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Cameron Lawrence
Missoula, Montana
Cable Company: Bresnan Communications

3/19/04: WASHINGTON, DC

C-SPAN, which I learned about in 1991, has helped me to make a major transition in life. This transformative journey begins in the heart of the Rockies, winds its way through the halls of The London School of Economics and then finishes at The University of Montana.

This story has as a beginning the time that I affectionately refer to as "my misspent youth." From 1991 through 1996 I made my living by parachuting out of airplanes and into forest fires. While smokejumping was an overwhelmingly positive experience, it was also one that saw the loss of friends through violent means. It was after several colleagues died in 1994 that I knew I must return to college.

When I elected to return to the academy, I did so with a fully engaged mind and a singularity of purpose that was inspired by the writers featured on Booknotes. Booknotes sparked a passionate intellectual curiosity that was absent during my first, and admittedly, unremarkable foray into the academy. Upon returning to university life, this newfound passion enabled me to excel and, after several years of hard work, culminated with admission as a Ph.D. candidate to the LSE.

Now, as an aspiring professor at UM, it is my ambition to share the reverence for the power of ideas that Booknotes awoke within me. I owe a special thanks to the Booknotes� authors who unwittingly encouraged a young smokejumper in Missoula, Montana, to take intellectual leaps, instead of leaping out of perfectly good airplanes.


ONLINE PRESS KIT >>

Contest Winners
Read the essays of the 25 contest winners.

Press Releases
Sep. 28, 2005 -- Winners Named in C-SPAN Viewer Essay Contest Marking 25 Years of Viewer Calls

Sep. 14, 2005 -- C-SPAN Marks 25 Years Of Viewer Calls-Ins With LIVE, 25-Hour Call-In Program On Oct. 7

Aug. 17, 2005 -- C-SPAN Marks 25 Years Of Viewer Calls-Ins With LIVE, 25-Hour Call-In Program On Oct. 7

News Articles
The Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY) - Oct. 10, 2005
Talkers Magazine - Cover Story Oct. 2005
Jewish World Review - Columnist David Brooks, Nov. 1999

History of Call-Ins on Radio and Television
A timeline of call-in programs

Evolution of Call-Ins on C-SPAN
A timeline of call-in programs at C-SPAN

More about C-SPAN's 25 Years of Viewer Call-Ins
Background information on C-SPAN call-in programs

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