| KC
Dendooven
(From Legacy magazine, March/April 2004)
 K.C.
DenDooven is the founder of KC Publications, the publisher
of the “Story Behind the Scenery” interpretive
books. K.C. started his career as a metallurgical engineer,
but at the age of 32 let his passion for photography
take over. He bought a tourism-based magazine then
moved into the world of soft cover books. K.C. is an
avid supporter of NAI and a founder of the Freeman
Tilden Award. Though retired, K.C. is still the creative
director at KC Publications and has no plans for slowing
down.
Legacy: The “Story Behind the Scenery” series
includes great writing as well as beautiful photography.
What made you decide to go this route with your book
series?
K.C. DenDooven: That’s what Freeman Tilden was
about, taking people from a known spot in their life
and enhancing their experience, their knowledge, and
their understanding of what they’re seeing. That’s
how I came into the first book on Grand Canyon. Dave
Beal is the one that put that phrase with it, “The
Story Behind the Scenery.” I’m not sure
where it ever came from but he’s the one that
put the phrase in. Later I realized that it was really
the underlying message of what I was trying to do in
publications. Not the story of the scenery (“My
isn’t it beautiful here at the Grand Canyon?”),
but what are you really seeing here? Now we’re
talking about interpretation because why is this land
important? Why is this area a national park and not
the next hill or the next gully over? What is the story
behind the scene?
Legacy: The focus of this issue of Legacy is souvenirs.
How does KC Publications fit with that theme?
K.C.: I guess I have a psychological objection to the
word souvenirs because to me it implies the “rubber
tomahawk” mentality of something to take home
from the park. But if you look at broader view, when
you have something—even when it’s, heaven
forbid, a coffee cup or a T-shirt with just “Yellowstone” on
it—if it serves the purpose to remind you of
what Yellowstone was about and what you saw there,
I suppose that has a value.
You can go back and talk about Freeman Tilden’s principles in terms of
getting people to remember their experiences at a site, recall what they saw,
and why it was important. Petrified wood exists in almost every state in the
United States, except I guess Hawaii, but it’s greatest concentration is
in the Petrified Forest National Park area and that’s why it’s important
to preserve that and not let everybody pick up one little chip of stone as a
souvenir to take home. People should take things home that invoke a remembrance
of why it’s important. I think in the area of souvenirs—if you use
it in the context of things that remind people of the total aspect of the area—you
come down to something that’s very important, Public lands need financial
support from our government. These public lands belong to us collectively as
tax payers and that’s why they say America’s national parks are the
greatest gift to the world because we Americans have financially supported our
public lands areas and the rest of the world comes as visitors and loves to see
and visit and enjoy it.
When people can bring these things back to their home, to their family, to their
children, explain it and, years later, remember it, and years later their children
go to the same park because Daddy and Mommy talked about this and brought this
home, that’s good interpretation. It’s also good park preservation
because somebody’s five-year-old kid is going to grow up to be a senator
or U.S. congressman and vote on appropriations. That’s a very key thing
where the circle of interpretation completes itself to sustain the park.
Legacy: What other series are available from KC Publications?
K.C.: I started a parallel series about 13 or 14 years ago, which I called “In
Pictures: The Continuing Story.” It’s the same interpretive message,
but without the running text. There are larger pictures and lengthier captions
so that readers still get the basic story. In the “Story Behind the Scenery,” there
is more information on geology and human history. There is also a series called “Voyage
of Discovery.” Lewis and Clark was the very first of that series. We also
do a series of books on southwest Indian arts and crafts. We’ve done a
few books in a marine series on whales and sharks, also.
Legacy: You created the Freeman Tilden Award, which has led to many other awards.
How and why did you decide to do this?
K.C.: I’ve always had a personal philosophy that if you get something out
of a system—and I do I have a nice way of life out of interpretation— you
owe the system something. One day Paul Prichard, who was then the president of
the National Parks Conservation Association, came to Las Vegas with an idea that
he wanted to present an award—a financial award—to interpreters.
It fit exactly with what I had in mind. It recognized creativity in the idea
of explaining your park to the public. It didn’t make any difference what
your position was—we even said if a maintenance man had the best idea to
explain the park, he’s eligible. It was not an award for longevity of service.
Interestingly enough, it has generally been awarded to people at smaller parks.
At that time it was called the NPCA Interpreter of the Year Award. Then within
a year we proposed it to the director, Russ Dickinson. Russ called me and asked
what I thought about naming it after Freeman Tilden. My answer to him was I felt
like an idiot that I didn’t think of that first. I believe it was first
presented in 1981. My idea was first proposed to Russ in 1980. This year I believe
is the 22nd year of the award. I would like to add, I’m incredibly proud
of the fact that most of the government agencies that have interpreters have
come up with their own form of an award to their interpreters and it’s
all presented at the same time.
Legacy: What drives you to be such a supporter of NAI?
K.C.: If you believe in something, you respond to it and you give something back.
I was at the St. Louis meeting where they put the two organizations together
and we certainly became a member of NAI.
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