Tele-Visionary

From our entertainment editor, Qwerty Lee Dickinson:

Did you know that the Emmy Awards are named for Emmett Lee Dickinson (Emily Dickinson’s third cousin, twice removed – at her request)? 

Three related but separate organizations present the Emmy Awards – the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS), and the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (IATAS).  In 1949, the organizations agreed that the awards should be named for Dickinson.  In the words of Algernon Parnell Kenwicks, the first president of the NATAS, “no other individual has affected the field of television and television programming than Emmett Lee Dickinson.”

At first the awards were known as the Emmetts, but the industry soon began referring to them as the Emmys for “Emmy,” the nickname that Emmett Lee Dickinson’s mother called her son.

For complete information about the connection between Emmett Lee Dickinson and the industry of television sciences and programming, click HERE. 

Emmett Lee Dickinson wrote various poems in the 1800s that seemed to foretell the coming of the television industry.  For that reason, many in the field refer to Dickinson as a tele-visionary.  One of his most famous poems about TV is "These -- Televisions" (below on the left).  Dickinson's poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem "These -- saw Visions" (below on the right).

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:
 
These – Televisions –
Watch them rarely –
They – hold Simple –
Foolish shows –
With – compressed into short segments –
Ads – Half-Truths – so miss them so –
 
This – Is stoked –
Unnumbered Channels –
That – entice you to a daze –
Programs for a Slim Intellect
Not so cerebral – this Haze –
 
Thus – adjust – the on off settings –
Pass – the Watching – Pass the Shows –
My advice – the only Solace
Cancel the reception – now –

By Emily Dickinson:
 
These – saw Visions –
Latch them softly –
These – held Dimples –
Smooth them slow –
This – addressed departing accents –
Quick – Sweet Mouth – to miss thee so –
 
This – We stroked –
Unnumbered Satin –
These – we held among our own –
Fingers of the Slim Aurora –
Not so arrogant – this Noon –
 
These – adjust – that ran to meet us –
Pearl – for Stocking – Pearl for Shoe –
Paradise – the only Palace
Fit for Her reception – now –