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FOR FRIENDS AND SUPPORTERS OF WGBH IN THIS ISSUE Tackling the Big Stories Maximum Impact New Overseers A Trip to Remember 30 YEARS FALL 2013/WINTER 2014

Fall 2013/Winter 2014 - Sharing the Vision

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Page 1: Fall 2013/Winter 2014 - Sharing the Vision

f o r f r i e n d s a n d s u p p o r t e r s o f w g b h

i n t h i s i s s u e

• tackling the big stories

• Maximum impact

• new overseers

• a trip to remember

30 years

fa l l 2 0 1 3 / w i n t e r 2 0 1 4

Page 2: Fall 2013/Winter 2014 - Sharing the Vision

the PresidentView from

T his season, the phrase WGBH: The Power of Public Media rings truer than ever as we celebrate anniversaries of two of PBS’s most acclaimed series: Frontline and

American Experience, both produced right here at our Guest Street studios. On October 1, the Frontline team headed to New York for the News and Documentary Emmy Awards, where they picked up seven Emmys, for a career total of 65. At that same ceremony, Frontline founder and executive producer David Fanning was honored with the Academy’s 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award. One week later, Frontline launched its 30th season with League of Denial: The NFL’s Concussion Crisis, an investigative tour de force that examines how the league has worked to refute scientific evidence that the violent collisions at the heart of the game are linked to a disturbing incidence of early-onset dementia, catastrophic brain injury, and even death. The film is stirring a national debate about America’s favorite sport, and breaking Frontline records in viewership, digital traffic, social media buzz, and critical acclaim. Our award-winning series American Experience marks its 25th year with fresh takes on our shared past, starting with its latest presidential portrait, JFK, on the 50th anniver-sary of President Kennedy’s assassination. The film mines an abundance of new schol-arship, including recently released medical records and collections of his letters, to push past the myths and sensationalism surrounding our 35th president. None of this would be possible without significant individual philanthropy. In this issue, we’ll introduce you to some of WGBH’s most generous and visionary friends. You’ll meet Millicent Bell, a passionate supporter of independent investigative journalism. And Gloria and Burton Rose, who believe in the power of personal stories to bring history to life. You’ll also learn more about Overseer Susan Luo, who embraces public media’s role in breaking down stereotypes. And don’t miss RLS Director Vanya Tulenko’s diary on Masterpiece supporters’ extraordinary trip to the real Downton Abbey this past May. We’re grateful to them and to all of you for helping create exceptional editorial content in the public’s interest, every single day.

J o n a t h a n C . a b b o t t P r e s i d e n t a n d C e o

ESPN journalist Mark Fainaru-Wada, Frontline producer Michael Kirk, and NFL Hall of Famer Harry Carson at our September preview and discussion of League of Denial: The NFL’s Concussion Crisis.

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Ensuring Frontline’s Future

WGBH’s Frontline premiered its 30th season

on PBS with League of Denial: The NFL’s

Concussion Crisis, a two-hour investigation

into the hidden story of the NFL and

brain injuries.

This gripping, game-changing docu-

mentary demonstrated what Frontline does

best: telling deeply reported, important

stories in a compelling way. More than a

year in the making, it also showed what

long-form investigative journalism needs

to flourish: time. Time to cultivate sources

and follow uncertain leads. Time to get the

stories that matter.

Frontline’s supporters, through

contributions to the Frontline Journalism

and Endowment

funds, afford the

series this valuable

resource. “Frontline

enjoys a privileged

space within the

media landscape,”

says deputy

executive producer

raney aronson-rath . “We’re able to

report stories outside the hectic 24-hour

news cycle that offer rich context and a

nuanced, below-the-surface understanding

of issues here and abroad.”

To help ensure that Frontline thrives for

the next 30 years, an anonymous benefactor

recently bequeathed $125,000 to the series

through the WGBH Endowment. In addi-

tion to this gift, Frontline has received six

bequest intentions since 2012.

“We’re tremendously grateful for and

humbled by the generosity of those who

include a gift to Frontline as part of their

will or estate plan,” Aronson-Rath says.

“Their commitment to supporting in-depth

investigative journalism—programs like

League of Denial: The NFL’s Concussion

Crisis—is crucial.”

For more information on making a bequest, call Ericka Webb, Director of Gift Planning, at 800.220.7122, or visit wgbh.org/giftplanning.

Tackling the Big Stories M ill icent bell is a former journalist, a professor Emerita of English at

Boston University, an American literature scholar, and an author whose titles include works on Henry James, Edith Wharton, and Nathaniel Hawthorne. Her late husband eugene bell , a longtime MIT professor, is widely regarded as the “father of tissue engineering.” His seminal research, and the two companies he founded after retiring from MIT, helped pave the way for clinical breakthroughs in wound healing and tissue repair. And those companies, says Millicent, also set the stage for her recent five-year gift in support of two WGBH productions—Frontline and Nova— that “tackle important, complex stories.” “The provocation to action comes with the availability of funding,” says Millicent, who notes that she and her husband have been fans of WGBH for many years. “Public television has a large moral end,” she says. “It isn’t just that it’s nice to know things. We want to help the process of keeping Americans informed and responsible so that collectively we make the right decisions.” In the case of Frontline, Millicent is passionate about the series’ in-depth investigative reports on subjects that otherwise would never see the light of day—programs like Post Mortem, which examines our nation’s minimally regulated, dysfunctional death investigation system. “That was an absolutely remarkable documentary,” she says of Frontline’s collaborative investigation with NPR, ProPublica, and the University of California, Berkeley’s Investigative Reporting Program. “I didn’t know that coroners were such an unqualified population of public servants. Some are competent. Some have absolutely no qualifications at all. You and I, in our ordinary experience, would never know this.” She is equally excited to support Nova’s television and Web efforts. “Nova makes complex scientific knowledge not only comprehensible, but thrilling,” she says. “Making Stuff, for instance, is a superb demonstration of the way—properly dramatized, lucidly and simply explained—materials science is relevant to us all. My husband was a scientist and biologist, and we both felt strongly that Nova fills an important gap in translating science into the common tongue.” What does she hope her support of Frontline and Nova will achieve? “Our hopes are to be assistants to such invaluable services as WGBH performs, including its discovery of vital issues that we need to think more accurately and fruitfully about.”

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Gloria and Burton Rose Aim for Maximum Impact WGBH knows how to make great content,” says WGBH Overseer and Ralph

Lowell Society Committee member gloria rose . “It reaches people, and it changes them.” WGBH’s impact is important to Gloria and her husband burton , a nephrologist, clinical professor of medicine at Harvard, and textbook author. He’s also the founder of UpToDate, Inc., an online evidence-based, clinical decision support service for healthcare providers worldwide designed to improve the practice of medicine, and patient outcomes. It is the power of WGBH’s award-winning history series American Experience not only to shed light on our past, but to change the way people think about the present that inspired the Roses’ major support of The Abolitionists. “American Experience tells stories through the experiences and eyes of real people,” says Gloria. “When I watched The Abolitionists, I wondered: would I have the courage to do the things they did? I see these films as exemplars of ways to change situations.” In 2013 the couple, who are founding members of the RLS Chairman’s Circle, expanded their support for WGBH’s history programming by funding an ambitious WGBH partnership with the Boston Public School system (see sidebar). The project includes in-studio documentary screenings and discussions complemented by classroom lesson plans. The Roses were at WGBH earlier this year to see the project kick off with more than 150 Boston high school students and teachers viewing and discussing The Abolitionists. WGBH is maximizing the project’s impact through WGBH-produced professional development video modules and resources accessible to teachers nationwide via PBS LearningMedia, WGBH’s online learning initiative with PBS that now has more than one million educators registered nationwide. “When I was in high school, my class was bussed across Brooklyn to a perfor-mance of Julius Caesar,” recalls Gloria. “I had never seen it. I had never read it. That opened a whole new world for me. How do children have access to these things? You have to take them, or to bring the medium to them. WGBH does both.” American Experience “exemplifies programming that is educational, inspiring, and entertaining, too,” Gloria concludes. “The documentaries and related resources are deeply personal. They ask us to question the depths of our own courage and compassion. That kind of impact is important to us.”

Local Partnership, National Reach

Two years ago, WGBH piloted a new

partnership with the Boston Public Schools.

“Our goals were both simple and ambitious,”

says WGBH’s Denise Blumenthal, director of

Education. “We wanted to expose students

to WGBH through in-studio screenings and

discussions of our history documentaries; to

develop follow-up classroom resources and

activities in support of curriculum standards;

and if successful, to share the model with

teachers nationwide via PBS LearningMediaTM,

WGBH’s online learning initiative with PBS.”

In April 2012, 150 sophomores and their

teachers from five Boston public high schools

visited WGBH to watch and discuss American

Experience’s Jesse Owens. The documentary

tells the story of the African American track

and field champi-

on who toppled

Hitler’s plans to

showcase the

Aryan ideal at the

1936 Olympics.

After the screen-

ing, students

broke into small

groups to discuss

how the film changed their understanding of

Owens’ story and impact—and those discus-

sions continued and were videotaped by

WGBH back in their classrooms.

“The project was a huge success,”

Blumenthal says. “We wanted to create a

template that could be replicated, and we did.

But our efforts would have withered on the

vine if Gloria and Bud Rose hadn’t stepped

up to generously fund three more screening

projects, starting with American Experience’s

The Abolitionists in early 2013.”

Today, teachers nationwide can access

WGBH’s robust Abolitionists media resources,

lesson plans, and best practices to support

teaching and learning via PBS LearningMedia.

“With two more screenings and discussions

in the works this winter and spring,” says

Blumenthal, “we’re bringing history to life

here in Boston…and in classrooms across

the country!”

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pianist anton nel (left) and violinist anne akiko meyers (second from right) with event hosts neil and jane pappalardo

News from the Ralph Lowell Society

nfl hall of fame linebacker harry carson with wgbh trustee lynn dayton

espn journalists mark fainaru-wada (left) and steve fainaru (far right) flank frontline executive producer david fanning, nfl hall of famer harry carson, wgbh president jon abbott, frontline producer michael kirk, and frontline deputy executive producer raney aronson-rath

jon abbott (second from right) with (from left) rls president’s circle member william poorvu, wgbh overseers advisory board member woody ives, and overseers vice chair will thorndike

wgbh friend and frontline fan priscilla rojas

Celebrating 30 Years of FrontlineRLS members and Frontline supporters gathered in September for a preview and discussion of

League of Denial: The NFL’s Concussion Crisis in celebration of the series’ 30th anniversary.

kevin whately with his wife madelaine newton (left) and overseer and masterpiece trust supporter michelle karol

rls chair and masterpiece trust supporter melinda rabb (left) with overseer pamela remis

Inspector Lewis Up Close and PersonalMasterpiece executive producer Rebecca Eaton welcomed RLS members and Masterpiece Trust

supporters to a screening of Inspector Lewis, Series 6, with series’ star Kevin Whately.

from left: wgbh overseer cynthia strauss, wgbh director of classical services ben roe, wgbh pres-ident jon abbott, and rls sponsor claire morse

New RLS Season

M y sincere thanks to each of you for

keeping WGBH strong through

your significant annual support during

the past year. Together we broke records,

adding 100 new members (we are now at

1,000+) and surpassing our fundraising

goal by 15%.

The momentum continued this fall

and winter. More than 200 RLS members

attended our

September preview

and discussion of

Frontline’s League

of Denial: The

NFL’s Concussion

Crisis. Frontline

deputy executive

producer Raney

Aronson-Rath moderated a panel featuring

Frontline producer Michael Kirk, journalists

Mark Fainaru-Wada and Steve Fainaru of

ESPN (which dropped out of this investi-

gative partnership just weeks before the

film’s debut), and NFL Hall of Famer

Harry Carson. Having the opportunity

to hear firsthand from WGBH’s talented

producers, reporters, and interviewees is

one of the benefits of RLS membership I

value most.

In October, we joined Rebecca Eaton,

Masterpiece executive producer, for a talk

and book-signing celebrating the publica-

tion her memoirs, Making Masterpiece.

Rebecca reminded us that Downton Abbey’s

new season is close at hand (January 5)

and promised to bring several cast

members to our RLS Downton Abbey

Season 4 party on Saturday, December 14.

Not an RLS member? There never has

been a better time to join and secure a

ticket to this event.

Finally, we are launching our first

RLS survey. We want to make your RLS

experience even better, but we need your

feedback. It’s 100% confidential, so be on

the lookout for it in the days ahead.

With thanks again for all that you do to

promote excellence at WGBH,

melinda a. rabbchair , ralph lowell society

An Evening of Classical Music RLS Chairman’s Circle members Neil and Jane Pappalardo welcomed RLS members to their home

in June for a performance by renowned violinist Anne Akiko Meyers and pianist Anton Nel.

S H A R I N G T H E V I S I O N N E W S L E T T E R • F A L L 2 0 1 3 / W I N T E R 2 0 1 4 P A G E 5

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WGBH: Her Opportunity to ServeA s senior vice president and head of analytics business development at State

Street Global Exchange, susan luo makes decisions informed by thorough analysis. So when she was searching for a local nonprofit to support, she did her due diligence. “I feel a strong sense of responsibility to serve my community, and WGBH stood out as an excellent opportunity,” Susan says. “I was impressed with both its high-quality leadership and its public media mission.” She grew up in Southern China and moved to the United States in 1998 to pursue an MBA at the Darden School of Business, University of Virginia. A recently appointed WGBH Overseer and Ralph Lowell Society Committee member, Susan and her husband cyrus mozayeni , MD—vice president, business development and alliance management at bluebird bio (Cambridge, MA)—live in Weston with their two sons. “We’re very excited to be a part of the WGBH community,” she says.

what are your wgbh/public broadcasting favorites? susan: Curious George is our sons’ favorite. I enjoy Masterpiece, Nova, and Antiques Roadshow. 99.5 WCRB is my station of choice in the car. I have a busy job, and listening to classical music relaxes me. I love the change of pace. Cyrus: Downton Abbey, obviously, is a big one. I grew up in the era of Mr. Rogers, and his show was influential in my early childhood.

what do you enjoy most about your rls membership? susan: Events like the Downton Abbey screening are so much fun and a great networking opportunity. Cyrus: It’s personally rewarding to meet other WGBH supporters who are so accomplished in realms very different from our own.

as a wgbh overseer, susan, are there particular issues you want to focus on? susan: Women’s leadership is a cause that is dear to my heart. I recently co-hosted an event for a group of female executives from State Street, during which we visited WGBH and met with actress Geena Davis. She talked about the gender portrayal of women and girls in film and on television and how it impacts the growth and future career development of young girls. That’s really important, and I think that WGBH has a unique opportunity to address it.

ralph lowell society membership levelsfriend • $ 1 ,500fellow • $2 ,500sponsor • $5 ,000benefactor • $ 10 ,000president’s c ircle • $25 ,000chairman’s c ircle • $50,000innovator’s c ircle • $ 100,000

For a complete list of the benefits and privileges at each membership level, please call the Ralph Lowell Society Hotline at 617-300-3900, visit wgbh.org/ralphlowell, or email [email protected]. We welcome your questions and value your support.

Meet the Ralph Lowell Society Staff

Let us help you make the most of your

Ralph Lowell Society membership!

Contact us any time:

Vanya tulenkoDirector

617.300.3806, [email protected]

charlotte PorterDeVeloPment officer

617.300.3867, [email protected]

Jeanmarie robertssenior eVents manager

617.300.4202, [email protected]

christopher reillysenior DeVeloPment associate

617.300.3603, [email protected]

Victoria crnovichassistant

617.300.3875, [email protected]

ralph lowell society staffers (from left): vanya, chris, victoria, charlotte, and jeanmarie

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Dave Denis Named 2013 Becton Fellow

dave denis has a clear goal for WGBH:

“We need to be everywhere,” says the senior

director of product and operations for

WGBH Digital, “and always available,

wherever our audience is.”

He and his team are working to make

WGBH “mobile ready,” using cutting-edge

design techniques

to build websites

for WGBH’s

national series

that seamlessly

adapt across

platforms. In other

words, pbs.org/

masterpiece is now

easy to navigate (and looks great) on your

laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

“In days gone by, we knew our audience

was in front of the TV with the clicker,”

Denis says. “Now, they can be anywhere in

the world. It’s a huge opportunity for us to

deliver our content.”

Denis is the 2013 WGBH Becton Fellow.

The fellowship, which is supported by

the Becton Fund and named in honor of

WGBH’s former president and current

vice chair, Henry Becton, Jr., recognizes

promising WGBH producers and content

creators whose work is emblematic of

WGBH’s mission.

Before coming to WGBH, Denis led

the technical team that launched

BostonGlobe.com, a site touted as an

online model for newspapers. He now

oversees the production of websites and

other online products, including PBS Kids

educational games, for WGBH.

“People are spending more and more

time engaged with digital content on the

Web, and WGBH understands how vitally

important it is to thrive in this space,”

Denis says. “Digital is now central to

everything WGBH does.”

WGBH Overseers Board Chair Bob Gallery (third from left) and Vice Chair Will Thorndike, (second from right) with some of our newest Overseers: (from left) Pamela Remis, Steven J.S. Glick, Laura Johnson, Timothy Phillips, Gloria Rose, and Cynthia Strauss

aaron bates of Boston is Director of Bernstein Global Wealth Management, as well as a member of Chatham House and the Board of Directors for Shelter Legal Services. He previously served on WGBH’s Community Advisory Board.

paul bernon of Wellesley is a Principal at Rubicon Real Estate, LLC and a co-founder of Burn Later Productions, which produces and finances films, television series, and Web content.

jeffrey dover, md , of Newton is a dermatologist and co-director of SkinCare Physicians. He also holds professorial appoint- ments at Yale, Dartmouth, and Brown.

steven j.s. glick of Brookline is Executive Vice President and a member of the Middle Market group at Sankaty Advisors, the fixed- income investment affiliate of Bain Capital.

allison johnson of Boston is a designer and founder of Allison Johnson Design, which specializes in hospitality and commercial interior design and art consultancy.

laura johnson of Concord was the President of Mass Audubon from 1999 to 2012, and previously the Division Vice President (Northeast Division) of the Nature Conservancy.

karen kaufman of Boston and New York City is a former marketing executive, specializing in integrated strategy and

change management for American Express, Ogilvey & Mather, Mercedes Benz NA, and J.P. Morgan Chase Bank’s Retail Bank and Home Equity businesses.

susan luo of Weston is Senior Vice President at State Street Global Exchange, and was previously a management consultant with A.T. Kearney and a foreign government loan advisor with China Resources Corporation.

timothy phill ips of Boston is Founding Co-Chair of Beyond Conflict and Co-Founder of Energia Interational Global, Ltd. He has served as a consultant to governmental and non-governmental organizations in the US and abroad.

pamela remis of Weston has served on the boards of The Friends of Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Friends 10 of Dana Farber (founding member), the Council of the MFA, the Weston Council on Aging, and Temple Beth Elohim (Trustee). She is the former Director of Advertising and Public Relations for Shreve, Crump, and Low.

gloria rose of Weston is a retired social worker, active community volunteer, and a Board member of From the Top.

cynthia strauss of Wellesley Hills is Director of Research for the Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund, and a member of the senior management team of Fidelity Charitable Services.

Newest OverseersT he new class is dynamic and diverse,” says Overseers Board Chair Bob Gallery.

“Seven women and five men join the board with backgrounds that range from finance to filmmaking.” WGBH Overseers play a critical volunteer leadership role, contributing their time, ideas, and resources.

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This Trip Was a MasterpieceBy Vanya tulenko

Ralph Lowell Society members at

the Benefactor level and members

of the Masterpiece Trust experienced

the trip of a lifetime this past May

with a Masterpiece Tour inspired

by Downton Abbey that included

stops at Highclere Castle, the town

of Bampton, Weston Park, and Ealing

Studios, London. RLS Director

Vanya Tulenko accompanied the

Masterpiece travelers and shares

excerpts from her travel diary.

Highclere, The “Real” Downton AbbeyWho takes a taxi to Highclere? That’s how I arrived at the castle in

preparation for our long-awaited evening. The blustery rain and

heavy clouds cleared as if on cue from Masterpiece executive

producer Rebecca Eaton, and at last the glory of Highclere was

revealed. The lawn was a perfect green swath, the magnificent trees

appeared like theatrical cut-outs in the razor-sharp light, and

Highclere was a toasty golden color. Our travelers came soon after,

iPhones and cameras going like mad, before passing through those

iconic doors for cocktails with the Earl and Countess of Carnarvon,

a house tour, and a candlelight dinner under the huge van Dyck

painting of King Charles I. After dinner, traveler Edye Baker had a

special request: Could we see the Egyptian collection? Down a steep

staircase into the cellar, the Earl and Countess guided us through

rooms of Egyptian coffins, masks, and jewels and jars—treasures

discovered by the 5th Earl of Carnarvon in the tomb of Tutankhamun.

The evening ended with the Earl and Countess saying goodnight as

we walked through the towering atrium and out those splendid doors.

Bampton: Lights, Camera, ActionWe set off for Bampton, a miniature 12th-century village familiar

to Downton Abbey fans as the site of the Cottage Hospital and the

church where Edith was jilted and Mary got married. Filming for

Season 4 was underway! We passed tiny, monochromatic stone

houses, and were welcomed through production barricades by

people with walkie-talkies. Turning into the village square, we

stepped back in time. Men and women strolled in brown tweeds

and leather lace-up boots. There was a boy on an antique bicycle

and a vicar in long black robes. I recognized Mrs. Crawley’s house

and spotted Mrs. Crawley herself, dressed head to toe in black, her

posture unrepentant. We leaned against a hundreds-of-years-old

stone wall, enjoying our front-row perch, as people with headsets

repeatedly cued a scene (“Action, car!”) that involved an antique car

starting its engine, Mrs. Crawley walking across the green, and the

boy on the bicycle. The experience of Highclere followed by Bampton

prompted traveler Tom Hanrahan to exclaim, “It’s like a fireworks

show that keeps getting better and better.”

Weston Park WeekendWhat can I say about Weston Park, a 17th-century house (“sleeps 53”)

that belonged to the Earl of Bradford, whose guests have included

Disraeli, a G-8 Summit, and the daughter of King George V? Our

English tour historian, Matthew Sturgis, promised us a true English

(from left) tom and karen hanrahan, darlene shiley, edye baker, and marilyn keane listen to lady carnarvon in the library at highclere

bill pounds (left) and tom schwartz at the entrance to highclere castle

our masterpiece tour group in front of highclere castle

masterpiece executive producer rebecca eaton and vanya tulenko

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Page 9: Fall 2013/Winter 2014 - Sharing the Vision

country weekend, with the threat of authentic English plumbing and

the promise of Downton-like house staff. Approaching the Palladian

brick house poised on 1,000 acres of Capability Brown park, we saw

two flags flying—one British, one American: the ultimate welcome!

Over the weekend, we toured the house’s mind-boggling art—van

Dycks, George Stubbs, Holbeins—took rambling garden walks, and

enjoyed lunch in the Orangery and dinners at the table that seats 46.

After-dinner surprises included Gilbert and Sullivan singers and

Rebecca Eaton sharing passages from her book, Making Masterpiece.

There were Jane Austen-style, horse-drawn carriage rides and even

a visit by the Albrighton Hunt Club. The weekend flew by; the

plumbing worked. And though I spent hours in hallways on rushed

searches for lost items—a frog pin, an evening pump, an iPad—with

the help of traveler Jeffrey Marshall, all items were accounted for as

we boarded our coach for London.

London SurprisesOur bus drove past London’s white stone palaces, teeny mews, and

Belgravia doggy day cares, before pulling up to The Halkin. There

were things to do in London, even if it wasn’t all Downton stuff:

the Chelsea Flower Show’s 100 acres of extravagant displays; our tour

of the Victoria and Albert’s jewelry, led by an expert curator who

dazzled us with diamond tiaras and Fabergé cigarette cases and at

each gallery turn would holler, “Downton Abbey people over here!”;

lunch at Selfridges and an impromptu talk by Selfridges’ owner, Galen

Weston, who—no surprise—is a fan of Masterpiece’s Mr. Selfridge. We

even stopped at royal jewelers Wartski, where we were within inches

of Queen Victoria’s tiara. During our walk through Chelsea to visit

Whistler’s house, travelers Sue Dahlie and Mary Gale Woodman took

off on their own, and had the remarkable good fortune to see the

Queen in her state car. Saturday night at Annabel’s with Elizabeth

McGovern (Cora, Countess of Grantham) and her film-producer

husband Simon Curtis, was thrilling. We danced until 1am, then piled

into classic British taxis waiting to carry us home.

Ealing StudiosEaling Studios is housed in a big, white 1940s-style lodge. We entered

through a tangle of power cords, lights, and a jumble of technical

equipment, and took a quick turn into the hallowed “downstairs” of

Downton Abbey. It was all there, a whole continuous grey and brown

world of the things we recognize: the room bells, servants’ dining

table, Ms. Pattmore’s kitchen (complete with real eggs), actual antique

produce receipts and cookbooks, Mrs. Hughes’s room, exactly as she’d

left it. A production designer fielded a million questions and then,

unbelievably, we were free to wander. It was room after room of

period Downton, totally uninterrupted by even one item from our

century—letters ready for post addressed in fountain pen-period

handwriting…Mr. Carson’s study with a magnifying glass and leather

bound ledger. We explored it all before winding our way back through

the power cords and a jungle gym of intersections, past swinging glass

doors marked “Makeup” and “Hair,” and out, abruptly back to the

21st century.

Join us for future tours! For information about RLS Benefactor tours, including our April

2014 trip to Winterthur Museum’s “Costumes of Downton Abbey”

exhibit, please contact Vanya Tulenko at [email protected]

or 617.300.3806.

our brilliant english historian matthew sturgis (left) with tour organizer anthony worcester of patron travel

carriage rides at weston park

dinner at weston park the bells in downton abbey’s servant quarters, ealing studios

a visit to the servants’ dining room, ealing studios

gabriella beranek takes a seat at carson’s desk at ealing studios

nancy putnam and the hounds during the albright hunt club’s stop at weston park

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Page 10: Fall 2013/Winter 2014 - Sharing the Vision

Sharing the Vision is a publication of WGBH

EditorialSusan ReedMatthew Roy

DesignDanielle Pierce

for general information, please contact

Winifred LenihanVice President for Development

WGBH One Guest StreetBoston, MA 02135

617-300-3804 [email protected]

Publication CoordinationElizabeth Willard ThamesMargaret Quackenbush

ProductionLenore Lanier Gibson

Director, Constituent CommunicationsCynthia Broner

Associate DirectorSusan Reed

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