Beech Tree News Network

Almost daily, I see people who have physical challenges, whether from a personal accident or a birth defect or somebody else’s carelessness.  They carry on with strength and fortitude to the admiration of those around them.  At times, I wonder to myself if I could be so brave as to live with a physical challenge as a mere afterthought.  I tune in to a couple of TV shows on KET that are hosted by two such individuals: Nancy Zieman and Tim Turner.  The thing that fascinates me about these two individuals isn’t so much that they carried on in the face of so much adversity, but that they put themselves in front of the camera while doing so.

                The program, “Sewing With Nancy,” hosted by Nancy Zieman, is the longest-running sewing series in the history of North American television.  The program began airing on September 1^st, 1982, and the last program aired on November 13^th, 2017.  (Reruns of “Sewing With Nancy” can still be seen on KET.)

                When I first watched Zieman’s program, I noticed right away that one side of her face was drawn rather markedly, giving her the appearance of someone who had suffered a stroke.  I remember thinking how brave she was to continue her show after her stroke.  I had no idea that her face had looked like that since she was 14 months old.  Nancy acquired Bell’s palsy after contracting a severe ear infection.  Usually the disease corrects itself, but in Nancy’s case, it left her face permanently drawn.

                Nancy Zieman was raised on a dairy farm in Wisconsin, during the 1950s and 60s.  She learned to sew through 4-H.  She turned that skill into a business, building a sewing notions company that still exists today.  Before her death in 2017, she had added television personality, sewing instructor, business person and author, as well as TV producer to her résumé.  She wrote that sewing became her passion then eventual career, because “sewing took skill, not looks.”  (nancyzieman.com)  Nancy Zieman passed away on November 14^th, 2017, just one day after her last episode aired. 

                Tim Farmer, born on March 18^th, 1964, is an American outdoorsman, musician and television presenter.  Most people know him from the program, “Kentucky Afield,” which he hosted from 1995 to 2016.  As a young man, Tim Farmer envisioned a career in the military.  He enlisted in the Marine Corps right out of high school, but a motorcycle accident a couple of years later put an end to that plan.  Tim’s right arm was permanently paralyzed, and he was released from the military with an honorable medical discharge.

                Farmer was tapped for “Kentucky Afield” after producers there viewed a piece he put together for the “Outdoor” cable channel.  On “Kentucky Afield,” Tim has often been shown shooting a bow, by drawing the string back with his teeth.  In 2012, he began production on “Tim Farmer’s Country Kitchen,” featuring country recipes and Kentucky restaurants.  In 2013, he began “Tim Farmer’s Homemade Jam,” a program that features Kentucky musicians.  (Before his accident, Farmer played several musical instruments.  In one interview, he mentioned that not being able to play was one of the toughest things about the accident.)

                Tim Farmer had his life all planned out.  He would stay in the Marine Corps for 20 years, retiring at age 38, then join the State Police and do another 20 years.  “I had never planned on being on television,” he said.  “Life just kind of puts you in that position.” (courier-journal.com)

                Life just kind of puts a lot of us in that position.  The challenge is to go forward and make a different position, a re-defined position, like Nancy and Tim did.