Sep 24, 2008 - 06:37:34 CDT
Art and Grace Link are beloved by many North Dakotans.Now, a North Dakota group has made an hour-length documentary film of Art Link's life that captures much of his character and the former governor's strong beliefs about conservation, developed at a time when the state's lignite coal, land and water resources were called upon to fuel gasification and power plants.
The film, "When the Landscape is Quiet Again," will premiere in Bismarck at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Belle Mehus Auditorium and in Fargo at 7 p.m. Monday at the Fargo Theatre. The premier showings are open to the public and free.
The title for the documentary comes from a speech then-governor Link gave on Oct. 11, 1973, that defined his position on energy development in the state. Link's words from that night are often quoted and continue to be cited by some as a wise environmental course for North Dakota. The voice of Garrison Keillor, reading those lines in the film, gives incredible resonance to Link's words, and then to hear Link himself, now 94, read the same text makes a powerful statement about the man and his philosophy.
Clay Jenkinson and Dave Swenson, both of Bismarck, working through the Dakota Institute, created the film.
"When the Landscape is Quiet Again" moves through the chronology of the Links' life, story by story, as told by the people who worked with them and knew them. It's a gallery, with rare exception, of Democrat-NPLfigures led by the state's two U.S. senators and longtime Link chief of staff Bob Valeu.
The stories about Link's late-night stops - returning to Bismarck after a political meeting somewhere else in the state - for truckstop pie and coffee, are endearing.
The film is rich in imagery, garnered from the Links' personal photo albums, footage from television archives and newly-captured views of the people and landscape of the North Dakota.
"I'm just so proud," said David Borlaug, president of the Lewis and Clark Fort Mandan Foundation, parent of the Dakota Institute. "And to think, this was done right here in Bismarck, North Dakota - that's great."
Link was a member of the North Dakota House of Representatives from 1946 to 1970, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1970 to 1972, and governor from 1973 to 1980.
It was in the 1970s that most of the state's existing coal-fired plants were constructed. And the Link administration pushed hard for strong strip mine reclamation laws.
The film captures much of the tenor of that time.
Jonny B wrote on Sep 24, 2008 3:06 PM:
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