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ETV Presents "Gaillard's Charleston," Sept. 30 at 7:30 p.m.

A Look at the Life and Times of the Late Charismatic Mayor Program Features His Last Interview

For Immediate Release
August 25, 2006

Production Fact Sheet

Columbia, SC...On Saturday, Sept. 30 at 7:30 p.m., ETV presents Gaillard’s Charleston, an intimate portrait of the late J. Palmer Gaillard, Jr., a Charleston native who spent his life working for the betterment of his beloved city.  Encore presentations will air on Sunday, Oct. 1 at 6:30 p.m. and Wednesday, Oct. 4 at 7 p.m.

The program includes the last interview that Gaillard gave before his tragic death in an automobile accident in July.  During the program, he reminisces about everything from collecting glass bottles for a penny apiece during Prohibition, to having a “knot as big as the Pentagon” in his stomach when he decided to run for mayor in 1959. 

His years in office are remembered as a time when his energy and personality became synonymous with the growing coastal city. During his four terms, he transformed Charleston by tripling its size, expanding the boundaries west of the Ashley River.  Gaillard also helped the city become solvent again, when it was teetering on the brink of bankruptcy.  He brought a new spirit to the old city, putting his stamp on everything from building an auditorium to selling Charleston on a national stage. 

Gaillard is affectionately remembered through interviews with many prominent Charlestonians, including current Mayor Joe Riley who credits Gaillard with setting the stage for the coming of the Spoleto Festival, and former State Senator Herbert Fielding, who praised Gaillard’s peaceful resolution to racial unrest during back-to-back strikes in 1969.  One of Gaillard’s three boys, W. Foster, compared his life with his father to the classic sitcoms “My Three Sons,” and “Father Knows Best.”

Gaillard's legacy is the thriving, bustling Charleston of today, a place he called home until his death at age 86.

Gaillard’s Charleston is hosted by Alex Sanders, former president of the College of Charleston, and produced by ETV’s Senior Producer/Director John Bullington.

South Carolina ETV is the state's public educational broadcasting network with 11 television and eight radio transmitters, and a multi-media educational system in more than 2,500 schools, colleges, businesses and government agencies. Using television, radio and the web, SCETV's mission is to enrich lives by educating children, informing and connecting citizens, celebrating our culture and environment and instilling the joy of learning.

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For more information, contact Rob Schaller at (803) 737-6556 or rschaller@scetv.org.