Good press

We invited one reporter to our final, emotional test screening at Zambarano, and Ethan Shorey of The Valley Breeze wrote a fine story, published this week. Read it by following this link.

We completed our final shoot yesterday: Brown University's Dr. E. Jane Carter, who is senior consultant for Rhode Island's TB clinic and also a prominent practitioner and researcher in Kenya. In fact, she was just back from Africa when when we filmed her. She is a great doctor and great on-camera. Very little left to do now...

Happy holidays to all, and may the New Year bring many blessings!

-- Wayne

ANOTHER PRE-RELEASE HONOR

With ON THE LAKE already accepted as an educational partner in the Geneva, Switzerland-based Stop TB Partnership, the world's leading fight-TB advocacy group, we have just been accepted as a partner with the United States advocacy group Stop TB USA. We thank the American group for bringing us on board.

Both the international and U.S. organizations are devoted to eliminating TB through treatment and research, and the public education and awareness required to support the End TB effort. Their recognition of us is in appreciation of the outreach/education role the film will play, beginning in February.

-- Wayne

FINAL TEST SCREENING AN EMOTIONAL TIME

Following successful test screenings in October in Pittsburgh and last month at Harvard College in Cambridge, Mass., we showed the movie Wednesday, Dec. 3, for the last time before the Feb. 13 world premiere at the place where it all began: Zambarano Hospital in Pascoag, R.I. We went into production a year ago at this distant place on Wallum Lake, and we have been many places since then as the movie grew from a look at a Rhode Island institution to include a national and global look at tuberculosis today. More than 100 staff, patients and former patients came this afternoon to the auditorium -- the very same place that appears in the film several times, albeit in historical context of a half century and more ago.

We thanked everyone for their extraordinary cooperation in helping bring this together, and we recognized several former patients and residents who are in the movie -- and who made the trip to Wallum Lake today. And that list includes Emily Martineau and Sheila O'Brien, both of Harrisville, R.I., and the four people pictured in the photo below, none of whom had seen each other in years, left to right: John Lynes, of Pascoag; Drew Greene, of North Carolina; Barbara Parkos, of Newport; and Russ Denham, who summers in the Ocean State winters in Florida. There were tears and memories galore... we have touched many lives as we've been blessed by so many stories shared and now preserved forever...



And our special guest was the extraordinary Frank Beazley, who has been a patient at Zam for almost 42 years. With a round of applause and profound appreciation for this incredible man, we wished Frank an early 80th birthday (it's on Dec. 13)! That's Frank, in the photo below, wearing his Christmas hat:



Thanks, folks, and happy holidays!

-- Wayne

GOOD SCREENING, GREAT WRITE-UP

A crowd of some 75 people braced cold rainy weather to attend the second test screening of ON THE LAKE last evening at Harvard College in Cambridge, an event organized by our outreach coordinator, Katherine Miller (kudos, Kate!). We had several members of cast and crew in attendance, along with special guests Barbara Parkos and Gale Perkins, former TB patients who are in the film. It was awesome to watch them watch the film for the first time. They, like the audience, were moved.

And in the next morning's Harvard Crimson, we got a very nice write-up, check it out.

Dave and I took questions after -- that's us at the front of Harvard Hall 201 -- and we enjoyed the discussion. Got some good tips, too, from that discussion and the questionnaires as we move in on a final cut.

Here's a sampling:

"Overall, really, really good!" A woman in the 25 to 36 year-old group.

"So emotional. So moving." A woman in the 65-plus group.

Needs "more emphasis on global aspect of TB, relation to HIV, MDR/XDR-TB." A woman in the 18 - 24 group.

"You need to focus a lot more on global TB." A man, in the 18-24 group.

Indeed, the last two respondents hit on the major area where the film needs work -- and Dave and I are aggressively moving on that.

Thanks to all who came, and for all the great input. Third and last screening is a private viewing before an audience of some 200 people on Dec. 3... if you feel compelled to attend, send an email through the link at Eagle Peak Media, our production company and maybe we can sneak you in... next big date after that is the Feb. 13th premiere.

-- Wayne

2nd TEST SCREENING -- FREE and ALL WELCOME!

November 5, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. _ The second of three scheduled test screenings of ON THE LAKE: Life and Love in a Distant Place, a documentary movie about the tuberculosis epidemic in America in the 1900s and globally today, will be held will be at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 13, at Harvard Hall, Harvard College.

Filmmakers David Bettencourt and G. Wayne Miller will speak at the showing of ON THE LAKE, which is scheduled for PBS broadcast in March 2009. This showing is free and open to the public. The movie will premiere at the Stadium Theatre in Woonsocket, R.I., on Feb. 13.

ON THE LAKE is the first production from Eagle Peak Media, a multi-media company founded in May by Bettencourt, the award-winning director of YOU MUST BE THIS TALL: The Story of Rocky Point Park, and Miller, journalist and author of seven books. Two more Eagle Peak documentaries are in pre-production.

The first test screening of ON THE LAKE was held last month in Pittsburgh, before an audience of nearly 100 people. The final test screening will be before a private audience on Dec. 3.

While less of a public health issue in America today than in the early 1900s, when much of the film is set, it remains epidemic on the planet. Tuberculosis is the number-two infectious disease killer globally today, according to the World Health Organization, with nearly two million deaths and nine million new cases in 2006, the last year for which data is available. The only disease with a higher worldwide mortality is HIV/AIDS.

Audience reaction from the Pittsburgh screening suggests that the filmmakers have succeeded in bringing powerful emotion and personal stories to the screen.

''Our aim was not to produce a 'disease-of-the-week' movie, but rather a compelling narrative of real people,'' Miller said. ''Against this tragic backdrop, against the many deaths, we found love stories and stories of triumph.''

Harvard Hall is located at the main entrance to Harvard Yard, which is in the center of Harvard Square in Cambridge, Mass.

For more information about the movie, visit the movie site.

SECOND TEST SCREENING SET FOR CAMBRIDGE, MASS.

We will show ON THE LAKE for the second time publicly at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 13, in Harvard Hall 201 at Harvard College. The hall, one of the college's finest old buildings, is right in Harvard Yard, near the Main Gate. The showing, part of Harvard's Global Health Week awareness program, is free and open to the public.

See earlier blogs for reports from the first test screening, in Pittsburgh on Oct. 16.

-- Wayne

Successful test screening

Dave and I just touched down from Pittsburgh, where yesterday we staged out first screening of OTL. Almost 100 people came, a nice crowd, and after the film, we took questions for almost an hour. The reaction was overwhelmingly positive. The audience -- mostly people in their 20s and 30s, but several older -- connected to the emotions, the stories, the images and the music. This was primarily a medical crowd, and some of these people wanted more on the TB epidemic today; Dave and I told them that this is the last unfinished part of the movie and we are addressing that (in negotiations, for example, to use some of the most powerful photographs of TB victims today that we have ever seen). But overall, we could not be more pleased. Dozens of people filled out our questionnaires. Here's a sampling:

"Great insight into the TB experience. When you hear about a disease, you naturally think of cases as statistics & not people. This really made me re-think that concept." A woman, in the 18 - 24 year-old group.

"I like that you bring TB to the personal level." A man, in the 25 - 36 year-old group.

"I enjoyed the film! Great job!" Woman, 25 - 36.

"The people recording their memories were very powerful -- the woman who had her ears pierced was very poignant." Woman, 51 - 65.

Our next test screening is at Harvard College, at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 13. If you'd like to attend, stay tuned for final details.

-- Wayne

Ready for Pittsburgh!

It's 2:18 in the morning and Harry and I have just finished editing. This, of course, is a good thing, considering the fact that our first test screening is Thursday afternoon at the Graduate School of Public Health in Pittsburgh.

More to come...

---David

First Nationwide Radio Publicity!

Although the main topic was my book KING OF HEARTS, I discussed ON THE LAKE this morning during the hour-long appearance I made on Heart Health, a Sirius Satellite program that airs from New York City. The hosts, Dr. Greg Ribakove and Dr. Charles Schwartz, two of the world's top heart surgeons, liked the description so much that they invited us to screen the film down there. We're arranging it, probably for March. Thanks to Charlie and to Greg, who I met five years ago during a talk I gave in New York. See you in Manhattan...

-- Wayne

Publicity Already for our Outreach

In advance of our first big-screen showing of the movie next week in Pittsburgh, the city's major newspaper, The Post Gazette, today published notice. Further evidence that our outreach program will indeed raise public awareness of the global TB epidemic.

Here's the blurb:
• The Student Public Health Epidemic Response Effort at the Graduate School of Public Health of the University of Pittsburgh is sponsoring a viewing of "On the Lake: Life and Love in a Distant Place," a documentary on the 1900 tuberculosis epidemic, from 4 to 6 p.m. Oct. 16 in room G-24 in the Cathedral of Learning on Pitt's main campus, Fifth Avenue and Bigelow Boulevard, Oakland. A panel discussion moderated by GSPH professor Samuel Stebbins follows. Call 412-491-2062.

Here's the link to the Post-Gazette story.

Last-minute recording

With just days to go until the film is complete, we brought Alex McDougall back into the studio to record a few passages. She was great. Here's the video:

First two wide-screen showings

We are almost done the film. Lots of final editing and sound work, but we are almost there -- just in time for our first wide-screen showing, on October 16th at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. Dave and I will present the film. The next showing will be on November 13th at Harvard College, in Cambridge, Mass., as part of Global Health Week. These showings are for students and faculty of the two schools. The official world premiere will be February 13th at the Stadium Theatre in Woonsocket, Rhode Island.

-- Wayne

CONDOLENCES

Benito Mesiti, father of our musician, composer and sound engineer extraordinaire, Ben Mesiti, died on September 22. Our thoughts and prayers are with Ben, his mother and other relatives at this time. Benito was 67 and a native of Italy. His funeral will be Friday morning, Sept. 26, at 10 a.m. at Holy Ghost Church, Atwells Ave. in Providence, with calling hours Thursday, Sept. 25, from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Nardolillo Funeral Home, 1278 Parke Ave., in Cranston.

-- Wayne

SCORE!

Lonnie Montaquila, who with Ben Mesiti writes our music (and much more), takes a break Tuesday, August 26, during recording (at the University of Rhode Island Theater Department "J" Studio, Fine Arts Center) of the The Joe Parillo Jazz Band. They played an original composition by Ben and Lonnie, and it sounds absolutely fantastic. The Joe Parillo Jazz Band: Joe Parillo, Piano/Arranger; Mike Greenfield, Saxophone/Clarinet; Dave Drapeau, Saxophone; Stephen Grueb, Saxophone/Clarinet; Alan Holland, Baritone Sax; Andrew Pacchiarotti, Trombone; Carl Querforth, Trombone; Audra Ratliff, Trumpet; Sue Curzio, Bass; Dan Hann, Drums. Thanks, folks!

-- Wayne

CLOSING IN

Labor Day weekend approaches, time for a quick update. Wednesday evening at Ben's studio, we recorded our major voice: narrator Yemi Sekoni, who wowed us back in March during auditions and did the same in the studio. Yemi has a wonderfully distinctive voice that we adore, and she is a class act work with. She put up well with Dave's, Ben's and my shenanigans, and at the end of almost 2 1/2 hours, we had a thing of beauty.

We did some last-minute shooting Thursday evening to fills some holes in the rough cut -- not so rough any more. The URI band on Tuesday recorded Lonnie and Ben’s original bid-band composition, and it's outstanding. Once we lay Yemi's voice in, they can get to work on the rest of the sound.

With more editing last week and more scheduled for next, we'll soon have picture lock. This is all very exciting, watching almost 11 months of hard work by so many people finally coming together. The emotions seen in the trailer are only amplified here, and the story line remains strong. Cross your fingers, we think we have something here...

-- Wayne

Songs, a video, expert and more...

We are deep into editing now, and our focus is on bringing this home. We have some voice and sound recordings ahead of us and some last-minute photography. In other words, we're busy, and so we will probably stop blogging for a while. For now, past blogs will have to suffice -- so check it out, some good music, a video of Dave and Harry editing, and more at the OTL blog.

-- Wayne

TB Blues

One of America's great country singers, Jimmie Rodgers, died of complications from TB. We have his music in OTL. Here's a link to a YouTube tribute to him, singing a signature song.

NOTED TB EXPERT JOINS OUTREACH PROGRAM

As Eagle Peak Media moves forward with plans to help raise awareness of tuberculosis today, we are pleased to announce that leading TB expert Dr. E. Jane Carter, senior consultant for the RISE tuberculosis Clinic at Providence's Miriam Hospital and assistant professor at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, has agreed to join our efforts. Before heading off to Kenya last week, where she is engaged in the global battle against the disease, we met with Dr. Carter and found her to be not only knowledgeable (we expected that) but also excited about the TB cause and the role OTL will play through its TB Awareness Days program, which begins this fall at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health and continues into next year. The program is still being refined, but Dr. Carter will bring great authority to it. So, welcome, Dr. Carter… and a safe trip to and from Kenya.

The RISE clinic, sponsored by the Rhode Island Department of Health, is the state’s TB treatment center, recording some 8,500 patient visits every year –– most by people who carry the TB bacterium, but have not developed the disease. But the clinic does treat active cases –– including a man who is in the movie.

Wayne

Editing

Dave and Harry and I spent the evening of July 30 editing the rough cut, which is looking fine. Here's a moment at the Avid machine...
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TB IN HARVARD MAGAZINE

No less esteemed a publication as Harvard Magazine in its current issue has a nine-page spread on today's global TB epidemic -- one of the themes of ON THE LAKE, and a topic that will be part of our outreach program that will accompany release of the movie. The story is actually 10 pages, if you count the sidebar about the dean of the Harvard School of Public Health, himself a noted TB researcher. Read the Harvard Magazine story.
This photo of a badly emaciated TB victim is from the magazine.
We plan on showing OTL at medical schools and schools of public health, and this latest well-done exploration of TB suggests we will have an receptive audience.

-- Wayne

Is this George Barrows?

The best answer we can come up with is: It might be.

The photographic technology that produced this image dates from about the right time. The photo was found among Barrows family photographs that in all likelihood had been collected by George's sister, Hattie. And it plausibly looks like someone of Yankee-Indian-Cape Verdean ancestry.

But, the photo is unlabeled, so we can never know for sure. Plus, all of the above clues would apply to George's brother Frank, as well.

So, we probably will never know for sure, but this may be what the face of Patient Number One looked like.

Did we find George?

I traveled to Connecticut today to meet with the granddaughter of a cousin of George Sprague Barrows, known around here as Patient Number One. George's cousin was only a few years older than George, and, after George was abandoned by his father, George and the cousin were raised by George's aunt. This, of course, gave us reason to hope that descendants of George's cousin might have pictures of George.

The picture seen here is of Lavina Lovell (Sprague) Barrows, George's mother. Finding this picture is significant for two reasons.

First, her image will have a place in the movie, and we didn't have it before.

Second, because we know that she died in 1877 a few weeks after George was born, we know that the photo collection we're looking at spans all of George's lifetime -- it is not simply pictures from after he died.

Unfortunately, none of the photos in the collection are labeled as being George. All hope is not lost, though. Some of the unidentified photos have enough clues in them that we may be able to narrow some down as being George.

One unexpected find, shown below, is a postcard from George to his sister, Hattie, when he was at the sanatorium on the lake. George calls her by her nickname, Vinie, which was short for Lavina. This, of course, was their mother's name. It was also Hattie's middle name.

Unfortunately, on this occasion at least, George had a prodigious economy with words.

-Paul Parker

JOIN OUR LIST!!!

Please take a minute to join our new mailing list, through which you can keep abreast of developments with OTL and future Eagle Peak Media/Midway Pictures productiosn. The quick signup box is in the blog item below, and also at the bottom of the ON THE LAKE official movie site.

JOIN OUR MAILING LIST!

Please join our brand-new mailing list, with which we will give updates of ON THE LAKE and future Eagle Peak Media productions -- of which there are many in the planning stages. Thanks!

-- Wayne

EPM North

As a thunderstorm moved in from the west and Cal joined us at my kitchen table for a delicious beef stew with fresh-baked biscuits, Dave and I met for some two hours last evening to review progress on OTL and continue planning for future Eagle Peak Media projects. Things are looking very good. We viewed Harry and Dave's work so far on the rough cut of OTL Act I, and it's awesome -- even without the soundtrack and with lots of black screen where footage and stills will be dropped in. The story line holds nicely. Dave played the role of narrator (we will of course record our real narrator, Yemi Sekoni, when we're further along), and while his voice came out weird (for reasons we cannot explain), the timing is pretty much dead-on. So much great work by so many great people have left us in the catbird seat (knock on wood).

-- Wayne

Gale Perkins

That's a wrap!
Today was the last interview and it was a good one. Josh and I, along with our newest intern Andy, drove to Groveland, Massachusetts, to the lovely home of C. Gale Perkins, a former patient at the Lakeville Sanatorium. Her self-published book, The Baby's Cross, is an interesting account of her childhood spent at the "San," as she called it.

The highlights of the interview:
She told us a great story about her first kiss, with a fellow patient named Bernie, at age 12, whom she would later meet again, years and years later, after publishing her memoir.

She had numerous spinal "fusions," to rid her of the tuberculosis that had infected her bones, operations that would leave her young body in a full body cast for three years.


And she told us about how doctors told her she wouldn't live past 16 years old, yet here she was in front of us, living and breathing, laughing and tearing up, some six decades after leaving that sanatorium.

A great woman. Maybe we saved the best for last.

--David

The Trailer

Recording Session II

Scenes from our second voice-recording session, at Ben Mesiti's studio, June 9. Pictured are: Ben, with guitar at the sound board; Chris Kinsella, the voice of Ed, in the booth; Alex McDougall, the voice of Barbara Bowie, one of our strongest characters, studying her script in the green (or maybe beige) room; and Dave, striking a directorial note... er, pose. Glenn Laxton, the voice of Dr. Barnes, and Lionel Beauchemin, the voice of Dr. Hudson, also recorded. Dave and crew head off tomorrow to Massachusetts, on what will definitely be our last shoot, barring an act of God. The story they are getting is awesome, a great last-minute addition to the movie, and just under the wire.

-- Wayne

WATCH THE TRAILER!!!!

In conjunction with broadcasts of YOU MUST BE THIS TALL, Rhode Island PBS, WSBE-TV Channel 36, is airing the OTL trailer on three nights: Saturday, June 7, at 8 p.m.; Sunday, June 8, at 11 p.m.; and Thursday, June 12 at 8 p.m. This is the first time on air! Check it out... and be sure to let us know what you think as we move deeper into post-production...

-- Wayne

Eagle Peak Media

Plenty of activity going on behind the scenes these days, including more ground work for Eagle Peak Media, our film, web and book company. Jeff's been working on logos, and here's one of his latest, which I really like. Stay tuned, as they say, for the launch of the EPM web site...

-- Wayne

Vacation to the Desert

Every year, two film school friends and I choose a city in the United States. We then meet up, hike, camp, catch a ball game, and have a holiday. This year, to clear my head before we go into post-production, I got on a plane with a destination of Phoenix, Arizona.

Here's a recap:

We saw Randy Johnson pitch and beat the Detroit Tigers in an inter-league game at Chase Field.
We camped and played wiffleball in the desert.
And we saw the Grand Canyon, an awe-inspiring sight that I recommend to each and everyone of you. The place is amazing.

Now, well rested and inspired, I head back home to work on the movie. The trailer is coming....

--David

Reading Letters

Margot Muraszkiewicz, shown here in studio, reading from a beautiful letter written by a nurse at a sanatorium to her lover, who has tuberculosis himself.

Other vocal talents from this afternoon: Patricia Painter, Tim Downs and Ken Rinn. Rinn also appears in our first film. More to come!

--David

Recording session

Here we are inside Ben's recording studio this evening, watching (listening) as Ken Rinn does the narration for our trailer, due by the end of the week, and (not seen) Ben works the controls. We recorded several voices today, viewed an early cut of the trailer, then listened to the preliminary Big Band tracks that Lonnie and Ben are doing. It all kicked you-know-what. Ladies and gentlemelons, this thing is coming together beautifully. If only we can keep Bettencourt away from the mike, we'll be fine...

-- Wayne

Eagle Peak Media, Baltimore

On the way down to Baltimore yesterday, we refined the broad shape of the new multi-media company we are forming, and, after several tries with other names, came up with one Dave and I and Jeff Toste really like -- and this time, will stick to. Welcome to Eagle Peak Media, or EPM. Dave came up with the name, after the road on which I live -- and the place (my house) where some of the earliest discussions that led to ON THE LAKE and now Eagle Peak Media occurred. But it was the ring of the name, not nostalgia, that led us to choose it. We already had our tagline (Film. Web. Words.) and our slogan (Story is our passion.©) Now we have the right name, a domain name (www.EaglePeakMedia.com) soon to be our central web site, and an umbrella into which we can wrap all of our many projects, present and future. Details will be forthcoming.

The interview, meanwhile, was outstanding -- one of our best. Dr. Chaisson will not only have a large role in the movie but also the trailer, due soon. I saw the rough cut and heard the score for the first time on that train, and they blew me away. This is some high-octane stuff. Now, as for the train itself, let me say that while the ride down was good, halfway back it had become what Yolanda predicted: excrutiating. Just too long and boring, but we made it...

-- Wayne

OFF TO BALTIMORE

Dr. Richard Chaisson, one of the world's leading experts on TB, is based at Baltimore's Johns Hopkins University, and Dave, Jeff Toste and I are off early tomorrow to interview him. A one-day trip, a long day (by Acela) but well sorth it -- Dr. Chaisson will be a great addition to our movie, and he has kindly found time in a very busy schedule for us. In all likelihood, this will be our final shoot, as we are well into post-production, as noted before...

-- Wayne

First big-screen showing of trailer

Dave has posted word of broadcasts of the trailer in June, and we plan to have it online before then. But if you want to see it on the big screen, the first public showing will be on Saturday, May 31, at the opening event of the 2008 Riverwalk Times outdoor entertainment series in Harrisville, Rhode Island. That evening, David will be hosting a special outdoor screening of his YOU MUST BE THIS TALL: The Story of Rocky Point Park. Admission is free. We'll show the trailer after the movie and we'll be available for questions. Details at the Riverwalk Times home page.

The Trailer, Gunshots, and PBS

As Lonnie and Ben work on the score for the trailer, Harry and I continue to cut the visuals. It will be done soon...

As you may or may not have heard, there was an incident involving a security officer and an unknown trespasser in one of the abandoned buildings up at Zambarano. Allegedly, a single gun shot was fired. Fortunately, everybody in the hospital is safe and sound, and the police continue their investigation.

Our first voiceover recording session is rapidly approaching as well. I look forward to working with the actors as we continue to build ON THE LAKE's central characters and voices...

And finally, You Must Be This Tall, my first feature film, is airing twice next month on regional PBS, Saturday, June 7th at 8:00 p.m. and Thursday, June 12th at 8:00 p.m. I'm awaiting the final word from the station, but it looks as though we may unveil the trailer those nights as well...stay tuned.

---David, from gate A-3 at Baltimore's BWI Airport...

TICKETS ON SALE NOW!!!

NOW ON SALE! Tickets to the New England premiere of ON THE LAKE, set for 8 p.m. on February 13, 2009, at the famed
Stadium Theatre in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. RESERVE YOUR TICKETS HERE.

OTL in the News

Our first grant -- from the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities -- has made the Council's latest e-newsletter. Here's a link to the news. They used one of our photos, too. Thanks again to the Council for helping to bring our story to the screen.

-- Wayne

A haunting and breathless voice from over the ages...

As we move forward here, I am working on the scripts for the voices in OTL. As readers of this blog know, one is of Barbara Bowie, the young woman who was at Wallum Lake more than a half century ago. Jessica SaintJean, one of our great interns, has transcribed all of Barbara's letters (no easy task, I can assure you). Jessica was as moved as I am, again, as I go over Barbara's words in depth. Jessica wrote to me: "Some of them were absolutely heartbreaking." And it's true.

Here is the full, un-edited text of one of Barbara's letters, to a relative, written on June 18, 1949, less than a year before she died, having never gone home from the sanatorium. In this short note, one gets a sense of this young woman, her cares and concerns, and a haunting prescience of what her fate would be. In putting this film together, I am constantly struck by the strange workings of life, that this woman who I never met, who died before I was born, and who surely never imagined anyone would be preserving her memory -- and, dare we say, bring her to life -- would somehow connect to me. It gives one pause, doesn't it...



Dear Lorraine,

Don’t drop, for Heaven’s sake. I’m really writing you a letter, my dear sister. It won’t be too long, but at least you know I’m thinking of you!

The other night, when the priest came, I didn’t realize he’d be so long. I kept wondering what time it was, and I didn’t dare look at my watch. There’s so much to being anointed. Hope I never need it again until I’m ready to kick the bucket – and I hope that won’t be for years and years.

I just finished writing my darling a long love letter. I hope he appreciates them. What a time I have trying to write what I mean. It’s a wonder my letters to him don’t burn the post office beyond repair! That’s a joke, son.

You’ll know before you get this, but mom was here today with Nana Bowie, Pop, Rita and Nana Horton. I was sleeping like a log when they got here, so I had no lipstick on, my hair wasn’t combed, well, I was a complete wreck. You know Nana Bowie. I looked uncomfortable, so she lifted my head, and fixed my pillows. I felt like an invalid, honestly. She wouldn’t let me move. But I did, after. I love her, she’s so darn sweet.

Father Holland was in to se me today. He’s grand. He’ll certainly go to Heaven when he dies.

Gosh – I’m getting writer’s cramp. Listen! You’d better answer this. I hope you’ll forgive me for all the mistakes, can’t help it. I’m getting old, I guess. Write soon.

Lots of Love,
Babs

PS Next letter I write will be more interesting with some news in it. I hope!

Fruit and Frustration

Sorry for the delay in this post, but sometimes my real job -- strike, that, my paying job -- and my family need me. I spent a day on the research trail last week and met with a heaping of frustration and dollop of fruit.

I tracked down the daughter of Everett, the man we were hunting because his girlfriend was a patient at Wallum Lake in the late 1940s. Unfortunately, the daughter thought we were running some kind of identity theft scheme and hung up on me. I may still write her a letter. But our main goal was finding a photograph of Everett, which we succeeded in, anyways. While reviewing the material from Everett's girlfriend, Wayne discovered a previously unlocated photo.

The fruit came while tying up the loose ends of the story of Patient Number One, George Sprague Barrows.

Several weeks ago, my three-year-old son, Oliver, and I went hiking along the wooded roads of central Rhode Island, looking for a cemetery -- which my son persisted in calling a wegetarium -- God only knows why. This cemetery is the final resting place for George's mother, who died giving birth to him, and his brother, who died of tuberculosis several years before him. Oliver and I got chased by a dog and found some good hiking sticks, but we didn't get to the cemetery. The trip wasn't a complete loss, though. Using our field recon and aerial photos on the Web, I figured out where the cemetery is -- on private land posted against trespassing.

Last week, I contacted the landowner, who agreed to let me check out the cemetery and to let us film there, if needed.

From a genealogist's standpoint, the cemetery was a goldmine, holding four generations of George's family. It also yielded a few crumbs that may end up in the movie or in the DVD bonus material, including a touching poem on George's mother's headstone and nice shots of the cemetery itself. George's ancestors buried there also allowed me to trace his genealogy back some distance on his mother's side.

It turns out that Patient Number One was a descendant of Rhode Islander Number One: George was a great-great-great-great-great-great grandson of Roger Williams.

-Paul Parker

Press Forward

Just sent our latest press release, reporting our progress. You can read it here first:

P.O. Box 6461
Providence, Rhode Island, 02940
www.midway-pictures.com
(401) 568-9107


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE



PROVIDENCE, R.I. _ With principal photography winding down, the filmmakers behind the feature-length documentary ON THE LAKE: Life and Love in a Distant Place are completing their trailer and moving into post-production. The New England premiere has been set for Feb. 13, 2009, at the Stadium theater in Woonsocket, R.I.

ON THE LAKE tells the story of the tuberculosis epidemic of the late 1800s through the 1950s, when effective antibiotic treatments were developed. Known as The White Plague, TB was the nation’s number-one killer of the time – as feared as AIDS, ebola and bird flu would be in a later era.

“It's a powerful story and I'm excited to bring it to the screen,” said director David Bettencourt, whose last major film, YOU MUST BE THIS TALL: The Story of Rocky Point Park, won critical acclaim, enjoyed a long run in regional theaters, and was broadcast on PBS.

This is a national – indeed, international – story that has never been told in a documentary film like this. Before effective drugs, victims of TB (easily spread through a cough or a sneeze) were sent to sanatoria, where fresh air, rest and healthy food were the only hopes for cure. Many patients died -- but many others recovered, if only after years of hospitalization, and some went on to marry fellow patients they had met while in a sanatorium. Many stayed on at the hospital as nurses and assistants, and raised their children there. The filmmakers will tell these universal stories of romance, love and family – the element of human triumph arising from tragic circumstances.

“This is an important story about a scary and terrible time in our country’s history,” said Bettencourt. “But through it all, people found love and happiness and laughter.”

Principal shooting took place at three locations: Saranac Lake, New York, America’s foremost sanatoria center; in and around Denver, Colorado, another leading center; and Wallum Lake, Rhode Island, site of an historic sanatorium (that still exists as a chronic-disease hospital, Zambarano). Additional shooting took place in North Carolina, Massachusetts and Baltimore.

“What began with our first shoot in November as a look only at Wallum Lake soon became a national and then a global story with significant public-health relevance today,” said producer G. Wayne Miller. “But the heart of the film remains the stories of love and happiness that we found everywhere. We expect that this will be a deeply emotionally charged experience for our audiences.”

The filmmakers have received unprecedented access to previously unseen archives of still photos, home movies, letters and other documents kept by institutions and former patients and their relatives who are featured in the film. Through The National Library of Medicine and other sources, the filmmakers have also obtained copies of government and professional footage, dating back to the late 1920s, and some of it never before seen.

ON THE LAKE will close with a look at the re-emergence of TB as an international public-health crisis today. Two of the world’s leading TB experts have gone on camera for the hour-long movie.

For more information, to follow progress on the official blog, or to view the trailer when it is completed later this month, visit www.onthelakemovie.com

–– 30 ––

Just One More...

Shoot, that is, at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, of one of the world's leading TB experts. We'll do it in a day, down and back on Amtrak's Acela express, without doubt the best and most enjoyable passage up and down the Northeast Corridor. But we are already into post-production on OTL. Trailer soon. Roll-out plan soon. Venue and ticket infro soon. Life, and the movie, are good. Very good. As Dave keeps saying, we are putting our heart and soul in this -- it's not one you can miss.

-- Wayne

Badin Inn

I shot and cut a little video for Badin Inn. It was the least I could do for Andy & Martha, who I first met at a croquet match and barbecue in Pascoag, Rhode Island 15 or so years ago. The inn they've got down (up? over?) in North Carolina is really special, a place to play golf or relax, or both.

In the Lake?

No, not yet, that will be the end-of-summer celebration, when the entire crew and cast of OTL will immerse ourselves in the cool waters of Wallum to mark our approach to final cut. Beer and barbecue will follow back at Midway North...

This was Dave and me on the lake (and posing by an old truck) in Badin, North Carolina, where we spent last night and much of today as guests of our good friends Martha and Andy Kinnecom, who own the spectacular Badin Inn Golf Resort & Club. Dave will blog more soon, but trust me, this is a little piece of heaven. I will definitely be returning soon with Yolanda. We may even golf. Golf? No, that's no errant line. The Badin course is awesome.

I digress.

Dave and I came to North Carolina to interview a man now in his 60s who was a young boy at Wallum Lake in the early 1950s, one of the first to receive new drug treatments of the time that at long last cured TB patients and spelled the end of the sanatorium era. We mentioned him in an earlier blog (look for the photo of the kid-on-his-back with the bulb-nose Shriners' clown) and his story summary, by phone and email, compelled us to fly south to get him on camera. He did not disappoint. He talked for over half an hour about his time at WL, and this interview, supplemented by his still photos and film footage, just puts OTL further over the top. A great trip, all-in-all. Dave and I also came up with another idea for a project that we really love, and if it passes our new one-month rule (i.e., we still like it in a month), we'll be moving forward.

OK, midnight nears and I am back in glorious Pascoag, Rhode Island, in the same happy little town as Wallum Lake, just a few miles up the road, how weird is fate that I wound up here. It's time to sign off, from my home in the fresh air and the woods not on -- but very near -- the lake.

-- Wayne

Dr. Michael Iseman

Denver, Colorado--After our interview, Dr. Michael Iseman, a renowned expert on multi-drug-resistant TB, tells us about the X-rays behind him. We were nearly all packed up when he started to talk about each one...fortunately, I just kept rolling.

--David

The Poster

Our brilliant Art Director, Ryan Arruda, has designed a fabulous movie poster. Here's the latest version. We'll soon be sending it around, look for it in a place frequented by you!

-- Wayne

NEW ENGLAND PREMIERE SET!!!

Save the date: Friday, February 13, 2009, at 8 p.m. That's when ON THE LAKE will have its New England premiere at the Stadium Theatre Performing Arts Center in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. This magnificently restored 1920s theater was the scene for the sold-out 2007 premiere of YOU MUST BE THIS TALL. Just as with YMBTT, a question-and-answer period will follow OTL's New England premiere. Check back soon for ticket information, and meanwhile, for a treat, visit the Stadium web site. This is one of the finest venues anywhere...

-- Wayne

Idaho Springs

Idaho Springs, population 1,800 or so, a mining town that has fallen upon hard times. But it has this hardware store. And some geo-thermal caves with naturally hot mineral spring water you can bathe in for 20 bucks. I'm still haunted by the image of the naked fat man standing in the cave after I opened the wrong door....

But that was yesterday. Today was amazing. Terrific interviews, wonderful people, lots of great information, great photographs, and even some sanatorium film from the 1930s. Not to mention delicious vegetarian quesadillas at the National Jewish Hospital's cafeteria, a moment of silence at the Columbine memorial, an explanation of X-rays featuring diseased lungs, and an absolutely fantastic Italian meal with our new friend, Mike McPhee.

It doesn't get any better than this. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I can't wait for you to see this film.

--David

The Columbine Memorial

Regular readers of this blog know how we like to chronicle our film here, and Dave and I sometimes mix it up with some fun. We had one of our best days shooting today in months as we near the end of production, but we took some time in early evening to visit the memorial to the 13 students who were killed nine years ago this April in America's worst high school shooting. We briefly visited the outside of Columbine High School, where the shooting took place, then walked to the top of a nearby knoll where the memorial is located. The sun was heading down over the distant Rockies, but there was still plenty of light. A bit chilly. A bit of wind. We walked through the memorial, which reminded us of the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, on a smaller scale. Beautifully designed. A teenage couple pictured here was visiting, too; they talked in hushed tones. Dave and I shot some film -- me, stills, he, motion-picture -- and we read the inscriptions, and the remembrances, and were deeply moved. We didn't speak much then, not until we were back in the car. We do not comprehend what happened here, but the emotions we felt -- sadness, reverence, mystification, something spiritual -- connected us to something bigger. I have a gallery of special places I have visited in my life that I will never forget, and this so properly joins it. The other still is Dave, with my shadow next to his.

-- Wayne

The Wrong Everett

Alas, the photo we found of Everett Westgate is the wrong Everett Westgate.

The right Everett is something of a mystery. We know when he was born and when he died. We know where he lived when he was two years old. We have some of his Army records. But we don't know where he died, which would lead us to an obituary, which would lead us to children or other surviving family members.

We're not without leads, though. His older brother's obituary mentions a sister, who would be about 90 now. And we can check the city vital records where we think he was born. I plan to get to that this week, so we may have more to report.

-Paul Parker

An amazing couple share their story

Finished our first full day of our Colorado shoot with two hours with Cecilia and Ray Dones, who met as young TB patients almost 50 years ago in Denver. Cecilia, whose family was originally from Wyoming (and Mexico), and Ray, also of Mexican descent by way of Texas, fell in love at National Jewish Medical and Research Center, which opened in 1899 as the National Jewish Hospital for Consumptives. The parents of four children and grandparents of nine, the Dones have been married for 48 years! They had great photos and were wonderful on camera -- not to mention gracious hosts on our visit to their home. We have another full day tomorrow, but had we flown here only to get the Dones into our film, it would have been more than worth it. That's me on the left, the Dones in the middle, and Dave on the right. Jeff Toste, now our second-unit director, took the shot. After we wrapped, we drove to Idaho Springs, in the Rockies, a town that... well, I'll let Dave tell it when he blogs...

-- Wayne

Traveling to Denver

More details on the trip to follow, of course, but here's a quick rundown on getting out here to the Mile High City.
We left PVD at 2:05 aboard a relatively empty Southwest 737, arriving in Baltimore about an hour later. After a quick bite to eat, we boarded another 737. Four hours later, we touched down in Denver.

A tram-type shuttle thing took us to the baggage claim. And it has a little jingle when the doors open and close, like a strum or two of a steel guitar. Perfect. I wish that sound accompanied everything I did.

Finally, a rental car, a Ford Explorer. A 20-minute drive, we checked into the hotel, where we found Vinny Pazienza circa 1990 fighting on ESPN 2 and the clocks giving us the time in Eastern Standard. Was this some kind of strange time warp?

At the bar, we drank Coors Light (we're in the Rocky Mountains, duh) and met a very nice bartender named Caitlin who went to school in Providence and had TB as a baby. Bizarre coincidences abound so far. More to come.

---David Bettencourt

Another promotion

As we head off today for our Colorado shoot, a full schedule of interviews and gathering more great stories, we have another announcement: Dave and I have named Denver Post columnist Mike McPhee as ON THE LAKE'S Associate Producer, Colorado. Mike has done an awesome job with us on the Denver/Colorado sections of the film, and will join us over the next few days. Mike is the real deal: He was part of a Post team that won a Pulitzer Prize in 2000 for coverage of the Columbine High School shootings, and a team that was a finalist for another Pulitzer in 2007. With Projo colleague Paul Parker and me also part of a team that was a finalist for the Pulitzer, seems like we have some serious common ground...

-- Wayne

One promotion

In recognition of his extraordinary help in tracking down patient No. 1, among other work, Dave and I have decided to name Paul Parker Associate Producer, Research. Here's how Paul describes himself:

Paul Edward Parker is an investigative reporter at The Providence Journal, where he has been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. In his spare time, he builds swing sets in the back yard and totes a toddler to the tops of New England mountains. With what's left after that, he cooks supper, washes laundry and picks up pieces of Mr. Potato Head. As he's drifting off to sleep, he grabs his laptop and bangs out a few sentences in his unpublished mystery novel series featuring investigative reporter Jerry Sullivan. Somewhere in that chaos, he finds time for another passion: genealogical and archival research. Parker, 44, was born in New Haven, Conn., and grew up in the suburb of Wallingford. He attended public schools before going to the University of Connecticut, where he eventually majored in journalism. He lives with his wife and two sons in Pawtucket, R.I.

-- Wayne

On The Trail Of Everett

One of our patients, Barbara, wrote in her letters about her boyfriend, Everett. (Hear Alex read from one of the letters that mentions Everett.) We have enough information from Barbara and her family to figure out who Everett was, this despite the fact that two men with the same name were born a couple of years apart in the same general area. The picture here is of one of those Everetts, but I still have to determine whether it is the right Everett.

-Paul Parker

OTL Update

An update on the progress of OTL. Paul continues his search for photographs and information of our dear Patient One. Please read entry below for exciting new details. Wayne is busy filling our schedule for Colorado, as our Denver trip is now just about a week away. Our wonderful interns have been writing out interview transcriptions. Lonnie and Ben have been writing music and setting up meetings with local musicians. Josh keeps everyone in line and on task, as a good A.D. should. Harry has finally come to the realization that his break from editing Midway flicks is over: he has begun the arduous task of post-production. Our British connection, Marisa Benoit, is currently researching odd and experimental cures of the ole' TB. And I've been bothering the National Library of Medicine, as we gather up the awesome collection of old government films on tuberculosis.

Can't wait for you to see this movie.

David Bettencourt

Paydirt?

Reviewing our search for Patient Number One, George Sprague Barrows, we note that he was raised by an aunt alongside a cousin of about the same age, who would have been like a brother to him. While George never had children, his cousin had three: two boys and a girl. The two boys were fairly easy to trace forward in time, and we have tracked down their descendants. The girl, on the other hand, presented a more elusive challenge. At some point, she got married and could no longer be traced by her maiden name. Unfortunately, we have not located a marriage record for her, which would have given us her new name.

Last week, on a whim, I searched for her name in The Providence Journal's database, which stretches back to 1982. And we got lucky! She died in 1987 in Providence. The obituary listed her only surviving daughter and the city and state in which the daughter lived in 1987. Checking an online phone directory, I confirmed the daughter -- who would be George's cousin twice removed, the granddaughter of George's cousin -- was still listed in the same city and state.

So, I gave a call. And the trail grew cold. I tried virtually everyday for a week, but got no answer. Until tonight. I finally reached the woman, named Carol. She was so excited by the call that she interrupted our conversation to pour herself a glass of wine.

Things didn't start promisingly. Carol had never heard of George.

But she had heard of George's sister, Hattie. As a young woman, Carol used to go to Cape Cod to pick up Cousin Hattie and bring her to Rhode Island for family gatherings at Thanksgiving. "She used to sleep in my bedroom with me."

When I brought up the subject of photographs, Carol led on me a detour through a brief recitation of what she knew of her grandfather, George's cousin. The cousin grew up wanting to be a doctor, but he never got the chance. His dream was sidetracked by illness. As a result, he couldn't work indoors, but had to be in the open air. So, he got a job running a streetcar in Providence. Anyone want to guess what illness the cousin contracted?

After I steered Carol back to the subject of photographs, she told me, "My mother saved everything. She had boxes of things that I haven't even begun to open."

Could the producers of On The Lake entice her to go through those boxes now?

"I'd be happy to do it," she said. "I may be able to find something about these people."

I promised that I or someone else from the crew would contact her in a week or two and that I would send her some of the genealogy I had dug up, because she didn't know much beyond her grandfather.

She ended our conversation, "I won't be able to sleep tonight."

She won't be alone.

-Paul Parker

Of Corsets and Garters

We reported earlier of finding a newspaper article that recounted the opening of an office in Providence where prospective patients for the new state sanatorium would be examined. The article advised patients to pack plenty of heavy clothing to dress warmly for open-air sleeping and admonished women against bringing corsets with them.

We have now tracked down the location of the doctor's office in Providence: the site of the modern-day Satin Doll strip club, where corsets are permitted and undressing is expected to be done hotly.

-Paul Parker

See What Patient Number One Saw

View Larger Map

When Patient Number One, George Sprague Barrows, was eight years old, he lived on Sheldon Street in Providence, which is shown above. The dark red, almost brown, house is probably the very building in which George lived. You can click the picture and drag to rotate around the panorama. The view you see is much like what George saw in his day because most of the houses on the street date to his lifetime or earlier.

Hopes Raised...

It's still a long shot, but the search for Patient Number One, George Sprague Barrows, has entered tantalizingly promising ground.

Last night, I spoke with George's cousin thrice removed, that is the great granddaughter of George's cousin. George's cousin was a particularly close relative. He and George were about two years apart in age, and the cousin was the son of the paternal aunt who raised George.

The cousin thrice removed reported that she inherited a bunch of old photographs when her mother -- George's cousin's granddaughter -- died in 1999. Whether George is in any of them and whether they are labeled remain unanswered questions. She promises to check and let us know. She's also going to ask her father about the family when they get together to celebrate Easter today.

And we are still pursuing other descendants of George's aunt, so we have a couple of chances of success.

-Paul Parker

Historical Zeal

In addition to building a collection of historical TB medical texts (a nice addition to my medical-history library), I have started to collect some of the equipment used in the early 2Oth Century to treat tuberculosis patients. Alerted by our assistant director, Josh Fishlock, I bid on eBay for an authentic pneumothorax machine, widely used -- and mentioned repeatedly in our movie. There was actually some intense bidding, but when the auction closed, this gem became mine! I suspect you will see it again, when ON THE LAKE premieres...

Depositions, Transcriptions and Maps

The archival search continues to (slowly) yield interesting details about Patient Number One, George Sprague Barrows. This snippet of map shows the house in which George was born in 1877. It was owned by his paternal grandfather, Rufus Sprague. The larger map from which this was taken paints a good picture of the neighborhood in which George was born and grew up.


Other historical maps have allowed us to pinpoint where George lived in 1905 just before being admitted to the sanatorium. Unfortunately, the site is now a vacant lot on Westminster Street. We're pursuing historical streetscape photos of the area to see whether we can find George's house.

Last night, intern Alex Deciccio and I worked over the phone to transcribe depositions in the divorce case between George's father and stepmother, who was also George's aunt. Below is a not-very-flattering description of George's father, given by his stepmother's sister.

-Paul Parker

From the audition tapes...

Reading from a letter written by a lonesome teenage girl with tuberculosis, Alex McDougall wins the role.

-David Bettencourt

And the Winners are...

Dave and I reviewed tape much of today, and from a very tough field selected these folks for major voice roles in the movie: Yemi Sekoni, general narrator; Patricia Painter, nurse Katharine; Margot Muraszkiewicz, Nita; Alexandra McDougall, Barbara; Chris Kinsella, Ed; Lionel Beauchemin, Dr. Hudson; Glenn Laxton, superintendent Dr. Barnes; Ken Rinn, Dr. Zambarano; and Tim Downs, superintendent Dr. O’Brien. More details soon, including biographies of these nine great additions to ON THE LAKE and a video clip of one of the auditions that blew us away.

To those who tried out and didn't make it, our thanks again. We will need voices for future documentaries, so please stay in touch via our web site.

Pictured is Alex McDougall. We'll post video of her fabulous audition soon.

-- Wayne

The Doc Deepens

We had planned to stop principal shooting after our trip to Denver early next month -- until we explored the story of Drew, whose brother supplied some of the vintage footage we will be using. The brothers spent years at Wallum Lake. Only Drew had TB -- a severe case that required him to be in a body cast for months on end when he was a young boy. He was one of the first to receive some of the early successful treatments. We knew he might be of interest, but when we finally reached him by phone we were blown away. Drew, now in his 60s, has an extraordinary collection of photos and an extraordinary story -- so compelling that Dave and I are zipping down to the small town in North Carolina where he lives to film him. That will be in mid-April. (It's also a good excuse to visit my good friends Andy and Martha Kinnecom, who own and operate a lovely North Carolina Inn. They met Dave not long after I did, all those years ago, when croquet was all the rage here at Midway North.)

We are tempted to say that we hope nothing as compelling comes along now, as we are rich with great stories, but of course if something does, we will have to get it...

-- Wayne

Collecting String

The archival search continues to yield little bits here and there that help give a fuller picture of Patient Number One, George S. Barrows.

Today's lunch hour produced two useful documents, both 19th century court records.

The first, pictured here, is the naturalization petition for George's grandfather, Emanuel J. Barrows. We've known he emigrated from Cape Verde, but this document adds a few salient details:

* He became an American citizen.
* He arrived in this country in New Bedford in 1820.
* He was 14 years old when he arrived.

All of these details give us clues where to look for more information.

The second document is more valuable. When George was an adolescent, his father was involved in a lawsuit. The case file includes depositions from witnesses in the case, which give rich descriptions of George's father and his business and personal lives, as well as anecdotes about the man who shaped young George's life -- and, perhaps, foreshadow the misfortune that was to come.

-Paul Parker

The Hunt for Motion Pictures

Spoke with the wonderful archivist at the National Library of Medicine this afternoon. They have an amazing collection of educational films, slides, and motion pictures about tuberculosis. It seems that our government used film to promote proper care and to highlight our nation's sanatoriums.

Some of these films have never been used in a documentary before and we're excited to be working with the Library to bring these important motion pictures to the big screen.

Here's a brief description of one of the films in their archive, an educational and instructional film from 1940.

"This film tells the story of a girl who contracts pulmonary tuberculosis, following her case from the time of infection through the period of convalescence. It describes, by means of animated drawings, the process of primary infection and reinfection; demonstrates tuberculin tests and X-ray examinations; and portrays hospital treatment, pointing out the importance of rest, nourishing food, fresh air, sunshine, and cleanliness."

I also just finished watching the DVDs from this past weekend's very exciting and very successful auditions at the Crowne Plaza in Warwick. I was so pleased with not only the number of people who showed up, but also the number of quality vocal talents that were heard that day. We've got many tough decisions ahead of us....

And finally...two "did you know" facts that we learned about while researching for this film. Did you know that the Mammoth Caves in Kentucky, for a very brief (and unsuccessful) amount of time in the 1840s, actually was home to 15 tuberculosis patients, looking for a cure?

And did you know that Providence, Rhode Island, was one of the first cities to have open-air schools for school children with tuberculosis?

All right. Enough blogging. Time to play some Wii.

---Dave Bettencourt

Of corsets and bloomers

The archival search for Patient Number One, George S. Barrows goes on. Though we haven't learned a whole lot more about him, we have found some useful tidbits about Zam in general.

We have located Census records showing who worked there on a specific date in 1910, 1920 and 1930, as well as who the patients were in 1920. The Census records give a mini-bio of every person listed, including their age, birthplace, heritage and occupation. We know that sanatorium workers in 1930 paid $7 a month rent for their place in the boarding house.

Through Census and other records, we have identified an aunt with whom George Barrows lived for much of his life, including the year in which he was admitted to the sanatorium. We have tracked down the aunt's great grandchildren. Those would be George's cousins twice removed. Unfortunately, they all died in the last 10 years or so. Now, the hunt is on for their children, George's cousins thrice removed. In moments of utter delusion, I let myself fantasize that we will contact a relative who has photographs of George, along with his diaries from his years on the lake. Hey, isn't moviemaking all about dreams anyway?

One of the quirkier bits we have come across is an article that ran in all three of Providence's daily newspapers the week in 1905 that the sanatorium welcomed George Barrows as Patient Number One. Pictured above are the headlines from The Providence Journal. The article refers to Barrows, though not by name, and gives good details about where prospective patients were examined, how much it cost for treatment and what clothing patients were advised to bring with them. The last included the admonition for women to bring bloomers rather than corsets.

Unfortunately for us, George was admitted the same week as a big election and the attention of the newspapers was drawn to that, rather than to doing a detailed story about our man and his new home. We will keep scouring the microfilm to see whether the papers made up for their oversight in the weeks that followed.

-Paul Parker

`Good thing we have movies'

We were not sure what to expect for Sunday’s vocal auditions at Warwick’s Crowne Plaza, and so we were thrilled when a crowd was waiting for us before we began. We auditioned without a break from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. – eighty-one people in all. And we would have had more if we had not stopped accepting people at about 2 p.m., when it was evident that we would be unable to finish by closing time if we took more. Our apologies to those we had to turn away, and to everyone who had to wait – upwards of three hours in some cases. But we tried to give everyone a fair chance. Thanks to everyone who came. We will be looking for more voices as we move into future projects, check back here as details become available, and they will soon...

Eighty-one people from many walks of life: professional actors and actresses, radio personalities, teenagers, seniors, people who had been in movies and plays, folks who had never tried out for anything anywhere. Several people blew us away and we will be able to fill all nine slots with exceptional talent. We will be reviewing tape this week and next, and announcing the winners shortly. Again, thanks to everyone who came, and to the Crowne Plaza staff (even if some greedy underpaid butler pilfered Nicole’s tuna sandwich… just kidding, Bettencourt snuck it into his backpack to help feed his family, which ON THE LAKE has brought to the brink of starvation). Speaking of Bettencourt, we all learned how dangerously dictatorial he becomes when he's over-caffeinated. Thank God he is blessed with talent, or there'd be a mutiny.

Two last notes about the crew and our new slogan (for today, at least):

Dave, Lonnie, Ben, Josh, Nicole and I were there all day. Yolanda dropped by for the last couple of hours. Alex and Jeff T. were there. And once again, we were reminded of how energetically and effortlessly we all mesh, which bodes well for OTL and the films beyond.

The last piece is our new slogan: GOOD THING WE HAVE MOVIES.

This is a line from a letter home by Barbara, a wonderful young woman who died of TB at Zam when she was only 18. Barbara’s powerful, heart-breaking story is central to the film. She penned that line when describing how lonely it could get up there at the distant place on the lake, and hearing people read it while auditioning for her voice brought it home. We like it. We like her story, another great tribute to the human spirit – for despite her loneliness, Barbara emerges from her letters, photographs and an on-camera interview with her surviving sister as kind, funny, spirited, and someone we are delighted to immortalize. More on Barbara is in the Feb. 29 post.

-- Wayne

The O'Brien Collection

One of our great finds has been the photo archive kept by the Dr. William O'Brien family. Three of the late superintendent's children will be part of the film -- we have interviewed all three -- and we will use many of the family's photographs. This archive is a treasure, remarkably well photographed (Mom was the main person behind the camera) and vast (we have yet to scan everything). This great shot is a taste of what the family has so kindly provided us. Thanks to Sheila!

The Spectrum

Spent a good part of the day reading (or re-reading) some of the extraordinary letters of TB patients from the 1930s and 1940s that we have been lucky to find -- this for the scripts we will use for our vocal auditions taking place on Sunday, March 2, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Warwick, R.I. I was struck, again, by the sheer power of our material. Not to get carried away, but I really do believe we have found a tableau, a canvas, call it what you will, on which timeless themes are writ. Man, if we can't bring this across on screen, we need to hang it up.

Here's an example of the numbing sadness -- laced with a still-strong sense of youthful optimism and hope -- that a teenage girl experienced. Sadly, Barbara was doomed to die of the White Plague, at age 18. This is from a letter she wrote to a relative in 1949, almost exactly one year before she died at Wallum Lake. Everett is the man she loved, but as her disease intensified, he turned away:

``Gee, I haven’t had company all week. I’m so lonesome. If I ever know anyone in a place like this when I’m well, I’ll visit them as often as I can. Poor Alma goes two, sometimes three weeks without a visitor. At least I know you’ll be here Sundays. Dad promised he’d be up this week, but I haven’t seen nor heard from him. I wish he’d call me and tell me he’s not coming. Or write. Everett, too.
``I get ready for company every single Thursday and I have company, all right: Disappointment, that’s about all. Good thing we have movies…''

And here's the other extreme, a letter in the 1930s from a young TB patient to his beloved Nina, a young woman who had recovered from TB and was now a nurse, carng for TB patients like Ed. They had a happy ending, marrying and having a child and spending the rest of their long lives together. We like happy endings! Check out the last line -- could a love letter possibly be more sweet???

``Oh, Darling, I wish I could see you more often. I feel so much better when I see you and then, too, I can kiss you at least once in a while. I’m afraid that when we’re married you will grow so tired of my loving you all the time. I’ll be kissing you all the time and on the very slightest excuse. Will you mind? I love you, darling, and I hope that next year we can begin to live as we should live.
``Please get to bed early, darling, and remember I’m thinking about you all the time and want you so close to me. Gee, I love you.
``A million, million kisses to the dearest little girl in all the world.
``Yours ‘til the moon drops in the sea.
``Ed.''