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OT: Hubby on the local paper
11 Apr 2006 08:02:09 -0700 rec.pets.cats.anecdotes
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pistor...
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Sorry for the severely OT post, but Tom was featured on today's paper
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(his picture was on the front page) and I had to share. They failed to jXwXeXrXmXoXnXt...
mention our kids, but that's ok I guess. :) Monique Y. Mudama...
Adrian A...
CATherine...
Marina...
Dan M...
Lisa Katt...
Christina Websell...
KLRU's constant gardener For more than two decades, Tom Spencer's been cultivating civic dialogue at Austin's public TV station jXwXeXrXmXoXnXt...
By Diane Holloway AMERICAN-STATESMAN TELEVISION WRITER Tuesday, April 11, 2006 "Austin City Limits" might be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of KLRU, but the face of the station, for more than 20 years now, has been Tom Spencer. Spencer is the silver-haired, deep-thinking, satin-voiced talking head who's asking all those pertinent questions and engaging in smart conversation. He currently anchors two of the PBS station's most prominent public affairs programs, "Austin Now" and "Central Texas Gardener." By the way, the latter - a quiet little show about plants and natural beauty - often is more popular than "Austin City Limits." Gardening, it seems, is a hot topic these days, right up there with kids and pets. Besides the gardening show, Spencer has a Web site, gardening. "It's really about spirituality," Spencer said in his tiny, remarkably uncluttered office on the University of Texas campus. "Gardening is a metaphor." He also has produced several documentaries, including "The Painted Churches of Texas," "James Michener and the Art of Collecting" and "Las Misiones: The Missions of Texas." Spencer, who shares his own spectacular garden with engineer Victor Martinez, his partner of 10 years, moved to Port Arthur from New York's lush Hudson Valley when he was in high school. Tanada...
"It was a rude awakening. Port Arthur was so ugly and desolate," he said. "I think that's how I got into gardening. I had this longing for natural beauty. It's an important part of who I am." On a recent day of taping "Central Texas Gardener," the studio was cool, dark and quiet. Two wooden lawn chairs, fake grass, stepping stones, real plants, a bowl of lemons and a bouquet of flowers welcomed Spencer and two guests he interviewed: landscape architect James David, who owns Gardens, and Tom Tinguely, owner of the Great Outdoors Garden Center. "Is this as screaming as I think it is?" Spencer asked a cameraman, pointing to his own lime green shirt. The polite, friendly pre-interview conversations between host and guests segued seamlessly into the interview. The gardening show, like the gardens Spencer loves, is a serene place to be. Spencer, 49, started working at KLRU in 1982. He had to "pester" his way into an internship, because he was majoring in history, not journalism or communications. His first on-camera experience was as a guest interviewer on "Texas Weekly," a public affairs program hosted by former Austin American-Statesman political reporter Dave McNeely. "I had originally wanted to be a journalist and write editorials," Spencer said. "I also liked the extended interviews done by Dick Cavett and Bill Moyers. That seemed like a wonderful life." Over the years, Spencer has produced and hosted several shows for KLRU, but now, he says, is an especially good time to be in the public affairs business at Austin's public TV station. "There is tremendous opportunity right now," Spencer said. "Mary Beth (Rogers, KLRU's CEO from 1997 until 2004) made it happen, and now Bill (Stotesbery, the station's current leader) is expanding her vision in a significant way." The old "Austin at Issue" has been spruced up and turned into the more visually appealing "Austin Now" (8 p.m. Fridays), examining city politics, people, culture and whatever issues are current. An upcoming episode will take a look at the battle for control of the Austin Police Department between staff and union members; another will look at issues such as transportation and toll roads that will be factors in the next election. Other new original KLRU public affairs programs include "In Context," about Austin art and architecture; "Downtown," which examines life in the vibrant inner city; "Texas Monthly Talks," a lively interview show hosted by Texas Monthly's Evan Smith; and "Special Session," the highly regarded program on the Legislature hosted by documentary filmmaker Paul Stekler. The emphasis is on analysis and in-depth reporting of weighty public affairs issues. "The news media has been in a self-defeating spiral by constantly underestimating the interest and capability of the public," Spencer said. "The mantra seems to be keep it simple, keep it short, and people are turning it off or getting used to dumbed-down 90-second stories. On commercial TV, people are treated as consumers. PBS' news is citizen-driven, not consumer-driven." jXwXeXrXmXoXnXt...
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