In the midst of dealing with Ellen's untimely demise, Paul's book about Philo T. Farnsworth, The Boy Who Invented Television: A Story of Inspiration, Peristence and Quiet Passion, started showing up on bookstore shelves. The actual publication date was Sept 7, which was the 75th Anniversary of Farnsworth's first successful demonstration of electronic television. We were supposed to fly out to California that weekend, to "launch" the book amid festivities at 202 Green Street in San Francisco, the site of Farnsworth's first lab and the "birthplace of television." Unfortunately, that event was scheduled for the same weekend that the family was set to gather in Jersey for Ellen's memorial, so we couldn't make the trip to SF. Paul was going to do radio interview from the studios of KQED-FM in San Francisco, but instead did the interview from the studios at WPLN, the NPR affiliate in Nashville, before flying up to New Jersey for the weekend. The interview is still archived online at the KQED website, you can listen to it here.

Once we were in Jersey, we stayed for the week, because Paul had another interview scheduled, an actual TV interivew with the Arts & Entertainment Channel, for the "Open Book" segment of their Sunday morning program "Breakfast With The Arts." So that gave us a chance to hang out in the city. Went to a ball game at Yankee Stadium and watched the Yankees beat Baltimore in a glorius day game.

We were actually in NYC for the anniversary of 9/11, but spent that day instead hanging out at Paul's sister's house in Greenwich, CT. Next day, we went back to the city and took a tour of Ellis Island, which is definitely one of the best things to do in New York. The ferry takes you to both Liberty Island and Ellis Island; we skipped the Liberty Island stop, and still didn't have enough time to really see all we wanted to see at Ellis. You can trace your ancestors comings and goings at ellisisland.org.

Before we left New York, Paul did his interview with A&E, which, we've just learned, is slated to be broadcast on Sunday, February 9th. "Breakfast With The Arts" airs at 7:00 AM Eastern Time, and the "Open Book" segment is in the last half hour (8:30 EST). Consult your local listings...your mileage my vary, and objects in mirror may be closer than they appear.

The activities revolving around the 75th Anniversary of Television and the release of Paul's book culminated with a trip to Los Angeles at the end of September. At its annual Emmy Awards telecast, the TV Academy finally recognized Philo T. Farnsworth as "the inventor of electric television" and acknowledged Pem from the audience as the first woman ever to appear on TV.We were joined in LA by Paul's ex-wife Georja Skinner, who is Mrs. Farnsworth's agent and personal manager. When we went out to LA, we thought - hoped - maybe we would all get into the Emmy Awards telecast, but it was not to be. The Academy only provided three tickets - and those went to Pem, her nurse, and Georja. So Ann stayed with our friends Tom & Kathy Klein in Santa Monica while Paul went along for the ride, fully expecting to spend the evening in a compound with the limo driver. But when they got to the "red carpet entrance," Paul got out to help Pem with her wheel chair, and before he could say "but I don't have a ticket!" the security guards were ushering Paul and Pem through the metal detetectors and on to the red carpet. It was all very exciting... the Farnsworth family (and the Schatzkin's too, for that matter) favorite TV show is "The West Wing" and it just so happened that much of the cast was walking down the red carpet at the same time as Pem and Paul, so Paul grabbed Martin Sheen, Rob Lowe, and Allisson Janey and introduced them to Pem. Typical was the response of Martin Sheen, who chatted with Pem for a few moments and then said, as so many others have in the past, "you know, I wouldn't have a job if it weren't for you." Well, he might have a job, but it would be in radio...

(click to see the telecast)

The Monday after the Emmys, we went to celebrate our (second) anniversary with dinner at a restaurant in Malibu called Moonshadows. After all the festivities in Los Angeles, we took one day to head up the coast to Santa Barbara, to visit Susan Levin, an old friend of Paul's from their high school days. Actually, Susan was Paul's girfriend - however briefly - in the 9th grade. Susan is now sharing her life with a lovely woman named Kate. So, asked to sum up her weekend in Los Angeles, Ann can safely say that "I got to spend my anniversary with my husband, his ex-wife, his ex-girlfriend, and his ex-girlfriend's girlfriend."

Our whirlwind travels in Sept finally ended when we returned to Nashville in time to do the "official release" book signing at the Barnes and Noble store in Cool Springs. Thousands of people showed up and hundreds of books were sold.... well, OK, maybe that's a slight exageration.... but it was a lovely occasion...

So, it's been a real interesting year, to put it mildly. As we look forward to 2003, Ann has been promised a new position at Renal Care Group, doing peritoneal dialysis instead of hemodyalisis - the difference, we hope, is that the new position will be a little less demanding and a lot less stressful. Paul is gearing up for another round of promoting his book. And we're off to spend Christmas in Texas (that's "X in Tex" for short) with Ann's family - the first time she's been back to Dallas for the holidays since she moved to Nashville in '98. We're looking forward to spending some time with her parents, because we're beginning to realize how precious that time is. You just never know.

So, Merry Chirstmas everybody - or (as The Therapy Sisters put it) "Happy Whatever You're Having." Be good, have fun, and safe travels wherever you go. We hope to see you all next year.

-- Ann & Paul