Emerson R. Moseley: International Lectures and Jim

Letterhead captured from a letter Grandpa had written Joyce

Jim was the minister of Blue Ridge Christian Church about two miles from our new home and was doing very well there. He was an exceptionally fine speaker and it was a great pleasure to listen to him preach. The church was crowded each Sunday and the size of the church more than doubled within a couple of years.

Jim and a friend of his from Higginsville made a picture-making trip to the Holy Land and brought back some wonderful 35mm films of the sights they had seen there. We had a party in our back yard and invited 200 people to a barbecue. We talked Jim into showing his film. To say his film showing was a hit would be putting it mildly. The pictures were excellent but his particular style and comments made it an outstanding affair. The crowd went wild with enthusiasm and requests for him to show his films in school soon started coming in without any solicitations.

After having covered the schools in this vicinity, Jim was so pleased with the reception he was receiving that he found it hard to spend the time in his church that he should have been spending. There were some complaints on this time away from the church, but he couldn't think of giving up chances to lecture and show his film.

Jim came to me one day and asked if I would take the time to sell his presentation to a few schools beyond the orbit of his present coverage. This would allow him more time with the church. I was completely sold on his presentation of the film and agreed to see what I could do. It occurred to me that if I was going to break even on the operation, I needed more than one program to sell.

Jim's friend, Bob Davis, had just made a trip to Iceland, and had made a beautiful film of that country. He was showing it at our house one night when I decided I might come up with a small profit if I could promote both Jim's and Bob's films.

Bob was anxious for a greater audience, and I started out in nearby towns in Kansas and Missouri, offering the films of the two producers in the schools. It was a huge success, and from this small beginning, International Lectures, Inc. was born. We joined the American Platform Association, Inc. and each year attended their National Platform Association meetings in Lakeside, Ohio. The finest talent in the country would exhibit their skills and talents, which covered about anything you could mention.

LAKESIDE OHIO - My Memories of these yearly trips there (Joyce)

We would spend two weeks each year listening and viewing all the top-notch acts in the country. From this group of talented entertainers, we would select a slate of talent to show their wares all over the middle west in grade schools, high schools, and colleges.

We were very careful to select exceptionally good talent, and soon had a stable of around fifteen very talented acts. We covered nine states in the Midwest. The talent was selected to best fit in with schools, and while once in a while we would get a loser, we were exceptionally lucky in selecting only acts that kids would like. The business grew by leaps and bounds.

The business continued, although Jim later stepped out to accept a job with Alexander Hamilton Institute. In 1978 the business was sold and we went into retirement.

NOTE: Grandpa ran this business from his basement. He had a secretary who came in every day and also had salespeople. I remember Goldie and Erman Gray. They would go out to the schools before the school year started and present the flyers for the upcoming year. When they sold a program, they'd mail their contracts in and when the time came to cut it off for the year, he would start scheduling. I worked for him when I graduated from high school. 1967 - 69. He had a huge map of the midwest on the wall, and each performer had their own color of round push pin. For instance, when there was a contract for my dad, who might have had a blue pin, Grandpa would place that pin in the city. Once he had all the pins in place for all of the performers, he would schedule. He knew he had to allow drive time from one city to another. Sometimes he could only schedule two shows a day, sometimes three. It's amazing that he made it work from that system.

Once the shows were scheduled, we would notify the schools when the acts would be there.

I remember that Jim Post was one of my favorites. He was the chaplain at Leavenworth Penitentiary, and that's where the boys from In Cold Blood were incarcerated. In that movie, based on a book by Truman Capote, it shows them at the bus station using a pay phone to call Jim Post.

Jay Bee Flesner was another performer who taught about proper grammar. He was a bachelor and quite a personality. Students and teachers all liked him, even though he could be a bit abrupt at times. He is the one who came in to work with Grandpa after Dad left, and eventually bought the business. It didn't last long after that.

There was one performer who had a black cocker spaniel named King. It came time for King to retire, and he became our dog. King loved to run the neighborhood, walking with us kids and later grandkids everywhere we went. He even followed the postman every day from the top of 27th and Westport, all the way through the subdivision mentioned in the Real Estate section of this blog.

Good times. Good memories. I learned so much from working with Grandpa. He would dictate letters to me that I would take down in shorthand, and then type. I believe my writing style mimics his because we spent so much time writing together.