History, The Shakers: Hands to Work, Hearts to God, and The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer.

He was nominated for an Academy Award for Brooklyn Bridge and The Statue of Liberty. He’s won 10 Emmy Awards and received a lifetime achievement award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

 

His future projects include documentaries on Jackie Robinson, the Vietnam War, country music, and Ernest Hemingway.

 

“I’m a story teller,” he said, “and history is mostly made up of the word ‘story.’ The thing I like is to put my head on the pillow every night and feel like I’ve made a story better. There is a wonderful, evangelical dimension to this. It’s getting out into the world, talking to people, and exchanging views, particularly with young people. It’s really inspiriting for me.”

                                                -- Weldon Bradshaw