It only took 75 years but....

Finally, at its Emmy Awards telecast on September 22, 2002, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS) recognized Philo T. Farnsworth as "the inventor of electric television." Farnsworth's widow, Elma "Pem" Farnsworth was invited to Los Angeles to be present in the Shrine Auditorium, to accept the recognition of the industry that she helped her husband invent.

Use your Real Media or Windows Media player to view the segment:

And, for those of you who were wondering... yes, I WAS in the audience, seated immediately to Pem's left... how exactly I got there is a story better left untold... but.... there I am, on the far right of the screen, basking in my15-nano-seconds of a half-frame of fame...

And on Pem's right (the other one wearing the Hawaiian flower lei) is Georja Skinner, Mrs. Farnsworth's agent and manager (and, umm... my ex-wife), who was instrumental in engineering the whole event.

Thanks also to Emmys telecast producers Gary Smith and Zack Smith for including this moment in the program, to Academy executives John Leverence and George Sunga for recognizing its importance, and to Evan Schwartz for working all the angles.