Hi, this is Rudy Mancke from USC for "NatureNotes".

All Soul's Day is today.

Or, to some people, The Day of the Dead.

The souls take over here.

Not just the hallows, the saints, but the souls of everyone.

Sometimes in Mexico, you know, all three days are celebrated as The Day of the Dead.

And death is a part of life, of course, we know that.

That is not good, bad, right or wrong, but that's what the system is like on the third planet from the star we call the sun.

We're a part of that system, aren't we?

Death is a part of life because of the recycling system that we've got, and it doesn't work if death doesn't come in to play.

All Soul's Day.

♪ ♪ >> Hello, I'm Beryl Dakers.

The sense of profound loss is palpable here at South Carolina ETV and Public Radio as we come to grips with what it means not to have Rudy Mancke's physical presence among us.

We, his colleagues, were shaken by his death, despite the fact that he has always told us, death is a part of life.

Ironically, reminding us in that "NatureNotes" just a few days before his passing.

However, we are comforted in our remembrances.

You know, everybody has a Rudy story, whether you worked closely with him, met him once, or simply were inspired by him from afar.

We have gathered a group of South Carolina ETV and Public Radio staffers and former staffers right here tonight in our studios, just to reminisce.

As we shared him in life, we decided to share some of our behind-the-scenes musings with you, our listeners and our viewers.

We do hope it will give us all solace as we reminisce, laugh, and remember Rudy.

>> I think I'm going to begin with you, Adrienne Fairwell, as CEO and president of South Carolina ETV and Radio.

What is the overall impact of Rudy Mancke on our network?

>> I think Rudy's overall impact is actually immeasurable.

He's left such a profound impact on not just this network, both radio and television, but also the state of South Carolina.

His love for nature, his love for the environment was something that we all can be blessed by in Rudy's sense.

He taught us how to see the smallest of things that are immeasurable in South Carolina.

>> Absolutely.

I think "NatureScene" probably was the catalyst for all the things that eventually were spawned here at South Carolina ETV.

I have to tell you, for me personally, it was literally the culmination of a dream; a dream that Rudy and I dreamt and shared before either of us came to work at ETV.

We vowed that one day, if it were at all possible, we would take a camera out in the field and share first-hand with our viewers what it was like to experience nature.

When I got to ETV, I was in a position -- we did a nightly "7:30" show at that time.

We were in position to create new shows.

"NatureScene" became one of our monthly Friday evening "7:30" specials.

Now I have to say, this is how that first show began.

Let's take a look.

♪ >> Hello, I'm Beryl Dakers.

I'm standing here in a very ordinary autumn field.

Accept that at closer look we find it isn't so ordinary after all, because a field like this one, and probably like the one near your home, is teeming with plant and animal life.

Today on "7:30" we're going to try to take a close look at the kind of nature that abounds in the state of South Carolina.

Our guide and teacher for the day is Rudy Mancke, natural history curator for the South Carolina Museum Commission.

Rudy, what would you expect to find in a field like this?

>> Well, Beryl, this time of year what you expect to find, of course, a great deal of are plants like goldenrod, the composites, they're flowering at this time of the year, and giving lots of nectar and pollen to anybody that wants it and there are going to be lots of animals showing up for the feast.

And there will also be animals here that are here to feed on the animals attracted to the pollen and nectar.

>> Predators.

>> Yeah, predators, and I think we can see today pretty well, predator/prey relationships, and how living and dying is very much a part of nature.

We've got a lot of variety here, so we need to get started in a moment or two.

You've already started picking things up, I see... >> Absolutely!

>> It's tempting.

>> What I was wondering about, though, is how you manage to focus in on the really special things, because just looking at a field, you're likely to overlook the natural beauty.

>> I think there are a couple things.

I think one thing that people ought to do more than we do is to slow down enough to see things.

We pass things in a hurry and miss a lot.

Of course, it's good also to get some learning from the library about things that would normally be found on goldenrod this time of year, but it's very important to slow down.

There are lots of exciting things right at your doorstep.

>> We'll just have to open our eyes and look.

>> That's right, and go slowly.

Let's go this way.

♪ >> Allen Sharpe, of course, is the legendary man behind the camera.

He was the producer, director, editor, one-man wizard there, but Allen, you were there with me for that very first experience.

Just talk about the disbelief we had when Rudy drove up to this fantastic location and said, "This is where we're going to do the first show."

>> Yeah, it was hard to accept the fact that we could do a 30-minute television program in this, what turned out to be a great location, according to him.

But it was not easy to do.

As you reminded me the other day, we had to climb over a big gate.

Back in those days too, the technology was very different than it is now.

We had to use regular microphones with wires.

I remember y'all dragging -- we had to -- <Beryl> Miles of cable.

(laughter) >> Well, it was a lot of cable.

And you could only go so far.

That's why I had to pan down at the end of that scene.

So, you know, we could make a transition to another thing.

But we eventually got wireless microphones but we knew after that very first show this worked.

Just turn Rudy on.

He can do it.

I mean, and he kept saying it.

"Just slow down and look."

"You don't have to go far."

And we didn't.

How far did we go?

100 feet?

>> Maybe 100 feet, maybe.

>> Maybe, and I mean, he just had so much that he could identify.

He could spend, you know, 30 minutes on one thing.

As we continued the program one of the problems I had was saying, "Make it short, Rudy."

We want to get as much as we can in, we need to get, you know -- so that -- things really went well, and that was a good beginning.

And, you know, it was a good format and it worked.

>> Well, from the very beginning after that autumn field, as we called it, we went to the beaches, we went to mountains, to state parks, we went all over South Carolina.

>> Right.

We did.

We did a lot of programs in South Carolina, to begin with.

And then -- <Beryl> No, I don't want to go there yet.

>> Okay.

>> We went through South Carolina.

(laughs) <Allen> Rudy loved the state park system.

I think that in our own way we helped encourage people to go out and visit state parks, and locations you could see.

He said several times, "You don't have to go to Africa on safari "to see some neat stuff.

Just slow down and look."

You've been on walks with him.

I have too, separate from this.

People show up for a walk with Rudy and they have backpacks, water bottles, hiking sticks.

Well, they may be lucky to get out of the parking lot.

<Beryl> Absolutely.

(laughter) Or that vacant lot.

(laughter) <Allen> Of course!

Vacant lot.

(laughter) We did, yeah.

Here in Columbia we did a show.

That was another one of those that you, like, say, "Wow, we can't do a show here."

<Beryl> Absolutely.

Hardin Jones, you were an AV tech even back in those early days going out with us.

And... Was it Peachtree Rock?

>> Yeah, it was Peachtree Rock, the first "NatureScene" that I think I went on.

And that's when I started learning a lot about nature, just from Rudy himself.

Because he seems to know everything.

And he gave me a good knowledge about Peachtree Rock too.

I just recently found out that it was, what, ten years ago.

I think it is going to be ten years ago tomorrow that that Peachtree Rock fell.

That was one of my first "NatureScene"s now.

There's been many that I went on, but Peachtree Rock was the first one.

<Beryl> And we'll talk about those as we go along.

The first several years we were in South Carolina; then in 1985 the decision was made to take the show national.

And, of course, Jim Welch became the host to go there.

Allen, why did we decide to get out of South Carolina?

>> Well, we had a lot of interest in the program.

At the time, There was really -- except for Marty's "Wild America" that was the only nature show on the Public Broadcasting System.

Henry Cauthen was our president.

He had the foresight to say, "Can we do this nationally?"

And so with a lot of help from our promotion people, marketing people, the pitch was made to the National Programming Service that we can give you a show every week.

We can give you 13 new shows a year.

>> I remember making one of those pitches.

>> Well, and they said, "Okay, we'll try."

Of course, we had the satellite then too.

The satellite channel that was available.

We made it available and they voted on it, said, Yeah, we'll play it."

<Beryl> And there you have it.

You know, Jim really wanted to be with us here tonight.

He was unable to join us; however, he wanted me to tell you -- give you his apologies and to say, "I was honored and blessed to be part of "NatureScene" and to walk with Rudy in all 50 states and around the world.

He was a joy and taught me to love and appreciate the natural world around us.

He left this world in a better place through his constant sharing of the wonderful mystery of nature.

He's with me in my heart and mind as I walk the trails in the Blue Ridge Mountains that I now call home.

I know that is the feeling that many of you here gathered have now.

Because you were able to go on lots of those trips and do things.

I'm looking at you, Bill Easterling, because I know you certainly got around as another AV tech with the show.

>> That is right.

I started in 1992.

The very first show that I got to work on at Glacier National Park in Montana.

We got things done.

There were a lot of logistics to work out.

I had to pinch myself and say, "I'm getting paid to be here."

And that was a very special time.

<Beryl> What made it so special?

<Bill> Well, you see the show at home, right, but there's all kind of things behind-the-scenes you don't know about.

We were able to carry everything in one or two vehicles and to get to these places.

I was in charge of making sure everything worked.

After all, we want to complete a tv show.

(laughter) <Beryl> Well, that's for sure.

Hardin, you also talked a little about these unexpected things that happened.

>> (laughs) Well, there's quite a few things that happened.

Some of them I can't even remember -- (laughter) -- that happened.

But some of the unexpected things that Rudy did that I kind of remember -- not sure whether it was a raccoon or what but Rudy saw this raccoon running across the street.

We stopped the car.

He jumped out of the car and ran and caught that raccoon by his hind legs.

I don't know if you remember that or not, Allen, but that was one of the things that happened.

<Beryl> I think anybody who went out with Rudy at least more than once had that kind of experience.

It was not unusual to stop the car and jump out and see something.

Martha Fowler, you were a production coordinator and sort of got to stand back and watch as all this was going on.

What were your feelings as you looked at and timed and -- really helped organize these shows for air?

>> He was such -- it was all about connections.

You may not even know, but our ancestors go back four generations.

Our parents are buried 15 feet from each other.

The very last nature walk I ever went with him was in that cemetery a few years ago.

But he was such a pied piper and taught us so much in every show and every walk of life.

You know, walking down a sidewalk he taught you things, you didn't know you didn't know.

(laughter) He was just amazing.

I take great pride in the last phone call he and I had was I had found something about my ancestors.

When I was looking it up, his great, great grandparents were in the same article.

I called and said, "You need to get a copy of this."

He didn't do technology.

So I sent it to him anyway.

But he was just such a vast knowledge.

He taught us all so much we didn't even know -- <Beryl> -- that we didn't know <Martha> -- that we didn't know.

<Beryl> That is absolutely true.

Beth, I know that you were fortunate enough to go on lots of trips with Rudy.

We're going to talk about some of those international trips in just a moment.

One of the things you pointed out was the fact that despite this vast amount of knowledge, Rudy was always learning.

>> He was.

He was always studying.

Everywhere we went he was prepared.

We didn't go in there blind; we went in there prepared and knew what we could probably expect.

There were always surprises, but he studied it.

There was probably not any place we ever went that he didn't pick up a book while we were there.

Had a book with him when he got there.

Talked to the local guides, so he was always studying.

<Beryl> Went to bookstores.

<Beth> Books were everywhere.

<Martha> That bag of books, you had to count baggages and the bag of books was primary.

<Allen> That was his carry-on.

He took the books and the camera.

That is another thing we need to mention.

There were five of us traveling in the crew.

When we were traveling on airplanes, we checked 16 pieces of equipment and luggage because we were typically gone ten days or two weeks.

Rudy carried his book bag and he carried the television camera and the audio-video person always carried the recorder, I carried my still camera and computer.

We had a system.

<Beryl> You did have a system.

>> It took two cars to haul all this stuff.

>> Well, I tell you, the show was unscripted.

Despite the fact that it came together as well as it did and sometimes things were done out of sequence, it wasn't scripted.

And sometimes things went a little awry.

Let's take a look.

>> Turkey oaks are probably one of the trees that really say sandhills to me.

Whenever I see this little scrawny oak tree, it tells me that I'm in a place that is going to get pretty hot in the summertime.

But it certainly isn't hot today, is it?

>> It sure isn't, Rudy.

>> This is really a phenomenally cold day, and I expected it to be warmer, Beryl.

Had no control, of course, over any of this.

We can just keep talking about this with all of the fog that comes around and the love grass underneath it, (Beryl laughs) <Rudy> -- the long leaf pine above, and... -- see what we might -- I see something here.

Hold still just a second.

Let me see if I can just grab that.

(Beryl laughs) (dog barks) <Rudy> Get out of here, go!

(whistles) Hey!

Beryl, you are not going to believe what I found.

Take a look at this, huh?

<Beryl> Oh, no!

>> It was killed on the road.

I thought they would use it maybe on the show.

Doesn't smell too bad if you are upwind.

Beryl, I don't understand, it's really in pretty good shape.

It's a skunk, Allen.

>> Okay, Rudy.

The camera is locked down, you do your thing by yourself.

We're leaving.

(laughter) >> Hey, hey, come here!

(laughter) I can't do it alone!

(laughter) >> The alga can do well without the fungus.

But fungus can't survive if it does not come in association with alga.

>> Wow!

>> And a lichen is an alga and a fungus that have taken a "lichen" to each other.

>> Let's go, Rudy.

(laughter) >> Okay, let's see what's on that trail further up.

♪ >> A little overcast today, you know?

I expected a little more sunshine.

>> Great day, but it's good to get out.

>> It's always good to be out, yeah, it really is, anywhere in the state.

>> Hello, I'm Jim Welch here with Rudy Mancke, director and curator and all that stuff at the Museum of Natural History and...hmm... .. Little overcast today -- (laughter) <Jim> That was Rudy's line.

(laughter) >> Muskateck Natural Wildlife Refuge near Seymour, Indiana in the southeastern part of -- everything was blown there.

Everything was blown.

(laughs) >> It is Muskatuck National Wildlife -- <Rudy> Muskatatuck.

<Jim> Muskatatuck.

(claps hands) >> Lots of things going on, wonderful to read signs of life.

That's beaver work, I'm sure, on the base of that tree -- >> Beeber- b- b -ble - bop -bla, that's all folks, I don't know what is going on.

>> This never happens -- >> b-- b -- b ble -- pop -- bla (gibberish) >> First time.

(gibberish continues) >> Okay, that's it, it's done.

>> That is all folks.

>> I'm so much better, now.

>> And if you look up, the leaves are larger.

Same genus, Populus, different species, and these are two now that do very -- -- the aspens and Boston poplar or something like that, but -- ♪ ♪ >> This week on "NatureScene" Rudy and I visit Cape Canaveral National Wildlife -- >> (laughing) We watch those big shuttles go off, wow!

<Jim> Cape Romain.

(claps hands) <Rudy> It was great!

Yeah!

We got into that technology, we stood underneath as it lifted off.

>> ♪ Happy trails to you, until we meet again ♪ ♪ Happy trails to you ♪ ♪ Keep smiling until then ♪ ♪ It doesn't matter if there's rain or windy weather, ♪ ♪ as long as we are outdoors out here together ♪ >> That's right.

♪ Happy trails to you 'til we meet again ♪ >> So for our radio listeners, I want to tell you that some of those sketches showed interruptions we didn't expect, like people walking into the scene.

You know, they acted as though they were supposed to do that.

Or a dog.

Rudy finding a skunk, which was not an unusual thing.

Any dead creature fascinated him.

He brought it along.

And, of course, that wonderful duet that you heard at the end was Rudy and Jim.

And I think what we want you to know is that it was fun, you know, it was fun.

It was work for us, but it was always a fun experience.

Everybody has their favorite show or things that they remember from that.

Like Martha, I know you went on lots and lots of "NatureScene"s. What was your preferred show?

What was it that really sticks with you?

>> I really loved the beaches.

We had so much fun at the beaches because you found -- -- there was so much to find.

But the most beautiful one that we went to was in Ouray, Colorado.

We went up and we were staying in a -- We stayed in horrible hotels.

(laughs) But this one was kind of charming, and it was run by a husband and wife.

There were probably ten rooms.

(laughs) But they said, well, the next day they wanted to take us up in this great big jeep.

A great big jeep for them carried 15 people.

A great big jeep for us carried us five and all our crap.

They drove us up this hill.

Bill, were you on that one?

We went up to this great, big hill.

You got up to the top.

It was this incredible wildflower meadow that they referred to as Silver Basin.

If you look around Ouray on any map you'll never find Silver Basin.

But Violet and Bob took us to see Silver Basin.

And it was the most incredible wildflowers.

It was just fabulous.

But then, closer to home, we went to Horry County.

We were in this dumpy place.

It was just, you know, it was a canal, it was junky, it was lots of litter and nastiness.

And we got to a place, and he said, "Now you can never tell anybody where you are," because this was the only place in South Carolina where all the carnivorous plants grew.

And he said, "You can never tell anybody where you are."

<Beryl> Pitcher plants and venus fly traps right there at home.

>> Yeah, I mean, two hours from here.

It was amazing.

>> Absolutely.

Okay, Bill Easterling, I'm going to pick on you for a moment before I go to Beth.

What was your favorite thing?

I know I think you like those shows out west.

<Bill> Yes.

We went to so many different desert locations and we found out that they're all different in Utah, Texas and so on, and so we learned a lot there too.

Some of it was challenging.

I remember at Capitol Reef, the big thing that everyone wanted to see was the Hickman Bridge.

This was about an hour walk from where we could park.

So in that case we took everything with us, got the pictures of the things, then did the talking part all in one trip.

So as not to have to come back.

Whereas usually we would get pictures of things that move, say, they would get a rabbit or something like that.

Then two days later, doing the talking part, they say, "All right, now we are going to point at this tree and that's where we're gonna see the rabbit."

That kind of thing.

<Beryl> There were some rather unusual creatures that you found.

I mean, I know the shows with -- was it moose... or caribou?

<Allen> We got to see all of the large animals, if you will, because we went places where they were, and they were used to people.

We, of course, in Yellowstone, we saw elk and bison.

We saw some wolves there, foxes, bear.

<Beryl> Like grizzly bear?

<Allen> Huh?

<Beryl> Like grizzly bear?

<Allen> Yeah, grizzly bear.

They may have been brown bear, but anyway, I think there were grizzly bear.

They had reintroduced some wolves there, so we got to see them too.

A lot of it was being at the right place at the right time and spending the time it took to get the pictures.

It would -- at a place like Yellowstone it takes two days to ride around that place, to see what's there.

So it -- those kind of parks were a real challenge.

It wasn't like a one-day trip to a state park in South Carolina.

<Beryl> And yet you managed to capture so much in just a half hour.

I think that's fascinating.

Beth Rickenbacker, I'm coming back to you because I know you were on those overseas trips to places like Denali.

<Beth> I did several, and we went to Chernobyl, was the last one, and that was amazing.

Like Bill, I think I spent every single show, not just that one, but every show, I think, I can't believe I'm here, I can't believe I'm out here.

And we saw, there were things in this country that I had no idea, didn't know until now, didn't know there were pelicans that migrated in the interior in Nebraska.

And we went to -- and the sand dunes in Nebraska, and the sunrise, seeing the sandhill cranes take off in New Mexico.

All of those trips were just remarkable.

I have to pinch myself that I get to do this.

<Beryl> I'm just curious, though, was it more difficult being, say, at Chernobyl or Denali?

<Beth> Definitely.

(laughs) Definitely had its challenges, particularly in Ukraine.

We did one in Chernobyl, and then one in Kiev.

The travel, logistics, we had to take translators.

Actually, going to Chernobyl, we stayed in the old village of Chernobyl.

The story was, "Nature Reclaiming an Urban Area" and that's the story we were telling.

We had to wear the clothing they gave us.

And we wore our little pins to measure radiation.

I think we all came back normal except for Allen and Jim.

They were not going to be allowed to return for five years.

(laughter) But it was okay.

And how they were different, I don't know.

Allen> Rudy was upset because he didn't get the most radiation.

I don't know how I happened to get that much because he was off in the woods.

They didn't want us to do that.

They kind of -- it is hard to control him when gets going.

<Beth> I was talking to you with the umbilical cord because I was carrying the recorder, so I don't know how you were different.

There were challenges, but it was... <Allen> It was military-looking clothes they have on in the Chernobyl show, that was it.

I mean they issued clothes to us.

And we had to wear them, whether they fit or not, but everybody had to wear these clothes and then we had to leave them.

You couldn't take anything out, of course.

I mean, they were very careful inside this exclusion zone, but they were also promoting tourism too.

<Beryl> I was just wondering, was there no personal fear of your safety, though, going to some place like that?

<Allen> We didn't turn green or purple.

(laughter) No, it was -- one of the places we did a scene, we had Russian people with us all the time.

You know, they knew what was going on.

The place we did the opening in front of the reactor, he said to us, "You couldn't have done this yesterday, because the wind was blowing this way."

They were very careful, you know, thankfully, but Rudy said, "Don't worry about it, it's fine."

When we saw a tree that had been gnawed by a beaver he said the beaver are back.

Don't worry about it, just don't handle a lot of things.

So it worked out.

<Beth> Don't turn up dust.

(laughter) <Allen> It was kind of creepy going in there, really, when you get to this big fenced-in area and gate with people with weapons out there, you know.

<Beryl> One of the things that's interesting to me is the implicit trust we all had in Rudy.

If he said we could go someplace, we went, despite our innate fears, and I'll talk about that in a minute.

Bette, I'm coming to you, because we have been talking about "NatureScene" and we will talk about "NatureNotes" and the things the public readily associates with Rudy, but I don't know they know how much he did for education.

You certainly worked with professional development, but with Rudy and kids and teachers.

<Bette> Right.

I always called Rudy the walking, talking nature encyclopedia.

We saw that with "NatureScene", heard that with "NatureNotes", but he was also an awesome teacher.

He could teach not just us adults but all aged children too.

He related to them.

And we were so lucky.

Over the past 30 years I was lucky to work with him to produce programming for students, K-12 students in South Carolina.

And also, we did nine teacher re-certification courses that teachers can take to renew their teaching certificates.

They -- teachers loved this.

He would really promote to teachers, you know.

Have those nature objects in your classroom.

Also take your students outside, just outside the door of your school and show them the wonders of nature.

That can impact and bring joy in their life forever.

So we did a lot of that sort of thing.

And I remember when we were taping in April of 2022 for one of the last courses we did, which was one that was near and dear to his heart because he always wanted to do a program on the early naturalists that came here in South Carolina.

This was exploring naturalists impacting South Carolina and beyond.

At the end of it he said, "When you have those nature objects and allow your students to touch and feel and you take your students out into nature to realize the wonder and beauty of it all, I will be with you.

I'll be right there with you.

And he will continue to be because we will have these courses for teachers to learn from.

Teachers learn not just about the content and about nature from him, but, you know, they also learn how to teach from him.

He shows us how when you are passionate about whatever you teach, whatever subject it is, that learners are engaged and therefore they learn just like we all talked about that we have learned from him.

He not only did the content, but he also taught us how to teach from your heart and show how you care.

<Beryl> Absolutely.

When you speak of teachers, I do want to give credit.

As you look at the set around us tonight, the tables are littered with Rudy-esque kinds of things.

These things were set up by Rudy's brother, Tommy Mancke, who is also a naturalist, and who happens to be the naturalist in residence at Hammond School in Columbia.

I just thought it was great that he came in, and we feel right at home as though Rudy were here with those kinds of objects all in front of us.

<Martha> The only things missing is the smell.

(laughter) <Allen> Don't touch anything.

<Beryl> Don't touch it, it may smell, that's absolutely true.

When you think about it, though, there is a value in these programs and things that he did over the years because it becomes, I don't know, almost like an archive of references that we can go back to to see things like Chernobyl before and after, that kind of thing.

In fact, Rudy himself had a comment about that.

<Rudy> We did all sorts of nice things those last two years.

Went back to places that we had been to and were very favorably impressed with.

So, we did the show twice.

The other nice thing about all the programs, and the HD programs maybe the best of them all, but they are archival material.

They show you what this place looked like when we were there on a precise date.

You could go back to the same place and compare it.

We did that with, you know, Hurricane Hugo.

We were on Bulls Island before Hugo came, went back after afterwards, went to the same spot.

Allen dissolved from the way it was, to the way it -- I think that is some of the most powerful television I've ever seen.

And if you want to know what a hurricane can do to a barrier island, that's the way to do it.

And then we went back five years later and put all three together, before, just after, and five years.

That archive of video, those programs, I think, are incredible.

>> And it was incredible.

Chrystal Burgess, tell us what it was like for you as a young person going out with Rudy Mancke.

>> It was a thrill.

I started working here at ETV in 1993.

My first job out of college, so it was a wonderful opportunity to get to go with him.

It was interesting to see how the production unfolded, because like these guys said, you'd walk around and scout the place with a camera, and they would get a shot of a dragonfly, or butterfly or bird, but then they'd do the walk-and-talk later and that animal was not there anymore, but you thought it was through the magic of editing, so it was a great formula, it was efficient, and they could just knock these shows out with ease.

<Beryl> Absolutely.

That's because, of course, the animals weren't going to stick around for us to get there later in the show.

(laughter) They didn't know how far we had to walk so you captured them when you could.

John Gasque, you've spent many, many years as the -- certainly you are News and Public Affairs director for radio, but spent many years as producer of "NatureNotes".

How many of those have you done and how long did you do it?

<John> We did over 24 years.

We did 6,200 episodes.

<Beryl> Would you say that again?

>> 6,200 episodes.

<Beryl> That is absolutely phenomenal.

What impressed you most all these years working with Rudy?

>> From day one -- I didn't know Rudy until the summer of 1999, where we met to go over what we were going to do with "NatureNotes".

The first day he came in for taping, he had a little five-by-seven card that had 15 words on it.

It dawned on me -- I said, "That's his script."

Sure enough, you take that one word and he would go for a full minute.

He would nail it, 59.9 seconds every single time.

And boy, I walked out of there impressed.

We did the first 15 in, like, 25 minutes.

<Beryl> 15 words, and 15 shows.

<John> Yes.

>> That's pretty amazing.

>> And it stayed like that the whole time.

<Beryl> Wow.

<John> Yeah.

>> So this is really almost a major anniversary year for you.

>> August of next year would have been 25 years.

>> Wow.

That is just incredible.

I'm not -- I'm almost speechless talking about that.

Speaking of radio, Tut Underwood, you also worked in radio with Rudy, but not just in the studio.

>> That's right.

We went out sometimes.

I've interviewed him numerous times for different stories that I was doing for radio.

The first time we did it, I think, we went out to Bomb Island to talk about -- in Lake Murray, for those of you in the rest of the state, to talk about the purple martins, the phenomenon that happens every summer when they swarm on Bomb Island.

And we talked about that, we sat on the boat, did the interview with the waves swishing and birds in the background.

We went out earlier in the afternoon so we could see them come in.

They were out catching food for the day, mosquitos and stuff.

It was almost like when they started coming, it was almost like he called them in or something.

You know, it was like he was a bird whisperer or something.

I know he had been out there numerous times.

So this was nothing new to him.

But he acted like it was.

Like every time we went out there he was just as excited as he always was about anything.

One thing I want to say is that one word has not come up yet, but I want to bring it up.

Rudy had an incredible sense of wonder about the world around him.

And all the pieces fit together.

Nature just fit together so perfectly.

I mean, we step on cockroaches and think they are pests and stuff, but they are food for somebody.

They eat something else.

It all -- gnats or mosquitos.

Like mosquitos provided food for the purple martins.

It all just fit together, and he saw it so clearly.

He was a man of faith also.

That increased his faith.

He was a scientist too.

So the two just blended.

He was always just full of wonder.

Every time I interviewed him he would always kind of come around to that, in the end.

>> You know what?

It was catchy.

<Tut> It was.

>> He shared that wonder with all of us.

He touched all aspects of our network, and I think about it, including the ETV Endowment.

>> What a privilege it is to talk about Rudy Mancke.

He was a rare individual.

Any interaction with him was a learning experience.

He always said "knowledge is power".

Not political power.

The power to understand the natural world and its connectness.

That is what he did with the ETV Endowment for 30 years or more.

He was our fundraising partner.

He realized you can't look at the rose granite on Cadillac Mountain in Maine and equate it to the rose granite in mountains of North Carolina.

Or sneak up on a moose in the Tetons with your crew unless you had resources.

So he helped us with the resources.

He was in the studio during pledge nights, bringing his treasures, artifacts, skulls, shells and connecting the natural world to philanthropy.

Rudy was a gift to the world.

We are all connected because he connected us to that world.

He was a gift that we treasure all of our lives.

>> He absolutely was.

I really want to talk about some of the funny things that happened on the show.

Some of the things that happened behind the scenes that no one would ever know about.

I'm thinking, for example, somebody talk to me about going out to eat with Rudy.

(laughter) >> Well, one of the things we decided very early in this national travel is we had to have a plan for eating dinner, so we took turns picking places.

Rudy loved home-cooked food.

Rudy loved fried chicken.

His number two, I guess, I have said this before, was Chinese, believe it or not.

That was tied with McDonald's; he loved McDonald's food too.

<Beth> Happy meals.

>> Happy meals, yeah, that was it.

A lot of time we got lunch on the road.

His choice was a happy meal because he didn't need very much, you know.

This is fine.

He could take the prize home to his children.

But we had a lot of neat experiences.

One that strikes me -- and this happened, I don't know, more than a few times.

We would get in a different time zone.

Rudy never changed his watch.

He said he needed to know what time to call home.

But when he shows up one or two hours ahead of time banging on my door saying, "Let's go."

That got to be a little annoying too.

But he would shake his head and say, "Oh, I'll be back."

<Beryl> I don't know.

I think the things you didn't see that I think of are... Well, I'll use Beryl as an example.

Beryl had incredible fear of heights.

<Allen> Yep!

<Martha> She did.

<Beryl> Yes, she did.

And she still does.

I'm thinking about Stumphouse Mountain, what they didn't see.

>> I'll tell this story on Beryl.

We wanted to go walk under the waterfall there, which -- it is a bit of a challenge to get down, but we had all the equipment, everything already down.

She is up there shaking her head.

Rudy and I had to basically pick her up and kind of slide her down the bank and get her there.

<Beryl> Literally.

>> She said, "I'm switching sides.

I'm going to be over here."

She's touching the wall as we have them come walking to us under the camera, walking, you know, into the shot.

It was great.

It was beautiful.

Then we had to get everything back out, which was harder than getting in there.

That's a good story.

I'm glad you remember it.

>> I remember lots of things.

When I talk about it being life-threatening situation, sometimes I remember at Birch's Ferry, we were on an incline walking across by the river.

This incline sloped all the way down into the river.

I'm looking at Rudy.

I'm going, I don't know about this.

He says, "Oh, see these rocks."

Just, you know, "These rocks have been here for thousands of years.

"Put your foot on this rock.

It will be here."

So I put my foot on this rock that had been there thousands of years.

It immediately tumbled into the river.

Not exactly inspiring more confidence.

Not exactly.

But we trusted Rudy.

We did all kinds of things with him, knowing that whatever happened-- I want to talk also about snakes.

Because that was the one show that we did back in the old days that was not totally -- what do I want to say?

It wasn't just spontaneous.

We literally brought the snakes with us.

>> This was a planned thing.

>> We knew we needed to talk about snakes indigenous to South Carolina.

Now we borrowed a snake from Rudy's brother, Tommy, at the time at the Columbia Museum of Art and Science.

<Allen> Right.

<Beryl> What happened to that snake?

<Allen> Well, as I recall, at the end of the show it was, you know, you were saying goodbye and Rudy said, "Well, I'm going to just release the snake.

<Beryl> Put it down in the road.

>> Non-poisonous snake.

Put it down.

While you were saying goodbye.

As soon as Beryl stopped talking he started running.

The snake had gone to a tree and was going up the tree and Rudy is trying to climb the tree to get the snake.

He said, "What am I going to tell Tommy?

I lost his snake!"

>> We absolutely lost a king snake that day.

Now does anybody else have a favorite Rudy tale to share?

<Beth> There is always the pillow case.

<Beryl> Talk about the pillow case.

<Beth> He always carried his pillow case, because if he saw a snake he had two, he carried the snake home with him.

<Beryl> Nobody's said the magic word.

Rudy loved road kill.

<Martha> That is what I was referring to about the smell.

The smell in that van was pretty horrendous.

<Allen> He used to always say, "Don't worry about the smell.

You will get used to it."

(laughter) <Martha> I don't think we ever got used to it, did we, Beth?

<Beth> No.

(laughter) <Chrystal> You know what, he would never let you feel bad about seeing a fox eating a rabbit because it was always the rabbit was being turned into fox, <Bette> Recycled, right.

<Chrystal> So when I would eat something, it was being turned into Chrystal.

You know, if I was eating a steak, a cow.

It was the circle of life always.

>> Always.

>> The other thing about that, I want to go back -- it wasn't just road kill, you mentioned earlier Rudy jumping out of the van.

I think someone mentioned jumping out of the van, but he had the most amazing sense of -- his eyes must have been terrific because you wouldn't see anything.

Rudy would go, "Halt, stop right here!"

He would jump out and grab something that's running across the road, you know.

Something live, preferably.

But often something dead that ended up in the pillow case.

Thank you, Ellen Mancke, his wife, because he raided her pillow cases all the time.

I also remember we went to Edisto Beach, I think.

This loggerhead turtle had washed up, and it had been washed up for a while.

It was huge and smelled to high heaven.

And, of course, Rudy decided to bring it back home with us in the van.

(laughter) Okay.

Then we are driving back around Round O.

He sees a copperhead slithering across the road.

He says, "We have to stop because it's going to go in that lady's yard."

Do you remember that, Allen?

>> Yep.

It's going to go in her yard, and we don't want a copperhead over there."

We are going, "Well, we don't want it in the van."

(laughter) But he snatches up the copperhead.

I think the snake was momentarily stunned because it's in the pillow case, the pillow case is down by my feet.

And then all of a sudden it emits this smell.

And the copperhead starts moving.

You haven't lived until you've had a copperhead moving by your feet.

You don't know which way it's going.

<Allen> It was in the pillow case.

It wasn't going to hurt you.

>> Oh yeah, that's okay.

Mark Adams, step from behind that camera and share with us.

You actually did a "NatureScene" documentary or two, so tell us your favorite Rudy story.

<Mark> Well, for me in 2009 I made the documentary "A Look Back at NatureScene" and one of the things we did together, we also made a show called "NatureScene Butterflies" where we went back to all the footage Allen had shot, beautiful footage of butterflies.

He wanted to go into a field and do his stand-ups or introductions to the footage.

He knew the perfect place to go.

A field kind of like that first field you did back in 1978.

We shot this wonderful footage.

And we got back in the van.

We started leaving.

He, like you said, "Stop, stop, pull over the van!

Pull over the van!"

And we pulled over, and he jumped out, and he grabbed a turtle.

He picked up the turtle and showed it to us.

He had, like, a kid looking at, like you said, wonder.

Just, "Look at the turtle!"

I happened to take a photo right when he was doing, you know.

It was -- to me, that was Rudy.

That is the image of Rudy I will always, forever remember.

It will always stick in my mind of Rudy just being so excited to see a turtle on the side of the road, show it to us and tell us about it.

That is what I will take with me.

<Beryl> Absolutely.

I do hope we have that shot somewhere, because it's fabulous, watching Rudy with that turtle.

If we've got it, guys, please pull it up.

<Tut> It shows you how sharp Rudy's eyes were.

He could be speeding down the road in a speeding car.

Stop the car.

He did this once at the museum.

He had seen a dragonfly outside.

From a speeding car, see a bug and identify it as something he wanted to collect for the museum's collection.

Like you said, when you were doing something in a parking lot or whatever, he could see things that we couldn't because he knew what to look for.

He knew what was there.

Any kind of an environment he knew what kind of animals, critters and plants were in that.

He would go straight to it.

<Bette> He was actually out on our land one time.

He didn't get out of his car 20 feet and found Indian pottery.

And he was like Mark said, so exuberant-like, "Indians lived here for the same reason you are living here."

But the high ground between the two streams -- the springs.

Then we were out on land on the field and lots of pebbles.

And I made note: we always wondered why there were so many pebbles up here.

He said, "Because the ocean came here!

This is where the ocean was in Orangeburg County."

I just learned so much and he taught me to read the clues.

Slow down, pay attention, think about what is it, how does it fit in, how it's connected.

Just like you said about the connections.

<Beryl> Diversity and connectivity were two of his things, talking about this world that we live in.

Those things are important.

Adrienne, I'm coming back to you.

When we started out you were our corporate head here.

But I know you had your own Rudy experience as a youngster.

<Adrienne> I did.

My first Rudy experience was as an intern.

Honestly, as a kid, I'm watching "NatureScene" so started here as an intern with the ETV Endowment.

One of my first assignments was to be the production coordinator on "NatureScene".

I'm like, "Uh, okay, I get to play with Rudy and Jim for a little bit."

And they told me we're going to the Congaree Swamp.

I said, "Nevermind, I don't want to do that.

"I'm not going to have a good time at the swamp, I'm not a swamp kind of girl."

But they're like, "Well, you better get your hiking boots and get your insect repellent."

So we get to the Congaree Swamp, Mark is helping me with all the things I need to take with me on this first-ever adventure.

And so I'm out there, mosquitos, I promise you, as big as my pinkie and Rudy wants me to see the wonder in mosquitos.

And I'm just like, I'm trying, and I can't.

By the time we left, Allen, I was really enjoying the Congaree Swamp.

To the point, that I'm like, okay, I need to bring my parents to visit the Congaree Swamp.

It was a great day.

Like you said, Chrystal, the fact we would shoot certain things but we're not talking about any of those things.

But it was so much fun.

I had no idea that I could be a swamp girl.

(laughter) <Martha> Rudy never wore mosquito repellant and never wore sun screen.

We were always encouraging him to wear sun screen because he wouldn't look good bright red tomorrow.

>> Yeah.

<Martha> And mesh it with something we shot today.

But he was, "I'm not using that junk."

<Allen> Junk stuff.

>> Junk stuff.

<Adrienne> Junk stuff.

>> Natural repellant.

<Beryl> Yeah, I think he did have natural repellant, as well as natural -- what would you call it, attractions.

Because think about the numbers of dragonflies and butterflies and things of that ilk that would sit on his finger.

<Allen> And then fly away.

<Martha> Or his nose.

<Beryl> Just fly away.

All right, we've got time for maybe one more story.

Anybody got something you want to share?

<Hardin> I think Rudy had something to do with the surprise birthday party that I had in Costa Rica.

I think you had something to do with it also, Allen.

I didn't know about it at the time.

<Allen> I'm not going to tell anybody how old you were, but -- >> I was 50 years old in Costa Rica 26 years ago, March of 26 -- I mean -- Yeah, March, 26 years ago is when we were in Costa Rica.

<Bette> We've all just had wonderful experiences.

I remember being with him with a group of teachers.

We were all looking forward to walking around this yard, learning about things from Rudy.

We had three 30-minute segments.

We got down the steps, just down the steps, out the door of the school in thirty minutes.

We had the whole school yard.

So he could talk, talk, talk.

>> Thank you all for sharing your memories with us tonight.

Thank you who are watching and listening to us.

You know, Rudy taught us all how to slow down and appreciate the wonder of the world in which we live.

His energy will forever be surrounding us.

And think about it.

What a blessing it has been for us to know this phenomenon named Rudy Mancke, we were very lucky to have Rudy in our lives.

<Rudy> My life would not have been as rich as it has been if it had not been for this network, "NatureScene" specifically, and all the folks who had a hand in making that possible.

I have lived a richer life than I would have ever lived otherwise because of this program and because of this network and because of the state supporting it.

You know, I think about this often.

I'll never be able to repay a lot of people who made a difference in my life.

Parents and all, of course, but professors, you know, at Wofford, University of South Carolina, friends here at the network, people who watch the show and say things.

How can you ever repay them, you know, for those kindnesses.

I've had a lot of joy that's come my way.

As I said, I feel richer than anybody that I know.

It has nothing to do with money.

It has to do with those wonderful experiences that I had a chance to have myself and share with other people.

Wouldn't trade places with anybody in the world.

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