Posted by Jim Lichtman | Comments
In the early 1940’s, Norman Corwin was nearly as well known as Franklin Delano Roosevelt and much admired. Author Ray Bradbury calls Corwin, “...the greatest director, the greatest writer and the greatest producer in the history of radio. His brilliant dramas, fantasies, and documentaries reached into American homes – and across an ocean – as far as the radio could carry his words.”
However, what made Corwin’s work truly inspiring was that it could reach beyond a simple box in a room and command your attention. He could get you to imagine, feel, and, more importantly, think. “We Hold These Truths” was written to be a celebration of The Bill of Rights. But airing just eight days after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, it became a timely reminder of what the country stands for.
What follows is a story Norman told me regarding a simple principle.
“Years ago, while watching a baseball game on TV, I saw Orel Hershiser, pitching for the Dodgers, throw a fastball that hit a batter. The camera was on a close-up of Hershiser, and I could read his lips as he mouthed, ‘I’m sorry.’ The batter, taking first base, nodded to the pitcher in a friendly way, and the game went on.
“Just two words and I felt good about Hershiser and the batter and the game all at once. Only a common courtesy, but it made an impression striking enough for me to remember after many a summer.
“Look, let’s not kid ourselves. It would be foolish to hope that kindness, consideration, and compassion will right wrongs, heal wounds, keep the peace, and set the new millennium on course to recover from inherited ills. That would be asking a lot from even a heaven-sent methodology, and heaven is not in that business.
“But why linger?
“Why wait to begin planting seeds, however long they take to germinate? It took us 200-plus years to get into the straits we now occupy, and it may take us long again to get out, but there must be a beginning.
“It comes down to the value of exemplars, which can be either positive or negative, and it works like this: Because of the principle that a calm sea and a prosperous voyage do not make news but a shipwreck does, most circulated news is bad news. The badness of it is publicized, and the negative publicity attracts more of the same through imitation.
“But good can be as communicable and catching as evil, and this is where kindness and compassion come into play. So long as conscionable and caring people are around, so long as they are not muted or exiled, so long as they remain alert in thought and action, there is a chance for contagions of the right stuff, whereby democracy becomes no longer a choice of lesser evils, whereby the right to vote is not betrayed by staying away from the polls, whereby the freedoms of speech, assembly, religion, and dissent are never forsaken.”
Norman Corwin just turned 98 years old this May.
Happy Birthday, Norman!
|
Posted by Jim Lichtman | Comments
There’s a scene near the end of the 1999 movie “The Insider” where Jeff Wigand is watching his whistle-blowing interview on “60 Minutes” with his two daughters. During the interview, one of his daughters looks over at him and slowly smiles.
Between 1995 and 1996, Dr. Jeffrey Wigand lost his job, his house, his wife and for a time, his reputation – all in an effort to reveal the truth to the American public that the heads of the seven tobacco companies had lied to Congress when they testified that nicotine was not addictive, and that they never manipulated nicotine levels in cigarettes.
It’s been nine years since the release of “The Insider,” and more than twelve years since his “60 Minutes” interview with Mike Wallace.
What’s happened to Jeff Wigand since then is an amazing follow-up story of its own.
Currently living in Michigan, Jeff is an on-going consultant to both the Dutch and Finnish governments in their litigation against the tobacco industry.
He has helped city officials in Kansas City, Missouri pass an ordinance to make Kansas City smoke-free. As a result, the cities of Springfield and St. Louis are looking into similar legislation.
Jeff has received numerous awards and public recognition for his action in revealing tobacco company research and marketing practices and he continues his efforts to reduce teen tobacco use through the non-profit organization, SMOKE-FREE KIDS, which advocates against the use of tobacco products to elementary, middle and high-school kids, as well as colleges and post-graduate institutions of law, medicine, business management and education throughout the United States.
In addition to providing educational seminars, SMOKE-FREE KIDS also provides scientific and technical input to governmental organizations developing policy or regulating tobacco products (denormalization) and creating smoke-free environments, such as the Country of Canada, the city of New York, the World Health Organization (WHO), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In addition, expert testimony can be provided in tobacco litigation to further hold the industry accountable for its targeting of our children.
Jeff uses his knowledge about the tobacco industry and his teaching experience to educate others about the myriad issues concerning tobacco and the tobacco industry. He teaches children critical thinking and analysis skills that enable them to make better decisions and healthy choices regarding tobacco use. And he teaches adult students and policy makers about medical, scientific and technical aspects of tobacco science and chemistry.
When I interviewed him for a segment in my book, What Do You Stand For?, I asked him what motivated him to come forward. One day, he said, his young daughters asked why he worked for a tobacco company. He began asking himself that question which ultimately led to his very public disclosures.
I then asked, given the terrible personal consequences, would he do it again, would he still come forward with what he knew?
“In a heartbeat,” he said. “I have no rancor or regrets. I did what I thought was right and would do it again. Each of us should realize that we can make a difference.”
In that scene from “The Insider,” where he and his young daughters are watching his “60 Minutes” interview, we see Jeff Wigand, the father, look at his daughters. At that moment, one of his daughters turns towards him and smiles. It was in that moment that she recognized that her father was a hero.
To learn more about Jeff and Smoke-Free Kids, go to www.jeffreywigand.com.
|
