Carpe Diem

2006 Programming Information

A Close-up View of the American Civil War

"In those days, you didn't write a tell-all book," says William Styple, author of over 20 books on the U.S. Civil War and a forthcoming biography of General Phil Kearny. Thanks to Victorian reticence, many details of the private lives and opinions of Civil War generals have remained unknown - until now.

In the 1930s, artist James Edward Kelly tried to publish a revealing book about the generals of the Civil War. Kelly had sculpted the portraits of over 40 Civil War generals--including Generals Chamberlain, Doubleday, Grant, Sheridan and Sherman--and he had also interviewed them, sometimeson their deathbeds.They would open up to him and tell him " the things they would not write in their memoirs." In the throes of the Great Depression, no one was interested in publishing Kelly's book.

Born in 1855, Kelly attended the Academy of Design and was a founding member of the Art Students' League. He became a famous sculptor, and his sitters included Theodore Roosevelt and Oscar Wilde. Kelly died without descendants, and left his papers - including all of his interviews - to his doctor. Styple tracked down Kelly's papers, which the doctor's descendants had donated to the New-York Historical Society and other institutions. He carefully orroborated the information he found, and published it in Generals in Bronze, a book which, after 140 years, finally reveals the candid confessions of the leading participants in the American Civil War.

Produced and hosted by Bill Berlin of Political Science;directed by Broadcasting major Nicole Teel.

Barring pre-emption, CARPE DIEM airs on the following days and times:

Cablevision: Bergen Channel 77: Monday 5 pm
Comcast channel 26: Tuesday 9 pm
Cablevision: Morris Channel 21 & Paterson Channel 75: Wednesday 5:30 pm
Cablevision: Oakland, Clifton Channel 76: Thursday 3 pm
Clifton Cable TV channel 77: Friday 10:30 pm  
Montclair Channel 34: 7 days a week at 7:30pm