Burton Reflects on Life in Books
By Adam Smeltz, The Centre Daily Times, State College, Pa.
Jan. 30–UNIVERSITY PARK — After more than 20 years as executive producer and host of “Reading Rainbow,” actor Levar Burton is leaving the popular children’s television series, he said Monday night.
Burton, 49, mentioned his departure during a 65-minute public talk in Eisenhower Auditorium. He said he shot his last episode last year.
The crowd let out a collective sigh.
One reason for his exit involves the sale of the “Reading Rainbow” brand to an education business, he said, gesticulating to write mock quotation marks around “education.”
Burton said the new leadership does not align with his work.
But he sounded confident in his decision to leave, saying that the time had arrived. For 25 years, Burton said, the program has been “a home for a spark … about imagination.”
Educate Inc., an educational-services company that runs the Sylvan Learning Center and Hooked on Phonics, established a co-production agreement last year with WNED-TV. The Buffalo, N.Y.-based station is a co-founder of the series.
Representatives from WNED and Educate could not be immediately reached.
The remarks about “Reading Rainbow” were a small part of a wide-ranging, conversational talk that Burton delivered on campus. Almost 720 people turned out for his appearance in the Penn State Distinguished Speakers Series.
Earlier in the day, Burton read to grade-school students at Schlow Centre Region Library.
At Eisenhower, dressed in a dark suit and a brown turtleneck, Burton walked around the stage, microphone in hand. He recounted his childhood in Sacramento, Calif., where he found in science-fiction books a world where he was comfortable, he said.
Now, in an information age that provides countless manufactured images, Burton said that young people could risk losing the ability to imagine and dream.
“Resist the inertia of boredom. Remember your passion. Stay committed to that,” he said.
He implored students to follow their dreams, pay attention to the world, revel in daily miracles and “stand in love.”
Burton, an award-winning actor, first rose to fame 30 years ago for his portrayal of Kunta Kinte in the “Roots” miniseries. He’s also known for his work as Geordi La Forge in the “Star Trek: The Next Generation” TV series.
Among funny, personal and sometimes-rambling remarks Monday night, Burton shared upbeat insights and stories:
u He went to a Catholic seminary as a teenager and hoped to become a priest, he said. It was there, he said, that he decided to become an actor.
u “Roots” drew the country into a conversation about race, he said. He said working on the project “rocked my soul” and changed “my life, irrevocably, forever.”
u Actors on “The Next Generation”"hated (their) space suits,” Burton said. “Apparently, there are no pockets in the 21st century.”
Adam Smeltz can be reached at 231-4631.
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Copyright (c) 2007, The Centre Daily Times, State College, Pa.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
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