More Press; Newport in New York

Producer/writer G. Wayne Miller wrote a piece about narrative storytelling on the page and on the screen for DocumentaryTech, a web site devoted to "exploring the techniques and technology of documentary filmmaking," Sept. 25, 2009. BEHIND THE HEDGEROW was prominently included, along with a photograph of an on-location shoot of prominent Newporter Nick Brown.

The Providence Phoenix published a story about A VERY DIFFERENT SENATOR, Miller's forthcoming biography of Claiborne Pell, in its issue of Sept. 24, 2009, and HEDGEROW was included.

The biography brought Miller over the past weekend to Fort Ticonderoga in New York, which has been in Pell family hands since 1820 -- a place dear to Claiborne's heart. Pictured here is Robert Pell-deChame, family genealogist, with one of the fort's canons -- donated, Robert told me, by John Slocum, Eileen's husband. Small world...

A VERY DIFFERENT SENATOR

Pell was a railroad buff -- and a visionary of high-speed passenger-rail service in the United States, which after the Second World War developed an interstate highway system but allowed passenger rail to suffer. In this clip from the projo, spring of 1962, Pell gets a favorable reaction to his plan for high-speed rail, run by a public entity, to serve the Northeast corridor. Yes, this is the root of today's Acela Amtrak service. Note the map!
For more on the Pell Biography, visit A VERY DIFFERENT SENATOR.

Claiborne Pell Biography

With 36 years in the U.S. Senate and a long list of legislative accomplishments that included the Pell Grant program, the late Claiborne Pell had few equals. But he was much more than that -- a quirky and colorful man born into great wealth who spent most of his life in service to the people, a true example of noblesse oblige. A VERY DIFFERENT SENATOR (working title), by G. Wayne Miller with the cooperation of the Pell family, is the first and only book about his life. Due in 2010.

For details, visit the book site.