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Suburban Snapshot chats with Ken Burns

PHILADELPHIA—Here are three things you may not have known about Ken Burns, the legendary documentary filmmaker:

1. He is left-handed, providing one more piece of evidence that lefties are more creative.

2. He knew from the age of 13 that he was going to be a filmmaker of some kind.

3. He’s Brooklyn-born.

Suburban Snapshot had an incredible opportunity to sit down with Burns late last week. He was here at WHYY to celebrate the opening of his latest film, “The National Parks: America’s Best Ideas.” Even though Burns now resides in New Hampshire, there is a definite local hook through his writer and co-producer, Dayton Duncan. Duncan is a 1971 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, and has worked with Burns on the baseball, civil war and jazz documentaries—all award-winning films. And besides, Burns is a political junkie, so why pass up the chance to talk to him?

I didn’t know what to expect, but if f you ever have a chance to discuss politics and history with Ken Burns, be sure you know your stuff. He can go toe-to-toe with you—Republican or Democrat, anytime, anywhere. He is a man of substance and charm—as well as strong opinions.

I asked him why he didn’t become an attorney or accountant, all honorable professions. He told me that growing up, he had a father who would do something rather unique. For social activities he had a curfew and had to be home and in bed early. For movies, however, it was a different story, as Ken’s father would let him stay up late, even on a school night, to see a good movie. As a child, he also shared that his mother had cancer from the time he was about three until he was 11, when she died. He remembers that his father couldn’t cry at his mother’s funeral. There could be many reasons why. But he remembers when he was 13-years-old, his father took him to see an old British movie, “Odd Man Out,” starring Carroll Reed and James Mason.

“I’ll never forget looking at my father and seeing tears in his eyes,” Burns said.  It was then and there that his determination to become a filmmaker was solidified in his heart, mind and soul.

He remembers holding his first camera in 1958—a Kodak Brownie. As his father was also an amateur photographer, Burns was hooked at an early age. His father was a cultural anthropology student and eventually a professor, so Burns was exposed early to that kind of intellectual rigor.

I asked Burns why he chose subjects like the Civil War, baseball, jazz, and now the national parks. He said that each film asks the same questions about the strange and complicated people that we are—good and bad. Think about it—there was good in the Civil War, baseball, and jazz—as well as bad. But Burns doesn’t stop there with these questions. He digs, deciphers, and discovers what makes us tick—and what gives us the drive to continue in the face of aggression and disappointment. He is tapped into the human spirit.

Since we spoke on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, I asked him where he was that awful day.

“I was home in New Hampshire in my living room, and turned on the television just in time to see the second plane hit the tower,” he recalled. “I was shocked.”

He knew at that moment that our country and the citizens would be resolute in overcoming this, and we would rise again.  He fondly remembers the next couple of months, when regardless of what political party you belonged to, we were one.

Politically, Ken Burns knows what he likes, and pulls no punches. He is passionate about his country, the Democratic Party and President Obama. He had some interesting comments about Sarah Palin. “I don’t think she was ready to be at this level of politics, and it is shameful how the Republican party tried to energize its base by getting her to be vice president,” he said.

And when I asked him about next year in Pennsylvania, he insisted that the Republican Party is full of angry white men, and this is not the party of Lincoln.

I asked Burns what he likes about Philly, and he didn’t miss a beat—the Eagles.  Even though he lives in New England and is, of course, a Patriots fan, he also follows the Eagles and likes Donovan McNabb and Brian Westbrook. We didn’t get to chatting about Michael Vick.

I asked him if he had any Republican friends in Pennsylvania. He said no. I stood up, shook his hand, and said, “Well, now you do.”

September 14, 2009 at 7:54 am

--Beth Hegedus

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