"I don't need to relive that period again and again"

Angela Dodson

The Emmy Award-winning documentary Ashes to Glory debuted to rave reviews in 2000. The film about the 1970 Marshall University plane crash inspired viewers. But for many people like MU alumna Angela Dodson, it would take several years after the documentary’s release before they could muster up enough nerve to watch a film that revived so many hurtful memories. Dodson is a free-lance writer, editor and consultant. At the time of tragedy, Dodson was a sophomore who majored in journalism.

Q: Did the film meet your expectations?
A. Yes, I guess so. But I feel it had a blind spot to the black students, especially non-athletes and administrators like Ed Starling—the gap you filled with your book [November Ever After].
Q: Will you watch it again?
A. Probably not because I now know what’s in it, and I don’t need to relive that period again and again. I do watch We Are Marshall repeats on TV, and I own the movie too. I took my family to see it the first week it was out. My husband kept asking me after various scenes, “Did that really happen?” I had to keep saying, “No” or “I don’t think so.” Maybe it’s easier to watch because I know so much of it isn’t real. With the documentary, it’s all too real.

Angela Dodson's take on the memoir November Ever After