Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/778398
4 W I N T E R 2 0 1 7 C A S Q U A R T E R L Y We once again come upon the February 11th birthday of Thomas Edison. Each year, I wonder at his virtual absence from our culture, despite his pri- mary impact on shaping the world we experi- ence and former status as one of the most famous persons in the world. 1,093 patents issued in his name… He is a surprisingly controversial fig- ure in this second decade of the 21st century. I've come across high emotion at the notion of valuing Edison for seminal contributions to the modern world. I have looked into what has created this disconnect. It seems the AC/DC controversy over power grid distribution of the early 1890's centered around Nikola Tesla and the very mistaken attribution of Topsy the elephant's 1903 public execu- tion to Edison as part of the "Current Wars," is at the center of this. Wired magazine and "Business Insider" propa- gated this unfortunate ironic bit of false information, and the rest is internet/ social media history… The AC/DC conflict ended 10 years before the euthanized elephant event, which has been used to broadly discredit "The Wizard of Menlo Park" and his lifetime achievements with applied technology. There is that annoying lightbulb thing … but I digress. THE PRESIDENT'S LETTER To educate and inform the general public and the motion picture and television industry that effective sound is achieved by a creative, artistic, and technical blending of diverse sound elements. To provide the motion picture and television industry with a progressive society of master craftsmen specialized in the art of creative cinematic sound recording. To advance the specialized field of cinematic sound recording by exchange of ideas, methods, and information. To advance the art of auditory appreciation, and to philanthropically support those causes dedicated to the sense of hearing. To institute and maintain high standards of conduct and craftsmanship among our members. To aid the motion picture and television industry in the selection and training of qualified personnel in the unique field of cinematic sound recording. To achieve for our members deserved recognition as major contributors to the field of motion picture and television entertainment. CAS WINTER 2017 NEW MEMBERS "I'll never give up for I may have a streak of luck before I die." –Thomas A. Edison, July 26, 1869 "Edison … was a lusty, crusty, hard-driving, opportunistic, and occasionally ruthless Midwesterner, whose Bunyanesque ambition for wealth was repeatedly subverted by his passion for invention." –Robert Conot, Edison biographer/author A Streak of Luck Rutgers University's Edison Papers project (Edison.Rutgers .Edu/Topsy.htm) has an academically detailed and legitimately complete refutation of this damaging and uninformed Topsy myth. Edison was NOT involved in the incident beyond the com- mon use of his name for GE-owned utility companies, in this case, Con Edison supplying the power and the newsreel footage shot by his company's newsreel division. In fact, most ironically, the SPCA was the signoff on adding electrocution as their belief it was the most "humane" way for the legally ordered demise of the unfortunate Topsy. The real "warts and all" Edison biogra- phy to tap into this is Robert Conot's A Streak of Luck. Edison, like Frank Lloyd Wright, D.W. Griffith, and other diffi- cult and brilliant people of vision, remains vulnerable to posthumous reputational assault. It was a sign of the times … I guess. We need to revisit Edison's absence from the historical canon of entertain- ment history. He actually personally invented sound recording and playback and was instrumental in bringing motion pictures into the commercial world; something virtually all of us in the CAS have some involvement with as a lifetime career consideration. Let's stop for a moment on this pioneer's birthday and take a beat to appreciate the enormity of this history. CINEMA AUDIO SOCIETY MISSION STATEMENT Active Chris Giles J. Mark King Harrison Marsh Kyle Tilbury Associate Rebecca Chan Marilyn Morris Student Qiwei He Bo Pang Tianfu Zhang