Published Monday, February 13th, 2017
Two Nebraska broadcasting legends will appear together as part of the Black and Gold Performing Arts Series.
Two Nebraska broadcasting legends will appear together on one special evening as the Black & Gold Performing Arts Series at Wayne State College and John G. Neihardt Foundation present “A Conversation with Dick Cavett featuring Ron Hull.” The event will be held in Ramsey Theatre at Wayne State College on Monday, Feb. 20, at 6:30 p.m.
Best known as the host of “The Dick Cavett Show,” Cavett is a three-time Emmy award winner with a television career spanning five decades. He is also author of "Cavett" (1974), "Eye on Cavett" (1983), "Talk Show: Confrontations, Pointed Commentary, and Off-Screen Secrets" (2010), and "Brief Encounters: Conversations, Magic Moments and Assorted Hijinks" (2014) and has two PBS specials, "Dick Cavett’s Watergate" (2014) and "Dick Cavett’s Vietnam" (2015).
A Nebraska native from Gibbon, Cavett will appear on stage with his long-time friend Ron Hull.
“Dick Cavett is truly a Nebraska son,” Hull said. “He has never forgotten his roots, and he’s contributed his auspicious talent to our culture and myriad Nebraska events throughout his life.”
Hull’s television career also spans decades, beginning in 1955 as a producer-director at Nebraska Educational Television where he serves as senior advisor. Hull served stints with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in Washington D.C. and the U.S. Foreign Service in Vietnam. He is also author of "Backstage: Stories of My Life in Public Television" (2012), an autobiography that includes highlights of his lifelong career.
Hull and Cavett share Nebraskan roots and careers in television. Both have Nebraska’s Poet Laureate in Perpetuity in common. Both interviewed writer John G. Neihardt for television.
Neihardt, an 1896 graduate of Wayne Normal School (Wayne State College) at the age of 16, had returned to Nebraska in the 1970s after a successful career as a writer and teacher at the University of Missouri. During this time, he lived in Lincoln as well as conducted interviews with both Cavett and Hull. Neihardt’s popularity exploded after his 1972 appearance on “The Dick Cavett Show” introduced a new generation to the poet’s life and works. Hull’s interviews in Bancroft also preserved Neihardt’s legacy.
“For me, the name ‘Neihardt’ and the name ‘Nebraska’ are of just about equal weight,” Cavett said.
Cavett will also appear for a book signing following the program with DVDs and books available for purchase at the event. Ticket admission for the event is $10 for the general public and free for WSC students, faculty, and staff. Event proceeds will directly support the John G. Neihardt State Historic Site, a branch museum of the Nebraska State Historical Society in Bancroft, Neb.
For more information, please contact Amy Kucera, Executive Director of John G. Neihardt State Historic Site at 402-648-3388 or at [email protected].