Simple Living with Wanda Urbanska

Wanda's Diary Entries

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Earlier this month, I spent a few days in Tucscon attending the American Public Television (APT) annual programmers’ meeting. This meeting is an opportunity to mingle with those folks who are all-important to independent producers like me—the individuals who arrange the public television schedules in their local markets. Over coffee or margaritas, you can quiz them about what they’re hearing from viewers, what suggestions they have for your show, and talk shop generally. You can also do what we humans do best, enjoy experiencing moments together, admiring sunsets, watching ducks move on the swimming pool, discussing traffic snarls in and out of the airport.

The meeting is held for programmers, but producers, distributors, station relations reps, staffers from APT and others are welcome. We’re all feted with gift bags (in this case, a gift backpack), filled to the brim with dvds of new programs, books, luggage tags, inventive goodies designed to catch the eye and promote one’s program with the eyeballs that matter most—the programmer who makes the selections.

Simple Living’s “goodie” offering this year was our reusable grocery bag, meant to take the place of throwaway plastic bags which are clogging our landfills, cluttering our landscape (especially here in the litter-happy South) and consuming valuable resources in their production. (One programmer already emailed me that the Simple Living bag was her hands-down favorite APT freebie this year.)

What I find so amazing as the years pass is that these annual gatherings come round again so quickly. Has it really been a year since I last broke bread with Zvi? And where is his good buddy Bill this year? I had several wonderful conversations—one about peculiar weather patterns in North Dakota with Steve, whom I’d met several conventions ago; several others with Bruce, a new friend from the Big Apple with whom I have much in common—we seem to share not only an age cohort but a sensibility. It was wonderful to see others like Cyndy and Nancy happily adjusting to new jobs in the West. And I was touched by the chivalry of John from Richmond who was going to do battle with that pestering bee on my behalf should he come round again. (This, after I confessed my severe allergy to him on the bee’s first buzz-round.)

This year, I not only rubbed elbows, but had fun. My last morning in Tucson, I enjoyed a lovely outdoor breakfast hosted by PBS station WNED in Buffalo/Toronto, promoting a stand-alone special they’re presenting called “Demystifying Dyslexia,” hosted by Bruce Jenner.

Anyone who follows Olympic lore knows this Gold Medalist’s name; and if you grew up in the ‘70s, like I did, you would probably recognize Bruce Jenner as the heartthrob all females followed with great interest. But here he is 30 years later, still trim, athletic and engaging, now the father of 10….

Clearly no newcomer to the podium, Bruce spoke about his own struggle with dyslexia and stated unequivocally that had he not suffered from dyslexia, he would never have become a champion athlete. In elementary school, he didn’t excel at reading and writing was a challenge, but in 5th grade, he ran the fastest sprint in school—an event that changed his life forever. At that moment, he committed himself to athletics. “Once you decide what you want in life,” he said, “everything changes.”

He said that when he speaks to children, he tells them to “gamble, cheat, lie and steal. Gamble: dare to take risks; cheat those who’d have you be less than who you are; steal every moment you can; live every day as if it were your last; lie with those you love. Hold them in your arms every time you can.”

Those inspiring words stayed with me on my way back to Charlotte. So did memories of Tucson and the realization that next year’s meeting will be here before you know it. I’d better grab every moment I can and live it to the fullest.