JOSHUA WHITNEY, CHRIST CHURCH Portrayed by Doug Duel, Organist: Laura Nancy Kennedy

I, Joshua Whtney, am the real father of Binghamton. William Bingham never even came here. True he owned the land and engaged my father to be his land agent. My father died suddenly in 1798 and I took over his duties. I laid out Court, Water and Washington Streets and established a public square and courthouse at Court and Chenango Streets. This church was a simple wooden structure when I was alive. You can see that I am a man of ample size. When I requested extra pew room from the vestry they refused. Such ingratitude, after all I’ve done. I am tempted to haunt this building from time to time. After my death the parishioners under the leadership of a dynamic rector engaged a nationally renowned architect, Richard Upjohn, to design a new stone structure.

It was in just such a bus station as the Binghamton Greyhound station that I set my Twilight Zone episode, “Mirror Image”. Binghamton locales were often in my mind when I wrote my scripts. I started writing for radio and TV in Ohio right after graduating from Antioch College. After winning my second (of six) Emmy Awards I became increasingly frustrated with corporate and sponsor interference in the television industry. I gave up writing for commercial TV and launched my Twilight Zone series. I chose the medium of science fiction/fantasy as a vehicle for exploring moral and controversial issues. It was a combination of my childhood, my wartime experiences in the Philippines and the many social issues facing our country in the 50’s that fostered my social conscience. My Binghamton roots were always central in my life. Oh, by the way, who here is waiting for the bus to Cortland?