The window of Tom Myette’s Southport, Maine home looks out over Dogfish Head, where environmentalist Rachel Carson studied marine life and wrote her seminal book Silent Spring. He loves the natural beauty and remote location, but Myette also treasures his connections to the rest of the world, and to GBH in particular. “GBH is a lot more than a local television station—it produces wonderful programs that people can watch all over the globe,” he said. “In today’s world, even as people disperse, they don’t need to lose touch with GBH.”
An avid MASTERPIECE fan, Myette is grateful for the series’ captivating dramas, eye-catching costumes and fascinating mysteries. In addition, “MASTERPIECE has introduced me to things that I wouldn’t have been exposed to otherwise,” he said. “There have been moments on MASTERPIECE that were just illuminating to me. I learned about the human condition.”
He was introduced to GBH when a friend who worked there invited Myette to the GBH wine auction. “I met fabulous people and I felt like this was my tribe,” he recalled. “I decided to become a donor.”
Myette grew up in Reading, Massachusetts and attended Colby College. “That liberal arts education is the core of my curiosity,” he said. “It’s why I’ve been able to build a career that is all about problem-solving.” After creating technology solutions at Boston investment management firms for years, he moved to Maine and applied his skills in the restaurant, oil and alternative energy fields.
As he considered his estate planning options, his thoughts naturally turned to GBH and the value of public media. “I am not married, and I don’t have children,” he said. “GBH and Maine Public Broadcasting Network, the state’s PBS station, are my progeny. As I thought about what is important to me, I kept coming back to them. I believe in them and their ability to do things right.”
His generous gift to MASTERPIECE is a thank you for all it brought to his life, including a penchant for mystery writing. “I’m almost finished with my first book. MASTERPIECE actually helped me as I developed the form and plot,” he said. “It also makes me imagine that someday I could write something that might be turned into a wonderful production.”
To learn more about naming GBH in your estate plan, contact the GBH Office of Gift Planning and Endowment at:
gift_planning@wgbh.org
or 800-220-7122.
