Triad Today

Presidents are only human, so they make mistakes. No, I’m not talking about Bill Clinton hooking up with Monica Lewinski, or Joe Biden once saying there are 54 states in the Union. I’m talking about John Kennedy, and how he misread history, unintentionally insulted the Commonwealth of Virginia, and was compelled to make amends.

The story begins on Wednesday December 4, 1619. That’s the day 38 English settlers from the London Company navigated their ship down the James River and onto Berkeley Hundred (Harrison’s Landing), in what is now Charles City, Virginia, just 20 miles upstream from Jamestown, which had been settled 12 years prior. The landing party was led by Captain John Woodlief, who, as prescribed in the company charter, ordered a day of Thanksgiving to be observed upon their arrival, and every December 4th thereafter.

Over time, Berkeley became known for its historic firsts. The first bourbon whiskey was made there in 1621 (by a preacher no less). “Taps” was played for the first time while the Union army was encamped at Berkeley in 1862. And, of course, it was the site of America’s first Thanksgiving. More on that in a moment.

In 1907 Berkeley was purchased by John Jamieson who had served as a Union drummer boy during the army’s encampment at the plantation. Ownership later fell to his son (and my friend) Malcolm, who passed away in 1997. Mac loved Berkeley and was aggressive in marketing the historic site, including through the use of promotional videos and commercials which I helped to produce. He invited the public to tour the house and grounds, sold Berkeley boxwoods and bourbon, and held an annual Thanksgiving pageant which attracted tourists from across the country. But the celebration wasn’t always widely recognized.

One hundred years after his father beat the Yankee drums at Berkeley, Mac was upset by something another Yankee did. In the fall of 1962, President Kennedy issued his yearly Thanksgiving Proclamation in which he recognized his home state of Massachusetts as the site of America’s first Thanksgiving. And so, on November 9th of that year, Virginia state Senator John Wicker was prompted by Mac to write to the President, and point out Kennedy’s faux pas. In his telegram, Wicker referenced historical records about Berkeley’s celebration, which took place one full year before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth in 1620.

Later that year, Kennedy confidant and noted historian Arthur Schlesinger sent a reply to Wicker with a tongue-in-cheek apology from the President. According to Berkeley records, Schlesinger “attributed the error to unconquerable New England bias on the part of the White House staff.”

The following year, on November 5, 1963, President Kennedy had to eat crow during his annual Thanksgiving proclamation, saying, “Over three centuries ago, our forefathers in Virginia and Massachusetts, far from home, in a lonely wilderness, set aside a day of thanksgiving.” Kennedy’s New England bias wouldn’t allow him to disavow Plymouth entirely, but Mac was happy that Berkeley finally gained official recognition for holding the first Thanksgiving, even if it was a shared honor. Sadly, it was to be Kennedy’s last proclamation. He was assassinated seventeen days later in Dallas.

The holiday season is now upon us, and that means gathering together with friends and family to share food, gifts, and goodwill. And, despite the personal and financial losses we might have endured over the past few years, we will find a way to give thanks for what we have and who we’re with. Perhaps we would also do well to emulate those weary English settlers, and just be thankful for surviving another day of our long journey. So, here’s a Berkeley bourbon toast to Captain Woodlief, a little drummer boy, old Mac, and to that Yankee president who finally set the record straight.

May God bless, and happy Thanksgiving.
 
 

If you drive the get-away car for a bank robber, you are considered to be an accomplice because you aided and abetted the robber. That means you face the same liability and culpability as your friend who physically entered the bank and robbed it, and, likely as not, you will face the same punishment. Last Tuesday, knowing of his many crimes against this nation and with full knowledge that he will enjoy immunity from any future crimes, 72 million Americans bailed out Donald Trump, and enabled a convicted felon to go free and once again occupy the highest office in this land. Certainly, those folks did not help Trump commit bank and insurance fraud, or sexually assault women, or steal classified documents, or stage an insurrection to overturn an election, but in voting for Trump they condoned his criminal acts and helped him escape sentencing for his many offences. That makes them complicit in his past crimes and culpable for any future ones.

The question is, why would anyone vote for a criminal to be the leader of the free world? Some pundits say it’s because of inflation, but the truth is, inflation is way down. Others say it’s because Kamala Harris didn’t care about regular folks, but her economic plan included helping more people buy their first home. Then there are the folks who say Harris let too many illegal immigrants into our country, but Trump is the one who killed Biden’s immigration bill that would have solved the problem. And what about all of the Evangelicals who chose an adulterous, sexual predator who has never read the Bible (he only sells them) as their vessel of Christian leadership? What about Trump supporters who say that they voted for him because he was persecuted by the Justice Department? But here’s a reality check: Jack Smith didn’t force Donald to organize fake electors or pressure election officials to find him more votes.

But the thing that most disturbs me about most Trump voters is that they claim to be pro-law and order, yet downplayed an insurrection that injured over 140 officers and resulted in the death of four more. That MAGA mob acted on Trump’s orders because he wanted to halt the certification of votes in order to replace legal electors with fake ones.

I will never forget the visceral reaction I had to watching 3,000 rioters storm our nation’s Capitol on January 6, 2021, causing death and destruction in their maniacal wake. If people say they voted for Trump because of his immigration policy, or if they forgive and forget his other criminal acts then so be it. But if you don’t care about the collateral damage of January 6, then you are worse than complicit, you are un-American.

Trump not only led the insurrection, he did nothing to stop it until hours later when he told the rioters, “Go home now, we love you.” Today he refers to the insurrectionists as “hostages,” and he promises to pardon them after he takes office. In wake of that, we should all remember the words of three brave officers who survived January 6, beginning with Capitol Police officer Caroline Edwards who received traumatic head injuries when the mob hit her with a bike rack.

“I felt the bike rack come on top of my head, then my head hit the concrete stairs behind me. I saw officers with blood all over their faces.”

Metro D.C. Officer Mike Fanone was brutally beaten, suffered traumatic brain injury and a heart attack. He describes Trump as “An authoritarian with a violence fetish.”  And he sees Trump’s victory as a personal afront. “It feels like America said, ‘fuck you, Mike Fanone!’”

Meanwhile, officer Aquilino Gonell who sustained severe injuries, which caused him to retire, remarked, “People who voted for Trump put him above the law. He betrayed us, and the vast majority of Americans think that’s OK. The majority of people in this country saw what happened on January 6, but they seem to have amnesia.”

The day after the election Melania Trump tweeted, “We will safeguard the heart of our Republic.” That sentiment comes as a surprise to 142 police officers, as well as to scores of former Trump cabinet members (including his own vice president), who say Donald Trump is not fit to be Commander in Chief. Even Trump’s new running mate, J.D. Vance once referred to his new hero as “America’s Hitler”.

The 72 million people who voted for Trump have essentially just driven the get-away car for a serial criminal, and unlike him, you are not immune from the bad things he will do over the next four years.

 
 

Candidates for Governor and State Superintendent of Public Instruction will be interviewed on a special voter education edition of Triad Today this weekend.

Appearing during the half hour will be Democrat Mo Green and Republican Michele Morrow who are running to become North Carolina’s next Superintendent of Public Instruction. Morrow is a registered nurse with over a decade of teaching experience, and Green is the former superintendent of Guilford County Schools. An exclusive interview with Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson is also included in the program. Robinson, a Republican, is running for governor against Democrat Attorney General Josh Stein. I contacted Stein’s office and campaign a dozen times to invite him on the show, but I never received a response.

What follows are highlights from my interviews with the candidates.

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Michele Morrow and Mo Green:

 
JL: Talk about your experience as an educator.

MG: I served as superintendent of Guilford County Schools for seven and a half years, and that is the third largest school district in the state. Prior to that, I was the deputy superintendent, COO, and legal counsel for Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools. After leaving Guilford schools I became the executive director for the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation.

MM: I have five children and they’ve been in public, private, and home school. Two of my kids had some learning differences. They were initially in public school, and we went through the IEP 504 process, then I ended up home-schooling my kids for about 15 years. In addition, I also taught in micro-schools in Cary for 10 years where I taught high schoolers biology, chemistry, civics, and government, as well as Spanish.

JL: How involved should parents be in shaping their child’s public school curriculum?

MG: I certainly think that parents should have a voice in what the curriculum looks like and obviously I do believe it’s important for us to look to our experts, our educators if you will, to be the primary voice. They’ve been trained to develop a curriculum that would work well for students. Obviously, there are other entities that need to be involved including the State Superintendent of Public Instruction and the State Board of Education. Everybody plays a role. But I do think that parents have their own lived experiences and oftentimes might be able to add something to what the experts think would be appropriate to teach.

MM: I don’t think we should put it on the parents to be choosing the curriculum. I think that is the job of the DPI. But for 15 years I had to go through curriculums and choose not only what I was going to teach, but also what was going to be the best fit for my children and their learning styles. I’ll say this, it is absolutely paramount that parents be invested in their schools and in their children’s education. I really believe that children are only going to reach their full potential when parents and teachers are working as a team to help that student. 

JL: Why are you running to be State Superintendent of Public Instruction? 

MG: I’m certainly concerned about the direction of our public schools. I’m concerned about the funding for our public schools. I’m concerned about the level of disrespect being shown to our educators. I believe my experience and my belief in public schools puts me in a good position to be the one to lead our public schools to a new place.

MM: I’m running because I believe our children are our future and the quality of our education system determines the quality of the economy here in North Carolina. We have got to raise the bar of expectation in scholastics as well as conduct. We need to broaden opportunities for our students so that when they walk off that graduation stage they are prepared for success as adults. I also want to join with businesses and expand the trade and technical training that we have in high school because I believe we can make our schools the best in the nation and an example for everybody else to follow.

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Mark Robinson:

 
JL: What are some of the problems our state faces and how do you want to fix them?

MR: The main problem I see is with the inequities we see in the economy across the state. Our state is very fragmented with its economy. You go through the middle part of the state — Charlotte, Greensboro, Winston, Raleigh — and you see economic opportunities abound. But when you go to the eastern and western parts of the state you see opportunities not taken advantage of. And one of the reasons is that we haven’t had the financial wherewithal to make those substantive investments. The last 14 years under the Republican leadership of the House and Senate we’ve seen that growth in the state and now it’s time for us to start building that economy that spans from Murphy to Manteo, and I believe we can do it.

JL: What does your Public Safety Plan entail?

MR: I’m not a fan of playing the blame game, but our border has been wide open for four years, and there are some great people that have come here from foreign countries, but there’s also been some folks who are pretty bad who’ve come across our border and they’re doing some pretty bad things. I believe this state needs to set up some type of security council, along the lines of our national security council where we bring together sheriffs, police chiefs, state troopers, and FBI for the purposes of identifying folks who are here to plot bad things like drug trafficking, human trafficking, and folks involved in gangs. We need to identify those folks and stop them before they start. You know being proactive in law enforcement is the key. We need to give law enforcement the tools they need and the backup they need to be proactive so they’re not just showing up at the scene cleaning up the crime, and they can actually go out and pursue the criminals before they can ply their wares.

JL: Why do you want to be governor?

MR: I never set out to be governor. I never set out to be lieutenant governor. What I want to be is a servant to the people. This state has been very good to me and the people in this state have been very good to me, from the time I was a child all the way up to a young man, and now it’s time for me to have an opportunity to pay it back. And I believe the way I can pay it back is to go into public service as the governor to build that economy that spans from Murphy to Manteo, and to give parents the opportunity to control their children’s educational destiny.

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According to a WRAL-TV poll from early September, Attorney General Josh Stein and Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson were locked in a virtual tie to become the state’s next governor. But a not-so-funny thing happened on the way to the election. Stein saturated the airwaves with anti-Robinson ads, some of which took Mark’s words out of context to make him look even more radical than he already appeared to be. In one ad, Robinson is seen delivering a fiery speech to a local church in which he says, “Some people need killing.” He was actually referring to enemies of America, including Nazis in WWII. In another ad, a daycare center once owned by Robinson and his wife was made to look like a third-world concentration camp. Gradually Robinson’s poll numbers began to slip.

If this scenario sounds eerily familiar, it is. In 2020, Attorney General Josh Stein was in danger of losing his bid for re-election to Forsyth District Attorney Jim O’Neill, so just months before the election Stein’s campaign ran false and defamatory ads against O’Neill, accusing Jim of leaving, “1,500 rape kits sitting on the shelf,” and implying that failure to test those kits in a timely manner allowed rapists to roam free to rape more victims. In doing so, Stein violated a 1931 law that makes it a “misdemeanor to knowingly circulate false, derogatory reports about a candidate with the intent of hurting that candidate’s chances in the election” (source AP). Violators must pay a fine and could spend up to 60 days in jail. A Wake County grand jury found that Stein should be indicted, but the very next day they were overturned by a three-judge panel comprised of two Democrats and one Republican. Stein had argued to the stacked panel that the 1931 law was outdated and he went on to win re-election. 

Fast forward to last month. As was mentioned, Robinson’s poll numbers were starting to slip after Stein’s TV ads hit the air, but the lieutenant governor was still within striking distance. That is until someone steered CNN to a series of lewd posts that Robinson allegedly made on a porn site dating back to 2008. The postings also included Robinson allegedly referring to himself as a “Black Nazi.” Suddenly CNN’s Andrew Kaczynski had a full-blown investigative report ready to air less than two months before the election. Kaczynski stands by his report based on a study of user names, while Robinson denies the allegations. Nevertheless, the report went viral and by the first week in October Robinson had fallen behind Stein by as much as 20 points in polls that he once led only months before.

Robinson has certainly made a lot of outrageous statements in the past, calling homosexuality and transgenderism “filth,” and stating there would be less need for abortions if “women just kept their skirts down.”  But here’s what baffles me about the sliding poll numbers. Donald Trump’s base of support has remained steady at about 48%, and that base has stood by the former president no matter what he says and does. Yet Robinson’s alleged postings on an old porn site have caused nearly half of that base to turn against the lieutenant governor.

In an effort to make sense of this mass MAGA defection, I made a flow chart to compare Trump’s transgressions versus those of Robinson.

Porn: Robinson allegedly posted lewd comments on a porn site. Trump had sex with a porn star while his wife was pregnant.

Nazis: Robinson allegedly referred to himself as a ”Black Nazi.” Trump referred to Nazis at a Charlottesville protest as “very fine people.” Trump also said last week that, “There are a lot of people in America with bad genes,” harkening back to a time when Hitler (and some leading American citizens) favored eugenics.

Violence: Robinson told a church congregation that some enemies of America need killing. After losing to Biden in 2020, Trump incited an insurrection that resulted in several deaths and hundreds of police officers being injured, and this year said if he loses again, “there will be a blood bath.”

Crimes:  Robinson and his wife allegedly mismanaged government funds to operate a daycare center. Trump was convicted of 34 felonies associated with bank and tax fraud, as well as paying hush money from campaign funds.

Voter Fraud:  Robinson believes there was voter fraud in the 2020 election. Trump tried to overturn the 2020 election through criminal means.

Abortion: Robinson believes that women wouldn’t need abortions if they just kept their skirts down. Trump claims to be the “protector” of women even though he made it possible for individual states to criminalize abortion.

Inclusion: Robinson called homosexuality and transgenderism “filth.” Trump blocked Trans rights afforded to them under Title IX.

Self Promotion: Robinson is working hard to sell voters on his integrity. Trump is selling tennis shoes, coins, Bibles, and now, watches. 

Sexual Assault: Robinson allegedly posted that he used to look through peepholes at female students getting undressed. Trump has allegedly assaulted over two-dozen women and was found guilty of defaming a woman who said he raped her. 

Donald Trump once boasted that he could shoot someone in the middle of Times Square and get away with it. Apparently, he was right because no matter what vile or illegal thing he does, Trump is able to hold onto his base of support. Robinson, on the other hand, has never raped a woman or been convicted of a felony, yet ever since the CNN story broke, Trump’s MAGA base is leaving the lieutenant governor in record numbers. Trump has been caught making lewd comments about women and has had sex with a porn star and an extramarital affair with a Playboy Playmate, so you can’t explain away Robinson’s voter erosion on moral failings. That only leaves race as a possible reason for MAGA voters to now have an acceptable excuse not to support a candidate that Trump himself endorsed. 

Josh Stein, CNN, and Mark Robinson himself have all played a part in torpedoing the lieutenant governor’s campaign for higher office, but so have MAGA voters who seem to be guilty of a bizarre double standard.

 
 

Over the past five decades, I’ve always tried not to use my television shows or columns to address a personal grievance. That would be self-serving. Besides, nobody wants to hear about my problems anyway. There is, of course, an exception to this rule. If I have a problem that also affects thousands of people, then I have an obligation to shed light on the situation. Such is the case with Brightspeed, whose very name is an oxymoron.

Two years ago Brightspeed bought Lumen, the parent company of CenturyLink, and there has been ample time for a smooth transition since then. But the transfer of residential telephone and internet service from one company to another has been anything but smooth. It has been a customer service disaster.

My wife and I have had landline and internet service in Kernersville for the past 20 years, provided by an array of companies including Embarq, CenturyLink, and now, Brightspeed. There have been glitches and outages along the way. Back in 2009, for example, we lost internet service 400 times in one 300-day period. But that was because company infrastructure was old and pairs of wires would randomly rub against each other at the pedestal that services our neighborhood. My point is that faulty equipment can be repaired, but consistently poor customer service cannot, and that’s what thousands of Brightspeed customers have been experiencing over the past two years.

Just Google any number of blog sites and websites and you’ll find one complaint after another about Brightspeed service.

Here’s a sampling:

 

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TallProgress1732 writes, “If you have a problem, don’t try to contact them [Brightspeed] either by phone or chat. Waste of time.”

VegetableSoil1851 wrote, “I called today 3 times and got disconnected three times. On the 4th call, I was told there would be a two-week delay before a tech could come out. Brightspeed is the worst I’ve ever dealt with.”

Salt-enc posted, “I have worked in the tech industry for over 20 years and I’ve called and seen a lot of bad support. I have to say Brightspeed doesn’t care that their reps have zero accountability, and their outsourced support is terrible.”

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There are also plenty of complaints registered with the BBB against Brightspeed, including these two recent ones:

 

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“My internet service has been out for over 2 weeks. I have contacted customer support numerous times, only to be transferred and hung up on multiple times. I have since spoken with 4 different representatives and had to repeat the same information and run the same diagnostic tests every time. I still have no service.”

“I called Brightspeed on behalf of my parents who are in their 60s and have health issues. They live in an area where cell phones have no signal unless connected to WiFi. On July 31, I called to report my parents’ phone was out and no Internet service. I received an email from Brightspeed saying a tech would be sent out on August 15. Later I received an email saying the tech would come on August 26th. That date came and went, and I was told someone would come out on September 26. Still no tech support or service yet, and if my Dad should have a health emergency he can’t even call 911.”

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I know how these folks feel. In May of this year, I began to hear a loud hum on all three of our landlines. A tech was scheduled but arrived a day early when I wasn’t home. He quickly listened to one extension and told my wife to replace the battery in the hand-held unit, and then he left. It took numerous calls to Brightspeed before I could convince one of their techs that there was a problem with their lines at the street level. After three more tech visits, they found frayed wires at the street and replaced them. So much for replacing a battery!

One week later we suddenly lost our caller ID function. It took over a month and a half before caller ID was restored.

Two weeks after that we lost our long-distance service on all three lines, and that took over a week to restore.

I then decided to cancel my Brightspeed broadband service and go with Spectrum. On that day I spent over an hour on the phone, first with one rep then another, each one trying to talk me out of canceling and then writing up an order to cancel my phone service instead of Internet. Once we cleared up that matter, I received a new invoice in which I am still being charged for the broadband service that I canceled.

In addition to service interruptions and poor customer service, Brightspeed continues to have a communication problem, beginning with a network of CSRs in foreign countries where English is their fourth or fifth language. They cannot be understood, and they impart inaccurate information. For example, in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, we lost our phone service. The storm had caused death and destruction, so there was no need for me to call in a trouble report. However, since my internet was still working (thanks to Spectrum) I visited the Brightspeed website for an update and it stated that there were “no outages” in our area. That meant we must have a problem with our phones and would need to schedule a tech to come to the house. It took two days of constant calling to finally get someone at Brightspeed to answer the phone. The foreign agent assured me that their website was correct and that there were no outages in my area. The next day before a technician could show up, our phone service was restored. Storm-related damage (not our personal phones) had caused the outage that Brightspeed claimed did not exist.

If you are a Brightspeed customer, you have my deepest sympathies. If you don’t have Brightspeed, please tell me where you live so I can move there.

 
 

When first arriving in New York City as a struggling actress, Mary McCormack accepted a strange part in a strange play:

“It was a musical in a tiny theatre near Columbia University. The show sucked and I still don’t know what it was about, but it ended with me in a chair, dead, with a red bandana in my mouth. And at the end, the other actors stood around me singing, ‘So sad she had to go, sad that they took her tongue.’”

Fortunately for millions of us fans, Mary kept her tongue and, over the years, has used it to deliver memorable performances on television and in film. She appeared as Howard Stern’s wife in Private Parts, and later headlined her own TV series, In Plain Sight, in which she played a tough-as-nails U.S. marshal. Before that, Mary was a regular on The West Wing, portraying Deputy National Security Advisor Kate Harper. Now she and pal Melissa Fitzgerald (who was also a series regular) have co-authored What’s Next: A Backstage Pass to The West Wing, Its Cast and Crew, and Its Enduring Legacy of Service. The book is chock-full of insider stories about the making of the iconic prime-time drama which was created, written, and produced by Aaron Sorkin (A Few Good Men, An American President).

I first met Mary when she participated in a TV Crimefighters event that I moderated for the Television Academy back in 2010, and we have stayed in touch ever since. We recently spoke about her new book, her career, and why The West Wing was so special, and still has widespread appeal 25 years after it first aired.

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Jim:  When you and Melissa wrote the book, was it timed to coincide with the 2024 election?

Mary:  I wish we were that clever. But no, it was supposed to be done a year before, but we just couldn’t get started [laughs]. Thank goodness it worked out the way it did. You know once in a while you get lucky with these things. And now there’s this moment [the election] and the two are coinciding. Aaron calls The West Wing a love letter to public service, and our book is also a love letter to public service. We wanted to write a book for the fans, but really, we also thought if we can do that and also shine a light on a bunch of really wonderful organizations at the same time, then that would feel like the book aligned with the message of the show.

Jim:  Is the book just for hardcore fans of the show?

Mary:  “Wing Nuts” love it, thank God, because we really wanted to please the Wing Nuts. They are serious about the show, so we didn’t want to get it wrong, and we feel really proud of that. It’s filled with photos and stories, and because Melissa and I were in the cast, we had great access. We were there and the cast is still all very close. But I hope other people will read it and enjoy it. I think it’s fun to read about Allison (Janney) and learn what she’s passionate about, and Richard Schiff, and Martin Sheen whose life is fascinating. So, I think there’s enough in there for hardcore fans and future Wing Nuts, as well.

Jim:  Why the title of the book, What’s Next?

Mary:  In the original pilot, it was supposed to end like a play, but our director Tommy Schlamme had visited the White House many times, and the thing that stuck with him was the energy. There was constant movement and constant work, someone was always handing something off to someone else. It had that walk-and-talk energy. So, he didn’t want the first episode to end like a play. He wanted it to feel like the audience is leaving, but the activity in the White House will continue. So, he asked Aaron if he could just pull back on the last scene and let the activity continue. And Aaron said, “Of course, but let me add a line.” And the line he added was, “What’s next?” And in those two words he nailed what Tommy had in mind, that the work just continues, and service continues. There’s always something else to tackle. So, we thought that would work for the title of the book.

Jim:  The Peabody Award committee once referred to The West Wing as, “a show about ideas and ideals.” I would think you agree with that. Right?

Mary:  I do. Before The West Wing no one had made a political show work, and I think that’s because government and policy were considered boring, but Aaron is so talented that he was able to take policy and make it high stakes. Hour dramas are usually about hospitals and life and death stories, and he managed, because he’s Aaron, to make policy feel like life and death. And it is. It took someone like Aaron to make that work and thank God he did.

Jim:  Would The West Wing work today as a primetime drama?

Mary:  That’s funny, Jim, because Aaron answered that question at a book event recently. He said “I think it would work except for one thing. There’s no reasonable Republicans anymore.” You know because on the show, it was aspirational, it did take both sides of each issue, and it showed Republicans as reasonable people. They believed in their side of the issue because they felt it would do the most good for the most people. And now it’s so polarized in Washington that they are voting just for winning, just for point-keeping. When you reject an immigration bill which was bi-partisan just because it would be a win for Biden, then what are we doing?

Jim:  Melissa describes you as a real activist. When you and I met while doing the TV Crimefighters event I asked if actors should risk their careers by taking a stand on issues or endorsing candidates, and you told me then, “People get involved where their heart is.” At the time, though you weren’t into endorsing one candidate over another. Has any of that changed?

Jim Longworth and actress Mary McCormack at the TV Crimefighters event in 2010

Mary:  I wrestled with that for a long time. I was raised to believe that actors are not special. Not to take up so much attention in a room, not to think you’re all that. Growing up, we sort of had to know our place in our house. We didn’t get over-the-top praise all the time, so as an actor, I always thought, “Well, I want to know my place, I want to be grateful, I want to not overstep.” I’m lucky to be doing this. I’d do it for free, and I still feel that way. But I’m also a mother. I’m also a citizen. Sure, actors’ opinions are no more important than anyone else’s. Ours are no more important than the opinions of an athlete or a plumber, or the lady who lives next door to me, but it is AS important, because I’m also a lady who lives next door to her. As I said, I’m a mom and a citizen. So, I’ve sort of come to terms with the fact that democracy only works when we all participate.

Jim:  Of course, the difference is that you’re very famous and you have a platform that most people don’t have.

Mary:  Yeah, and I feel lucky for that. I feel blessed for that. Anthony Edwards (E.R.) said something to Bradley Whitford when he was starting The West Wing. He said, “Brad, you’re about to have a ton of capital, and you can spend it on yourself, or you can spend it on others.” And talk about an activist, Brad has spent most of his life trying to do good. So yeah, I think about that. We’re very lucky. Anyone in the public eye is lucky to be able to affect change, to amplify a cause, or an issue, or a candidate. And I think those of us who were on The West Wing, we get even more opportunity to do that because of the nature of the show. But I feel like that’s an honor and an opportunity that I welcome.

Jim:  Why have you never run for office? And would you run in the future?

Mary:  I don’t think that interests me, but in another life, I would have loved to move to Washington and be a strategist. That would be exciting.

Jim:  Give me a final comment on why you think The West Wing was so special, not just as an actor who appeared in the show, but as an American.

Mary:  It was a perfect storm of a lot of really talented people coming together and that leads to good storytelling. But also, people keep finding it. My daughters are finding it, so there is a whole new generation of young people who are really into The West Wing. I also think it’s really comforting to remember that there are people in our government who are there for the right reasons when they could be making a whole bunch of money doing a whole bunch of other things, and they’re not because I think they believe that their ideas can do the most good for the most people. You know The West Wing was criticized by some as being too aspirational or too hopeful, but in the world that we’re living in right now, a little joy and hope is exactly what we need and want.

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What’s Next: A Backstage Pass to The West Wing, Its Cast and Crew, and Its Enduring Legacy of Service is available in bookstores and on Amazon.com. The West Wing is now streaming on a number of channels, and the complete television series will be available on Blu-Ray on October 1.

 
 

When Jim Longworth began his broadcasting career in 1970, most people only had three TV networks to watch. There was no Paramount+, Hulu, or Netflix. There was no such thing as DirecTV, and less than 10 million households even had cable. What folks DID have was a plethora of local television programs to watch. There were programs that featured news makers and sports stars. There were shows targeted to women and children. And, there were locally produced specials and documentaries.

“I was lucky enough not just to be influenced by local programming, but to be a part of it as well,” Jim told me.

That luck included everything from running studio cameras, to reporting, doing weather, and producing prime time specials, such as a half-hour show with legendary comedian Red Skelton, which was taped before a live audience at WFMY in 1978. Jim produced and appeared in his own kids’ show in Charlotte, then hosted a live, daily talk show in Richmond before starting a production company which produced and syndicated public affairs programs that focused on everything from healthcare and education, to business and government. It was all leading to his most enduring venture in his own hometown. I sat down recently with Jim to reflect on the upcoming 1,000th episode of Triad Today.

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Pam: When did you create Triad Today, and why?

Jim: I came back home to Winston-Salem in 2002 to help look after my parents, and one day while watching TV with my dad, I realized that with the exception of news, all other local programs had pretty much disappeared from the Piedmont broadcast landscape. That’s when I created Triad Today, and we’re now in our 21st year.

Pam: Do you remember the first broadcast?

Jim: Do I remember it? How old do you think I am? 

Pam: 70.

Jim: You didn’t have to answer that. It was a rhetorical question.

Pam: OK, so what was the first show like, and how has Triad Today changed over the years?

Jim: he first broadcast was on October 3, 2003, and it featured a debate over the proposed baseball park in Greensboro. Former Mayor Jim Melvin spoke in favor of the project, which soon became a reality. Before leaving the studio, Melvin said to me, “This is kind of a third-rate setup you have here.” 

Pam: Did you take offense at that remark?

Jim: No, because he was right. During that first year, the Triad Today studio set consisted of a plain black wall, a grey drape, and three director’s chairs. It looked like we were shooting the show in a bus station basement.

Pam: Bus stations don’t have basements.

Jim:  What are you, a CNN fact-checker? 

Pam: In spite of the sparse studio set, along the way you managed to win the prestigious Spectrum of Democracy Award, and were recognized by Congress for your commitment to voter education. How did those honors come about?

Jim: Because during every election cycle I give free air time to candidates in high-profile races, including interviews with folks like Senator Elizabeth Dole and her challenger, the late Kay Hagan. We’ve also had candidates for Governor come from all over the state to appear on Triad Today, and we’ve featured a number of Congressional candidates from Piedmont area districts.    

Pam: In every show you also interview community leaders who focus on a wide range of topics. But the most popular segment each week is the Roundtable. How did that evolve?

Jim: I called it the Roundtable because I would throw out topics and then have local journalists and civic leaders comment. During the first year, the Roundtable gang consisted of former WFMY legend Lee Kinard and news reporter Leonard Simpson. Later I expanded the Roundtable to include two regulars (journalist Ogi Overman and civic leader Keith Granberry), along with a rotating panelist from the world of business, politics, education, and the arts.  

Pam: At the end of each Roundtable segment, you comment on a funny item in the news, then embellish it with a humorous twist. How did that come about?

Jim: I stole that from the late great David Brinkley who as host of “This Week” on ABC, would end each show by commenting on a funny news story. 

Pam: Your jokes don’t always go over though, right?

Jim: No, and thanks for reminding me. That’s correct. Sometimes the Roundtable gang laughs and sometimes they groan.

Pam: Can you give me an example of a funny one?

Jim: “The Greensboro Science Center just announced the addition of a sloth to their exhibits. The sloth will sleep at the center at nights, but he’ll keep his day job at the post office.”

Pam: I don’t imagine local postal workers appreciated that joke.

Jim: No, so I apologized to them on air. I would have mailed my apology, but…

Pam: Never mind, I get it. In addition to interviewing various community leaders each week, Triad Today has also featured a number of celebrities. Who were some of your favorite special guests?

Jim: The Rev. Jesse Jackson was a great guest. In fact, we did an entire half hour with him. I recall asking him if voter apathy was the biggest problem in America, and he said, “No. Voter suppression.” Golfing legend Arnold Palmer was another memorable guest. He was a real gentleman and could make you feel like you were the only person in the room. Then there was Ed Asner who made a pass at you right in front of me. In fact, he actually licked the side of your face.

Pam: Yeah, that was interesting. So, who was your most memorable guest, or the most famous person you ever interviewed?

Jim: Well, there’s a difference between most famous and most memorable. Over the past 54 years, I’ve been fortunate to interview hundreds of really famous folks like Bob Hope, Elizabeth Taylor, Dick Van Dyke, Angela Lansbury, and Bryan Cranston. But when it comes to the most memorable, then hands down, that was NASCAR legend Richard Petty. 

Pam: Why?

Jim: Triad Today was only about ten shows into the first season and still trying to attract an audience, so Richard agreed to appear and promote Victory Junction, which was yet to open. The night before taping, Richard’s secretary called me and said that he and Kyle had to fly to Detroit for a sponsor meeting and because of that, Richard wouldn’t be able to do my show. I was devastated because Richard would have put Triad Today on the map, plus we had promoted his upcoming appearance. Nevertheless, I went ahead with the show, and midway through taping, I heard a commotion just outside the studio door. In walked Richard, who promptly sat down next to me and did the interview. Afterward, I learned that he had left Kyle in Detroit and took a plane back to Greensboro that morning just so he could do my show. Off camera I said to Richard, “I really appreciate your being here, but why would you leave an important sponsor meeting in Detroit to be on my little TV show?” “Because I give you my word,” said Richard. To this day and until the day I die, I’ll always get goosebumps when I remember that moment. It says all you need to know about The King.

Pam: What’s the goal of Triad Today, and has that changed over the past two decades?

Jim: Some things have changed, like my waistline and the color of my hair, but our mission has never changed, which is to facilitate discussions with movers and shakers who help to impact our community in a positive way and improve quality of life for every population. Sometimes that involves making folks aware of job training opportunities or reminding them of the importance of mammograms and wellness exams. Sometimes we promote the arts and cultural activities, and other times we help to lobby for much-needed legislation and public policy initiatives, like the work we did to push for reparations for victims of forced sterilization.  

Pam: One last thing. Why is it that you’ve never invited me to be on Triad Today?

Jim: Because I don’t believe in nepotism. I learned that from Ricky Ricardo who never wanted Lucy to perform in his nightclub. 

Pam: OK then Mr. Ricardo, let’s see what happens the next time you want something from me.

Jim: On second thought, how’d you like to be on the show next week?

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Pamela Cook-Longworth is president of Pam Cook Communications and the reluctant wife of Jim Longworth. Triad Today airs Saturdays at 7:30 a.m. on abc45, Sundays at 11 a.m. on MY48, and streams on wfmy+.

 
 

Six years ago, then-13-year old Tyler Hughes, of Clemmons, got on his ATV and proceeded to speed along a snowy, curvy road. The ATV flipped over on him and the roll bar severed his left arm. Tyler’s mom quickly applied a tourniquet to her son’s arm and surgeons were able to re-attach the limb. A local newspaper titled its story, “Quick Thinking Mom, Skilled Doctors Made the Difference.” Obviously, everyone was happy that young Tyler survived the crash, but a more appropriate headline would have been, “Boy Should Have Never Been on ATV in the First Place.” To that end, in July of 2018, I wrote a column calling for ATV laws to be more restrictive, but my words fell on deaf ears.

According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, over 4,000 people died in ATV accidents between 2004 and 2021, and 504 of those were in North Carolina, most of who were children and teens. Meanwhile, lucky crash victims like Tyler were among the 517,000 ATV riders who made it out of the emergency department injured, but alive. The problem is that no one seems to care about statistics. Lawmakers refuse to outlaw ATVs, parents continue to purchase these death traps for their kids, and young people continue to make poor decisions when riding them. And that brings me to our most recent ATV-related tragedy.

Late last month Layne Jones and Jayden Reynaldo hopped onto a 4-wheeler and went for a piggyback ride along a local highway in Transylvania County. The boys, both 16 years old and both members of the Eastern Randolph High School football team, suddenly lost control, ran off the road, and crashed into a tree. They were killed instantly. To compound the tragedy, there’s no indication that their deaths will yield any significant reforms when it comes to the sale and use of ATVs. If that weren’t the case, then legislators would have already paid more attention to the aforementioned statistics and widespread warnings by reputable individuals and organizations.

For example, at a 2010 meeting of the American College of Surgeons, it was reported that when comparing ATV accidents versus motorcycle accidents, the same injury from an ATV crash is 50% more likely to result in severe injury or death. The reason? Motorcycles are mainly operated by adults and ATVs are mainly operated by minors. Shockingly, under North Carolina law, children as young as 8 years old can operate an ATV if the engine is less than 70cc. Hey, while we’re at it, why don’t we just let children operate handguns, so long as it’s a small caliber? 

State lawmakers need to get off their collective asses and enact serious ATV reforms, including: no one under 16 can operate any kind of all-terrain vehicle; you must have a valid North Carolina license to operate an ATV; and, anyone between 16 and 18 must be supervised by an adult when operating an ATV.  

After Tyler Hughes crashed his 4-wheeler in 2018, I interviewed a pediatric injury prevention specialist for my Triad Today television show. He stated clearly that, “Parents should keep their children away from all ATVs.” Yet what did 13-year-old Tyler tell a Winston-Salem Journal reporter while he was recovering from surgery? He said, “I can’t wait to start riding again.” Tyler could be forgiven for his disregard of the dangers that ATVs present. Lawmakers and parents cannot.

 
 

Something delightful happened in the fall of 1984. On Sunday night, September 30, at 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, CBS premiered Murder She Wrote, a light-hearted drama series about Jessica Fletcher, a widowed mystery novelist who helped Cabot Cove law enforcement solve murder cases. For 12 seasons, the show was comfort food for hungry viewers, and a ratings hit for the Tiffany Network. It spawned a series of TV movies, and after four decades, re-runs of the hour episodes are still on the air. It was a show that quickly achieved cult status and made a global superstar out of a once-shy theatre actress from England. That actress was my friend Dame Angela Lansbury.

I first met Angela when I produced and moderated Women in Prime, an event for the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in March of 2007. It was a special evening I put together for the Academy to recognize outstanding TV actresses and female producers, with Angie as the honored guest. That night we had a wide-ranging conversation about opportunities for women in Hollywood, and about the barriers they face in grabbing those opportunities, such as gender and age discrimination, and stereotyping.

Speaking of which, Murder She Wrote producers originally offered the part of Jessica Fletcher to All in the Family star Jean Stapleton, but when she turned down the role, they reluctantly turned to Angela. That’s because they had stereotyped Angie as a theatre actress and thought the multiple Tony winner and Oscar nominee would not want to do television. They were wrong, thank the Lord.

During its first five seasons, Murder She Wrote was a perennial top ten favorite, and in its subsequent six seasons, it never fell out of the top 15. But CBS in all of its wisdom decided to tinker with the prime time line-up in season 12 and move Murder She Wrote from its Sunday night perch to Thursdays, where it fell to #58 in the ratings. Realizing its blunder, the network returned Murder She Wrote to Sundays for what would be its last few episodes, including the series finale which was broadcast on May 19, 1996. Lansbury then starred in a series of four Murder She Wrote TV movies, after which Jessica Fletcher retired from network fare in 2003, but continues to solve murders in re-runs.

My friend Angela Lansbury passed away in October of 2022 at the age of 96, but I will always remember our time together at the TV Academy’s Women in Prime event. What follows are highlights from our conversation that night.

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JL:  I think all of the early Murder She Wrote episodes were written by men, and you were outspoken about the fact that men didn’t always write for women the way they should. Did you ever get any women writers?

AL:  We never had women writers. We never did. I wanted to have women writers. Thank goodness my brother was the story editor for a while because at least he knew what I was wanting to achieve in the way of helping Jessica to grow out of Cabot Cove, and put her foot in the larger pond, get out in the world and interact with more interesting people. He enabled me to do that, but we couldn’t go very far afield with that format.

JL:  In 1987 you wrote Positive Moves: My Personal Plan for Fitness and Well Being, and I heard that the book was inspiring for a lot of women. Speaking of which, tell me about the feedback you’ve received from women who said you had a positive impact on their lives.

AL:  I’ve had some wonderful feedback from the theatre roles I’ve played, and from the movie roles I’ve played, not so much with The Manchurian Candidate. It took me years to live down THAT role [laughs]. I started Murder She Wrote when I was 59 years old, coming up to 60, and I got into television because I felt I hadn’t made any real money in the years I had been in the theatre and movies, and the time had come for annuity, you know? [laughs] You have to think about these things. And so, I got into television, thank God. But I was lucky to fall into an extraordinary role, a role model for women of my age. Women had never been represented in the way Jessica Fletcher approached her middle age, and for the first time, those women really counted for something. But the interesting thing was, it wasn’t just women that I heard from. It was also men. Middle-aged men and older men adored Jessica, and to this day they still do. But the mail I got from women was just astronomical, and I still get it. It’s quite extraordinary. Women just decided they were going to be like Jessica Fletcher. They became writers, and they pulled themselves together. They lost weight thanks to the book, and they became absolutely fascinated by what was possible for women of our age to attain. So, the feedback was tremendous.

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At the end of our panel discussion, I asked Academy Chairman Dick Askin to present Angela with a plaque that recognized her as a “Pioneer for Women in Television”.

When the deafening standing-room-only applause died down, Angie thanked the Academy and then I took the opportunity to thank her for helping me get my wife Pam to the altar. I explained that following our first meeting, Pam was none too impressed with me, nevertheless, I persevered. I learned that her all-time favorite TV show was Murder She Wrote, so I packed up my entire VHS collection of Jessica’s mysteries and dropped the tapes off to Pam at work. Soon afterward she agreed to go out with me, and eventually we tied the knot. Angela laughed and said, “What a wonderful story! I can’t believe it.”

There’s no telling just how many lives Angela Lansbury touched, and how many people she helped along the way. One example occurred during the filming of a Murder She Wrote episode. As the story goes, guest star Van Johnson could see how the grueling production schedule was wearing on his buddy Angie. He told her she had made enough money and didn’t have to keep working and suggested that she should just walk away. Angela told him she would not think of quitting because hundreds of people depended on her for a living. That was Angela in a nutshell. It’s no mystery to know why she was so beloved. She was always thinking of others. Always a team player. Always giving us all she had to give. It’s a nice sentiment to remember on this 40th anniversary of Murder She Wrote.

 
 

TV crime shows often depict plea deals as a method of catching a murderer by offering less jail time to an accomplice in exchange for his testimony. Seldom, however, do we ever see plea deals offered to the main criminal himself. After all, why make a deal with someone you’ve already got dead-to-rights? Yet that’s what happened last week when Forsyth County prosecutors offered a plea deal to Aquavis Hickman.

In April of this year Hickman, then a 17-year-old student at Parkland High School, walked to the front of his classroom and began shouting profanities at his female teacher who was seated at her desk. All of a sudden, he landed a hard slap to the right side of the teacher’s face. He then stepped back and asked if she wanted another slap. “I don’t want it,” she said. Nevertheless, Hickman then slapped her again, this time so hard that it snapped her head back and knocked her glasses to the floor. Hickman then danced around shouting, “Ain’t nobody coming. You just got slapped. Go back to teaching.” The shocking incident was captured on video by a student in the classroom.

This was not Hickman’s first time acting out. Earlier in the year he had threatened another teacher with violence and, according to the district attorney, “joined two other people to cause a riot at the school.” Yet shortly after his arrest for slapping his teacher, the Forsyth County D.A. seemed resigned to trying Hickman as a juvenile. Later, when Hickman’s second offense came to light, prosecutors charged the young man with five felonies including two assaults on government officials, communicating threats in connection with the slapping incident, inciting a riot, and second-degree kidnapping.

In North Carolina, such crimes can carry a prison term of up to 7 years. That means, under the law, Hickman could serve as many as 35 years behind bars. But hold the presses. Last week prosecutors offered Hickman an unbelievable plea deal. If he pleads guilty to all five charges, then all charges will be consolidated into a single Class “E” felony. Speaking with the Winston-Salem Journal, Hickman’s attorney Andrew Keever said that under the terms of the consolidated deal, a judge could give his client a suspended sentence and put him on probation. How nice.

This plea deal flies in the face of logic or justice. Back on May 8, Forsyth District Attorney Jim O’Neill, Winston-Salem Police Chief William Penn, and Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough held a news conference at which time they announced a zero-tolerance policy ”for any activity that threatens public safety in schools.” Kimbrough and Penn must have been shaking their heads in disbelief upon hearing of Hickman’s plea deal. For now, Hickman and his attorney are considering the deal, but they’d be fools not to take it. Meanwhile, the trial is set for September 9 in Forsyth Superior Court.

Speaking with the Journal back in April, Michelle Jordan, a magnet school coordinator at Brunson Elementary said, “People aren’t born to do what that young man [Hickman] did,” and she indicated that the way to prevent such behavior is by hiring more school-based social workers. With all due respect to Ms. Jordan, I believe that some kids ARE born to do exactly what Hickman did, and no amount of counseling will cure him. Of course, Hickman’s attorney would disagree with me. Andrew Keever told the Journal that since the slapping incident, his client, “has made significant changes in his life.” I guess that means since Hickman hasn’t assaulted or kidnapped anyone while awaiting trial, then he must have reformed. 

Thanks to the plea deal, Hickman’s teacher has now been slapped in the face three times: twice by Hickman, and once by the district attorney.

 
 

I know this isn’t a profound thought, but athletic events should be about athletics not social issues, scandal, or controversy. The Olympics should be a competitive celebration of individual achievement, and for the most part, it is. Simone Biles, for example, was fun to watch as she displayed individual excellence, and the athleticism of America’s synchronized divers was jaw dropping. But this year’s Olympic games have also been marred by distractions of one kind or another. 

Before the athletes even suited up, billions of viewers had to first endure a parade of drag queens who went on to recreate a perceived living version of The Lord’s Last Supper. Later came the Canadian drone scandal, the controversy over the gender of an Algerian boxer, and a misogynist announcer who implied that female athletes are best suited to housework. Also tainting the fun was pollution of the Seine River, terrorist threats, bomb threats, a COVID outbreak in aquatics, the possibility of bedbug infestation, a rise in the number of tiger mosquitos, a Japanese gymnast sent home for smoking, Caitlin Clarke omitted from the women’s basketball team, raw meat being served at the Olympic village, Chinese women swimmers allowed to compete after having been found taking PEDs only weeks before, and the discovery that an Australian surfing judge was friendly with one of that country’s surfers. Bottom line: controversy is not fun, and it distracts from the games.

So, what’s the solution? Twenty years ago, late-night icon David Letterman offered a way to improve the Olympics. He invited 10 medal winners from the 2004 Olympics to help him present his Top 10 list. The category was: “Top Ten Ways to Make the Olympics More Fun.”

• 10: (Cara Kirk, silver medalist in the 400-meter swimming relay): “Gymnasts allowed to smoke during floor exercises.”
• 9: (Lindsay Benko, gold and silver medalist in swimming): “Require Dutch track and field team to wear wooden shoes.”
• 8: (Rulan Gardner, bronze medal weight lifter): “Replace pummel horse with a real horse.”
• 7: (Ally Cox, silver medal winner in women’s rowing): “Long jump, followed by high jump, followed by wide jump.”
• 6: (Patricia Miranda, bronze medalist in free-stye wrestling): “Try to make every event a little more like Yahtzee.”
• 5: (Pete Cippoloni, gold medal winner for men’s Rowing): “High dive tank full of sharks.”
• 4: (Susan William, bronze medalist for women’s triathlon): “Loser slots at the Olympic village.”
• 3: (Maurice Green, bronze medal winner in the 100-yard dash): “Instead of the National Anthem, play something by Usher.”
• 2: (Sarah McMahon, silver medalist in women’s free-style wrestling): “We got badminton. What could be more fun than that?”
• 1: (Gary Hall, gold and bronze medal winner in swimming): “Two words — Nude Fencing.”

I don’t know about nude fencing, but the IOC actually has enacted changes over the years to make the Olympics more fun. The problem is that in doing so, the committee has created controversy of its own by diluting and disparaging the true spirit of the ancient games. Sure, beach volleyball is a fun activity. So is ping pong, flag football, break dancing, and badminton. But those so-called “sports” don’t belong in the Olympics, and neither do men’s and women’s basketball for that matter. After all, the Olympics should test individual achievement by amateur athletes. What we have now are professional teams competing against each other. Don’t get me wrong, it’s exciting to watch Lebron and his teammates demolish foreign roundball squads, but those games belong in a world basketball tournament not in the Olympics.

Today it seems that just about anything can become an Olympic sport. Comedian Tracy Morgan recently told Jimmy Fallon that he was, “Competing in a knish and roast beef contest.” Don’t laugh, it might come to pass. At any rate, I hope that when the next summer Olympics rolls around it will be devoid of controversial distractions and inappropriate “sports,” so that we can just focus on more traditional events, like nude fencing.

 
 

Growing up in the 1950’s we had one television set in the house, and most of the time Dad and I had it tuned to westerns. But once a year Mom made us watch the Miss America pageant, and that was OK with Dad because he got to see women in swimsuits. Mostly though we all watched to see if Miss North Carolina would win the title. Later this month Triad viewers can watch as one of our own competes in the sister pageant to Mrs. America.

Though it didn’t receive national attention until much later, the “Mrs.” America system of pageants has been around in one form or another since 1938, and it was created to celebrate married women and their families. One of its spin-off programs is the “Mrs. American” pageant in which our state’s representative for 2024 hopes to win the national title and go on to compete in the Mrs. World pageant. This year’s Mrs. North Carolina American is High Point native Madeline Stewart, an interior designer and dance instructor who now lives in Blowing Rock with her husband Ian. I caught up with Madeline recently to talk about her background, her legacy connection to pageants, and her support for a special organization.

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Jim: Where were you born?

Madeline: I was born in Chicago in 1993, but we moved to High Point when I was really young so this is where I grew up and spent most of my life.  

Jim: What do your parents do for a living?

Madeline: My mom is a doctor but most importantly, she’s one of my best friends. My dad is an independent sales rep for the Sherrill Furniture brands. I actually started my career in the furniture industry traveling with him during the summer months while I was in college. It was a great opportunity for me to learn sales and marketing firsthand. 

Jim: Did you watch the Miss America pageant on TV when you were a little girl, and, if so, what was your impression?

Madeline: Absolutely! I remember seeing the women on stage and thinking what an honor it would be to represent my state at a national level. I remember thinking those women were so beautiful and elegant, and as a young girl, those are the women that I looked up to. But most importantly, I remember looking at my mom’s headshot on my nightstand from when she was first runner-up for the Mrs. Illinois America title in 1991 and realizing how incredible it was that she could have been walking on a state-level stage. 

Jim: You are a very accomplished dancer, so when did you first show an interest in competitive dancing? 

Madeline: I started when I was young, but didn’t really appreciate dance until I grew into my teenage years. When I was younger, it was more about just having a fun atmosphere to learn and grow. But as I got older, I started to make friendships that were critical for me during that stage of my life. Dance became a way for me to express myself emotionally and just get lost in the music. It also was an opportunity for me to spend some time with my mom. She was in medical school while I was growing up, so for me to have one-on-one time with her doing something that involved hair, makeup, rhinestones, long car rides, and costumes was really special as a young girl. I also think the competitive aspect of dance really helped me with my self-esteem. I developed confidence every time I walked out on a stage to perform in front of hundreds of people. That’s the mindset that I’ll be taking with me to Las Vegas this month. I truly feel I am a storyteller and performer at heart, and I have a strong mission and purpose for competing in pageantry just like I did when I competed in dance. I’m hoping that fun and genuine side of me continues to come through on stage to the judges. 

Jim: You are an ambassador for Project HEAL. Tell me about that organization and why it has a special place in your heart in terms of your personal experience.

Madeline: I struggled with an eating disorder for years during my time in college. For some reason, I never felt good enough or accepted, and started to lose weight to combat those feelings. Once I saw my body with less weight, I couldn’t stop the mental battle of continuing to lose weight. I disguised this struggle as a health journey and became obsessed with size and numbers. My body started shutting down and I developed terrible anxiety and isolation. One of the main things I struggled with was accepting that I needed help and how to start the healing journey. Project HEAL is an eating disorder nonprofit that gives individuals hope and healing options when struggling with an eating disorder. It was founded in 2008 and offers treatment placement, cash assistance, meal support, and insurance navigation. It’s a safe environment and opportunity for people who are struggling with an eating disorder to find hope and healing.

Jim: Many girls and young women are obsessed with being skinny. Does that concern you?

Madeline: Absolutely, I had one of the young girls in my dance class open up to me recently about struggling with her body weight and comparison, and she’s only nine years old. I believe young women are growing up in an age where social media places additional pressure on girls to have the perfect image and the perfect body. Because of this, we’re starting to see eating disorders show through at younger ages. It’s important for us as mature women to be confident in ourselves and watch what we say about our bodies around the younger generation. The best gift we can give them is to be comfortable and content in our own skin. That’s why it’s really important for me to share my story and show young women that I’m not competing in this pageant as a woman who’s obsessed with her weight and image, but instead, as a woman who can relate to that struggle and is an overcomer. I’ve spent so many years hating my body. It’s only when I finally dropped the stress of focusing on weight and body image and started to focus instead on health and wholeness, that I was able to stand tall as the woman God created me to be. My body isn’t bad, it never has been, I just had to have the strength to see it in a positive light and choose to give myself grace and be present. That’s why I wanted to compete in pageants, to share my story, stand with confidence, and show other women they can do the same. 

Jim: Let’s circle back to your mom, Dr. Sherry Ryter-Brown who competed in the Mrs. Illinois America pageant. What life lessons have you learned from her?

Madeline: I think one of the biggest lessons I’ve been able to learn from my mom is empathy and authenticity. She is 100% her fun and upbeat self at all times, whether it’s as a mom, physician, or a friend. She has a goofy side and a fun personality that she’s not scared to show people, and I think this gives her an amazing sense of relatability to her patients and friends. For me, there are times where I have to balance being professional with my fun and upbeat personality, so finding that balance is something I’ve definitely learned from her! I also want women of all ages to feel comfortable talking to me, especially about body image and disordered eating. I think my vulnerability about sharing my struggles and my journey is something that will encourage and inspire women. I learned the importance of talking about my story and testimony from my mom.

Jim: Why is having pageants for married women important, and what would it mean to you to win the national title?

Madeline: I didn’t grow up competing in pageants, so for me to have the opportunity to compete later in life now that I’m married is incredible. The Mrs. America system is one of the longest-running pageants for married women, so it’s an honor to be able to represent North Carolina for the national Mrs. American title. Winning would mean the world to me, especially to have the chance to represent women who have struggled with their bodies. I think having someone who’s strong, healthy, outgoing, and comfortable in their own skin would have a huge impact. I’ve had such a positive experience with the Mrs. America system, I would love to travel to other states and encourage women who may be interested in pageantry to compete and start chasing their dreams regardless of their age.

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Madeline will compete for the national Mrs. American title on August 27 in Las Vegas where she will be judged on her beauty, costume, evening gown, swimsuit, interview, and how well she photographs. Anyone who has ever met Madeline knows she will excel in all six categories, but if my dad was still alive, he would only care about the swimsuit.