National Public Radio recently made a push for establishing a National Day of Listening, November 28, as part of their StoryCorps project; attempting to create an audio archive of people's oral histories and stories at the Library of Congress.
Knowing that my dad had some pretty amazing experiences in his younger years; athletically, in the army during the Korean War, and then living overseas; I proposed to him the idea of an interview on my trip down to Waterloo this past Friday.
Surprisingly, he accepted.
So, I brought down the recording gear and, with Lucy falling asleep in a sleeping bag, and my mom listening on the couch, I began a conversation with my dad. My "live interview" skills are certainly not in practice, and things were a little shaky near the very beginning, but we soon got into the flow and before we knew it, the session had stretched to about 90 minutes - and he had only gotten through his army service (about age 22 or 23).
Not sure if you can make it through all, much, or even some of these audio streams; but I do find them to be pretty facsinating. My dad, once you get past the quirks in his style of speech and some of his Kansas-isms, has a really nice speaking voice and is a pretty good storyteller. A few things in here I'd never heard; and some moments surprised me (overcome by emotion for a couple of seconds when telling of a friend that was killed by a land mine in Korea); and a lot of it is damned good classic history - how town-based baseball teams were structured as opposed to today's farm system; life in the Army in 1951; etc.
Anyway - if and when you have the chance, plug in the phones and have a spin.
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4 comments:
this is a GREAT idea!
I haven't listened yet, but really look forward to doing so
EXCELLENT!
Well, my heart is warmed by the fact that you're looking forward to listening. I do think you won't be disappointed.
If you don't want to be constrained to listening to the two massive streaming files while tethered to you computer, I divided each "episode" into about 8-10 samller segments that would fit in email as .mp3s, individually. Let me know if you'd like me to send those along.
Started listening today. Excellent, and admirable to take these steps to get on record these stories.
If you do have a way to get these in portable, I'd support it. If you've started your own podcast account somewhere, that may be the easiest way.
Great idea, Stephen. Perhaps I'll try the podcast route and, failing that (if you want), I'll send you mp3s, ala Mixdorf.
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