Jean Walkinshaw

Jean Walkinshaw, producer/editor/writer

Documentary Producer

Jean Walkinshaw has produced television for The History Channel; KING-TV, NBC affiliate in Seattle; and KCTS, Public Television in Seattle. She has produced an extensive body of more than 45 poetic and aesthetic documentaries. These are human stories from across the world that reveal issues, art, literature and history through the eyes of individuals involved. In 1992 Walkinshaw was inducted into the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Silver Circle for 25 years of significant contribution to the television industry and community.

A graduate of Stanford University, she taught school for three years and in 1963 started her TV career. At KING-TV she produced a weekly series, Face to Face, hosted by Roberta Byrd,^[1] which in 1968 was the only local program series in the U.S. to consistently report on attitudes of minority peoples.^[2]

Producing "In the Spirit of Cooperation" in Ghana, West Africa

In 1970 Walkinshaw moved to KCTS where she produced documentaries for both national and local audiences. Much of her work features people and places in the Northwest, but she also produced documentaries in Russia, Ghana and four in Japan. Many of her programs have been aired nationally by PBS and such varied groups as NHK in Japan, Super Channel in Europe, British Airways, and Armed Forces Television Services. Her production of Rainier: The Mountain was the first program to be broadcast in high definition television by KCTS.

Awards and Reviews

Her awards include eight Northwest Regional Emmys, Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award, Ohio State Award, National Press Women Award; New York Festival International TV Program Award, Chicago International Film Festival Award, two American Film and Video Festival Awards, six Best of the West Awards, Religious Broadcasting Award, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting Award.

Jean's first Emmy

Comments from her press reviews include:

• Reviewer for the Boston Globe called Kitaro a “brilliant documentary...as a television experience it is mesmerizing.”

• John Snell, reviewer for the Seattle P-I, found In the Shadow of the Mountains “one of the most extraordinary half-hours of television you will ever see.”

• Joel Connelly, national correspondent for the Seattle P-I, wrote of The River, “Rarely has an hour of television gone to such depth with such grace.”

• Variety wrote of Tarheels in the Northwest, “This absorbing documentary blends fine photography and skillful editing to depict a unique segment of Pacific Northwest life.”

• Studs Terkel in reviewing Faces of the City wrote, “This is poetic documentary in the best sense.”

Conservationist and Activist

Many of Walkinshaw’s programs reflect her love of the outdoors and the environment. Her work conveys an underlying conservationist theme told with subtlety. She avoids a didactic approach of experts, facts and figures. Instead, she believes if viewers can be helped to see the beauty of nature, they will be more motivated to save it.

Jean and Walt share their passion for the mountains

Her love of the out-of-doors and appreciation for the beauty of the Northwest runs deep. She married Walter Walkinshaw, a conservationist and outdoorsman. The Olympic Mountains have two peaks that reflect her deep heritage. Mount Walkinshaw^[3] was named after her father-in-law Robert Walkinshaw, an early member of the Mountaineers. Mount Henderson was named after her grandfather Louis F. Henderson,^[4] the first botanist to name flowers in the Olympic Mountains.

In addition to being a documentary producer, Walkinshaw has been an activist. She built houses of good will in Hiroshima in 1951 after the atomic bomb.^[5] She and her husband helped found the Seattle chapter of Amigos de las Americas, a program which at that time sent young people to give vaccinations and basic first aid in remote villages.^[6] For four years she chaired the Washington State Selection Committee to choose Rhodes Scholars.^[7] She served on a number of cultural and community boards in Seattle.

In 2010 Joel Connelly, national correspondent for the Seattle P-I, wrote that Jean and her husband Walt were “one of Seattle’s most achieving couples.”^[8]

Her children are Charlie Walkinshaw, Rob Walkinshaw and Meg Walkinshaw Fuell.

Documentaries

Among her 45 documentaries are:

• Three Artists in the Northwest – Portrait of three prominent Northwest artists: painters George Tsutakawa and Guy Anderson, and poet Theodore Roethke.

• Young Storytellers in Russia – One of the first American cultural documentaries taped in the former USSR.

• In the Shadow of the Mountains – Profile of Northwest mountain-climber Jim Wickwire.

• Kitaro – Japanese composer and keyboard musician Kitaro in his first tour of the U.S.

• In the Spirit of Cooperation – Japanese Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCV) and American Peace Corps volunteers in Ghana, West Africa.

Shooting "Winter Brothers" in the rain with author Ivan Doig

• Children of the Homeless – Children’s experiences from their perspective.

• To Write and Keep Kind – Profile of writer Raymond Carver.

• Remarkable People: Making a Difference in the Northwest – Series of half-hour profiles featuring extraordinary people.^[9]

• WestWords – Vibrant portraits of six Western writer and the region that inspires their work. Featured are: Ivan Doig, Maxine Hong Kingston, Tony Hillerman, Terry Tempest Williams, William Kittredge, and Rudolfo Anaya.

• The River – Follows the Columbia River and some of its inhabitants from the headwaters in Canada to the Pacific Ocean.

• Tom Robbins: A Writer in the Rain – About the life and writing of this popular author.

• Rainier: The Mountain^[10] – Celebrating the mountain, its legends, and the founding of Mount Rainier National Park 100 years before.

References