Long-time BBC documentary film director in residency at CSC

The program can also be seen at csc.edu/live

Slessor will explain his fascination with the Great Plains, pointing out some of the intriguing differences between the U.S. and the UK and addressing beliefs the countries hold in common, such as democracy, the rule of law and other fundamentals.

He will examine the following questions about the shared language of the two countries. Where did English come from? How has it changed and developed over the last thousand years? What are its quirks and idiosyncrasies, its strengths and its weaknesses? What are the differences between UK English and American English? Do they matter? How has our shared language become the world’s common language?

Slessor joined the BBC in 1957 as a trainee. For more than 30 years, he worked with the BBC making documentaries in Europe, Australia, India, Burma, Nepal, Pakistan, Borneo, West Africa, the UK, and at least a dozen in the U.S.

In 1963, Slessor directed and presented a five-part series about the American West, from the Kansas wheat fields to the Pine Ridge Reservation. It was during this assignment that Slessor says that he became totally beguiled by the West – by its geography and its people.

Indeed, so deep was that fascination that he quit the BBC to come and to teach for a year in the late 1960s at Chadron State College. He said that year with his wife and two small children was one of the happiest of his life.

He returned to the BBC and received a Peabody award for two programs he directed for the Alistair Cooke series, “America.”

Eventually, Slessor became a commissioning editor in charge of several teams working on investigative reports, travel programs, social affairs and a cookery series, among others. He ended his BBC career serving three years as the deputy head of the features documentary department.

In 1990, Slessor retired from full-time employment with the BBC. He entered the freelance world writing for various magazines and directing and producing for the BBC and the National Geographic. He spent a year researching and then writing an investigative book called, “Lying in State,” about deceit in government.

Some of his retirement travels, mixed with history, have resulted in his book, “More than Cowboys.”

Throughout October and early November, Slessor will speak to various community gatherings and school groups.

Slessor’s second Chadron State College presentation will be Nov. 13 in the Student Center at 7 p.m. He will discuss a trip he and five friends took following Slessor’s military service in the British equivalent of the U.S. Green Berets and his graduation from Cambridge University.

The six men set out in two fully equipped Land Rovers to try to drive overland from the English Channel to Singapore. No one had succeeded previously, though a number had tried. Against the odds, after six months and 16,000 miles, Slessor and his friends succeeded.

The BBC made three documentaries from the filmed material and Slessor wrote the expedition book “First Overland.”

With the wind of television behind it, the book became a best-seller. After 55 years and five editions, it has been re-published. In his foreword, Sir David Attenborough, former senior manager at the BBC, calls the book a classic.

Slessor’s final public presentation will be Wednesday, Nov. 19, in the Sandoz Center at 7 p.m. when he will share reflections about his residency in Chadron.

Slessor is hosted by the Mari Sandoz High Plains Heritage Center through a private donation to the Chadron State Foundation.

The Sandoz Center Residency Program is a collaboration between Chadron State College, The Chadron State Foundation, and private donors.

For more information, please contact Sarah Polak at 308-432-6066 or spolak@csc.edu.