As I’ve gotten deeper into my exploration of film and my research, and as I’ve gotten more outgoing in attending events and networking at them or online, my awareness has grown of the people whose toil has helped preserve film and its history. While I’ve never met David B. Pearson, I have seen his name associated with silent film projects, particularly ones related to comedy. All of a sudden his name was popping up in my Twitter feed in connection to a GoFundMe listing created for his benefit.
Before I get into the specifics of Pearson’s situation, I want to let you know a little more about the man. He has a biography posted on the The International Buster Keaton Society‘s site, and I’m assuming either he wrote it or collaborated with the person who did. Since it is the closest I have from him to a self-description, I want to share it with you.
From the site:
Graphic designer David B. Pearson is a published author on the topics of Buster Keaton, Roscoe Arbuckle and Harold Lloyd. He’s also the webmaster of the busterkeaton.com family of websites, including “Arbucklemania,” which is celebrating its 21st year online in 2017. Pearson is also credited with being a writer on four Buster Keaton video documentaries for Kino Video, and in conjunction with Paul Gierucki, has assisted in the restoration of more than 90 short comedy films, including Arbuckle’s masterpiece LOVE, and the previously lost (and unknown) Charles Chaplin appearance in the Keystone short A THIEF CATCHER.
If you consistently watch Turner Classic Movie‘s program Silent Sunday Nights, you’ve likely seen at least one of his restorations.
We know anyone who’s devoted himself to silent film has chosen passion over a fiscally rewarding career. He, also, devoted himself to the care of his elderly parents, both of whom suffered from Alzheimer’s. His mother’s condition worsened enough to warrant her being put in a home, and afterward his father passed away. All his money is going into his mother’s care, and he must sell the family home to help pay for it. To complicate matters, Pearson has Asperger’s; he cannot see well-enough to drive; and the family home is in remote area. He needs to resettle somewhere closer to his mother and where he can hire transportation to be able to fulfill his basic needs like grocery shopping and getting his own medical care.
Since he is running out of money to live on, let alone move, one of his friends turned to GoFundMe as a way to help. Somewhere between my seeing the appeal at the right time and wanting to thank the man for his work, I made a donation. If you know of him, his work, or are moved by his situation, I encourage you to do the same! The funding goal has almost been met in only seven days. I see friends and familiar names from the online silent and classic film communities donating. If you’d like to join us and do the same, please click on this link.
