C.G. Moore's Blog
May 12, 2025
My Life Affirming Love Affair with Public Television
My Life Affirming Love Affair with Public Television
Between History And Fiction
May 12, 2025
What is your favorite thing to do on a Sunday night? Most people have to get ready for school or work the next day. Since I am a caregiver for someone who lives with me, it’s a little easier. I do one of my favorite things, which is to curl up on the sofa with a snack and watch PBS Masterpiece.
This week was the debut of “Miss Austen,” an adaptation of Gill Hornby’s novel about Cassandra Austen, and her quest to protect her late sister Jane Austen’s privacy and legacy. I’d read the book when it came out and enjoyed it. But this production, I thought, was exceptional. The actors conveyed a rich emotional landscape of love and loss, and the strife of some family relationships, especially between sisters Cassandra and Jane. I was up until one in the morning streaming it on PBS Passport. As so many of Masterpiece’s productions have over the last 50 years, it left me with a better understanding and empathy of what it truly is to love and be human.
Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
Then it hit me. People are trying to make this go away. They have tried before and never succeeded. But this time, it seems more possible, more pressing.
I sat and sobbed.
It is no exaggeration that the prospect of losing Public Television feels like having a part of myself cut with a hacksaw. I grew up on Public Television. I can directly attribute “Masterpiece” for making me want to read canonical literature, which led me on my life path as a writer and a literature instructor. It has also given me a love and a knowledge of all types of history. It turned me into a lifelong learner. There is nothing else like it in the garbagy-miss-mash of reality shows and not-funny comedies, and endless talking heads and commercials. Their productions are life-affirming, and every time you finish watching something on PBS, you have grown a little more; you are altered in some way for the better.
So I started thinking about so many of the PBS shows, and my remembrances of them. I have seen so many of them that there is no way I could list them all here. So I’ll give you the highlights of my most memorable.
The Six Wives of Henry VIII: I was 11 years old. It was a hot Southern California summer, and reading under the fruitless Mulberry trees was the best way to get cool. Our public library had a series of books about our first ladies for young readers. I read about Martha Washington, Abigail Adams, and Dolly Madison. With those books, my love of history began. One evening, sitting in my room in front of the 13-inch black and white TV I received for a Christmas gift, I saw a show with the actors dressed in costumes that I didn’t know were Elizabethan. But I was intrigued by the plight of these young women, their fates hanging on the whims of a powerful man. Years later, I was able to watch the show in color, enjoying the opulence of the sets and the costumes. But from that day in front of my little TV in my pink bean bag chair, I was an Anglophile. It’s been a lifelong passion.
All the Dickens: My first exposure to Dickens was from my 8th-grade English teacher when she had us read “Great Expectations.” After reading the book, I watched it on PBS, and later other productions. I think my favorite is “David Cooperfield,” but I think I’ve seen and loved them all. I think seeing these productions is a great way to introduce them to students who may be skittish about picking up a heavy novel from nearly two centuries ago.
The Scarlet Letter: I was a 19-year-old college student when I first saw this production. I had not read the book at the time. Much like watching The Six Wives of Henry VIII, I felt shocked at what a woman must endure, while a man could go about his life unscathed.. Meg Foster’s Hester conveyed a goodness in her character that showed she did not deserve her fate. John Heard was great as Dimmesdale, a decent man acting badly, and Kevin Conway was creepy as hell as Roger Chillingsworth. Out of the two other productions of the novel, one done in the 1930s and the Demi Moore version from 1995, this adaptation stays truest to Hawthorne’s theme and intent. Still watch it today.
Ken Burn’s The Civil War: At that time in 1990, I was not the least bit interested in anything having to do with war. I grew up with Vietnam on TV, and my father was incessantly watching documentaries on World War II and the Korean War. So I was a bit burnt out on war productions. But everyone said this production by this documentary filmmaker Ken Burns was exceptional, and they were spot on. My husband and I watched every night, absolutely hooked. Burns made war about more than death and fighting. He gave it a human touch. Letters and photos of those who lost loved ones, and the life stories of ordinary people on both sides were touching and real. I think now, 35 years later, I have seen every Ken Burn’s documentary, even the ones I thought would never interest me. Burns puts empathy and compassion to his stories that no one else does. I’ll keep watching, if I can.
Pride and Prejudice: Of all the Jane Austen productions, this one is the most famous, partly because of Colin Firth’s wet shirt. But it was the first one I’d ever seen, and it got me to take a serious look at Austen and her novels. A few years later, (by then I was a die-hard Austen fan) in 2008, PBS showed an entire series of Austen adaptations, including “Sense and Sensibility,” “Mansfield Park,” and “Persuasion.” These titles had all been made by Hollywood by the mid-2000s, but I like the PBS versions more. They seemed to have more of a trueness and authenticity to Austen without the Hollywood taint.
Liberty! The American Revolution (1997): I remember being really excited about this production. A New Englander by birth, who had family members who fought in both the French and Indian Wars and the Revolution, this was my family story. (My mother was born in the same Connecticut town as Nathan Hale.) I loved everything about this show, the music of James Taylor and Mark O’Connor, and all the actors who truly brought people like John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin to life. I credit this production as one of the things that inspired me to write American Historical Fiction.
Middlemarch, The Mill on the Floss, and all things George Eliot.: Some say “Middlemarch,” is the greatest Victorian novel ever written. I don’t know if I would go that far, but it sparked my interest in Eliot. Her characters are richly rendered, and I’ve seen all the PBS presentations of her novels and I’m inspired to keep reading.
Poldark (the second one): I’d never heard of Winston Graham before I watched Poldark, but I fell in love with the stories and the characters immediately, and wanted to read the books. I couldn’t wait for Sunday night for those four wonderful seasons. Since then, I have read all 12 novels. I would venture to say now they are among my favorite books. Following Ross and Demelza through their lives, their pains and pleasures, their mistakes, and the triumphs not only makes the human characters vivid, but Cornwall itself is the most important character that influences every part of their existence. I would love to visit it someday.
Rick Steve’s Europe: I never thought I would ever be interested in seeing Spain or Portugal, Southern Italy, or Eastern Europe. Watching Rick Steve’s travels not only sparked my interest in these places, but he makes the idea of travel easy and accessible with his “you can do it “ attitude. I brought some of the guidebooks just to plan these dream trips. Will I get there? I hope so.
Downton Abbey: Probably among PBS’s biggest successes. The greatest thing about the show for me was sharing it with my husband, who is basically a sci-fi/horror type of guy. There was nothing about Downton Abbey that I didn’t like, but I must admit, like so many, Maggie Smith was my favorite with her sharp tongue and snide comments. Downton Abbey rose you up, broke your heart, made you laugh, and brought you beauty. The scene where Matthew asks Lady Mary to marry him as the snow falls is one of the most romantic scenes ever on television.
I could go on and on about the benefits of PBS. American Masters, All the Creatures Great and Small, Marie Antoinette, Wolf Hall, World on Fire, the list is endless. How can we keep this jewel in our lives? Yes, we can write and call our congressmen and protest, but I wonder what that will change. People in congress these days vote the way they want, the public be damned. We may be on our own, keeping this alive, which means more private funding and donations from “People Like Us.” Will that be enough? I hope to hell it is. I was a grandmother for the first time last week, and I want my granddaughter to be watching Public Television long after I’m gone.
What are your favorite PBS productions? I’d love to share. Thanks for listening and supporting Public Broadcasting in all its forms.
Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
Between History And Fiction
May 12, 2025
What is your favorite thing to do on a Sunday night? Most people have to get ready for school or work the next day. Since I am a caregiver for someone who lives with me, it’s a little easier. I do one of my favorite things, which is to curl up on the sofa with a snack and watch PBS Masterpiece.
This week was the debut of “Miss Austen,” an adaptation of Gill Hornby’s novel about Cassandra Austen, and her quest to protect her late sister Jane Austen’s privacy and legacy. I’d read the book when it came out and enjoyed it. But this production, I thought, was exceptional. The actors conveyed a rich emotional landscape of love and loss, and the strife of some family relationships, especially between sisters Cassandra and Jane. I was up until one in the morning streaming it on PBS Passport. As so many of Masterpiece’s productions have over the last 50 years, it left me with a better understanding and empathy of what it truly is to love and be human.
Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
Then it hit me. People are trying to make this go away. They have tried before and never succeeded. But this time, it seems more possible, more pressing.
I sat and sobbed.
It is no exaggeration that the prospect of losing Public Television feels like having a part of myself cut with a hacksaw. I grew up on Public Television. I can directly attribute “Masterpiece” for making me want to read canonical literature, which led me on my life path as a writer and a literature instructor. It has also given me a love and a knowledge of all types of history. It turned me into a lifelong learner. There is nothing else like it in the garbagy-miss-mash of reality shows and not-funny comedies, and endless talking heads and commercials. Their productions are life-affirming, and every time you finish watching something on PBS, you have grown a little more; you are altered in some way for the better.
So I started thinking about so many of the PBS shows, and my remembrances of them. I have seen so many of them that there is no way I could list them all here. So I’ll give you the highlights of my most memorable.
The Six Wives of Henry VIII: I was 11 years old. It was a hot Southern California summer, and reading under the fruitless Mulberry trees was the best way to get cool. Our public library had a series of books about our first ladies for young readers. I read about Martha Washington, Abigail Adams, and Dolly Madison. With those books, my love of history began. One evening, sitting in my room in front of the 13-inch black and white TV I received for a Christmas gift, I saw a show with the actors dressed in costumes that I didn’t know were Elizabethan. But I was intrigued by the plight of these young women, their fates hanging on the whims of a powerful man. Years later, I was able to watch the show in color, enjoying the opulence of the sets and the costumes. But from that day in front of my little TV in my pink bean bag chair, I was an Anglophile. It’s been a lifelong passion.
All the Dickens: My first exposure to Dickens was from my 8th-grade English teacher when she had us read “Great Expectations.” After reading the book, I watched it on PBS, and later other productions. I think my favorite is “David Cooperfield,” but I think I’ve seen and loved them all. I think seeing these productions is a great way to introduce them to students who may be skittish about picking up a heavy novel from nearly two centuries ago.
The Scarlet Letter: I was a 19-year-old college student when I first saw this production. I had not read the book at the time. Much like watching The Six Wives of Henry VIII, I felt shocked at what a woman must endure, while a man could go about his life unscathed.. Meg Foster’s Hester conveyed a goodness in her character that showed she did not deserve her fate. John Heard was great as Dimmesdale, a decent man acting badly, and Kevin Conway was creepy as hell as Roger Chillingsworth. Out of the two other productions of the novel, one done in the 1930s and the Demi Moore version from 1995, this adaptation stays truest to Hawthorne’s theme and intent. Still watch it today.
Ken Burn’s The Civil War: At that time in 1990, I was not the least bit interested in anything having to do with war. I grew up with Vietnam on TV, and my father was incessantly watching documentaries on World War II and the Korean War. So I was a bit burnt out on war productions. But everyone said this production by this documentary filmmaker Ken Burns was exceptional, and they were spot on. My husband and I watched every night, absolutely hooked. Burns made war about more than death and fighting. He gave it a human touch. Letters and photos of those who lost loved ones, and the life stories of ordinary people on both sides were touching and real. I think now, 35 years later, I have seen every Ken Burn’s documentary, even the ones I thought would never interest me. Burns puts empathy and compassion to his stories that no one else does. I’ll keep watching, if I can.
Pride and Prejudice: Of all the Jane Austen productions, this one is the most famous, partly because of Colin Firth’s wet shirt. But it was the first one I’d ever seen, and it got me to take a serious look at Austen and her novels. A few years later, (by then I was a die-hard Austen fan) in 2008, PBS showed an entire series of Austen adaptations, including “Sense and Sensibility,” “Mansfield Park,” and “Persuasion.” These titles had all been made by Hollywood by the mid-2000s, but I like the PBS versions more. They seemed to have more of a trueness and authenticity to Austen without the Hollywood taint.
Liberty! The American Revolution (1997): I remember being really excited about this production. A New Englander by birth, who had family members who fought in both the French and Indian Wars and the Revolution, this was my family story. (My mother was born in the same Connecticut town as Nathan Hale.) I loved everything about this show, the music of James Taylor and Mark O’Connor, and all the actors who truly brought people like John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin to life. I credit this production as one of the things that inspired me to write American Historical Fiction.
Middlemarch, The Mill on the Floss, and all things George Eliot.: Some say “Middlemarch,” is the greatest Victorian novel ever written. I don’t know if I would go that far, but it sparked my interest in Eliot. Her characters are richly rendered, and I’ve seen all the PBS presentations of her novels and I’m inspired to keep reading.
Poldark (the second one): I’d never heard of Winston Graham before I watched Poldark, but I fell in love with the stories and the characters immediately, and wanted to read the books. I couldn’t wait for Sunday night for those four wonderful seasons. Since then, I have read all 12 novels. I would venture to say now they are among my favorite books. Following Ross and Demelza through their lives, their pains and pleasures, their mistakes, and the triumphs not only makes the human characters vivid, but Cornwall itself is the most important character that influences every part of their existence. I would love to visit it someday.
Rick Steve’s Europe: I never thought I would ever be interested in seeing Spain or Portugal, Southern Italy, or Eastern Europe. Watching Rick Steve’s travels not only sparked my interest in these places, but he makes the idea of travel easy and accessible with his “you can do it “ attitude. I brought some of the guidebooks just to plan these dream trips. Will I get there? I hope so.
Downton Abbey: Probably among PBS’s biggest successes. The greatest thing about the show for me was sharing it with my husband, who is basically a sci-fi/horror type of guy. There was nothing about Downton Abbey that I didn’t like, but I must admit, like so many, Maggie Smith was my favorite with her sharp tongue and snide comments. Downton Abbey rose you up, broke your heart, made you laugh, and brought you beauty. The scene where Matthew asks Lady Mary to marry him as the snow falls is one of the most romantic scenes ever on television.
I could go on and on about the benefits of PBS. American Masters, All the Creatures Great and Small, Marie Antoinette, Wolf Hall, World on Fire, the list is endless. How can we keep this jewel in our lives? Yes, we can write and call our congressmen and protest, but I wonder what that will change. People in congress these days vote the way they want, the public be damned. We may be on our own, keeping this alive, which means more private funding and donations from “People Like Us.” Will that be enough? I hope to hell it is. I was a grandmother for the first time last week, and I want my granddaughter to be watching Public Television long after I’m gone.
What are your favorite PBS productions? I’d love to share. Thanks for listening and supporting Public Broadcasting in all its forms.
Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
April 16, 2025
The true rights of us all: Tyranny against free blacks in "To Ravage And Carnally Know
The true rights of us all: Tyranny against free blacks in "To Ravage and Carnally Know."
Between History And Fiction
Apr 16, 2025
With so many of us focused on the fate of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, the young Maryland man who was mistakenly sent to an El Salvadoran prison, I found myself thinking about the rights dictated by the U.S. Constitution that we as Americans have taken for granted and assumed we would pass on to our children and grandchildren. (The grandparent part has been particularly pertinent to me these days with the birth of my first grandchildren just weeks away.)
But if we are honest about our history, (which doesn’t seem to be in fashion with certain people these days, but to hell with them) we know these rights that were supposed to apply to all did and do not. Over our 250-year history, people have figured out creative ways to justify withholding those rights from certain people. I don’t need to list them; we all know who they are.
Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
When reading The New York Times this morning, I stumbled across Jamelle Bouie’s article called “America, This Is an Old and Brutal Tyranny,” which talks about Mr. Garcia being robbed of his due process rights, which Mr. Bouie then connects to the lack of rights for Free Blacks in the antebellum United States, and how many were stolen back into slavery. The most well-known story is that of Solomon Northrup. His book “12 Years a Slave,” chronicles how he, a free black man, was seized, drugged, and sent back to Louisiana where he labored as a slave for a decade before being able to procure his freedom.
This got me thinking about one of my books. “To Ravage And Carnally Know,” is a novel about women during the Revolutionary War. My protagonist, Sarah Carrington, was always supportive of freedom for slaves, and in the story, becomes acquainted with a free black family that is anything but free. It is thought that the revocation of rights for free blacks was only in the American South, but this is a myth. Connecticut, where this book is set, was notorious for taking away the rights of free blacks. The state, which had the distinction of having the most slaves in the North, had tight control over their free blacks. Some towns, such as New London, where my story is set, could remove free blacks from the town even though they had done nothing wrong. They were forbidden to buy land or go into business. Many times, even if freed by their enslavers, they became the responsibility of another white family, and that family could be held liable for their bad behavior if they “stepped out of line.”
In “To Ravage and Carnally Know,” a family moves back to England to escape the war and leaves behind the slave family they owned, which they set free. However, since the town will not let them live independently, they are left under the supervision of the town minister, who gives them land, but only to farm under his tutelage and control. This makes them essentially still slaves, even though their owner gave them their freedom. This leads to Sarah’s intervention, which leads to misinterpretation and ultimately violence. Sarah tries to save the abused wife of the angry free man, but cannot prevent her from being kidnapped and taken to the Carolinas to a cotton plantation. (I’ll let you read the book to find out what happens to Tillie, the slave. Hint: happy ending for her.)
But what is the connection between Mr. Garcia and free blacks? As Jamelle Bouie wrote “The question of who has rights, and of whose rights are to be respected,” is what is tantamount here. The Constitution is clear that all have these unalienable rights. But our history suggests otherwise. It’s time to transcend this and stop cherry-picking who does and who doesn’t. In the past, rights have been withheld from groups such as blacks, Hispanics, and Asians. Now, it is currently fashionable to discriminate against transexuals and immigrants. Who will it be in the future? We seem to think we can decide who is worthy of humanity and empathy, and who isn’t. And none of us should want to be part of a cruel legacy that decides.
It is my hope, that by the time my granddaughter is an adult, we will have figured this out, and she will never have to fear being dragged off the street and imprisoned like Mr. Garcia was, or any other American, without their rights being respected and preserved, no matter who they are. Let’s give all our future children the gift of human rights, and let freedom reign.
Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
Discussion about this post
Write a comment...
Between History And Fiction
Apr 16, 2025
With so many of us focused on the fate of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, the young Maryland man who was mistakenly sent to an El Salvadoran prison, I found myself thinking about the rights dictated by the U.S. Constitution that we as Americans have taken for granted and assumed we would pass on to our children and grandchildren. (The grandparent part has been particularly pertinent to me these days with the birth of my first grandchildren just weeks away.)
But if we are honest about our history, (which doesn’t seem to be in fashion with certain people these days, but to hell with them) we know these rights that were supposed to apply to all did and do not. Over our 250-year history, people have figured out creative ways to justify withholding those rights from certain people. I don’t need to list them; we all know who they are.
Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
When reading The New York Times this morning, I stumbled across Jamelle Bouie’s article called “America, This Is an Old and Brutal Tyranny,” which talks about Mr. Garcia being robbed of his due process rights, which Mr. Bouie then connects to the lack of rights for Free Blacks in the antebellum United States, and how many were stolen back into slavery. The most well-known story is that of Solomon Northrup. His book “12 Years a Slave,” chronicles how he, a free black man, was seized, drugged, and sent back to Louisiana where he labored as a slave for a decade before being able to procure his freedom.
This got me thinking about one of my books. “To Ravage And Carnally Know,” is a novel about women during the Revolutionary War. My protagonist, Sarah Carrington, was always supportive of freedom for slaves, and in the story, becomes acquainted with a free black family that is anything but free. It is thought that the revocation of rights for free blacks was only in the American South, but this is a myth. Connecticut, where this book is set, was notorious for taking away the rights of free blacks. The state, which had the distinction of having the most slaves in the North, had tight control over their free blacks. Some towns, such as New London, where my story is set, could remove free blacks from the town even though they had done nothing wrong. They were forbidden to buy land or go into business. Many times, even if freed by their enslavers, they became the responsibility of another white family, and that family could be held liable for their bad behavior if they “stepped out of line.”
In “To Ravage and Carnally Know,” a family moves back to England to escape the war and leaves behind the slave family they owned, which they set free. However, since the town will not let them live independently, they are left under the supervision of the town minister, who gives them land, but only to farm under his tutelage and control. This makes them essentially still slaves, even though their owner gave them their freedom. This leads to Sarah’s intervention, which leads to misinterpretation and ultimately violence. Sarah tries to save the abused wife of the angry free man, but cannot prevent her from being kidnapped and taken to the Carolinas to a cotton plantation. (I’ll let you read the book to find out what happens to Tillie, the slave. Hint: happy ending for her.)
But what is the connection between Mr. Garcia and free blacks? As Jamelle Bouie wrote “The question of who has rights, and of whose rights are to be respected,” is what is tantamount here. The Constitution is clear that all have these unalienable rights. But our history suggests otherwise. It’s time to transcend this and stop cherry-picking who does and who doesn’t. In the past, rights have been withheld from groups such as blacks, Hispanics, and Asians. Now, it is currently fashionable to discriminate against transexuals and immigrants. Who will it be in the future? We seem to think we can decide who is worthy of humanity and empathy, and who isn’t. And none of us should want to be part of a cruel legacy that decides.
It is my hope, that by the time my granddaughter is an adult, we will have figured this out, and she will never have to fear being dragged off the street and imprisoned like Mr. Garcia was, or any other American, without their rights being respected and preserved, no matter who they are. Let’s give all our future children the gift of human rights, and let freedom reign.
Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
Discussion about this post
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