Sometimes Waiting is worth it!!

As the time nears for a vote that will determine the future of Concord’s Main Street, I find myself a bit fearful as to what the outcome could be.

If I am wrong and my fears, often noted in my blogs, are unjustified, I will be the first to apologize for doing a variation on “Chicken Little”. However, if indeed our downtown community suffers an incalculable loss as has happened numerous times in my lifetime, I won’t hesitate to say “I told you so”.

While I was but a grammar school student some 50 years ago when our beautiful railroad station was demolished, I felt a tremendous sense of loss. It defined Concord as surely as the State Capitol building does and it represented a defining piece of the city’s history.

In the years since I have heralded many of the changes to Concord even those that somehow failed to gel. This time, however, I feel there is a sense of rushing forward to meet deadlines when something of this magnitude needs a great deal more input and discussion.

Allan Herschlag and Rick Watrous have eloquently presented compelling and fact-based arguments on why the brakes need to be applied and time allowed, to weigh the pros and cons of the project as well as hearing from every interested member of the community. After all, we will all benefit from its success or have regrets about anything that is less than.

When I was a student at Bishop Brady High School more than 40 years ago, I was active in the school’s Drama Club.

During my sophomore year a fellow student told me, “Paul, there are the students who have the talent and ability to play the leads and then there are those who are destined to always be in the chorus. You’re one of those who will always be nothing more than chorus…..”

At 15 I took her words to heart and settled for chorus roles or working in a backstage capacity.

It wasn’t until 1984 and 1985 that I realized how wrong she had been in making that assumption and coloring my own determination. In less than 18 months I played the lead in “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”, “Peter Pan” and the drama, “The Shadow Box”.  It was well worth the wait to tackle roles that brought challenges and tremendous satisfaction.

In 1985 I began serious work on what would ultimately prove to be a number one best-selling book, “Was That a Name I Dropped?” when it was finally released in 2011. Had I not waited to complete it at the right time, it would not have sold tens of thousands of copies nor resulted in letters and e-mails from individuals all across the country that were moved or amused or enlightened by the 536 pages I had written.

During the past 18 months, several producers and directors have expressed an interest in dramatizing or adapting all or part of the book into a theatrical or television film.

My most adamant reason for turning down most of these offers was the plan to not film any of my story in Concord.

In so many ways the City of Concord plays a major role in my story. One Los Angeles critic described portions of the book as being a “veritable love affair with the City of Concord, NH”.

None of the planned locations that would substitute for Concord (including a city in the mid-west and a location in Vancouver), would ever be able to truly capture that indefinable magic that I have found for more than half a century in our town.  I didn’t care how much money was being discussed or how impressive the credentials of the interested parties were. The Concord I have known had to be prominently featured.

That stubborn refusal to rush headlong into something for the wrong reasons may finally have paid off. There is a Producer/Director who is willing to seriously discuss adapting my story and doing so within the parameters of what I insist be a part of the deal. That includes filming at least part of the story in Concord and in New Hampshire, and holding the world premiere in Concord. I should have my answer by early fall.

I think the City of Concord would do well to step back and take more time before changing the city’s landscape in such a radical manner. A Committee needs to be formed encompassing a real cross-section of Concord so that everyone who wants a voice has one and is heard.  Even if we miss out on the TIGER Grant deadline, there are other grants that can be crafted to suit the best interests of every individual.

Concord has always been inclusive. Let’s not change that now.