KEARNEY – Filmmaker and author Tim Slessor will speak at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, where he will share stories of British immigrants’ westward settlement and their impact on the United States.
His presentation – “Immigrants” – is at 3:30 p.m. Nov. 4 in Copeland Hall room 131. The talk is free and open to the public. The Calvin T. Ryan Library along with UNK history, sociology, English and communications departments is hosting the event.
Following his military service as a lieutenant in the British Green Berets and graduation from Cambridge University, Slessor and five friends drove in Land Rovers from the English Channel to Singapore in 1955. Although many others tried, they were the first to successfully complete the 16,000-mile trip that took six months.
The BBC made three documentaries from the trip’s filmed material, and Slessor’s book highlighting the adventure “First Overland” became a best seller with more than 350,000 copies sold.
Slessor joined the BBC in 1957 as a trainee and for more than 20 years worked with the BBC making documentaries all over the world. He received a Peabody award for two programs he directed. He was commissioning editor in charge of several teams working on investigative reports, travel programs and social affairs, and Slessor ended his BBC career as deputy head of its features documentary department.
In 1990, Slessor turned to freelance work – writing for various magazines and directing/producing for the BBC, Channel Four and National Geographic. He spent a year researching and then writing an investigative book called “Lying in State” about deceit and dissembling in the affairs of the Government.
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UNK Contact: Todd Gottula, Director of Communications, 308.865.8454, gottulatm@unk.edu
Slessor Contact: Sarah Polak, 308.432.6401, spolak@csc.edu
We have just returned from a four week road trip to the Mid West basically using your book More than cowboys that Janet bought in a charity shop & inside is written “To John – from another traveller.And with memories of the various adventures way back” Tim. This has intrigued us,we met a lady at Fort Phil Kearney at the visitors centre whose name was Starr we told her we were following in your footsteps & she produced her copy of your book which you signed & she told us a little about you.
We also stayed in Chadron and paid a visit to the local newspaper The Chadron Record this may have been where you worked,but the young lady did know of you.
We travelled just over 2500 miles covering 99% of the points of interest in your book!one we would like to add is The Crazy Horse monument in the Black Hills .
We hope this e.mail reaches you as we feel we know you as we share the same love of the Midwest ,and even though we are in our senior years we hope to go once more next year,
Many thanks for a wonderful well read book.
Yours sincerely
Conway & Janet Bloomfielld
Taking part in The Oxford and Cambridge Far Eastern Expedition and then writing about that is really a great achievement Tim Slessor. I wish I could be able to visit the meeting.
I love documentaries. I find it professional and full of facts. Good thing he went freelance. Aside from the freedom, he will make very good money with it given his professional background and skills.