John Karol is a graduate of Deerfield Academy, Williams College (where he majored in chemistry and won the Arthur B. Graves Essay Prize in Art), and the Yale Law School (where he did concurrent graduate work in organic chemistry). Following law school, he was associated for two years with the New York City law firm of Lord, Day & Lord.

During the mid-1960's he served on contract with the government of Nyasaland as that former British Protectorate became the independent African nation of Malawi. As Parliamentary Draftsman he worked on Malawi's Constitution, laws and treaties.

Upon return to the United States he joined the administration of Vermont Governor Philip Hoff, serving as General Counsel and Deputy Commissioner of Taxes. It was during that time that he began filmmaking as an experiment in public advocacy for tax reform and social programs.

Leaving government service at the end of the Hoff administration in 1969, he established his production firm, Apertura, producing films both independently and commercially. In addition to broadcast on television, his films have been shown at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Renwick Gallery, the Museum of Natural History, the Smithsonian Institution and the Museum of Modern Art. He has won numerous awards and prizes, including nomination for an Academy Award.

Persistence Plus Productions is an Apertura project dedicated to producing "Things of the Spirit," the definitive film on the personal and political life of Calvin Coolidge. John Karol can be reached at:

Persistence Plus Productions Main Street Orford, New Hampshire 03777 Tel.: (603) 353-9067 Fax: (603) 353-4646 e-mail: karol@persistenceplus.com