EXCELLENT ACTRESS
©Bert Gildart: I just received an email notice (with attachment) that an image I made several years ago of Actress/narrator Tammy Denease Richardson performing at the much renowned Old Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts, was used in a brochure to attract patrons to yet another of her grand performances. The event is scheduled for February 12, but unfortunately it will be staged in Virginia. We’re in Montana and distance precludes our attendance. If we were in the same region we would make the trip.
Ms. Richardson can literally step into the shoes of whomever she is portraying, and you can believe, for example, that she is Sarah Margru, the slave who had been brought from Africa via Cuba to America on the slave ship Amistad.
Tammy Denease
You can believe that she is Elizabeth “Mum Brett” Freeman, trying to win her freedom after suffering 30 years in bondage. You can hear the words echoing through the ages as sadness fills the face of Denease/Freeman.
“Anytime, anytime while I was a slave, if one minute’s freedom had been offered to me, and I had been told I must die at the end of that minute, I would have taken it — just to stand one minute on God’s airth a free woman — I would.”
Ms Richardson acquired some of her outstanding interpretive skills from her ancestors. Born in Mississippi she spent countless hours with her 100-year old grandmother and great-grandmother, the latter of whom was a former slave who lived to be 125 years old. Both were well-known storytellers who passed this treasured gift on to Ms. Richardson, their granddaughter.
We hope she’ll return to Old Strubridge Village. Because of family, we visit there often, and hope our timing will be such that we can see her again.
Today, of course, is Martin Luther King Day, so the arrival of the brochure was well timed.
————————-
THIS TIME TWO YEARS AGO:
Ghost Mountain, An Experiment in Living: http://gildartphoto.com/weblog/2015/01/19/ghost-mountain-an-experiment-in-living
4th ed. Autographed by the Authors
Hiking Shenandoah National Park
Hiking Shenandoah National Park is the 4th edition of a favorite guide book, created by Bert & Janie, a professional husband-wife journalism team. Lots of updates including more waterfall trails, updated descriptions of confusing trail junctions, and new color photographs. New text describes more of the park’s compelling natural history. Often the descriptions are personal as the Gildarts have hiked virtually every single park trail, sometimes repeatedly.
Big Sky Country is beautiful
Montana Icons: 50 Classic Symbols of the Treasure State
Montana Icons is a book for lovers of the western vista. Features photographs of fifty famous landmarks from what many call the “Last Best Place.” The book will make you feel homesick for Montana even if you already live here. Bert Gildart’s varied careers in Montana (Bus driver on an Indian reservation, a teacher, backcountry ranger, as well as a newspaper reporter, and photographer) have given him a special view of Montana, which he shares in this book. Share the view; click here.
$16.95 + Autographed Copy
What makes Glacier, Glacier?
Glacier Icons: 50 Classic Views of the Crown of the Continent
Glacier Icons: What makes Glacier Park so special? In this book you can discover the story behind fifty of this park’s most amazing features. With this entertaining collection of photos, anecdotes and little known facts, Bert Gildart will be your backcountry guide. A former Glacier backcountry ranger turned writer/photographer, his hundreds of stories and images have appeared in literally dozens of periodicals including Time/Life, Smithsonian, and Field & Stream. Take a look at Glacier Icons
$16.95 + Autographed Copy
