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September 25, 2004

Interview with Edmund Bacon.

So over the weekend I got to film an interview for Craig's Variety Hour with Edmund Bacon. While all of the other interviews will be live, but due to his age (94) we came to him instead of him coming to us.

For those of you who don't know, Ed Bacon is a former city planner for the city of Philadelphia, the designer of Love Park, and the father of the Kevin Bacon.

Okay, now I have your attention. The thing is, the fact that his son is Kevin Bacon is probably the least interesting fact about him (no offense to the star of Quicksilver.)

The thing that struck me most about him was the fact that he was the oldest person I've ever met who still spoke about the promise of the future, as opposed to superiority of the past. And not for nothing, his past is pretty damn cool. He biked across Europe at 22, worked in Shanghai at 23, and was worried about the plight of workers in Flint, Michigan before Michael Moore had even been conceived.

Craig's goal in interviewing him was to introduce him to a new generation of people in Philadelphia, who although may not have heard of him, have enjoyed the fruits of his lifetime of work.

Don't take my word for it. We'll be showing the interview during Craig's Variety Show, on September 10th.

Finally, if my word doesn't entice you into seeing this interview, perhaps this will:

http://www.ushistory.org/lovepark/images/bacon.htm