08/2/2007
Michelle Gardner-Quinn’s Essay “This I Believe” Broadcast on NPR’s Weekend Edition, Live Earth Concerts, YouTube
(Washington, July 30) - - The elegant and forceful essay in which Michelle
Gardner-Quinn dedicated herself to “preventing the worldwide ecological
crisis” of climate change is to be aired on National Public Radio’s
Weekend Edition program on August 5. The essay, titled “This I Believe,”
was written last year by Gardner-Quinn when she was a student at the University
of Vermont.
The essay is to be read by Cecilia Danks, Professor of Environmental Studies at the Rubenstein School of the Environment at the University of Vermont. It was Professor Danks’ class assignment that prompted Michelle’s essay. Professor Danks also read Michelle’s essay at the Memorial Service at the University of Vermont.
The broadcast comes follows the airing of excerpts of the essay in a short film at the July 7 Live Earth concerts at Giant Stadium, London, Johannesburg, Rio de Janeiro, Shanghai, Tokyo, Sydney and Hamburg. The film features celebrities Goldie Hawn, Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, Sheryl Crowe, Kate Hudson, Meg Ryan, Emily Procter and Tipper Gore reading the essay, followed by the words of Michelle’s mother, Diane Gardner Quinn. Currently, the segment continues to circulate on the Internet via YouTube, where it has generated an enormous response: more than 19,000 people have visited the YouTube sites.
Kevin Wall, organizer of the Live 8 and Live Earth campaigns, and his
wife Susan Smalley were the driving forces behind the “This I Believe”
short film. Wall and Smalley were visiting their son, Tom, at the University
of Vermont’s October 2006 Parents Weekend when Gardner-Quinn disappeared.
On October 13, 2006, hikers found her body in a rural area. Her accused
killer, Brian L. Rooney, is currently awaiting trial on charges of aggravated
murder.
When Gardner-Quinn’s essay was first published in the Vermont Quarterly
magazine earlier this year, Smalley and Wall were so affected by it that
they decided to make a short film for the Live Earth Concert based on
the essay.
It was a decision that pleased Michelle’s mother, saying “Michelle
was very dedicated to being concerned about climate change and taking
action…This is what Michelle would have wanted. She would want to
get the message out about the importance of being concerned.”
Writer, director and producer Damon Cason made Michelle’s words the focus of the film. Cason says of the essay, “I found Michelle's words so incredibly poignant, direct, and personal. It wasn't: 'we need to do this, we need to do that.’ It was really much more what she thought she needed to do as a human being.”
After many emails, Cason first spoke with Diane Gardner Quinn and Michelle’s father, John Charles Quinn, by phone on the Friday before Mother’s Day. During the conversation, Cason suddenly realized that he was talking to a mother whose daughter would never be there for another Mother’s Day. He asked her to read the final paragraph of the script for the film. After a long and painful silence, John Charles answered, “You’ve just given Michelle’s mother the best Mother’s Day present possible… we will consider your request.” Eventually, the answer was yes.
Michelle’s vision of creating a sustainable environment and fighting climate change was shaped by a childhood exploring the wonders in her backyard. As a college student, she traveled to Costa Rica, Brazil and South Africa, always on missions to understand the environment more fully. “This I Believe” was informed by the joy of a child who loved exploring the miracle of life and the expanded awareness of a young adult who saw many parts of the world firsthand.
Yasmine Rassam, Michelle’s sister and one of the founders of Michelle’s Earth Foundation states that, “Michelle’s essay speaks for itself. She had direction, vision and a purpose in life. This film and the women who read her words brought the essay alive to countless numbers of people at Live Earth and now on YouTube. I hope the film inspires people to translate their credos into concrete action.”
“As a child, I found joy digging in the dirt, examining the miracle of life. Everything creepy-crawly was fascinating to me, and I spent countless hours in my backyard exploring what wonders lay beneath…such experiences in the natural world taught me about the diversity of life that could be found in any microcosm…within our lifetime, the ecological functioning of planet Earth will be forever altered. The reality of climate change is here and now; it is the environmental battle of our generation and generations to come. In honor of all life, I am dedicating myself to preventing this worldwide ecological crisis.” - Michelle Gardner-Quinn
For the complete “This I Believe” essay please see: http://www.michellesearthfound.org/