Lovely Rosemary. It was January 2005 and I was working on
my biography of Mary Surratt, the woman who helped John Wilkes Booth with his plot to assassinate
Abraham Lincoln, and I heard that Rosemary had died. She was eighty-six years old. The Boston Globe
had a very nice obituary and it made me wonder about her life. So little was known about her. She had
been kept out of the public eye for decades. My curiosity had been piqued, though. The Kennedy Library
is in Boston, so I determined that I would look into the archives and see what was there. In 2008, after I
had finished my Mary Surratt biography, I went to the library to see if there was enough material to
write an article. I was surprised to learn that there was quite a lot of material related to Rosemary,
including letters to and from her, discussions of her health in other documents, and more. I knew then I
could write a full biography of her by using those rich and fresh archival papers. I learned that by putting
Rosemary at the center of the Kennedy family story you see her siblings and parents in a different light.
That taught me a lesson about how to be a better biographer.
What is your actual process of writing? How many hours per day? Do you have a favorite place to write?
Do you have colleagues or family members review your books-in-progress? My process is uneven. I do
not write everyday. I do research everyday, even if it is just tracking down one primary source. I read, a
lot – primary and secondary sources that cover not only my subject, but also materials that help define
and shape the historical context and landscapes of their lives. I write almost exclusively in my home
office – though during the last couple of months of writing and organizing the biography you will find me
in the dining room with dozens of books and many, many, many files scattered all over the place and
around my computer.
What is your view of the emerging technology of AI on historical research and authorship? How will it
replace what historians do now? AI is intriguing. I think it actually could be a very helpful tool for writers,
but it has limitations. AI does not have access to archives, for instance. Historians need to do that work.
It cannot be nuanced like an historian can be. There are issues that do concern me – in classrooms I fear
that some students will use it rather than doing the writing themselves. Teachers will need to develop
ways to detect that kind of cheating.
What advice would you give to someone considering becoming a historian as a profession? What advice
for someone already in the business but just starting out? Being an historian is a gift – it allows one to
immerse themselves in another time and place, and helps one make connections to the present. I would
say that you must absolutely LOVE what you are studying and writing about. You can’t make your way
through it all if you do not remained inspired.
What is your next book project? Currently working on a new subject – a woman, of course – and I will
announce it when I have finished a book proposal and a publisher has optioned it for publication. Stay
tuned!!

Where did you go to school and what was your major?

I received my BA at Simmons College (now University) in Boston. I majored in Economics and History, both of which I loved. I went on to earn my MBA at Northeastern University, also in Boston.

Did you have an area of specialty in business after your MBA?

I worked for a small regional investment bank for a few years. My job was to research and determine the value of local and regional closely-held companies which were clients of my firm.

Did you enjoy investment banking?

The job was interesting and I really enjoyed it with one exception. When we had meetings with companies/clients, I was often asked to take notes. My boss was a great guy and he often jumped up and offered to take the notes, especially if I was the industry expert at the table.

Can you describe your thought process of leaving the business world and becoming a historian?

I had two small children at home when I decided to leave the business world and start a different career as a teacher. I went back to Simmons and enrolled in their Master of Liberal Studies program. It was fantastic. I took Women’s History and Women’s Studies courses, African American History and Culture courses, and more. It was heaven to me.

Your first book was the very successful work on Harriet Tubman. How did you choose her as your first subject?

While I was working on my master’s degree at Simmons, I discovered, this was the early 1990s, that there had not been a modern adult biography written about Harriet Tubman. The last was published in 1943. My professors were shocked like I was. She was famous, but her fame mostly rested on the scores and scores of children’s books that had been published throughout the 20 th century.

You did not think that was adequate representation?

They were filled with myths, misinformation, stereotypes, and they had little depth or critical analysis. I became passionate about trying to find historical documentation about her. My professors at Simmons agreed that digging into her life story and the research it entailed was too complicated for a master’s thesis and they encouraged me to move forward and get my doctorate in history.

Where did you study for your PhD?

I ended up at the University of New Hampshire and I was privileged to work with some outstanding historians who were eager to guide me through the research and writing. My dissertation on Harriet Tubman was published as Bound for the Promised Land in late 2003. All these years later I continue to be grateful for their mentorship, support, and incredible generosity.

You served as a consultant on the Harriet Tubman biopic that starred Cynthia Erivo. What did your duties consist of? Were you actually on set?

I was not on set. They had other consultants who did work on set who provided advice on clothing, language, sets, etc.

Did it make you want to write a film script?

Actually, I worked on the script with Kasi Lemmons. She had acquired the script from a writer who had written it in the early 1990s and he had little knowledge of Tubman’s real life history. So, we set out to correct the myths and misinformation. It made me want to learn how to write scripts better. It isn’t so easy.

How close was the film to the actual biographical details in Tubman’s life?

There are some inaccuracies in the film, though nothing really consequential in my view. Kasi did an incredible job teasing out and bringing to life Harriet Tubman, the brilliant, fierce and loving woman that she really was Cynthia Erivo was masterful in the role.

When did you decide to become a playwright and what influenced your decision? I began writing plays when I owned my own company.

Do you develop your own ideas for your plays or do your directors suggest topics?

I develop my own ideas for the most part, but they are influenced by institutional goals and initiatives, new exhibitions, teachers needs, current trends and audience interests.

I have total confidence from my directors and supervisors. There is never a lack of ideas really, but I get to shape and mold it. We use a lot of market research, scholarly guidance, and gut feelings to make our final decisions.

Who is your favorite playwright?

Shakespeare wins hands down as the best of all time. His works stand the test of time. Always new interpretations, but the text remains as important as ever. There are many others that I like too, but usually on a play-by-play basis.

Which current playwright today is the most overrated?

None. I realize that is a calculated response, but everyone is entitled to their own voice. Some are just more appreciated, understood, and popular than others.

But art isn’t about being popular, it’s about saying what you think and feel. Just ask the guy who cut his ear off, or the fact that most artists die poor, and don’t become famous until after they die.

Other than your own works, how often do you attend the theatre?

Sad to say, I don’t attend as much as I would like to. My job and my family keep me terribly busy. I try to see about five to six pieces a year, mostly local productions with friends, and the occasional traveling piece. There is some great local theatre, if you know where to look. I love Balagula Theatre in Lexington, and Woodford County Theatre Association.

Are you working on any plays that are not for the Historical Society?

I have no interest in writing beyond my job. I get to experiment with all of my ideas there, and don’t have the time to develop beyond that.

Do you have any desire to try a screenplay?

I have ideas, but no immediate desire to do so. Maybe some day. We have the potential of grant money to develop a video series around the Civil War, that is as close as I will come for a while.

I write and produce so much in conjunction with my job, that I really don’t have much of a need to express myself beyond that. I have other hobbies. Playwrighting and production is my job, when I get home I want to do other things.

What overall mission have you been given by your directors?

Well, I helped to define the mission of the Kentucky Historical Society, of the Education Department, and wrote the mission of the Museum Theatre program.

In short, our goal is to connect with the past, provide perspective on the present, and inspire thought for the future. There are tons of objectives, strategies and outcomes that branch out from there.

We are in the process of institutional strategic planning now for the next three years. It’s all interconnected from there.

What is one little known fact about Kentucky that you would like to have readers know?

It probably doesn’t mean “Dark and Bloody Ground,” it is the home to the cheeseburger, two guys name Cassius Clay (not related, and 100 years apart), Hopkinsville may have been visited by aliens, and may have had a great swiss silver mine.

Oh, and middle eastern explorers may have written grafitti on a rock in Clay Co. hundreds of years before Dr. Walker. Ain’t the study of history great? Well, if you believe all of that, then I’ll tell you about the blue people from Troublesome creek. True story!!! Really.

Where are you from?

I was born in Alabama, lived from 6 months to 16 years in rural eastern North Carolina, and then moved to Charlottesville, Virginia for last two years of high school.

I guess I consider myself from North Carolina and Virginia, as they both hit me at particular developmental times.

Where did you go to school and what was your academic major?

I attended Old Dominion University, first as an engineering student, but hated math.

I changed to Elementary Education in my third year, but life offered opportunities that seemed more compelling and I left less than a year from completing my degree.

I will forever regret that decision, and have intentions of going back when time permits. Alas, isn’t that always so, we never seem to have time to do the things we know we should.

What has been your career path from college to your current position?

While in college, I paid for my own expenses by working for a family entertainment company. I learned to walk on stilts, juggle, perform magic, and I honed my performance and storytelling skills before a huge number of audience sizes and types.

Towards the end of my time at college, I was offered the opportunity to buy the business. It seemed like a good idea, and I did. I ran the business for about 5 years, learned alot about business, and that it wasn’t my favorite thing.

I sold the business and took a management position for a large indoor amusement park in northern Delaware. Worked there for several years, got married, and moved to Kentucky to be near my wife’s extended family, because we wanted kids.

The museum I now work for advertised in the paper the next week. I applied for a job as an actor/docent and got the job.

From there, I helped to define the concept of Museum Theatre for the Kentucky Historical Society and eventually even defined the goals and duties of my position here at KHS, as the Director of Museum Theatre.

When did you decide to become a playwright and what influenced your decision?

I began writing plays when I owned my own company. They were horrible, but it was the only way. I couldn’t afford to pay a playwright, and we needed material.

When I started here at KHS 10 years ago, the concept of Museum Theatre was still new. My director at the time didn’t really know what it was either, but he knew good theatre, and together we kept trying things, and we defined it for our institution.

I learned alot about what it took to both entertain and educate museum audiences. I am still learning how to develop and work within clear educational goals.

I still don’t think I am a great playwright, but I do understand Museum Theatre and how it is different from other types of plays. I think I am now producing programs that are defining new thought in the field.

We are challenging our audiences, actors, our institution and the field. Evaluations and audience feedback tell me that what we are doing is working, but I will never settle.

I will always work to better define what I do, and how I do it. I have found the career of a lifetime. I love what I do!

How many plays are you required to write a year for the Historical Society?

I am not required to write any number of plays really.

In the beginning we wrote about five a year, but we have learned alot, and what we do now is far more complex than what we used to do.

Now, we really try to develop pieces that work really hard to achieve our educational and institutional goals. We produce plays that require more research, and that seek to provide new insight on our topics.

It takes longer to produce the pieces now. I am in no rush these days. We have created over sixty pieces, and we just seek to add to our repetoire now. I pick these new pieces carefully to fill holes in our timeline, or missing themes, or upcoming inititives.

I now create about three plays a year, but I also develop video conference programs, assist with the creation of other education programs, and am working on a proposal for a new literary series, with actors doing dramatic readings of deceased Kentucky authors, and other proposals for summer art camps, evening programming, and day care programs.

We present several hundred school shows both in house and as outreach each year, and keep a steady schedule of weekly performances on our campus. I stay pretty busy.

Originally, I am from Covington Kentucky up until age 17. Then
over 20 years in the United States Air Force, which led me to Alamogordo area (adjacent to the White Sands Monument)

Where did you go to college and what was your academic major?

New Mexico State University and it was Occupational Business.

What has been your career path from college to your current position at White Sands?

Well, since I did not start college till I retired from the Air Force I was finishing up my degree when I was offered a position at
White Sands as a seasonal employee.

What are your typical duties day-to-day at the White Sands?

Along with being a visitor use assistant – fee collector – I am in charge of the Special Use Program. Permits for weddings, group use area applications, and special events that includes our Annual Hot Air Balloon Festival, Early Easter Sunrise Service, etc.

If you weren’t a national park ranger, what would you be doing?

I would probably be working on the Air Force Base for the government as an aircraft inspector overseeing a civilian contractor working on Air Force airplanes.

How does having an Air Force base right next door to the monument impact it?

Pretty good for us actually, whenever they have some type of event such as Airshow, Octoberfest, Base Open House we get over flow to the Park and our visitation goes up a bit. Although, we have had aircraft crash on our property and it makes for quite a red tape mess.

What is one little known fact about the park that you want visitors and readers to know?

That 3 to 4 inches down in the sand the temperature stays at a pretty constant 57 degrees, no matter how hot or cold it is. You get lost in the cold of the winter at night, then just bury yourself in the sand and you will stay warm till morning. In the summer if it is
115 degrees just bury yourself and you will stay cool till the sun goes down.

Here is a bonus. Eighteen inches down from anywhere on the hardpacked sand or at the bottom of a dune you will reach water. Very salty water but water none the less.

How did the white sands actually form? Are they still forming?

The real short version is that the gypsum is in the mountains and the wind and rain carry it to Lake Lucero twnty miles down the road. When when the lake bed dries up the gypsum chunks break apart and are carried by the wind and replenish the dunes.There is a seventeen minute film on the whole process in our Visitors Centers.

What is your favorite part of the monument?

Two or three miles out from the heart of the dunes on top of a big dune with a cool summer breeze blowing across you as the sun goes down in the fiery sky of southwestern New Mexico.

What are the two biggest challenges that the White Sands monument faces?

Education of a new generation to the enjoyment of all for the National Parks and to the protection of this precious resource we have been entrusted with. Such programs as the Junior Ranger Program and on-site visits to the schools to talk to the kids who will soon enough be responsible for taking care of the Park System.

Is the White Sands featured at all in the new Ken Burns” documentary?

Honestly, I do not know if we are and I have not been following the Ken Burn’s specials.

How many people visit the monument every year?

We get anywhere from 450,000 to 600,000 a year give or take the economy

Has anyone ever got lost and stranded in the monument or died from exposure?

We have numerous people get lost and found every year and we have had one fatality since this place
became a National Monument.

Copyright 2009 DailyInterview.com

I actually did all three of the rifle events.

Which are what?

The air rifle match and then there are two matches in small bore. One is the prone match and then the other is the three position match.

Is it typical for competitors to shoot in all three?

Somewhat. Some of the very top hands specialize in either just air rifle or just small bore and then there are some that only shoot the prone events. But there were quite a few there that shot all three.

Which is your best?

The prone match is probably my best one and it’s actually the one I qualified in to get to get to the Olympics. I qualified in prone but because I was there I was able to shoot the other two matches as well.

Do you actually shoot bullets?

Yeah, it is a 22 caliber small bore rifle and it is a 60 shot match at 50 meters. International matchs are all at 50 meters. Add up the scores and that’s it.

How big is the bull’s eye you are shooting at?

At 50 meters, the bull’s eye, the “10” ring, is probably about the size of a dime.

How many times do you hit that out of 60 shots?

You are looking at least 55 or 56 times to make the finals. There is always someone who hits it 60 out of 60. Using open sights, no telescopic sights.

When you shoot in the Olympics do you take your own rifle or do they issue equipment?

No, no, you have all your own equipment.

How do they know you are not going to gin up your rifle some way to game the competition?

They check it. We go through a fairly strict equipment control at every competition, so we’ll have our jacket checked, our pants, our boots, our rifles and everything is checked and there are obviously specifications.

Do you have to break in a rifle like you have to break in a baseball mitt?

If you get a new a new barrel, you may have to break it in. It may take three or four thousand rounds until it is really getting some accuracy. It terms of the actual stock, that is something you can use straight away.

So, when you were getting ready to try for the Olympics, how did you practice?

You practice, you just shoot. Same as something like golf. Golfers just hit the driving range and hit ball after ball after ball all day long. It is similar for us. We come into the range and just shoot. Obviously there are a lot of different drills you can do.

Like what?

I may be shooting but working on different exercises. I may do dry firing where I am pulling the trigger but the rifle doesn’t have any bullets in it. I may be doing some stuff with my eyes closed. I may be working on balance.

An former athlete of yours has told me that you do aerobic activity so that you slow your heart rate down.

It’s not so much… yes it is to slow the heart rate down but it’s just for your stamina and health. We do cardio just to be in shape. The best way to describe it is we aren’t weighlifters or football players but if we are going to an international competition and I have been to plenty where it is 80 or 90 degrees and you are shooting a three position match, a three position match will last three, three and a half hours. Prone, standing, and kneeling. In the standing position our rifles weigh up to fourteen, fifteen pounds. In the standing position you are in the free standing position. A normal person will pick up one of our rifles and be pretty tired in five or ten minutes. We are not just only standing there with the rifle. We are standing there trying to hold it exactly still. And then we are doing that for maybe an hour. And you are not only doing that but your brain is working on overtime. Your focus and concentration has to be tops.

Do you run, do you lift weights, do you do yoga?

Pretty much everything. General cardio, you can do anything. There is nothing you have to do. For me personally, I probably do more running than anything

How far would you run in a day?

At the moment, I try to do three days a week, I try to do anywhere from three to five miles. I probably need to start doing longer runs and be running for an hour at a time to build my stamina.

Do you do stretching like yoga?

I actually have never tried yoga but flexibility and balance and core strength is very important. So, I think something like yoga would be an incredibly good thing to do. I have never gotten into it and tried it. We do a lot of core stuff.

Core like sit-ups and squat thrusts?

All the exercises we do combines flexibility and balance, so all your squats. A lot of the exercises we use the balance ball for. Instead of bench press you would do dumbbell press on the balance ball. The team works with the strength and conditioning coaches.

Where are you from?

My parents say I’m from another planet. But my birth certificate says I’m from Miami, Florida. So I’ve been basically living in a state of confusion.

Where did you go to college and what was your major?

I’m a graduate of Cornell University, and according to my father, I majored in “Time and Space.”

I was the political cartoonist for the Cornell Daily Sun and the founding editor of the Cornell Lunatic (the campus humor magazine), and according to the Cornell Alumni Magazine, I was “the university’s most persistent prankster.”

What has been your career path from college to the present?

My career path? I followed the Yellow Brick Road, of course. After college, I wrote for the National Lampoon, got kicked off for writing an article in Rolling Stone on why the National Lampoon wasn’t funny anymore, and continued writing for the Lampoon without their knowledge under the pseudonym of a woman.

I had my first book published at age 24, worked at J. Walter Thompson writing TV commercials for Burger King, backpacked around the world on my honeymoon for two years, and wrote TV commercials for Walt Disney World in Florida.

In 1994, after a few more lousy jobs in advertising, I decided to write books full-time.

How did you get into the business of writing books about off-beat uses of brand-name products? Is the Nestea Ice tea story really true?

Yep, the Nestea story is true. While working at J. Walter Thompson in New York, I was asked into a conference room for a meeting on Nestea and told to generate alternative uses for the ice tea mix. One of the account people in the meeting told us that he was an avid sailor, and that one weekend while on his sailboat, he got badly sunburned.

So he went home, poured an entire jar of Nestea powdered mix into his bathtub, filled the bath with water, and soaked in it. I told him, “That’s not what they meant by ‘Take the Nestea Plunge.'” He said, “No, really, it’s the tannic acid in the tea that relieves sunburn pain. If you’re ever badly sunburned, think of me and do it. You’ll thank me.”

I thought to myself, “This belongs in a book.” So many years later, I went to the grocery store and bought thirty to forty products that we all know and love, contacted the companies, and asked for their secret files. People write in to the companies all the time with their alternative uses for the products, and the companies never publish that information.

I also sequestered myself in the public library and did a lot of research.

What is your favorite book that you have written?

That would be a four-way tie between Selling Out: If Famous Authors Wrote Advertising, The Zen of Oz: Ten Spiritual Lessons from Over the Rainbow, The Jolly President: Letters George W. Bush Never Read, and Marx & Lennon: The Parallel Sayings.

Which book has been your most successful commercially?

Joey Green’s Magic Brands.

What one non-fiction book written by somebody else do you wish you had written?

The Bible. It’s sold more copies than any other book in history. The author must be very rich.

How many of the thousands of suggestions in your books have you actually tried?

2,347.

Why did you decide to start the Cornell Lunatic? Is it still being published?

To make the students, faculty, and employees of Cornell University laugh and stop taking themselves so seriously. The Cornell Lunatic publishes to this very day. It’s now more than 30 years old.

Why did you write the slinky book? Where did the idea come from?

I thought it would be fun. Everyone loves a Slinky. I had come up with a few alternative uses for the Slinky while writing books on offbeat uses for brand-name products, and I thought an entire book focusing on real and ridiculous uses for the Slinky might be fun.

Did you have a slinky when you were growing up?

Yes. As one of four children, we had several. Somehow they all ended up as a big tangled knot of steel coil.

Why does Heinz Apple Cidar Vinegar work to attract and kill bugs?

I’m not a chemist, but my guess is that the sweetness of the apple cider attracts the insects, and then the acetic acid in the vinegar kills them.

Why do you think so many manufacturers are resistant to having their products in your books?

The lawyers in the legal departments of the companies get scared that they’ll be sued and lose their jobs. For instance, Kraft advertises Jell-O gelatin as a dessert, not a hair mousse product. The lawyers are afraid that if someone uses Jell-O as mousse and doesn’t like the result, they’ll sue Kraft.

Ever since that lady spilled McDonald’s coffee on herself and sued McDonald’s, many corporate lawyers are easily freaked out. So now there’s a warning on every cup of McDonald’s coffee that says “Warning: Hot.” It should really say: “Please allow this coffee to cool down before pouring it on your crotch.”

Are you legally required to get manufacturer’s permission before you name alternate uses for their products?

No.

Which manufacturer has been most open/friendly/helpful in having their products in your books?

The people who make Kleenex Tissues. They were originally invented solely to remove makeup from the faces of Hollywood stars. But people started writing into the company, raving that the tissues were great as a substitute for a handkerchief.

At first, Kleenex didn’t want people blowing their noses in their product, but then they realizes that there are more people who blow their noses than there are Hollywood stars who need to remove makeup.

So, the company is indebted to the American public for coming up with this alternative use for the tissue. And they gave me a list of alternatives uses for Kleenex Tissues that they had been compiling since 1922.

What advice would you give to someone starting out writing non-fiction?

Use spell-check.

What has been your biggest career mistake?

This interview.

What has been your biggest product alternate use catastrophe?

Surprisingly, I haven’t had one.

What is your best memory working for National Lampoon?

I was there for the premiere of Animal House in the summer of 1978, followed by a party at the Village Gate. The entire cast of the movie was there. It was a blast.

What are your three all-time best/favorite alternate product uses?

My favorites are polishing furniture with Spam, deodorizing smelly feet with Jell-O, and shaving with Jif Peanut Butter.

How do you deal with people who complain that your uses don’t really work and Spam ruined the dining room table?

I ask if they followed the directions properly.

Have you really used M and M’s for fishing bait?

No, I don’t fish. But if I did fish, I would definitely use M&M’s as bait. You can snack on the bait while you’re fishing. That’s not something you can do with worms. Well, you can, but I don’t recommend it.

Copyright 2009 DailyInterview.com

Where are you from?

Aberdeen, Scotland.

Where did you go to college and what was your academic major?

I went to University of Leeds in England and I did a bachelors in earth sciences and geography and then I came over here and did a master’s at WVU in sports management.

How long did it take you to do that?

Essentially I was in school here for two years, but it is a one or two year program. Actually the very first year I was here competing on the rifle team I did athletic coaching and then it was the second year that I moved onto sport management. Some of the classes I did the first year transferred to the second year. So, basically two years.

Were you recruited to come shoot at WVU?

Pretty much. I started the process back home. I started sending emails to different coaches and started the recruiting process. Essentially I came here for the rifle team., but obviously I didn’t want to waste two years and not come away with something.

I found the Sport management program and it was something that interested me as well. So it was nice to get that out of it as well.

Tell me how you got started in rifle in Scotland. Isn’t the UK supposed to be a non gun country?

Guns are not the most popular but the only thing that are actually banned are handguns of 22 caliber and above. So, shotguns are all legal, rifles are legal, and pistols which are air pistols are legal.

So, in terms of the shooting sports and all the Olympic sports they are all perfectly legal. You do have to hold licenses and be members of gun clubs, so there is strict control over it. But, there are still gun clubs everywhere.

How old were you when you start shooting?

I started when I was nine years old. I started at a small school I went to, a small boarding school in Scotland. The teacher was really keen (on it) and everybody in the school tried it at one point or another and I just got into it from there.

Does anybody in your family shoot?

Not really. After a couple of years and when I joined a local club in Aberdeen my dad picked it up and he has been shooting at the club ever since.

But you shot before your dad?

Yes, we lived in the country but there was no shooting back then.

Did you hunt when you were growing up?

No, not really.

Have you ever hunted?

A couple of times. I have been in West Virginia for six years now. I have gone out with people a couple of times that have gone hunting.

But for me, shooting is very much a sport. I see it as a sport that I do, as a hobby, but I am not gun crazy. I am not desperate to go shoot all different types of guns and go hunting.

How many guns do you have in your house?

None.

Do you own a handgun?

No.

Have you ever owned a handgun?

No.

In the specialty of rifle shooting there are different categories. Which type of rifle did you shoot in the Olympics?

I actually did all three of the rifle events.

Which are what?

The air rifle match and then there are two matches in small bore. One is the prone match and then the other is the three position match.

Is it typical for competitors to shoot in all three?

Somewhat.

I really like Judy Dench. I really like the British actresses because they have such good technique. And they crossover so well. They do all this dialogue work which is really incredible.

They are native British speakers and they get coached and do the research so they can play say a Southern dialect. If you get it wrong it is really noticeable. Heath Ledger did a lot of dialect work in Brokeback Mountain.

Did you think Heath Ledger was believable as a Wyoming cowboy?

Absolutely. I have not seen Dark Knight yet where he used some kind of weird language that was not his dialect. But, Judy Dench, Cate Blanchett, Kate Winslett. Some of the Canadian actresses up in Stratford I am just awed by.

Do you go to the theatre much?

I do. There is a lot connected with the theatre department. I go to school with a lot of kids and I want to go see them perform.

What degree are you working on? Are you still in set design?

Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting. I got training in the actors’ studio in the department. I am a forever student in the Acting department.

When you go see a movie or play, do you get thrown off by critiquing the performance technically?

No, I am simply aware of it. I can tell bad acting or not so great acting as well as the next person. I know why. If I saw someone playing a psychologist or mental health professional, I would know if that would fly.

What did you think of the HBO series In Treatment that was based on a therapist and his clients?

I have only seen one episode… and I really liked it. It happened to be an interesting episode where a pilot was goingto go back to Iraq and try to find the town he blew away and assuage his unacknowledged guilt. I thought it was a really engaging and pretty truthful session.

So, as a therapist you were watching a therapy session and you thought it was realistic?

Yes.

Did you think the acting was good?

Yeah, I thought it was pretty good on that occasion.

What’s your dream role?

When you get in middle age and older, you get to do things like being a crazy mother or an evil mother, a queen, Eleanor Roosevelt. One is cast as a certain type.

I have a sort of queenly demeanor. I am not Estelle Parsons orsomebody like that who was a Golden Girl. I would like to do something that is out of the square for me. We are going to do Hamlet at the University and I have thought about auditioning but I would like to be the gravedigger.

They are going to do Urinetown at the university and it is going to be directed by a guy who has worked on musicals in New York before he came back (to Morgantown) to teach. I would love to do a musical because that would complete my childhood dream. There is dancing and I love dancing and there would be a sense of completion.

Copyright 2008 DailyInterview.com

How did you get interested in acting?

I had a friend who I met through a client. This woman was a costumer; she did theatre tech which involves costuming and set design. I have always been redesigning or renovating our farmhouse, which is 130 years old, as a hobby. So I thought I would love to do the set design thing. My husband was so relieved.. that school would be less expensive than renovating.

And, I decided coincidentally around 2001 I needed to do something else with my life besides just work as a psychologist because I was really getting tired.

So, I checked into set design in the theater department at WVU. As a prerequisite you had to take some kind of introto acting course and an overview of theatre as prerequisites. I got kinda hooked actually by the professor who taught the acting course, who said I should be an actress.

You got into acting through set design?

Yeah, I was going to get a degree in set design.

To get out of psychology?

No, to do both.

So, you took acting 101?

I took it as a summer course for two weeks at the university. And, I had a great time.

Had you done any acting before?

I had in junior high school. I got pulled into it by my mom. I was really shy and I had a lot of performance anxiety. And, I made it into the acting club and that was great until I had a lead role and I totally blanked out and dissociated.I was full of shame and I left the club.

I had grown up as a kid dreaming of musical theatre. I’d sing to musicals and dance and do all that as my solitary play. The middle school experience finished that off.. for about 40 years.

Is anybody in your family an actor?

Nope.

So you have been acting since 2001?

Yeah, I got really small parts in the acting in the productions at the university partly because they have people thirtyand under. Some times they need an older person. I don’t have a lot of competition.

You aren’t going for the ingénue roles?

Ah, no. I think those days are over. I think even having a love interest that is younger than thirty is really over too.

What has been your favorite role?

I think my favorite role was a project that I did with two graduate students from the department. We did it in ourcommunity theatre. We did it in April 2008. It was a Canadian play Elizabeth Rex that was put up initially byStratford up in Ontario. It won the Canadian equivalent of the Pulitzer.

It is really interesting. It is about Elizabeth the first in her last yearsof life, the night before her last lover is executed for treason. It is a really smart play. It was really fun. My friend who is an actress, she played the male actor who plays female roles for Shakespeare.

In Elizabethan England they didn’t let women play roles at all. The men played the roles. So, Denise played a guy who played the women. It was wonderful, it was really fun. It was a thrill.

Do you do this professionally?

No. I would be interested in auditioning professionally but there is nothing close and I don’t want to disrupt my life. I have friends here, I have my husband, I have my clients. I am really happy doing community theatre.

So, where do you want to go with your acting?

I take one project at a time.

Do you want to direct?

Yeah, I would feel comfortable now directing. I haven’t directed anything yet but I feel I know enough to start doing it.

Do you write plays?

I have been taking intro to playwriting courses. I have taken two and a friend of mine is a poet. She wrote a series of poems about Sago, the mine disaster in 2006 and we have talked about doing a joint project and I am writing a script for my class and I hope to get at least a reading at the community theatre.

You are both an actor and a psychologist. Do your find that your acting helps you more in doing therapy or does your psychology background help you more in your acting?

At this point, I have had enough training and experience that I can marry them. I think my acting helped my therapywork and some of the things I use in my office from acting school have been really useful.

Like what?

How to properly do breathing to calm yourself. People say they are relaxed but they don’t do it right, they don’t do diaphragmatic breathing. I can reenact for somebody their nonverbal communication. I can say “this is how you said it to her” to a couple. I can play the other partner and show them how they used their tone of voice and inflections and they usually accept that.

I use things about voice and tone of voice – the higher ranges is a social trained and you are not using your natural voice. You are using a tense voice, it is not really grounded.

Copyright 2008 DailyInterview.com