I sent a similar email to the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center

I just realized I've been saying it premiered in 1976 this whole time.......

I replied to every email I sent with the corrected date of the screening 👍

Lee Groban's Site

Has anyone noticed that LD Groban's website listed on his obituary now just sends you to a blank page containing Chinese characters and then brings you to an extremely suspect page with p*rn on it????????

It's so bizarre and I guarantee neither Lee nor any of his relatives had anything to do with it, but it's kind of perfect.

Click at your own risk:
www.lee-groban.com

And the obituary:
https://legacy.suntimes.com/us/obituaries/chicagosuntimes/name/lee-groban-obituary?id=25872790

Below is an email I have sent to one Dr. Daniel Olson, a name mentioned in Lee's obituary as a possible nephew.

Hello Dr. Olson,

I apologize for the strange email out of nowhere, but I do hope this finds you well. Your research in immunology seems incredibly impressive and life saving.

I am reaching out wondering if you could possibly be related to the artist Lee Groban who passed away in Evanston in 2002. He was an outstanding experimental artist who created one of the longest films ever made, The Cure for Insomnia, (87 hours total) which has unfortunately been lost to the public for decades. I understand if you do not feel comfortable responding, but I want you to know that I am just a [redacted] year old student at [redacted] who is incredibly interested in Jewish film and film history at large who has become kind of obsessed with finding this film.

Thanks so much,
[redacted]
[redacted]

Great to hear from you Marijn! I have big updates:

I have gotten in touch with Aron Packer of Packer Gallery, where Lee Groban's art was commemoratively displayed after his death in 2002. Aron and I called and he said he was a long time friend of Lee's who had worked with him for many years. He even signed off one of our emails with a Lee Groban quote!!! Aron sent me the email address of a filmmaker Lee Groban worked with named Nancy Bechtol. I am drafting an email to her at this moment.

:: @walktothepit added on 12 Feb ’23 · 16:58

Great to hear from you Martijn! I have big updates:

I have gotten in touch with Aron Packer of Packer Gallery, where Lee Groban's art was commemoratively displayed after his death in 2002. Aron and I called and he said he was a long time friend of Lee's who had worked with him for many years. He even signed off one of our emails with a Lee Groban quote!!! Aron sent me the email address of a filmmaker Lee Groban worked with named Nancy Bechtol. I am drafting an email to her at this moment.

Below is the message I have sent to Nancy Bechtol:

Good morning Mrs. Bechtol,

I hope this email finds you well. I am a student at [redacted] and have been fascinated by the film and poem The Cure for Insomnia by Lee Groban for some time now. Both the film and the poem have been publicly inaccessible for around 20 years now and people from across the world have spent years trying to get the poem and film released to the public. I have been in contact with Aron Packer of Packer Gallery in Chicago and he sent me your way. He said that you collaborated with Lee on some sort of film. I am wondering if you have any access to The Cure for Insomnia in any way or any other possible leads.

Thank you so much,
[redacted]
[redacted]

BIG NEWS:

Deb Olson, sister of Lee Groban emailed me back saying she has a copy and will send me one if I pay for postage and for the duplication. At first I was worried this was a scam, but then I remembered I was contacting her through her law firm's website....not too worried.

I have replied that I am willing to pay the amount requested and am excited!

Unsure on the format or the rights. I will let you know when I have those details cleared up.

Update:

I hope you are all well. Unfortunately, Deb Olson has gone radio silent. She claims to have a copy of the film, but has not replied to my email in some weeks. I sent her another email today (I have not bombarded her with emails at all, do not worry) and hope to hear back soon.

Update:

I have re-established contact with Deb Olson. She has asked me to come help her find the DVD.

Hello, my name is Robert. I've been curating the work of John Timmis since 2006 including his music, film, and writing. This is very exciting news. I hope you are able to locate it. Currently, we are working on distributing his other films so we would be very interested in adding Cure For Insomnia. Thank you all for your commitment in finding this lost film.

Hey Robert,

It is great to hear from you. I am currently awaiting directions from Deb Olson, but will post when I hear back. Things are looking pretty good. She said she would love to have Lee's work (including "The Cure for Insomnia") archived or displayed somewhere.

Ну же! Когда этот фильм уже выставите? Быстрее хочу посмотреть!!!

Natalia,

I want to see it very badly too. Unfortunately, I have not heard from Deb in over a month. I will reach back out to her.

Я тоже очень сильно хочу это увидеть. К сожалению, я не получал известий от Деб больше месяца. Я вернусь к ней.

Hello,
Great news! I have heard from Deb that Volume 2 of the film has been found. So was a box containing the manuscript and “The Cure for Insomnia Rock New York City” – Lee Groban and Tom Almadarz

We are working on next steps.

Hi again all: continuing my partnership with Drag City and Galactic Zoo Disk,I'm excited to share that the films and music videos of J.T. IV aka John Henry Timmis IV (the man who produced and directed The Cure For Insomnia) are now seeing their first digital release on the legendary Night Flight Plus platform.

Check out Nightmare City (1984) and Cannibal Orgy (1985), plus a compilation of J.T.’s “live” performance footage and home movies that we included with the first pressing of the Cosmic Lightning reissue in 2008.

“Living amid the public health crises, economic problems, and wars of the 1980s, John’s self-reflection, vulnerability, and primal scream converged in a short yet highly ambitious glimmer of time through a series of musical releases and films. In 1987 he produced and directed the 85-hour film (longest running film at the time of its release, according to the Guinness Book of World Records) entitled The Cure For Insomnia, which was previously screened only once at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.” - Night Flight

Half of the artist royalties from these films are going to www.thenightministry.org for their continued work in helping Chicagoans during their time of need.

SO happy to hear this is so close to being found, give us any updates for sure!

I hope there is some kind of update. It would be amazing to find this film. I can help create a website for it to play on loop.

film has been located and will be archived in time

Where will it be archived?

not sure yet, mark. we are working on it