HIGH POINT — Patrick Long, owner of High Point Market exhibitor Harmony Home, is ready for prime time on a number of fronts.

In addition to establishing his company as a successful upholstery importer to Top 100 retailers, his script detailing the life of poet Walt Whitman will air nationwide in prime time on the PBS history program “American Experience” on Monday, April 14.

Titled “The Boisterous Voice of America,” the two-hour film is the first full length biography of Walt Whitman, according to Long.

That’s just one of the film’s distinctions. Long’s treatment won the National Endowment for the Humanities scripting award in 2002 and also won that group’s production grant, to the tune of  $725,000, in 2005.

Armed with those resources, Long was able to secure director Mark Zwonitzer, whose work also includes acclaimed films about the Battle of the Bulge, Joe DiMaggio and Jesse James.

Long’s dual passions, furniture and film, are not surprising when one considers his background. 

“My father, John Long, was an executive with a number of furniture firms including Lea, Ethan Allen, Williams and Pilliod. But my mother, Shelia, taught English and instilled in me a passion for reading, especially history and biography,” he said.

After reading a biography about Walt Whitman, Long wanted to know more about the Long Island poet. He tried to rent a documentary film to dig deeper into Whitman’s work and life during the Civil War.

“I was disappointed when I was told that there were no films available about Whitman, so I decided to make my own film about his life,” Long said.

On Monday, his seven-year labor of love will culminate with the premier of his film on PBS.

In the furniture world, his six-month-old import company Harmony Home is showing some 30 groups at its first High Point Market this week in the Atrium, space 207.

“Our competitive advantage is that we offer the finest-made promotional upholstery available anywhere,” he said. “We land sofas from $250 to $350 that offer eight-way, hand-tied construction, pocketed inserts and much more, making them a tremendous value at retails ranging from $599 to $799.”

That value, he says, has allowed him to become a supplier to retailers like R.C. Willey, Nebraska Furniture Mart, Finger Furniture and El Dorado.

Buyers visiting Long’s showroom this week can see a new chair called Walt, in honor of his favorite poet.