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Adams Center native Rushnell shares instances of 'godwinks'
Adams Center native Squire D. Rushnell's broadcasting career began with talking into a broom-handle microphone with his best radio voice at the breakfast table, in his bedroom — wherever anyone would tolerate him.
These days, the former vice president of "Good Morning America" and ABC children's programming has some more effective equipment in his tool belt. He now tells his stories about "godwinks," a word that he coined, in books, on TV, in online videos and in e-mails.
Mr. Rushnell, now of New York City and Martha's Vineyard, Mass., said "godwinks" are "sometimes called a coincidence, sometimes an answered prayer, but it is something that happens and it's so astonishing it could have only come from above."
The 1956 graduate of Adams Center Central School said he finds godwinks in his life every day, and while he used to keep a journal in his pocket to jot them all down, he's now more interested in other people's stories. In his book series, "When God Winks," Mr. Rushnell chronicles the stories of celebrities and everyday people who believe they have had godwink moments.
The former TV executive's godwinks are a little different from most. On Wednesday, he recalled praying with his wife, celebrity impersonator Louise DuArt, that morning and asking for their book, "Couples Who Pray," to gain momentum. Hours later, he said, CNN called and asked the couple to appear together in a 15-minute spot at 8:15 a.m. May 10.
"I considered that a pretty good godwink," he said over the phone from his New York City apartment.
He also recalled his first godwink, when he was hitchhiking on Route 11 to get to his first job interview at the Watertown Daily Times, where he worked in advertising, and WWNY-TV, then WCNY-TV.
"I started to worry I wasn't going to get there. Then, all of a sudden, a little green Volkswagen pulled over to the side of the road," he recalled. "It was Dean Harris, my hero, picking me up on a country road and taking me to my first job interview in the business that would become my business for next three and a half decades. What are the odds?"
Ironically, Mr. Rushnell said, when he started work at WWNY-TV, he was handed a broom, only this time he had to use it for its intended purpose. He later moved on to film editing, then attended Syracuse University to study radio and television broadcasting.
He tells these stories and relays stories about other people's godwinks on Beliefnet.com in videos. Mr. Rushnell can be seen telling the story about how actor Denzel Washington met his wife, Pauletta, and how actress Diane Lane knew that her late father was with her when she landed a breakthrough job interview.
Mr. Rushnell said it has taken eight years of persistence to get his latest work on network television. It wasn't until April 16 that he landed an interview on the show he ran for four years and pushed to the top of the ratings for the first time.
"The g-o-d word was blocked at the gate," he said.
Mr. Rushnell said he grew up going to churches in Adams on weekends and never considered himself to be part of a certain religion, so he doesn't tell his stories with a specific religious view. He doesn't claim to know what they mean in a big-picture, religious context. When he's asked if coincidences are evidence of a grand plan, he said, his answer is simple:
"I don't know. I'm just the guy that brought you 'Schoolhouse Rock,'" he said with a self-deprecating laugh. "But if there is no coincidence to coincidence like some people say, what is it?"
He said he clings to godwinks as encouragement, especially during hard times.
"They're such signs of hope in uncertain times like we're in now," he said. "It's just a matter of keeping track of them."
ON THE NET
When God Winks:
