The Eye of the Beholder

The pleasant sounding voice at the other end of the phone identified himself as Eric Cain, a producer at Oregon Public Broadcasting.  He was working on a show about the history of the oyster industry and “several people” had recommended that he talk with me.  We agreed upon a date that he would be in Oysterville and, meanwhile, I suggested he take a look at my Oysterville book, thinking he could probably get whatever he needed from that.
The date came and went but Eric didn’t arrive.  He telephoned the next day to say that he had interviewed several other people on the peninsula, but he hadn’t found me home.  As it turned out, he had gone to the wrong house, so he rescheduled his visit for yesterday.  I remained vague about what he needed from me, but when the van pulled up and two men and an inordinate amount of equipment emerged, the penny dropped.  The plan was to televise me!  Oh my!
I was in the midst of getting ready for six dinner guests. I was dressed in my usual old shirt and levis; my hair was sticky-outy; I wasn’t wearing lipstick; I hadn’t prepared.  “You’re fine,” Eric reassured me and cameraman Todd proceeded to rearrange the library a bit, find a chair that wouldn’t squeak, and set up cameras and lights, finding electrical outlets with professional aplomb.
Actually, the interview was painless – even enjoyable – which was a credit to Eric.  He was a master at his job and made me feel like I knew what I was talking about.  I hope the editors can rise to the occasion, as well, when they fine-tune the finished product!
It was all reminiscent (in a grown-up, digital world way) of a half-hour weekly cable TV show I had in the 70s in Hayward, California.  It was called “Teacher Talk” and ran five days a week for the benefit of teachers and parents of nearby local school districts.  As host of the show, I interviewed educators, legislators, and other folks on the hot educational topics of the day.  “Boring!” said one of my friends as I was describing it recently.
Not really.  It was filmed in a recording studio with “cutting edge” equipment by kids from the local high school.  As I remember, the two or three members of the crew were ‘cool’ and I was always highly nervous – filled with angst about whether I would remember to ask the right questions and, if I did, how my guests would react to them.  Week after week, I was reassured when I watched the program and saw myself looking and sounding calm, cool, and collected.
So, of course, my big concern now is:  since I wasn’t in the leastwise nervous yesterday, will I come off as a blithering idiot when the program is aired?  Fortunately, I’ll probably never know.  We don’t get OPB on our TV.  And, besides, I didn’t think to ask when the program would be on or even the name of it.  Duh!

UPDATE April, 2011:  Coming Soon