Gulf Coast Journal with Jack Perkins; 106; Pianist Lillette Jenkins-Wisner, the Gemesis Corporation, Photographer Steven Katzman, Special Olympics of Sarasota County

Is. A special presentation of W edu Tampa-St. Petersburg Sarasota. A dynamic little lady who we think you'll agree deserves her title queen of the kids. Has the age old puzzle of how to create diamonds finally been solved here on the Gulf Coast. The body or mind may have limits to regain the spirit. Ken shore. Now. The photographer who does have to go to mountains for inspiration he finds it right in the neighborhood. In this month's volume of a Gulf Coast Journal. This w edu production is exclusively brought to you through a generous grant from the Gulf Coast Community Foundation of Venice envisioning a region known for

endowed philanthropy a vital non-profit community and the ability to address emerging issues. Dear Journal. One of the privileges of doing this program is to meet people are such abounding joy and transcending talent that you marvel that they are here on the Gulf Coast but they are. And she. Is. She is billed as the queen of the keys. And with good reason. When left Jenkins Weisner get her hands on a piano she takes

listeners on a musical roller coaster ride. Under her spell the piano displays multiple personalities changing from classical. Jazz. Gospel. It's her own melodic concoction called classical hymns. All I do was many of them do it a Rhapsody in Blue and great just like baseball. I do it with clarity a little. It is well with my soul. Of feel like that. OK. No there isn't much little that hasn't seen or done during her 65 year career. She's entertained U.S. troops back in World War Two played vaudeville with legendary

performers like Sophie Chalk. Jammed with some of America's jazz greats. When songs were introduced two years ago. Everybody knew the song they could sing. Words and melodies right. No one did it by myself. Hard to believe this queen came from humble beginnings growing up in an apartment in Harlem with eight brothers and sisters and no piano left memory chest. Oh oh. When did you first play the piano. I would think it was around. I was about five. What have I heard. I. Could for some reason I could play it. I could find only two a neighbor upstairs had a piano and let her play as often as she liked. She used to love to hear me entertaining her because I could play all the little songs that I heard on radio. So she said to my mother you know one day she says you. Can give.

Music lessons because he's very talented. I would let her have my piano. And she gave it to me. And that was the first piano I had to start studying. Piano opened up a whole new world for soul that she learned classical music then come Sunday at church she played Gospels and hymns. Then I started playing for the choir and I studied organ and I came to organise. And the seed was planted for what would later become her trademark sound. Don't get to be the 1940s ushered in World War II and gave me a letter big career break. She traveled the globe with the USO tours and began to reshape her musical style. That was when I decided I wouldn't play popular music.

In jazz as we call it. So when my time on my tours around the world entertaining military that's what I do play the balance in the songs that they all could use to hear the orchestras play. Touring in 1943. She made her first stop in Sarasota. The town she visited then was much different from the one she calls home now. Well it was. One of those strange times I was here playing the Air Force Base. The USO tours had shielded her from segregation. So it came as a shock to be told by a bus driver she had to get off because she refused to sit in the back. And when I was getting all these says you know we have a 9 o'clock curfew for you folks in this town and if you don't know if you're not off the street I find that tree is yours. Her memory of that is still as vivid as if it had happened yesterday but it never made her better.

That's the way life goes. That's not going to stop me from doing what I'm doing because I want to get it done. Her career blossomed after the war she played jazz festivals around the world performed in several off-Broadway hits and shared the spotlight with many well-known entertainer. Return to Sarasota in the 1980s. Today she shares a home with a grand piano to keyboards and her husband Helberg wives who just decide that this might be a nice place to retire and not to have the to retreat to less because I'm not retiring. I told and I am working on my environment. I am not retired. Not your average 80 year old by any means. Use. The whole thing paid for that feed going rogue on

TV. She still does concerts and charity events and in her spare time volunteers at retirement centers taking eager participants down memory lane. You could hear. The music. Of just. Leaving. The. Lyrics are beautiful. What do you want to do that you've never done. What did I miss. Regardless of audience or venue size limits performances or saucy sophisticated fun. May I say more. The queen of the.

We usually think of beaches like this as being the gems of Sarasota. Well. Let's rethink because these days Sarasota is making some new jams. Kids may be quite continental but diamonds. In. Spades for. Diamonds. Marilyn sang about them those reckless celebrity TV shows informed us that someone named J-Lo preferred as radiantly pink. Liz Taylor always had more diamonds than husbands from Hollywood lead to the girl next door's engagement. Diamonds are always in style. And now there's an insatiable appetite for a different kind of stone. They're called fancy colored diamonds all with exceptional clarity

that ranges from slightly included to internally flawless. But you don't have to rely on Mother Earth to create this new generation of diamond. We grow what are considered to be the most desirable yellows colors called Fancy intense yellow to fancy vivid orange and these are some of the most popular and rare colors. You'd never know it from the outside but it's here inside Sarasota. Nemesis corporation that this new breed of GM is being conceived cultivated and born. It all began in the most Star-Crossed way with a man whose life revolved around fighting for freedom not trendsetting an army man who fought in Korea and Vietnam. Retired General Carter Clark did not set out to launch a full assault on the diamond industry. It was on a trip to post cold war Russia. The general as he is referred to by his

employees Jemas just. Struck gold or more accurately diamonds. He was approached in a hotel and Russian gentleman recognized him as an American and asked him if he wanted to if he wanted to make diamonds and what came into Carter's head was going to be somewhere in Siberia at Chip and chipping away at these things and that was how we were making diamonds. But lo and behold he met with the gentlemen the next day and he rolled out some blueprints and told them this is this is a machine to make diamonds. Thanks to that chance meeting in Russia the spotlight is shining on Sarasota as the future of the diamond industry is being written right here in our own backyard. What a showcase to have your diamond mine if you will. In Florida. It's here inside this so-called indoor diamond mine that workers grow and harvest. This new breed of diamonds.

Are diamonds and diamond from the earth are exactly the same. The machines mimic the geologic conditions that form diamonds. Starting with a tiny diamond seed the gem quality crystals are grown by creating the perfect environment for common carbon to rearrange its molecules. The end result of three carat rough diamond that is almost flawless and all it takes is four days. It's a very complicated process. Each Crystal we grow is very unique. And allows us to cut a diamond out of that crystal which you can compare to one from the earth. Next it's onto a lab where the final touches are applied. Then after they are polished and shined the fancy colored diamonds make the trip to Main Street and the only place in Sarasota you can find the finished product. Trode jewelers. I started reading about them in the different trade journals and it just so happened that I was quite intrigued with them and being grown

in Sarasota. My back door. My wife and I went out to Genesis. They laid all these beautiful stones out on the table and I started going through them and looking and they were just phenomenal. And the price. Well that's where the Jemas is cultured diamonds really shine. They cost about $3000 per carat much less than the natural yellow diamonds. But since Diamonds are often bought with the heart not the head. This thing the question remains will these lab created gems generate a loyal following. And as the company gains international attention Gemma is betting they will become a marquee player in the diamond. If all the movie stars out in Hollywood with all the fancy yellows and the fancy pinks and the blues and the purple dyeing of that that's going to make a very large impact on Jim Clark. So if the sparkling cultured gems do become the crown jewels

of the fancy colored diamond market Sarasota to find itself at the core of a multifaceted revolution. SEE down to. Sure. These rocks don't lose. That's. Where does an artist say a photographer get his inspiration. Ansel Adams of course Yosemite the great Clyde butcher the Everglades. Steven Katzman often the local barber shop. In New Town Steven Katzman is scheduled to shoot a portrait of a pastor on this rainy day. The minister has work to do. The church organist has relapsed into addiction and needs help.

You believe that these things can happen and you believe that God can heal you from your 30s. Well this is not a typical portrait I mean this is. Astor's on revival happening. In house. I'm not setting up the strawbs. I'm. Putting the camera. Flash together and we're just going to keep. Following the action. Spirit. Even Cashman is an artist who captures life with his camera. Not know your polls and that too much. Right now he's concentrating on people here in Sarasota. Just kind of leaning up against a wall like that Stephen seeks out the people and stories that make up the historically African-American community known as Newtown. You are the dean of a girl. Out this way is not just looking for the movers and shakers right.

To find regular everyday men women and children who call this place home. Once I take a portrait and give it to this family everyone else this. Project will. See it will be aware of who I am. And will definitely. Not not be apprehensive when I come by and ask if I can take her portrait. What do you think. It's all about the dialogue and the communication all about the trust Stephen sees his art as a chance to connect with other people and to let the viewer of the outsider have a deep look inside the subject's life. OK look just don't move. Are the little girls. There was a look at this environment. Such a sense of beauty here. Is totally ignored unless you start to scratch the surface.

You're not aware of it. Although it's an unlikely place for an art gallery. Jetson's barber shop gives Steven's work lots of exposure as. He displays portraits here because it's a hub. This is just your typical unisex salon. This is where the community comes together and. Discuss various issues expands beyond the philosophy of the universe. Today Stephen is turning the camera on the barbers. Look. Although it may take several days to finish the portrait Stephen can instantly give onlookers a upbeat message. First up I'm going room first of all you. Can say. That this. Is. A. Very thoughtful calls a. Kind of professional community. Itself. I like the way you said I want to first

think about. Some of Steve's early work is lighthearted. But his career has progressed. He's often focused on subjects like death. And prison inmates. Everything that I photograph. Regardless of what. There is a conflict that I am experiencing. Whether it's a question that's. Unanswered. Or whether there are personal issues. I'm having problems. Answering. And so it's through my work that I hope to gain the answers Stephen's professional journey has become more personal since he began documenting religious revivals the power of what he was witnessing transformed him. One day I made a tent revival the minister and he's looking

right down at me and he says Do you believe in that. I said yes I do. I became a person who has a very close relationship with God because of this project. Behind every photo is a unique life story. Stephen uncover is shooting this portrait of a pastor struggling to save body and soul has a profound effect on Stephen in the name of the song and of the Holy Ghost. As he studies the people of Newtown. He learns about them. Yes but he also learned some important truths about himself. We owe you one more portrait. When you're out for a step. When you're back up there on the pulpit with the Forgan deal. Gay. God bless you.

There is a place where laughter cries or tears rejoice where winners win and there are no losers. A special place this is in the hearts of some special people. Let me introduce you to Rob Rankin. Rob helps coordinate special Olympics programs for more than 500 athletes in Sarasota County. He gets the. Special Olympics is about a celebration it's about a celebration of skills life skills. It's a celebration about life because every day is precious to people with special needs and when they get together and when they get with people in the community you find out how wonderful it is.

One example of this celebration is an event known as sports day held on the grounds of the gene whip's center for special athletes in Venice. It's kind of an open house with an athletic theme. OK. Rob Rankin plays a part in every aspect of Special Olympics encouraging from the sidelines coaching athletes on the field and a bit of comic relief from the pitcher's mound. Rob's connection with Special Olympics has. A person. Do. You get two good hits. I saw you red cross home plate. My wife's son moved in with us about 10 years ago and that's how I got involved in Special Olympics. I've loved sports all my life and then when Mark moved into my life it became my passion. When people when I found out he really wanted to play sports. And watching his desire to play sports and then get involved with trying to teach him and coach him and the other athletes it just

became part of my life and that was a way to groundlessly that my right to watch him in action it's hard to believe that his previous career had nothing to do with the work he plans to pursue for the rest of his life. I was in the trades if you will. Really love what I did. But the more I got involved with Special Olympics and the nonprofit aspect of non-profit corporations if you will and stuff and also working with individuals with special needs. The more I knew this was something I wanted to do. The program helps many special athletes like Christine Bryden and Roger Wright so helps them grow athletically and socially. Last year Roger was named Florida's special Olympics athlete of the year. They decided Roger Wright is the athlete of the year in the state of Florida. He is just good hearted easy to coach individual. I mean if you had 10 Rogers on any team and I mean high schools colleges and pro should look at this you have a winning team every

year regardless if you lost every game you still have a win tonight. My father is a volunteer coach. He values the sports and social events created for his son's benefit his whole life revolves around it because it gives him a chance to get out of this Prowse place for dancing. I mean everything. You guys work with school there would be no other way for him to be around his friends if he didn't have special olympics. Christine Bryden she's the goalie make the same exact same attributes on field and on top. Christie comes to the center every Tuesday and Thursday volunteers her time. And besides that she participates in soccer basketball softball bowling you name it you Christy can do it and she probably for one of our lady or woman athletes is a very very skilled athlete 300 volunteers and 75 coaches provide the foundation for all the noble work taking place in bed. Around. Here.

Perhaps the most valuable member of this group is Ray Edwards. He has been voted as volunteer or coach of the year five times in 10 years. Not too up yet. Every community had to read words. It would take probably the load off of. I don't know 20 volunteers. He picks up fights. He helps athletes that aren't even with our county when we go to State games. I mean if there is a go to guy it's Ray Edwards. So what you do. You say is probably 50 percent of these volunteers do not have. A family member in our program you got a they're doing this on their own time. They come out because they meet these athletes and they find out what wonderful people they are and they enjoy. Watching Rob Rankin interact with athletes on the field engage them between the games and get a sense that none of the issues really work for him at all. He's one of those lucky people who has discovered his purpose in life

and is pursuing it with passion. Of childish enthusiasm for playing games free to. Busy. With. Close now. And before we open the next volume of the Gulf Coast Journal we will all be observing a holiday which occasions this moment of poetry and photography which we call poet Todd graphy. No less a patriot is he. Who knows. We play a hollow game when. Independence. We proclaim. Independence. No. Not we. Each day on much we must depend.

On air that's clean water pure. Food. And love. Of doctors pure. And great. On Stranger. And. Fran. Independence. Deceptive. Cliche. Let us run the flags unfurled acknowledge our place in the natural world. And celebrate our dependence. I. Want to. Talk a lot. More.

OK. You can order this or any other volume of a Gulf Coast journal with Jack Perkins on a high quality DVD format for just 1999 plus shipping and handling. Call 1 800 3 5 4 9 3 3 8. Or visit our website at WQED. Or. This w E-D you. Production has been exclusively brought to you through a generous grant from the Gulf Coast Community Foundation of menis envisioning a region known for endowed philanthropy a vital non-profit community. And the ability to address emerging issues.