BORN TO EXPLORE
Richard Wiese with Megan Smith-Harris
Saturday, September 14, 2024
Time: 3:45 – 5 PM
Milford Theater
Richard Wiese was the longest serving President of The Explorers Club, and is currently the Executive Producer and host of the multiple Emmy Award-winning ABC and PBS program, Born to Explore. He is also the author of Born to Explore: How to be a Backyard Adventurer. Charming, witty, and a natural raconteur, Richard will be in Conversation with Megan Smith-Harris, a documentary filmmaker, screenwriter, and playwright.
This session will have broad appeal to people of all ages.
Richard Wiese
Richard Wiese is a world-class explorer, the longest-serving President of The Explorers Club (EC), and the Executive Producer and Host of the multiple Emmy-winning program “Born to Explore” on ABC and PBS. His acclaimed book, Born to Explore, was published by HarperCollins.
As President of The Explorers Club, Richard developed and negotiated multi-year partnerships with renowned organizations like Rolex, Microsoft, and Discovery, which led to EC’s first multi-million dollar grant program. During his tenure, he established the first annual Global Exploration Summit, often referred to as the Davos of Exploration, in partnership with Portugal. Richard also founded The Explorers Club 50 initiative, highlighting “Fifty people who are changing the world, that the world needs to know about,” and launched the organization’s first Diversity and Inclusion program. His leadership brought about significant milestones, including appointing the first African American woman to the board of directors and the first woman Chair of Ethics & Governance, organizing the first symposium for LGBTQ+ individuals in exploration, and negotiating a three-book deal with Crowne/Random House.
Richard lives in Weston, Connecticut, with his wife Nicci, who works in the safari industry, their twin boys, and their daughter.
Meghan Smith-Harris
Megan Smith-Harris is a writer, director and producer with a passion for storytelling. Her career encompasses theatre, film, documentary, television, magazines, blogs and radio. She wrote, produced and directed a number of long form documentaries, including three full-length docs for WeTV. Her independent feature, Trial by Fire: Lives Re-Forged, aired on PBS for several years, and is now in its ninth year streaming on Amazon Prime. From 2014 – 2021, Megan was the Managing Editor of Wilton Magazine. Her feature articles were recognized with 25 Connecticut Press Club awards as well as four awards from the National Federation of Press Women. Currently, Megan is the Managing Editor of Our Homes Magazine in Ontario, Canada. She is also shopping her feature film script, The Ghost of You, a character-driven dramedy; and working on the film adaptation of her award-winning play, Killing Mom.
More at megansmithharris.com