It is December 2009 and unbelievably we've been working on this film for more than five years. I could say a lot about the pains, delays and false hope that this project has weathered, but in this season of hope I'd rather think about the coming year. With determined effort we are making progress. I can pretty confidently say that one way or another, the film will be finished in 2010, screened and hopefully broadcast.
I happened on a classic photo of Sandburg and his brother-in-law Edward Steichen by Len Stechler and it beautifully captures the optimism they shared. Well into their eighties they were creating, dreaming and still working toward ideas that were not selfish. Ideas of understanding, like The Family of Man exhibit that took these two icons to what was then the Soviet Union in the midst of the Cold War. There they talked, they sang, they shared the ideas of common brotherhood of man.
Where are the Sandburgs and Steichens today? Who are the American icons of thought and courage in this time of global and national crisis to go beyond themselves?
I believe in this film and I believe that we must look to the past for some guidance through the storms of today. I wish you all the best this December and the courage to press on.
