Steven Morano and Ken Burns
This past February, Sarah Miller, C’26, and Steven Morano, C’24, attended “Who Are We?” a film festival held in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, that celebrated the works of Ken Burns. Burns has become a household name, thanks to documentaries exploring American culture through topics such as baseball and jazz, as well as stories of American hardship—perhaps most famously, his documentary series on the American Civil War.
Morano, a history major and communications minor, is the editor of the sports section of The Mountain Echo, which he’s written for since his first year as a Mount student. He recently has begun work as a sportswriter for the Emmitsburg News-Journal.
His work at the News-Journal has given him experiences such as sitting in the press box at the Frederick Keys Stadium and writing a story on the Key’s pitcher Luke Pryor.
Miller also writes for the News-Journal, as the freshman writer for the column, “Four Years at the Mount.” She was selected to interview Ken Burns at the film festival and wrote about her experience for the News-Journal.
Morano was also excited to have the chance to interview such a well-known historian. He noted how interesting working in journalism and on a strict deadline can be, sharing that “it was quite a 72 hours. You have to zero in on what you want to do and what you are going to ask.”
It wasn’t his first time preparing for a “high-profile” interview. Last fall, Morano interviewed Fred Carter, C’69, the Mount’s first African American basketball player, who went on to play in the NBA. “I wanted to write about his experience at the Mount and was expecting 10 minutes of time with him, but he sat down with me for 45 minutes. He was so patient and remembered everything so vividly,” Morano recalled.
Miller, a newcomer in the world of journalism, admitted that she was a bit nervous to interview Burns. She was helped by Sheldon Shealer, lecturer for the department of communications, who coached her on what questions to ask and how to phrase them. “I had no idea how formal it was going to be and being in the room with [Burns], you knew, ‘woah, this guy’s important’,” explained Sarah. In the end, she loved the experience of meeting and interviewing Burns.
To read a PDF version of Morano and Miller’s article, visit http://viawww.emmitsburg.net/archive_list/articles/ce/gettysburg/ken_burnes.htm.