StoryCorps is coming to Juneau!




StoryCorps is a national non-profit oral history project that aims to bring families, friends and neighbors closer together by listening to each other’s stories. StoryCorps will be in Juneau from January 5-30.

The Juneau Public Libraries will be a partner, along with the Alaska Public Radio Network, KTOO, Alaska State Library, Sealaska Heritage Institute and the downtown Juneau Public Library will be one of the three recording sites for the interviews. Interviews will also be recorded at KTOO studios and at the Sealaska Heritage Institute.

A StoryCorps interview is a 40-minute conversation between two people who know each other. StoryCorps staff will be present with you and your partner throughout the interview process to help you have a comfortable and meaningful experience, and to handle all technical aspects of the recording. You will receive a broadcast-quality audio CD, and with your permission, copies will go to the Library of Congress, to the University of Alaska Fairbanks Rasmuson Library Oral History Program, The Juneau Public LIbrary and KTOO. Interviews may air on KTOO and also on National Public Radio. Visit www.storycorpsalaska.net to see sample questions, listen to clips and learn more about the StoryCorps Alaska Initiative.

To sign up to do an interview please call 800-850-4406. The Juneau Public Libraries will not handle any of the sign ups. There are a limited number of appointment slots available, so act today! Tell your story. Pass it On. Be sure to check out the JPL Podcast page soon for an audio preview of the StoryCorps Alaska initiative.

Check out this great entry about a StoryCorps test run in Gustavus.

Memoirs from Books to Bond

A glimpse at two new books, sure to pique the curiosity of hordes of readers, from lovers of Westerns to bibliophiles, book collectors and 007 fanatics alike.  The first is Books: a memoir by Larry McMurtry (2008 Simon & Schuster) author of Lonesome Dove, Sin Killer and recently the screenplay for the film adaptation of Brokeback Mountain.  Though the reviews are mixed, for the most part readers are excited to learn about the “other” life of author McMurtry as he discusses his passion for literature and the books that have influenced his work, and also for the collecting and selling of rare books.  Negative reviews have focused on the sparseness of the literary commentary of certain prized items in McMurtry’s collection and criticize the volume as feeling incomplete and forced, while those in favor rave that McMurtry truly captures the essence of the fever which infects collectors and keeps them coming back.   While fan’s of McMurtry’s Western-set fiction might be treading unfamiliar terrain, fans of books about books will be right at home here.

I caught a conversation with Roger Moore on that radio this past week and got totally sucked into the 007 Mania that you could feel buzzing in the voices of all the callers and in Moore’s discussion of people’s different allegiances with the various Bond actors.  Moore discussed his memoir, My Word is My Bond (2008 Harper Collins) and you can listen to the story and get a laugh at Moore’s son telling him that Sean Connery as Bond could kick his butt.  From first memories of life in London to the decadent life of travel and luxury while filming 7 Bond films during the 70s and 80s Moore’s stream of concousness style meanders at times but manages to recall some very intriguing moments from the actor’s career from bedroom scenes to old school special effects.

Immigrant Tales

A sampling of stories from the literary world in celebration of those who braved the unknown, left behind beloved homes in order to seek better opportunity or at least, to survive.

Kim Masters shared a terrific essay on NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday about her family’s roots in Czechoslovakia and the influence one young British man had in assuring the survival of so many Czech children in the days leading up to the Holocaust. Read and listen to her essay Finding A Hero Amid Fading Memories.

Following this moving segment by Masters, Scott Simon sat down to speak with Romanian musician, Sanda Weigl to discuss moving to East Berlin days before the Berlin Wall, her time in a forced labor factory and finally finding home in New York City. The segment features Weigl’s music, rich in Gypsy influence, which she regularly performs in cabaret’s backed by a three piece all Japanese trio, dubbed, “the band” who, insists Wiegle, “play Romanian gypsy music better than most Romanian musicians today”.

Both stories got me thinking about my Grandparents, who immigrated to New York from Lithuania in 1949 following years of hiding throughout Germany, passing as Germans. My Grandparent’s versions of history always challenged my perceptions as in their experiences, it was the kindness of the Germans in the face of a Russian invasion which allowed for their safe departure from Lithuania and eventually to the U.S. I came across a terrifc documentary, Sugihara: Conspiracy of Kindness, which chronicles the bravery of a Japanese consul in Lithuania in during the war, who helped many Lithuanian-Jews obtain exit visas. William Kaplan’s , One More Border: the true story of one family’s escape from war torn Europe is a beautifully illustrated (Shelley Tanaka) account of his father’s esape from Lithuania is an excellent and historically accurate telling of the story for younger readers.

For a wide sampling of the immigrant experience try a few of the following.

Crossing into America: the new literature of immigration which I tracked down in order to read Li-Young Lee’s, The Cleaving which is featured in the collection. Lee will be the keynote speaker at the 2009 Kachemak Bay Writer’s Conference and I’ve been eagerly devouring his unique brand of poetry.

In the July/August issue of Orion Magazine, Charles Bowdan and Julian Cardona’s, Exodus, a cross-border look at the latest wave of immigration from Mexico will leave you reeling in the unstoppable power of the current of this economics of survival situation.

Zen and Now

Caught a very interesting discussion this morning on the radio show, On Point, between Mark Richardson, author of Zen and Now: On the trail of Robert Pirsig and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.  If you’ve read this book or are just intrigued by interesting coversation about philosophy, zen and road trips, you should take the time to listen to this program.