Re: Memorial for Jeff Ball?

**H*@aol.com**

I have a very different perspective on Jeff Ball and his  legacy.  

Jeff and I met maybe 30 years ago when there was a GWA annual  meeting in 
Baltimore.  It was the dawn of the computer age and our heads  and 
imaginations were abuzzzz.   Jeff and I were in the back of the  bus long before he 
had become an influence on the gardening world.

At the conference we met two producers from Maryland Public  Television.  
As a result of meeting these ladies and establishing  relationships I was 
invited to meet James Underwood Crockett whose books  were wildly popular as 
was his PBS show The Victory Garden.  Crockett and I  met in Manhattan very 
early one morning, I believe it was around 4 a.m. prior to  his appearance on 
the Today Show.  The experience with him and our time in  the green room 
will never be forgotten.

Jeff was able to work with one of the producers from Maryland  Public 
Television where he did some screen testing and on camera work testing  the 
waters for potential television work.  I guess it was this work  that was the 
lead up to his work with NBC and his numerous appearances on the  Today Show.

In an instant Jeff was reaching millions of households and  promoting the 
vocation, hobby and addiction that we all suffer from.   Gardening.

That's what I will always remember Jeff for.  

Andrew Messinger
The Hampton Gardener is a  registered trade mark and is published every 
Thursday in The Southampton Press,  The Press and the Easthampton Press

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