Georgia Magazine | Alumni Profiles

Give Kids the World
For Pam Martinson Landwirth (AB ’73), that’s both a business address and a way of helping sick children find happiness

wo slogans on Pam Martinson Landwirth’s desk say a lot about her personal ethos and management philosophy. The first says: “Because nice matters.” The other reads: “Happy memories are made here.”

Landwirth, who honed her management skills at Disney, is dedicated to giving sick children renewed hope —which, in some cases, extends their lives.

Landwirth (AB ’73) is president of Give Kids the World, which annually hosts 6,500 children with life-threatening illnesses. The children, whose fondest wish is to visit Florida theme parks, are given a free, weeklong family vacation, including park tickets, rental car, plus lodging and meals at the secluded 52-acre GKTW village in Kissimmee. “We know the week gives children renewed hope,” says Landwirth, “and we believe it also extends the lives of some.”

Landwirth honed her management skills during 16 years at Disney, and she is proud of GKTW’s corporate alliances. “Charity watchdogs often cite us for our low fundraising-and-administrative costs—about 8 per cent,” says Landwirth, who presides over an annual budget of $18 million. “We are now debt-free and building a $100 million endowment with the hope of being self-sustaining.”

Give Kids the World is a non-profit organization that succeeds because of the work of 3,000 volunteers, who, along with staff, do everything in the village from running the antique carousel to dishing up sundaes in the ice cream shop.

“Kids aren’t stared at here,” she says. And there are plenty of activities to keep the children happy and entertained—from miniature golf to photo sessions with theme park characters. A Christmas celebration is held every Thursday and everyone gets a present. Last year, GKTW gave out 100,000 gifts.

“Going to Georgia in the early 1970s was a great experience for me from a diversity standpoint. Athens was a center of ideas and ideologies and the University was changing at the same time I was. The spirit of belonging at Georgia has stayed with me—it’s a family spirit.” She still follows the Dogs and gets to Athens for football games as often as possible. That’s easier now that her youngest daughter (she has two other grown children) is a freshman at UGA.

While GKTW is the favored destination for grantees of the Make-A-Wish Foundation and some 170 other wish-granting organizations, Landwirth wants more public visibility. “Every year some 25,000 new cases of children with life-threatening illnesses are diagnosed,” says Landwirth, looking out her office window down the village’s main street, which is named Avenue of Angels. “To many we are still a best-kept secret.”

To alter that perception, Landwirth has just appeared in a Wal-Mart sponsored public service announcement that was broadcast on “ABC News with Peter Jennings.”

“I know you have to do well to do good,” says Landwirth, who is eager to enlist others in this work. She dreams of earning a master’s degree, so she could teach non-profit management and cause-related marketing one day.

International man of history
Actor, attorney, historian, author, and travel guide, Robert Wayne (BMus ’74, JD ’79) has a lot of irons in the fire

by Tracy Coley Curlee (ABJ ’90)

After 20 years of globetrotting, Wayne noticed two women in his tour group having trouble hearing the guide. That led to his “Europe in Context’ travel series, which includes audio CDs. He’s done London and Venice, Paris is next.

he bookcases in Robert Wayne’s Decatur law office offer clues to what makes this multi-faceted man tick. Beside shelf after shelf of legal volumes is an assortment of art and history books, mint-condition 19th-century editions of Shakespearean plays, music annals, and modern and antique travel guides. But the books that perhaps give the best indication about Wayne’s persona are those penned by his own hand.

Wayne (BMus ’74, JD ’79) is the author of the new “Europe in Context” travel guide series, which enable history- and art-loving travelers to take a narrated tour without hiring a guide or signing up for a tour. Venice in Context and Royal London in Context were published recently, and Wayne expects Paris to be next.

Wayne’s passion for history was nurtured at UGA. Though he majored in voice performance, he recalls that his Honors history professor, Joseph Berrigan, “taught me that history is the story of the lives of real people and the development and interplay of their ideas as reflected in their art, literature, architecture, and music.”

After getting his law degree, Wayne moved back to Atlanta to work as an attorney. He’s also found time for a busy career in local theater, acting and singing tenor in lead and supporting roles of more than 40 musicals at Theater of the Stars, the Atlanta Opera, and the Neighborhood Playhouse.

In the early 80s, Wayne spent two summers at the American Institute of Musical Studies in Austria. “I fell in love with travel, meeting new people, and experiencing different cultures,” he says.

In 1999, after 20 years of globetrotting, he noticed two women in his tour group were having a hard time hearing the guide. The idea occurred to him to do a self-guided travel book series with an audio CD that would tell background stories behind each building and staircase knob. Hard of hearing? All you have to do is turn up the volume. The double CDs on both of Wayne’s current books, Venice in Context and Royal London in Context are narrated by Joel Goddard, the announcer for “Late Night with Conan O’Brien.”

“I love the stories of kings and queens, artisans and musicians,” says Wayne. “I wanted to show people that history is not dull and dusty at all . . . it’s real! To touch the Doors from the Crusades, or the Berlin Wall, or experience St. Catherine’s Monastery is almost a spiritual experience.”

When Wayne visited the Auschwitz prison camp in Germany, he recalls how touched he was by the experience. “I thought about how many people had lost their lives on the very spot where I stood. All I could do was just stand there and look around. I was sad the rest of the day. That’s not something you could get from a history book.”

As Wayne, with dramatic voice and flourishing arms, shares stories of a beheaded king or ancient crusade with anyone inquiring about his travels, it’s very clear that he’s a person of many interests and talents. But they all seem to work together in one package.

“I’m not defined by my job,” he says. “I like to do lots of different things. Making a lot of money is not important to me. In my practice I meet people who plan their estates and wills... people who wait too late in life to do what they’ve always wanted to do. I don’t want to wait till it’s too late because then I couldn’t enjoy the things I love right now!”

Making it reel
Atlanta’s McGary sisters have an indie film hit on their hands with “Ociee Nash”

by Tracy Coley Curlee (ABJ ’90)

(clockwise from top left) Amy (ABJ ’82) and Kristen (ABJ ’78, MFA ’80) McGary produced “Ociee.” They share credit with editor/music director Amy Linton (ABJ ’78) and production designer Margaret Hungerford. (ABJ ’83).

leven-year-old Sarah Bjornlie sits on the edge of her seat in anticipation while the film draws to a climax. As the closing credits roll across the theater screen, the preteen takes a deep breath, smiles, and gives her unsolicited review: “That was a really good movie!” That is, in fact, how most of the targeted audience of 4- to 14-year-olds are reacting to the independent film, “The Adventures of Ociee Nash,” which was released in February across the Southeast. And the filmmakers, sisters Amy McGary (ABJ ’82) and Kristen McGary (ABJ ’78, MFA ’80), couldn’t be happier.

Based on the novel A Flower Blooms on Charlotte Street by Milam McGraw Propst, “Ociee” came about purely by happenstance. The McGarys were already in pre-production on a movie about Georgia author Flannery O’Connor when they ran into Propst at an art exhibition in Atlanta. Propst, whose book tells the story of her grandmother’s adventures as a precocious nine-year-old in 1898 Mississippi, had just been named Georgia’s 2000 Author of the Year.

“We had already raised money [to produce] the O’Connor film,” says Amy, “but once we read the book we felt like it had great characters and would make a fun script. So we changed gears and redirected our efforts to ‘Ociee Nash.’ ”

In June 2002, the McGarys’ “Ociee” script won the prestigious Southeastern Mediamaker’s Award from IMAGE Film and Video—and $120,000 of in-kind services from several Atlanta vendors for the production of the movie. Bolstered by the additional funding, the McGarys kicked “Ociee” pro-duction into high gear and filmed for a whirlwind 21 days in Atlanta and Chattanooga. The extra money also helped secure the services of Oscar winner Keith Carradine and Emmy winner Mare Winningham for lead roles. However, most parts are played by local talent, including newcomer Skyler Day in the title role. Anthony Rodriguez (BFA ’91) also appears in a supporting role as a gypsy.

The McGarys share credit for “Ociee Nash” with two other UGA alums—production designer Margaret Hungerford (ABJ ’83) and editor and music director Amy Linton (ABJ ’78). Each of these Atlantans has 20 years of filmmaking experience, working on such movies as “Driving Miss Daisy,” “Terminator,” “Dead Poets Society” and “Glory.” Amy McGary won an Emmy for art direction for the CBS mini-series “Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All” and Linton was an Oscar nominee for “Daughters of the Dust.”

Because G-rated “Ociee Nash” is an independent film without backing from a major movie studio, the sisters chose to limit the movie’s release to theaters in the Southeast—where screenings promptly sold out. Their strategy is paying off; numbers continue to climb, and the movie is scheduled for nationwide release this summer.

Supporting journalistic excellence
Carolyn McKenzie Carter (ABJ ’40) and Don Carter (ABJ ’38) are giving back to the industry that gave them their livelihood

hen you talk about coup-les who made their mark in journalism, Carolyn McKenzie Carter (ABJ ’40) and Don Carter (ABJ ’38) deserve prominent mention. Fresh out of UGA in 1940, Carolyn broke the gender barrier when editor Ralph McGill hired her as the first female photojournalist at the Atlanta Constitution. Don began his journalism career at the Constitution’s competitor, the Atlanta Journal, where he became city editor.

Carolyn was the first female photojournalist at the Atlanta Constitution. Don started his career at the Atlanta Journal, where he became city editor. They now live on Sea Island.

The Carters met while covering the same story for their competing newspapers and later married during World War II. Their careers have taken them all over the country—and they recently decided it was time to make a commitment to UGA’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. “When we enrolled in the Grady College, two years apart,” says Don, “we found the professors, the classes, and the inspiration to launch us on a lifetime of journalism.”

When Carolyn wasn’t shooting photos for the Constitution, she did artistic and commercial work for Coca-Cola and what was then the Georgia Department of Commerce. In 1960, she was hired by the Georgia Department of Tourism to promote travel in the state. In the 1970s, she promoted President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Little White House in Warm Springs. She was the first woman to be awarded a master of photography degree by the Professional Photographers Association and the first woman to be named “Man of the Year” in 1962 by the Industrial Photographers of America.

When Don left the Journal, he took leadership positions at The Wall Street Journal’s Newspaper Fund, the National Observer, and New Jersey’s Bergen Evening Record. In 1976, he was named a vice president/news for Knight Ridder Newspapers, a position he held until his retirement in 1982. He has participated in almost every professional organization dedicated to better journalism. He has served as a judge for the Pulitzer Prize and he received a lifetime service award from the American Press Institute.

The Carters recently endowed the Carolyn McKenzie and Don E. Carter Professorship of Excellence in Journalism. John F. Greenman, president and publisher of the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, will assume that endowed chair this August. When Greenman was assistant managing editor of the Akron Beacon Journal, he helped direct and edit coverage of the attempted takeover of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company—which won the paper the Pulitzer Prize in 1987.

“I’ve always been drawn to teaching and research,” says Greenman, “and I couldn’t hope for a better opportunity than to serve as the first Carter Professor.”

The Carters—who will celebrate their 62nd wedding anniversary in October —lead busy lives on Sea Island. Carolyn is an avid golfer who enjoys the theater and good books. Don has served as a member of the educational advisory committee of the Knight Foundation, and as a member of the board of directors for both the Dow Jones Newspaper Fund and The Red & Black.