In 1969, after 6 years with WGBH -TV in Boston, and another 6 in New York, I was midway into a pretty successful career as a television and film cameraman and TV producer/director.  And concluding four and a half years of fairly intense psychotherapy, I became sane enough to know I had to leave New York and the broadcast television business.  I dropped out.  My involvement with psychology, psychedelics and beginning meditation practices led quite naturally to an interest in the spirit.  So I moved to California (where it was all 'happening') and joined the Hippy culture in the Santa Cruz mountains.

There I stayed, flirting with the New Television Workshop at WGBH on a creative project which ultimately never came to fruition.  Little did I know that the 'project' was an introduction to the world of 'video as art.'  Actually, I didn't even know there was such a thing - that is until Brice Howard and I met up again (I had had a very cordial working relationship with him in New York, doing some pretty avant-garde television while he was producing for National Educational Television - NET).

Our reconnection was an almost unbelievable piece of coincidence - some might call it synchronicity, I certainly would.

It just so happened that in the summer of 1971 the WGBH project had finally foundered, and I was running out of money.  Though the prospect rendered me anything but enthusiastic, I decided to go down to San Francisco to see if I could get work with KQED-TV.  So one sunny day (I had no particular schedule in mind), I drove my severely aging Dodge Lancer into the city and approached the KQED office and studio building on Bryant Street.  I pushed open the front door, and who should be exiting by the same door but - you guessed it - Brice Howard.  We both stopped, somewhat dumbfounded, and when we recovered from our surprise, Brice asked me to please come into the building for a talk.  This was a much warmer welcome than I had anticipated, so I did.  I had no idea what was on his mind, but I knew no one at KQED and so I was pleased enough to meet someone familiar.

Fairly quickly, notes of urgency and enthusiasm informed Brice's voice, as he showed me around a very cluttered studio, and described what it was he, and a number of others, were doing there (NCET).  He told me that they badly needed a production manager (from the mess, it was quite clear that they needed something).  I really didn't understand what kind of undertaking he was describing, or what a production manager in such a situation would be entrusted with - and I told him so.  But he almost begged me to consider the job.  Very cool, as always, I told him I would consider it for a week and get back to him, but it was really my only prospect, so there wasn't a whole lot to consider.

In about two weeks I was officially production manager for - I knew not what.  More >>>>