John de Graaf

Latest Posts in John de Graaf

February 2024 Magazine

Our feature story this month, by Barbara Lloyd McMichael, is about John de Graaf's latest film that depicts Katharine Lee Bates, who wrote the lyrics for America the Beautiful. Yes, indeed, women are a force for good, and if you believe that, then please pass along this platform. #WomenBelieve. On an entirely different note, Art Gets a Free Ridedemonstrates how the rich use art to get richer. While we’re on the subject of wealth, please see Annie Searle’s Sanitizing Bad News that examines the elements of risk inherent in the structure of large corporations.

 


Unsung Hero: The Woman Behind “America the Beautiful”

The third song to be sung in the Super Bowl pre-game program is “America the Beautiful,” a perennial favorite in the nation’s canon of patriotic music. The Woman Behind America the Beautiful is an unsung hero. The song was written first as a poem by Katharine Lee Bates, a young Wellesley College professor.


JULY 2023 MAGAZINE

This month we take a look at true beauty from a myriad of unusual perspectives: Catholic Outreach Group Sacred Encounters Serves the Homeless in Downtown Seattle, Barbara McMichael writes about the beauty of quilting, Robin Lindley interviews documentary filmmaker John de Graaf, a man who has long been an advocate of environmental beauty, and Patricia Vaccarino reviews Willa Cather's "The Song of the Lark," which might be the most beautiful book of all time.

 


Robin Lindley interviews award-winning Seattle-based filmmaker John de Graaf

Robin Lindley interviews award-winning Seattle-based filmmaker John de Graaf on his new documentary on the life and legacy of perhaps our greatest environmentalist, Stewart Udall. Despite his many achievements, the public memory of Udall has faded and John worked in his film to re-introduce him, and especially to younger people who are disillusioned and frustrated by today's politics of division and stalemate.


Celebrate Stewart Udall’s Legacy: Bring this film to your community today!

John de Graaf’s documentary The Politics of Beauty captures Stewart Udall’s enduring legacy of environmental justice.