Comfort Woman

Thursday, July 12 2007 | Send to a friend

Comfort Woman

'Comfort women' after WWII

When 16-year-old Ok Sun Kim was kidnaped from her home in Korea in 1938, she could not have dreamed she was heading into seven years of sexual enslavement.

One of an estimated 50,000-200,000 so-called 'comfort women' who serviced the Japanese Army during World War II, Ms. Kim still bears the physical and emotional scars of accommodating 50-60 men a day.

Ok Sun Kim

Even now at age 84, Ms. Kim - along with other survivors - is fighting for an official apology from the Japanese government and an acknowledgment of its role in the atrocities.

• Learn more about 'comfort women'
• See pictures of the women during and after the war

MY PICCOLO

Mary as a student, with her piccolo

In March, Dick talked to Lloyd Pardue from Yadkin County, North Carolina about the army jacket Lloyd left at the dry cleaners in 1961, and had returned to him 45 years later.

That story led Mary Hakes of Minnesota to write to us:

I loved the story about he gentleman who got his army uniform back from the cleaners decades  later. Here's my version of that story…

Mary graduated from high school in 1976. But it wasn't saying good-bye to classmates or moving away to college that got her teary-eyed. What made Mary emotional was the moment she had to return a piccolo - the piccolo she had carried and played all year long - to the high school band director.

Mary and her piccolo, now

Mary moved away for college, married and had kids, even bought new instruments. But she never quite forgot the wooden piccolo she had left behind. More than 20 years later, when her father's death brought her and her sisters home, Mary was surprised by a reunion that she never expected. She shared her unlikely story with Dick on today's show.

The Gift of a Loan

Wednesday, July 11 2007 | Send to a friend

The Gift of a Loan

Microcredit - the giving of small loans to people with few financial assets - is finally getting the respect it deserves. The idea isn't new. But its increasing popularity is. A case in point is that the current recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize, Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank, won the prize for pioneering work in microloans.

Demetria Williamson - click photo to see her with her products

Demetria Williamson found out about microloans after she suffered an injury that made it impossible for her to stay on in her job as an oncology aide. Not knowing what to do after she lost her job, she went to bed and had a dream. She dreamt about a product that would help chemotherapy patients get affordable and attractive wigs. Demetria talks to Dick Gordon about how microcredit loans built her self-esteem and her business, Blessed Attachments in Yonkers, N.Y.

• Learn about Demetria's business
  
• Find out more about the program Demetria got her microloan from
• Learn more about this year's Nobel Peace Prize winners

A women's union

Ami Vitale

Ami Vitale is an award-winning photojournalist who has been based in New Delhi, India for more than five years. Her work has brought her all over central and southern Asia, Europe and Africa.

Last summer, Ami went to a very poor part of Eritrea, where a women's group took the idea of microloans and gave it their own stamp. They provide women with donkeys. Now these women no longer have to haul water or lug firewood for miles. 

Kadija on her donkey

One woman, Kadija Anya, has even become a traditional birth assistant now that she's mobile. Ami's conclusion based on what she saw: microloans work. 

• See a gallery of Ami's photos from Eritrea
• Learn more about the women's union and the donkey initiative
  
• See more of Ami's work

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Your Story - Richard Watson

Richard Watson

Richard Watson called in to tell us a story that has stayed with him since his time in Vietnam.  He was a "forward observer" during the war, which meant he was in charge of navigation. One day, he directed the troops to walk 3,000 paces forward. They followed his lead, even when he directed them to take two paces to the right, then two paces to the left, then two paces to the left again, and continue onwards.  That memory, of battle-weary men detouring through the jungle to protect a mother bluebird, is one he treasures.

Fostering Family

Tuesday, July 10 2007 | Send to a friend

Fostering Family

Carlos Moran

Carlos Moran was born in Mexico, crossed the border at age 4, and landed in the hands of social services by age 11.

His parents drank and fought at home. Social workers thought Carlos and his 4 younger siblings would be better off in foster care. 

One night, they came and took Carlos and his siblings away.

Carlos with his family - click photo to enlarge

Attempts to rejoin his parents failed. Carlos lived with foster families until he graduated from high school. Watching his younger brothers and sister go through the trauma he experienced in foster care, Carlos got the idea that he could be their legal guardian. His idea met with resistance from various agencies. But last summer, Carlos succeeded. He and his four siblings now live together as a family.

• Listen to the interview with Sarah Ruhl that introduced us to Carlos
• Learn more about foster care and adoption in the US

A Reward for a Reward

Monday, July 09 2007 | Send to a friend

A reward for a reward

Sarah Ruhl

Each year, the MacArthur Foundation awards grants of $500,000 to people whom it judges to be doing extraordinary work.

Playwright Sarah Ruhl is a recent MacArthur fellow. She has already won many awards for her plays, which include "The Clean House" and "Eurydice." Sarah talks with Dick Gordon about the stories, both mythic and personal, that catch in her imagination - and what it's like for her to see those stories on stage.

One person who inspired Sarah is Carlos Moran, a young man she met during a playwriting project in Los Angeles. Carlos grew up in foster care, and has now adopted his younger siblings. Carlos talks to Dick on tomorrow's program.

Actors in the play "Demeter in the City." Demeter (Bahni Turpin, right) loses her baby to a social worker
(Danièle Watts, left), photo: Michael Lamont

• See the world premiere of Sarah's play "Dead Man's Cell Phone" at Woolly Mammoth Theatre
  
• See a performance of Sarah's play "Eurydice" at Second Stage
• Read Sarah's plays in the book The Clean House and Other Plays
• Visit Cornerstone Theater, where Sarah wrote "Demeter in the City" and met Carlos Moran
• Learn about Shields, an organization that partners with Cornerstone and inspired Sarah
  
• Read more about the MacArthur Fellows Program
• Read the passage Sarah quotes from E. E. Cummings

To Catch a Thief

Friday, July 06 2007 | Send to a friend

To Catch A Thief

Karen Lodrick, credit: Michael Macor/San Francisco Chronicle

It was the distinctive fuzzy-collared coat that gave her away. That... and the sparkly Gucci sunglasses.

For months, Karen Lodrick had been looking at the coat and glasses in an ATM photo while the woman wearing them was looting Karen's bank accounts. So when she actually saw the woman standing in a Starbucks line, she gave chase. For 45 minutes, she followed the culprit through the streets of San Francisco, all the while giving a play-by-play to a 911 operator on her cell phone.

Karen tells Dick about what happened when she got to court and what she learned from confronting her identity thief.   

• Read Karen's website
• Get your credit report

Music heard in this story: The Wrong Business and The Scam, both by Jerry Goldsmith for the album Matinee (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack; Jailhouse Blues by Dinah Washington 

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MID-LIFE ANARCHY

Liz Seymour 

Five years ago, Liz Seymour gave up her marriage, her bedroom and her office and turned her family home into a community of anarchists.

At 50, her old life was no longer working for her. While her husband wanted quiet, Liz needed noise and activity. Her two grown daughters introduced her to a group of young anarchists in her city. She now shares her home with five of them. 

The group divides chores and responsibilities. They sometimes "dumpster-dive" for food. As a result, their expenses are close to nil and their time is filled with creative pursuits. Dick talks with Liz Seymour about her daily life - and the changes in her thinking.

Music for today's show comes from Cakalak Thunder, a group started by some of Liz's housemates. 

• Check out Cakalak Thunder
• Visit the arts collective started by Liz's household

The Eighth Promise

Thursday, July 05 2007 | Send to a friend

THE EIGHTH PROMISE

William Lee

William Poy Lee grew up in San Francisco's Chinatown.  But as he grew older,  he became more and more American. He studied architecture and practiced law and eventually, he decided to become a writer.

When William Lee sat down to write his memoir, he realized he could not do it alone. It was the lessons (and the winter soups) of his mother, Poy Jen, that helped shape the person he had become.

Poy Jen

Today Dick Gordon talks to mother and son about the resulting book, "The Eighth Promise."

Music heard in this story: Oasis and Tarang (Currents) by Yo-Yo Ma, The Silk Road Ensemble for the album Silk Road Journeys: Beyond the Horizon (With Yo-Yo Ma Bonus Interview)

• Find out more about "The Eighth Promise" (click on "the 2nd Voice" to see images of Poy Jen as a young bride and mother)

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TOUGH JOB - EARLY RETIREMENT

For 13 years Dave Coudray worked as a manager at a high tech research and development firm. He says there was talk about cutbacks - but he never imagined he would get fired.

Dick Gordon talks to Dave about getting the dreaded pink slip just before hitting retirement age.

Music heard in this story: 16 Tons by Billy Strange for the album Railroad Man - The Songs & Sounds of the Steam Era

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Tough Job - Early Retirement

Thursday, July 05 2007 | Send to a friend

TOUGH JOB - EARLY RETIREMENT

For 13 years Dave Coudray worked as a manager at a high tech research and development firm. He says there was talk about cutbacks - but he never imagined he would get fired.

Dick Gordon talks to Dave about getting the dreaded pink slip just before hitting retirement age.