Producer/Direcotr of ABCs Wide World of Sports to Speak at Emerson Center on November 22
Tickets are Now on Sale
The EmersonCenter, at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Vero Beach is proud to welcome Doug Wilson, the producer/director of the break through
ABC's Wide World of Sports, to speak on Sunday, November 22 . He will share interesting and informative stories and video clips with his audiences at 4 p.m.
The presentation is sponsored in part by RBC Bank with partial proceeds to benefit The Indian River County Salvation Army's Season of Giving to the Needy of Indian River County
Doug Wilson was a graduate of ColgateUniversity and got his first job in television as an NBC page with ambitions of becoming a singer. In 1958, he joined ABC first as a production assistant, then in numerous associate directing and directing jobs until ABC's
Wide World of Sports had him spanning the globe to bring audiences the constant variety of 50 different sports over five continents as a Producer/Director.... from Olympic arenas to backroom pool halls; from the Grand Prix of Monaco and figure skating in Beijing to wrist-wrestling in Petaluma; from gymnastics in Bulgaria and Brazil to historic Chinese ping-pong diplomacy in Detroit. Doug retired on October 15, 2008, fifty years from the date that he began working at ABC.
He was the winner of 17 Emmys and countless other awards and honors. In addition to his work in television production, Doug is a singer. In fact, Doug had always dreamed of being a performer and a singer. During the 1950s, Doug was a contestant on the CBS game show "Name That Tune," had a cameo on "The Jack Paar Show" and appeared on the NBC variety show "Sunday Schedule." At one time, Doug was a production assistant on a variety show headed by Dick Clark, a fraternity brother. On December 8, 1959, on the 624 th show of American Bandstand, under the pseudonym of Dean Douglas, Doug sang his song, "Have Love Will Travel." The flip side was entitled, "It's a Kind of a Party." He also wrote and performed a sports song in 1971 for the 10 th anniversary show of Wide World of Sports.
The EmersonCenter's presentation focuses on the 45 year voyage through the world of television sports, especially during its "Golden Age." During the five decades Doug Wilson was involved in the television production of ABC's
Wide World of Sports and Olympics he worked with amazing, famous people. The names echo in television history; Muhammad Ali, Evel Knievel, Howard Cosell, Jim McKay, Peggy Fleming, Nadia Comaneci, Frank Gifford, Scott Hamilton, Brian Boitano, along with special memories of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, and the Special Olympics telecast of 1979. Audiences may hear him touch on the Munich Olympics, which sadly changed the course of history by the first major act of terrorism in our times. Each story is supported by a video clip that was seen by the millions of
Wide World of Sports and Olympic Games viewers. With a bit of prompting, audiences may even enjoy hearing him sing a song he premiered on Memorial Day 2002. It was heard on WABC Radio July 4 th and he also sang it for the DAR in Washington, DC. It was written by Helenann Pastucha a fellow resident of Irvington, New York. She was inspired by the 9/11 tragedy and Doug has sung it every year since. Without a doubt, Doug Wilson's appearance will be one not to be missed.
The Emerson Center is conveniently located at 1590 27th Avenue, on the SE corner of 16th Street and 27th Avenue in Vero Beach. Tickets are $30 ($40 at the door). Students will be charged $15 per ticket if they arrive with their parent(s) or with a student ID. Tickets for open seating are now on sale. Call (772) 778-5249.
www.The EmersonCenter.org.