41 “Jim taught us many things” “Henson Memorial: Thousands Celebrate Muppet Creator’s Life in Upbeat, Happy Way He Requested,” Newsday, May 22, 1990.
42 “the generosity of [Jim’s] time” See video of Oz’s eulogy at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zguccnOjnOI.
43 “Somehow” Spinney, 138.
44 “Thank you, Kermit” Spinney’s remarkable performance can be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrZyMptC2eQ.
45 “Jim told me” Brillstein, 338–39.
46 “I know I couldn’t sing” Fran Brill interview.
47 “we all marched out of the cathedral smiling” Spinney, 138.
48 “an epic and almost unbearably moving event” Harrigan, “It’s Not Easy Being Blue.”
49 “When Jim left the planet” Being Green, 168–69.
50 “Creator, Producer” See Jim’s death certificate.
51 “See those hills over there?” John Henson interview.
52 “I try to tune myself in” JH, “The Courage of My Convictions.”
53 “we hiked up onto somebody’s personal property” LH interview.
54 “This is it” John Henson interview.
55 “First of all” JH to Lisa, Cheryl, Brian, John, and Heather Henson, March 2, 1986 (Henson Family Properties).
EPILOGUE: LEGACY
1 “gonna make this deal go through” BB, archival interview.
2 “death and taxes,” “It finally became a situation” Peter Schube interview.
3 “Believe me” Brillstein, 333.
4 “harder and harder” Dan Ackman, “The Muppets Come Home,” Wall Street Journal, May 13, 2003.
5 “natural home” Alice Daniel, “The Muppet Family Business,” Success, 2011.
6 “We are honored” Peter Grant and Bruce Orwell, “Leading the News: Disney Buys Henson Muppets; Comcast Continues Its Pursuit,” Wall Street Journal, February 18, 2004.
7 “Jim inspired people” Brillstein, 338–39.
8 “In this industry” Anthony Minghella, archival interview.
9 “I see Jim’s life” Being Green, 33.
10 “Jim had a sense of humor” Ibid., 38.
11 “he could integrate play” Ibid., 130.
12 “Even today, many, many years later” Fran Brill interview.
13 “He was a creatively restless individual” Daniel, “The Muppet Family Business.”
14 “That’s probably what he taught me” BH interview.
15 “Jim didn’t think in terms of boundaries” Being Green, 151.
16 “I often tell people” Bonnie Erickson interview.
17 “so overpowering” Anthony Minghella, archival interview.
18 “an extraordinary appreciator” FO, remarks at the Jim Henson London Memorial, 1990 (Being Green, 138).
19 “Underneath the zaniness” Being Green, 148.
20 “He often started” Alex Rockwell interview.
21 “I know that it’s easier” Being Green, 161.
22 “He wasn’t a saint” Richard Hunt, archival interview.
23 “That’s how I think of my dad” CH interview.
24 “We all have jobs” Richard Hunt, archival interview.
25 “When I was young” JH, “The Courage of My Convictions.”
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bacon, Matt. No Strings Attached: The Inside Story of Jim Henson’s Creature Shop. New York: Macmillan, 1997.
Bailey, Joseph A. Memoirs of a Muppets Writer (You Mean Somebody Actually Writes That Stuff?). New York: Walnut, 2011.
Batchelder, Marjorie. The Puppet Theatre Handbook. New York: Harper & Row, 1947.
Borgenicht, David. Sesame Street Unpaved. New York: Hyperion, 2008.
Brillstein, Bernie, with David Rensin. Where Did I Go Right? You’re No One in Hollywood Unless Someone Wants You Dead. Beverly Hills: Phoenix, 1999.
Chester, Lewis. All My Shows Are Great: The Life of Lew Grade. London: Aurum, 2010.
Damron, Andra, and the Hyattsville Preservation Society. Hyattsville. Mount Pleasant, SC: Arcadia, 2008.
Davis, Michael. Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street. New York: Viking, 2008.
Dean, Jimmy, and Donna Meade Dean. Thirty Years of Sausage, Fifty Years of Ham: Jimmy Dean’s Own Story. New York: Berkley, 2006.
Durrett, Deanne. Inventors and Creators: Jim Henson. San Diego: Kidhaven, 2002.
Eide, Paul, Alan Cook, and Steve Abrams, eds. A Timeline of Puppetry in America. Minneapolis: Puppeteers of America, 2003.
Eisner, Michael. Work in Progress. New York: Hyperion, 1999.
Falk, Karen. Imagination Illustrated: The Jim Henson Journal. San Francisco: Chronicle, 2012.
Finch, Christopher. Jim Henson: The Works, the Art, the Magic, the Imagination. New York: Random House, 1993.
———. The Making of The Dark Crystal: Creating a Unique Film. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1983.
———. Of Muppets and Men: The Making of The Muppet Show. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1981.
Fischer, Stuart. Kids’ TV: The First 25 Years. New York: Facts on File Publications, 1983.
Froud, Brian. The Goblins of Labyrinth. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2006.
———. The World of The Dark Crystal. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1982.
Gikow, Louise. Sesame Street: A Celebration of 40 Years of Life on the Street. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal, 2009.
Gourse, Leslie. Jim Henson: Young Puppeteer. New York: Aladdin, 2000.
Henson Associates. The Art of the Muppets. New York: Bantam, 1980.
Henson, Jim, and the Muppets and Friends. It’s Not Easy Being Green (And Other Things to Consider). Edited by Cheryl Henson. New York: Hyperion, 2005.
Hill, Doug, and Jeff Weingrad. Saturday Night: A Backstage History of Saturday Night Live. New York: William Morrow, 1989.
Hollis, T. M. Hi There, Boys and Girls! America’s Local Children’s Television Programs. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2001.
Holub, Joan. Who Was Jim Henson? New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 2010.
Inches, Alison. Jim Henson’s Designs and Doodles: A Muppet Sketchbook. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2001.
Lewis, Jim. Jim Henson’s Doodle Dreams. Des Moines: Meredith, 2008.
Masters, Kim. The Keys to the Kingdom: How Michael Eisner Lost His Grip. New York: William Morrow, 2000.
Obraztsov, Sergei. My Profession. Translated by Ralph Parker and Valentina Scott. Moscow: Foreign Languages Publishing House, circa 1950.
Rinzler, J. W. The Making of The Empire Strikes Back. New York: Ballantine, 2010.
Settel, Irving. A Pictorial History of Television. New York: Frederick Ungar, 1983.
Shales, Tom, and James Andrew Miller. Live from New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live. New York: Little, Brown, 2002.
Spinney, Caroll. The Wisdom of Big Bird (and the Dark Genius of Oscar the Grouch): Lessons from a Life in Feathers. New York: Villard, 2003.
St. Pierre, Stephanie. The Story of Jim Henson, Creator of the Muppets. New York: Dell, 1991.
Stewart, James B. Disneywar. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005.
PHOTOGRAPH CREDITS
Title page: © Bill Pierce. Kermit the Frog © Disney.
prl.1: Bernard Gotfryd/Premium Archive/Getty Images. Kermit the Frog © Disney.
1.1: Courtesy of Henson Family Properties.
2.1: Courtesy of Henson Family Properties. Muppets © Disney.
3.1: Courtesy of The Jim Henson Company. Muppets © Disney. Photo: Del Ankers.
4.1: Courtesy of The Jim Henson Company. Muppets © Disney. Photo: Del Ankers.
5.1: Courtesy of The Jim Henson Company. Muppets © Disney. Photo: Del Ankers.
6.1: Courtesy of Sesame Workshop.
7.1: Courtesy of The Jim Henson Company. Muppets © Disney.
8.1: Courtesy of The Jim Henson Company.
9.1: Courtesy of The Jim Henson Company. Muppets © Disney.
10.1: Courtesy of The Jim Henson Comp
any. Muppets © Disney.
11.1: Courtesy of The Jim Henson Company. Photo: Murray Close.
12.1: Courtesy of The Jim Henson Company.
13.1: Courtesy of The Jim Henson Company.
14.1: Courtesy of The Jim Henson Company. Kermit the Frog © Disney.
15.1: Courtesy of The Jim Henson Company.
16.1: Courtesy of The Jim Henson Company. Photo: Lynn Goldsmith.
epl.1: Courtesy of The Jim Henson Company. Photo: Kerry Hayes.
BY BRIAN JAY JONES
Washington Irving: An American Original
Jim Henson: The Biography
PHOTO: STEPHANIE HITCHCOCK
BRIAN JAY JONES is an award-winning biographer and vice president of Biographers International Organization. Jones is a devoted member of the Jim Henson generation, having been two years old when Sesame Street premiered in 1969 and nine when The Muppet Show debuted in 1976. A former policy analyst and advisor in the U.S. Senate, Jones abandoned politics for the pen in 2008, with the publication of his award-winning biography, Washington Irving. He lives with his wife and daughter in Damascus, Maryland. His favorite Muppet is Rowlf (thanks for asking).
Jim Henson: The Biography Page 68
