JOHNSON CITY - Roswell Spears, a 76-year-old native of Johnson City, Tennessee and one of the premier documentarians of his generation passed away Tuesday, February 6, 2024, in Sandy Spring, Maryland after a long illness. The Museum of Modern Art's William Sloan wrote of his work "Spears has made a lasting and significant contribution to American Film. All of his work possesses a rare vigor and discipline that is unique."
Ross Spears was born July 2, 1947, in Johnson City, Tennessee, to Mary Hunnicutt Spears and Roswell Howard Spears Jr. Spears grew up in Johnson City and graduated as state tennis champion and valedictorian of the class of 1965 at Science Hill High School.
Spears received multiple prestigious awards including the Guggenheim Fellowship, the Lyndhurst Prize, the Mountain Institute Hero Award, and the Tennessee Governor's Prize for both the Arts and the Humanities. He established the James Agee Film Project in Johnson City in 1974.
Spears' first feature film with the James Agee Film Project, Agee, received an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary. It was also the beginning of his long collaboration with East Tennessee composer Kenton Coe who went on to compose the soundtracks for all of Spears' work. Agee portrayed the life and work of the East Tennessee writer, James Agee, and was lauded for its "meticulous attention to poetic detail" and its "insightful storytelling." Spears devoted his career to exploring the history and culture of the American South. His most recognized work is the four-part PBS series, Appalachia: A History of Mountains and People (2009), narrated by Sissy Spacek and featuring prominent voices Barbara Kingsolver and Edward O. Wilson. Historian Ron Eller praised the series as setting "a new standard for documentary films about Appalachia and [providing] a new framework for understanding the mountains and our relationship to them".
The APPALACHIA series garnered over 15 million viewers. Hailed for its breathtaking visuals and engaging narrative, APPALACHIA exploreD the complex relationship between the Appalachian Mountains and the diverse communities that have shaped and been shaped by them. It was named Best Video of the Year by the American Library Association's Booklist.
Other of his films include Long Shadows, An Afternoon with Father Flye, The Electric Valley, To Render a Life, Tell About the South, Captina Creek and The Truth About Trees.
The last years of his life Ross Spears faced a rare neurological disease, Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, with the same courage and grace he brought to filmmaking. He is survived by his son, Nicholas Broussard Spears of University Park, Maryland. Private burial will be at Cool Spring Natural Cemetery, Berryville, Virginia.