Max Armstrong
Introduction I am a terrible listener.
If only I had developed the skill of being able to listen better, with pinpoint accuracy. I have envied that quality in others. You would think that after more than 45 years of being Orion Samuelson’s colleague and business partner I would have acquired, just by osmosis, the ability to watch a scene unfold, retain the key takeaway points and then parrot them back to the audience in complete, unfaltering, sentences. I saw him do that on dozens of occasions and often without notes. Orion was sometimes called “One Take Charlie” by engineers, stagehands, directors, and producers who worked with us. He had that skill, whether on the phone reporting from a meeting he had attended or in the studio to record a broadcast. Unlike his junior associate, Orion rarely needed to take a second try at it. He had quickly absorbed what had transpired and could then, almost flawlessly, share with his listeners and viewers what he thought they should know. As I have been a speaker at farm meetings, I have often told farmers that before they can spread the news about agriculture, they first need to be good listeners; that before they launch into their elevator speech about the magnificent strengths and contributions of what I refer to as “America’s Most Essential Industry,” they need to show respect and some patience with their target audience. They need to listen. The individual they want to convince may, indeed, have grossly erroneous views of modern production agriculture, but those are likely firmly held -5-