A different Rainbow Connection

Have you ever questioned the relationship between Bert and Ernie? Beyond Jim Henson, how much do you know about the people behind — or under, in most cases — some of the most famous Muppet characters?

Visiting lecturer Jessica “Max” Stein will address these topics and more when she delivers her talk, titled, “The Rainbow Connection: Richard Hunt, Gay Muppeteer.” The presentation, part of Women’s History Month at SUNY Fredonia, will take place Wednesday Mar. 31 at 7:30 p.m. in 202 McEwen Hall. The event is free and open to the public.

Stein’s lecture chronicles the life and work of Richard Hunt, a central puppeteer with the international blockbuster hits, “Sesame Street” and “The Muppet Show.” Hunt performed characters such as Scooter, Statler, Janice, Beaker and Miss Piggy (in her early “drag queen” days, says Stein) while working as a puppeteer. He was open about his homosexuality while working as a famous puppeteer, and died of AIDS-related causes in 1992 at the age of 40., is the biography upon which her lecture is based. From 2001-03 she covered gay and women’s issues at the Indypendent, a progressive New York newspaper. She won an Independent Press Association Award in 2003 for Best Editorial for her coverage of the anti-gay murder of Sakia Gunn.

Stein teaches English at the City University of New York and is also a freelance writer and author. Her most recent work, The Rainbow Connection: Richard Hunt, Gay Muppeteer.

For more information on Women’s History Month events, contact Dr. Ingrid Johnston-Robledo at robledij@fredonia.edu or at 716-673-3893.