But Nick was nonplussed and nonchalant. I have to admit, the The Daily Show and the Colbert Report are pretty much the only television I ever watch because they do such a good job of mocking the sheer existence of television. But I'm willing to bet that Parks and Rec is at least as good as people say it is after watching this interview.
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| Jon is enthralled with Nick's wordworking, while Nick is nonplussed about it. |
What is striking about Nick is that he views his acting and his carprentry as un-remarkable. And yeah, there's a stark contrast between Nick's craftsmanship and the worthless, endless supply of hipster handbags and artisanal Oreo's. Nick's work is good quality, and he is completely humble about it. For Nick, acting is just a job, ditto for his homemade canoe. It's perhaps the softest book sell I've ever seen.
Seeing Nick talk about his humble rise from high school drama nerd to accomplished actor and woodworker reminded of someone I was lucky to know personally: Grandpa. Specifically, my Grandpa Miner. He wasn't famous by any stretch, but his story does carry an important relevance to work ethic, humility, and everyday exceptionalism.
Bruce Bear Miner graduated high school at the age of 16, top of his class. He would have graduated at 14, but he briefly left school to help on the family farm. America was like that in the 1930s. After high school, he obtained his undergraduate degree at Cornell University.
I remember visiting his house when I was a small boy. Even as a child, I could appreciate all the unique work my grandfather had done to make his small plot of land his empire.
The first thing anyone would notice when they pulled into the driveway was that Bruce had planted evergreen trees, perfectly spaced, along the front exposure of the house. This gave everyone total privacy from the road. When we walked around the house, we were greeted with stone paths that had been engraved with old license plates. His backyard seemed to have everything: an above ground pool, a picnic table--even an outdoor shower! On hot day my sisters and I could play basketball, or cricket, or anything else in the backyard before taking a dive in the pool. When swim time was over, we could just take a quick rinse in the outdoor shower and sit down and eat burgers straight from the grill and fresh vegetables picked right from the garden.
Like any good parent, his proudest accomplishment was his own family. He and his wife Marion raised two boys, Bruce Jr, and Brian. One thing that made raising Brian difficult was that he had behavior consistent with autism. There was very little known about the autistic spectrum half a century ago, and even less was known about treatment. Bruce and Marion however, offered Brian much love, support and patience. One could say that Bruce and Marion were trailblazers, but they would say that they were just doing their duty as parents as any good parent would.
Bruce also loved photography, and installed a dark room in his basement. Bruce Jr and Brian both loved photography. After Bruce returned from Vietnam in 1972, he had a lot of time on his hands and little direction. Photo shoots with Brian filled the void. Were they any good? I'll let you be the judge!
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| Photo credit: Brian Miner. This is a copy of a copy; the original is much better. |
That's my soap box for now. What do you think? Was I over the top in spinning tales from my youth? Was I the only who saw Nick Offerman plug his book and think, "Greatest Generation! But not really!" If so, do you have any Greatest Generation stories of your own that you would like to share?
If so, please do. As always, the conversation must go on.
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