Henson Jim - Its not easy being green: and other things to consider

For John and Heather

T he song that my dad is best known for performing is Its Not Easy Bein Green, written by his long-term collaborator, Joe Raposo. We chose to use it as the title of this book because its lyrics capture not only the feelings of Kermit the Frog but a universal message that resonates with people the world over, a message that its okay to be different, to embrace what makes you special, and to be proud of it.

Jim Hensons personality was very much like Kermits, and in some ways this song echoes his own life and work. The choices that he made were unusual. He created his own path and walked it with confidence. He enjoyed life, he looked for a playful approach to everything that he did, and he found success and plenty to be grateful for along the way. For me it is the resolution of the song that fits him best: Green is cool and friendly like and I think its what I want to be.

What you will find in these pages is a collection of quotes, many of them from my dads characters and creative partners. We felt that this was the best approach because the world knew my father through the Muppet characters that he performed and the words of the writers with whom he worked. But this book also contains a lot of quotes from Jim himself that have been taken from interviews, personal notebooks, letters, and other writings, some being published now for the first time. Many of my favorites come from a six-month period in 1986 when I was working closely with him. During this time, we traveled extensively, including one trip that took us all the way around the world. Working in different countries and interacting with other cultures was fascinating to him and gave him much to consider.

My father was a thoughtful person. He was intrigued with the concept of the mind, how the brain works and where memories are stored. For him, the head was linked to the heart, and it was his heart that fueled everything he did. When my father got started on a project, he would look for inspiration from within. I remember when we were growing up, how he loved to take a chair out into the garden and sit quietly, away from the hustle and bustle of the home, and just be. There were five children, eight cats, two dogs, six rabbits, and a ferret in the household, so he needed to find quiet time to hear himself. I believe that he always followed his heart and tried to focus on the things that truly mattered to himjoy, laughter, understanding, and a deeper sense of connectedness. That is why we titled the first chapter Listen to Your Heart.

The second chapter is Dynamite Determination. Although my fathers inspiration came from the heart, he was a man who worked tirelessly and eagerly embraced opportunities to realize his dreams. Many people dont know that he did not set out to be a puppeteer. He grew up in rural Mississippi, and his first love was television and what he saw as its extraordinary potential to reach out to people. When he was seventeen years old, he went into the local TV station in Washington, D.C., near where his family was then living, and asked for a job. They didnt hire him, but he saw a sign on a bulletin board at the station looking for a puppeteer. He went to the local library, took out a book on puppetry, built some puppets, and went back. Now I am a puppeteer, will you hire me? They did. Within a couple of years, he had his own show on that station, and the puppet that was to become Kermit the Frog was born. Throughout his career, my dad had to sell people on his ideas. He was determined to get his projects made and show the world what he could do. His character Dr. Teeth of The Electric Mayhem Band sings a song that says, You cant take no for an answer. He rarely did.

Jim loved working collaboratively with other people. Work was play, and he loved a good game. He brought together writers, producers, puppeteers, and friends to make his productions happen. He was not unlike Kermit leading the Muppet gang to Hollywood in the first Muppet Movie when he says, Ive got a dream too, but its about singing and dancing and making people happy. Thats the kind of dream that gets better the more people you share it with. My dad was excited by the creative process and believed that with the right team he could accomplish anything. That attitude explains the third chapter, Together Well Nab It, featuring the voices of people who worked closely with Jim as they talk about what made his style of leadership special.

It Starts When Were Kids, the fourth chapter, taps into my dads childhood dreams and the imagination that made those dreams possible. Jim always had respect for children, and so his characters never talked down to them. When he started on Sesame Street, he had four kids of his own under the age of six, giving him plenty of firsthand experience with how thoughtful, emotional, and mischievous real children could be. When we were young, he enjoyed hearing the stories that we made up and encouraged us to explore the worlds of our imaginations. As we grew, he helped us to gain the skills to create on our own. As a parent and an artist, Jim truly embraced the energy and spontaneity of childhood. I dont think he ever lost the sense of wonder and appetite for discovery that we associate with kids.

The last chapter is called A Part of Everything and Everyone. This is how Jim remembers feeling in one of his happiest moments of inspiration, lying under a big old tree in California. Dad always admired trees. As a young man, he often painted and drew them. He loved the variety of their shapes and the personalities they resembled. He enjoyed their age and elegance. In this chapter, he talks about nature and how intriguing it was for him to use our world as inspiration to create new worlds like those of The Dark Crystal and Fraggle Rock. He was also interested in the real world and wanted to do his part to make it better. He realized his limitations in this regard, but he never lost his faith that each act of kindness, each bit of understanding, and each smile can make a difference.

Compiling the quotes for this book has been a great pleasure for me. Reading the beautiful things that people have said about my father, looking through the letters that he wrote and the notes that he made, have brought me closer to him and to his way of thinking. It has given me great joy to have the words to the songs that he sang buzzing through my head as I go through my day.

Looking through his writings, I was struck by the honesty of a few simple lines on the first page of one notebook:

Beginning this is the hardest thingI bought this book last weekIve wanted to do this for several months but theres something awesome about a totally blank bookand so beautifulat least at this point it is.

My life is basically a very fortunate one and I first of all have no big complaints.

Writing did not always come easily to my father. He thought more in images and ideas than he did in words. He found the blank white page of the notebook both beautiful and awesome. It represented the infinite potential of yet another creative project. He started with a note of gratitude.

My dads life was full of blessings. The unique way he approached life made it possible for him to create some of the most beloved characters the world has known and to use them to spread social values that were important to him, such as inclusiveness, tolerance, humor, and kindness. This book is intended to convey the many facets of my dads being and his thinking. I hope you enjoy it.