Recently I had an opportunity to meet a legend in the documentary filmmaking community, Ken Burns. He had come to Maine to promote his latest film, The National Parks – America’s Best Idea. My station was doing an interview with him for our evening talk show. I had heard that he was coming and planned on attending the taping, hoping that I might at least get a chance to shake his hand.

As the time drew near I hung around near the lobby, hoping to catch a glimpse of him as he arrived. In fact I missed his arrival and later notice him actually sitting quietly out in the lobby checking his blackberry. He had two people with him, the writer of the film and an assistant. I actually wasn’t sure if he had been helped since we no longer have a receptionist. So I took a deep breath and went out into the lobby. I asked them all if they had been helped and they had. Someone from the show was coming down in a few minutes. I introduced myself and explained that I had gone to school at RIT for documentary film and particularly appreciated and admired his work. I talked about how at the end of the Civil War series he made I felt devastated, almost as if I had been there and gone through the war. He said that type of response is not one that he often hears but he appreciated it. I also mentioned a moment in his film “The War” that was very touching and he said that he had in fact used that very same moment to show the film off to some dignitaries in Washington! Soon after I excused myself and said I would see him in the studio.

Later as he came down the hall toward the studio, I held the door open for him. Our station show producer was with him and said, “And this is Nathan Tinsley.” Ken smiled and said “Yes we’ve met!” I felt like saying, “Yes Becki, Ken and I go way back… like 5 minutes ago!” The interview went well. He was very excited about the film. Overall I found him to be very approachable and kind. It really was a thrill. I thanked him for coming and shook his hand. “Nice to meet you, Nathan.” he said as he left! Of course there was so much more I wanted to talk to him about. Like how does he conduct interviews, how does he sift through hours of footage, process questions. But I decided to be thankful for what I did get to talk with him about and let it go. It’s a meeting I don’t think I’ll ever forget! In the picture you’ll see me next to Ken Burns. The man beside Ken is his good friend and writer, Dayton Duncan.