PORT TOWNSEND — “Granny and Jed” are mentioned in the third and final clue for the 10th annual Port Townsend Film Festival’s Guess the Guest contest.
The film festival’s honored guest – a star in the film industry — and the winner of the Guess the Guest contest will be announced Monday.
The annual contest leads up to the multiple film screenings at the festival, scheduled Sept. 24-27 this year, which also hosts an honored guest each year.
For the 2009 Guest the Guest contest, in addition to guessing the identity of the guest, the winner also must name both the roles the person played and the productions the person appeared in.
The third clue is:
“You’ll excuse me a bit of a whine
“As I cry for awards that are mine,
“But my ego’s not fed
“Or as Granny told Jed,
“Counting Emmys, I’ve won only nine.”
The first clue, announced July 21, is:
“Here’s a clue you may ponder and fiddle
“To deduce my identity riddle —
“I vas krazee olt folk
“Mit en accent I spoke
“To my grandson, the lad in the middle.”
The second clue, announced July 28, is:
“In selecting a name for your charge,
“Take a lesson from Mme. DeFarge
“And don’t be so numb
“Like her friends, the dumb scum.
“Name her something more bland. Name her Marge.”
The limericks of all three clues were written by prolific author Michael Thomsett, a former Port Townsend resident who now lives in Spring Hill, Tenn., said Terry Tennesen, film festival director, who took over after the unexpected death of artistic director and festival co-creator Peter Simpson on April 16.
Tribute to founder
Simpson, who served on the organizing committee for the first festival 10 years ago, died of cardiac arrest at the age of 74.
The festival in September will be a tribute to Simpson, the festival Web site at www.ptfilm fest.com says.
Tennesen said he knew he couldn’t do it the way Simpson had, so “at a moment of weakness or inspiration, I picked up the phone and called Michael,” an old friend, to write the clues for the Guess the Guest contest.
Thomsett has written more than 70 books about real estate, stock market investment and business management, as well as a history book, The German Opposition to Hitler, four specialized dictionaries and four books of quotations on specialized topics, according to his Web site, www.michaelthomsett.com.
He also composes music.
Contest winner
The first person to correctly identify the honored guest, with the other information about the part played and production titles, will receivean invitation for two to the reception for the guest after a screening of one of the guest’s films, an introduction to the honored guest and a photograph taken with the guest.
To enter the contest, e-mail, snail mail, or hand-deliver a entry.
Each entry must include name and telephone number as well as the name of the honored guest, role played and production title.
Entries can be e-mailed to info@ptfilmfest.com, subject: Guess the Guest Contest.
Entries also can be written on an 8-by-11-inch sheet of paper and mailed to PTFF Contest, P.O. Box 594, Port Townsend, WA 98368.
Hand-deliver entries to 211 32-A Taylor St. (Mount Baker Block) in downtown Port Townsend. If no one is in the office, use the mail slot in the door.
Clues are also posted on the festival’s Web site at www.ptfilmfest.com.
All regular festival passes are on sale for members as well as nonmembers of the festival for $150 at the Port Townsend Farmers Market or at The Food Co-op, 414 Kearney St., today and next Tuesday, as well as Sept. 2, Sept. 9 and Sept. 15; or at the Uptown Street Fair on Aug. 15.
Regular passes cost $175 when purchased from the festival.
Previous guests have included Tony Curtis in 2000, Eva Marie Saint, 2001; Patricia Neal, 2002; Shirley Knight, 2003; Jane Powell, 2004; Debra Winger, 2005; Malcolm McDowell, 2006; and Elliott Gould, 2007.
Each is celebrated by the screening of one of his or her more noted films, followed by an interview and question-and-answer session.
