Benjamin Franklin is a man so complex and exciting that presenting this persona in the first person is an extraordinary challenge.  There are so many facets to this man's life that the first thing one needs to know about him is everything!  Where does one begin?  Boyhood and apprenticeship in Boston?    The challenges of growing up and plotting out his life?  Business and family in Philadelphia?  A curious study of electricity?  Life as a member of the Philadelphia assembly?  Representative to the Continental Congress?  The list goes on.  And what about the times, the characters and the historic events shaping his world?  He was born in an English colony and was buried in an American state.  Factor in all these elements and it becomes easier to understand the complexities of this man and the difficulties of portraying him.  Take, for example, a brief review of the photograph above.  Consider that Benjamin Franklin entertained and was entertained by the notables of Parisian life in parties known as "Le Salon."  In this re-creation at the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, DC, created by Mr. Dean Howarth and his students from McLean High School (McLean, VA) and friends of mine (Ron Duquette who portrays Albert Gallatin and Elaine Rand who has assumed the persona of a host of the Salon) are engaged in watching a musical recital in one of the more elaborate French rooms of the Museum.  What do you know about the room?  the performer, the music of the day and the way it would be performed?  Please consider that Benjamin Franklin would have known this information, and that's very tangential to the core of his life and the accomplishments we ascribe to him.