“Uncle Sam” Production Begins
Yesterday I met Uncle Sam in person for the first time. No camera. Just a visit to scout his home for the interview that will happen later this week. Uncle Sam is a dream subject. Not only is he captivating, he’s one of the kindest souls around. He shared some behind the scenes stories about the Uncle Sam artwork that dons his walls and lead me to his den where he had all 5 Uncle Sam regalia (ps- “regalia” is the proper term here, not costume) laid out, top hats and all. To my surprise, Uncle Sam pulled out 3 letters that were from Jacqueline Kennedy, Eleanor Roosevelt and the Queen of England. They were just a few of many who responded to his written request for their favorite recipes back in 1962. The recipes were later printed in a cookbook and sold for charity.
Today we spent the morning and greater part of the afternoon at The Patriot Ledger newspaper in Quincy, MA to choose the winner of the $500 Uncle Sam billboard contest. Uncle Sam maintains the 20×30 billboard in Quincy for $1500/month and promotes a different charity each month. For the first time, partnered with The Patriot Ledger, Uncle Sam opened up the slogan writing to the public. Entries were to be a maximum of seven words and capitalize on Quincy’s place in American history and evoke the cities connection with the Adam’s family. Uncle Sam and his wife, Jean Kenney, came up with the concept to coincide with the John Adams HBO series based on the David McCullough biography of Adams. You’ll have to wait for the finished video to find out who won. Shooting went smoothly and the only hiccup of the day was the $55 parking ticket I got when I ran into UPS to photocopy my release forms …. Grrrrr …On Thursday, we’re heading to Merrymount Elementary School to discuss the 2008 election with some political savvy 5th graders.
