British documentary filmmaker, author to speak Oct. 19 at Kimball Public Library

British documentary film maker and author Tim Slessor will be in Kimball on Sunday, Oct. 19, to speak at the Kimball Public Library as part of Chadron State College's pilot Practitioner-in-Residence program. Doors will open to the public at 2 p.m. Tickets are not required.

After military service in Britain's Green Berets, Tim Slessor went "up" to Cambridge. Three years later, on graduation, he set out with five friends to drive overland from the English Channel to Singapore - in two work-provided Land Rovers. It was a journey which had been attempted several times before, but without success. Against the odds and after a journey of six months, Slessor and the team reached Singapore. The three documentaries they shot were shown on BBC, NBC and subsequently worldwide. Tim's book First Overland became a best-seller. More than 50 years later it has been republished. David Attenborough calls it a classic. Another critic called it, "The best travel book I've ever read."

In 1957, Tim Slessor joined the BBC as a trainee. Within a few years he was making films all over the world – in Australia, India, Africa, Europe, and, not least, in the US. It was his growing fascination with the American West that led him in 1965 to take a year's "time out"- to teach English (or, as he says, "to try") at Chadron State College.

On returning to the BBC, he worked on more documentaries across the world, including several in Alistair Cooke's "America" series. For these and other programs he received a Peabody Award and a citation from the Western Heritage Center in Oklahoma City - something of which he says, "I am enormously proud." In time, he became the Deputy Head of BBC's General Documentaries Department. But in 1990, tired of sending other people on the interesting assignments, Tim turned to freelance work - writing for various magazines and directing/producing for Channel Four, NBC and the National Geographic. Even more recently he has written a book, More Than Cowboys. He hopes it might be seen as his homage to the West and to its people.

Slessor's presentation is titled "Immigrants." He will begin by discussing his fascination with the American West and examining some of the points where the UK and the US have their similarities, and their differences. He will then share stories of westward settlement, particularly, and not too surprisingly, where those tales concern immigrants from Britain.

Nebraskans do not have to look hard to see where the Brits may have had an early presence: Oxford, Cambridge, Crawford, Norfolk, Bridgeport, Exeter, Litchfield, Lancaster, Wakefield, Walton and at least a dozen more. The same is true in Wyoming and Montana. But perhaps more interesting are the stories of some individual immigrants – especially the well-to-do second sons of England's landed gentry. What, for example, brought the Queen to spend a week on a horse-ranch in the shadow of Wyoming's Big Horn Mountains? Who in the 1920's, after his father - the Earl of Portsmouth - and then his elder brother died, uniquely had a seat in the Wyoming Legislature and in the House of Lords?

Of course, there is much more to it than that – as Tim tells in this presentation and in his book, More than Cowboys. Question and Answer time will follow as well as book signing.

"We are very excited to have Mr. Slessor speak here in Kimball. Many of our residents are interested in history and genealogy and are looking forward to hearing his presentation on immigrants," said Jamie Carpenter of the Kimball Public Library.

"Our ability to attract celebrities, such as Mr. Slessor, speaks to the reputation of the Center and the College's commitment to the history of the region," said Sarah Polak, Director of the Mari Sandoz High Plains Heritage Center.