The Story from American Public Media - Your Stories

My Piccolo

Fri, 20 Apr 2007 04:00:00

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.

Music heard in this story: Concerto for Piccolo, Strings and Basso Continuo in C Major, RV. 443: II. Largo by Leonard Bernstein, New York Philharmonic for the album Bernstein Century - Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 - Vivaldi: Piccolo Concerto

Your Story - Katarina Cerny

Fri, 13 Apr 2007 04:00:00

Your Story - Katarina Cerny

Katarina Cerny

Dick recently talked to Tim Brooks about his CD called "Lost Sounds: Blacks and the Birth of the Recording Industry," which won a Grammy this year as Best Historical Album. Tim pointed out that these recordings aren't simply archival. They had a huge impact on the musical landscape of their own day, including on the European composer, Antonin Dvorak.

That program inspired Katarina Cerny to e-mail The Story:

When I was a child growing up in the former Czechoslovakia in the 1950s and 60s, my father sang Negro spirituals every night to me and my sister. Even though I did not understand the words, I (like Dvorak) loved the melodies. I always wondered why my father, who trained as an opera singer, was so drawn to the spirituals…
-Katarina Cerny

Katarina's father recorded himself singing some of his favorite spirituals before he died of cancer. Katarina talks to Dick about how much it means to her now to hear her father sing, and how the spirituals touched his heart.

See a photo of Katarina and her father
Listen to Katarina's father sing "Ma Curly Headed Baby"

Remembering Joey

Thu, 12 Apr 2007 04:00:00

REMEMBERING JOEY

Karen Dalton is an artist who lives near Bynum, North Carolina. She recently wrote to The Story about someone she knew from her childhood in Newark, New Jersey, a boy named Joey.

Joey was a Downs Syndrome kid that lived on our block 4 houses from mine… Joey was not allowed out of the house. He lived on the second floor. [But] Joey spent his childhood playing with us from the windows in his house.
-Karen Dalton

Karen learned from her mother just this month that Joey passed away. He was 61. She talks to Dick about her poignant and fun memories of Joey's friendship.

Read Karen's essay about Joey

What a Coincidence!

Wed, 11 Apr 2007 04:00:00

What a coincidence!

Only 25 percent of women in science study astronomy. Dick talks with future astronomers Jane Moran, Rachel Rosen and Maggie Eftamova. These scientists find themselves turning to astrology to explain a very strange coincidence. [click thumbnail left for larger image of the students being interviewed by Dick.]

Your Story - Bahaa Gizzi

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 04:00:00

Your Story - Bahaa Gizzi

Beirut, Lebanon, 1976. Two teenage boys, friends, stopped to get gas and groceries. Though they had different religions, they shared an interest in girls and martial arts. Authorities asked for identification. They separated, and never saw one another again. Remembering the story, they each recall the power of friendship and the bravado of youth.

Your Story - Pam Rock

Tue, 03 Apr 2007 04:00:00

YOUR STORY - PAM ROCK

Pam Rock writing letters home to friends from Guatemala

Thousands of young Americans make their first foreign trip as a part of the Peace Corp program. Pam Rock signed up because she was interested in working in a developing country, sharing ideas on nutrition and women's health. Pam was also living in Florida and eager to improve her Spanish.

But for Pam, the whole Peace Corps experience was not a lot of fun for her, even months into her time abroad. Then, one day, she read something that changed her perspective, not only of her time in the Peace Corps, but for her whole life.

Read the letter Pam wrote home about 'expectations'

Your Story - Lloyd Pardue

Wed, 28 Mar 2007 04:00:00

Your Story - Lloyd Pardue

Lloyd Pardue, 1946

Lloyd Pardue was released from military service in 1946.

He kept his uniform, especially his Eisenhower jacket, a greenish, smart-looking tapered military jacket ever since.

Lloyd Pardue and his Eisenhower jacket

Your Story - Richard Watson

Thu, 22 Mar 2007 04:00:00

Your Story - Richard Watson

Richard Watson

Richard Watson called in to tell us a story from his time serving in Vietnam. He was a "forward observer" during the war, which meant he was in charge of directing his troops safely from one point to another. One day, he nearly directed his troops right into a bluebird's nest. He still treasures the memory of how he and the troops in the battlefield skirted around the nest.

Close Call

Mon, 12 Mar 2007 12:00:00

CLOSE CALL

Susan Barber

Regular listeners to the program will know that Dick often asks for stories from listeners. Susan Barber emailed us with her story: dining in a restaurant 3 years ago, eating pizza with her husband, as she had at the same venue two weeks prior. She began to feel itchy, and her throat got sore.

This was no gentle awakening. It was full-blown anaphylaxis; a scream-in-the-ear assault on my body with a deadly weapon: food.
-Susan Barber

Susan survived her ordeal, but found that many restaurants don't really cater to the 12 million Americans with food allergies. Susan now travels "self-contained" as she puts it, with her own food. She tells Dick that her sense of smell has intensified now that there are so many food items she can no longer eat. Walking down a street in Manhattan, she says, and catching the scent of restaurants and markets can actually make her feel full!

Read Susan's original e-mail to us (includes a recipe!)
Learn more about food allergies

Music heard in this story: La Golandrina (Italian Traditional) by Blue Mountains Trio for the album Music for Grand Dining

Your Story - Brush with Fame - Eric Larson

Fri, 09 Mar 2007 04:00:00

YOUR STORY - BRUSH WITH FAME - ERIC LARSON

Eric was visiting London in 1991. On the morning he was to return, he got mixed up on the switchover to daylight savings time. As soon as he got to the airport, he butted in to the front of the line. The woman behind him protested. Then it slowly dawned on him that she was the famous anthropologist, Jane Goodall. That encounter taught Eric something about what success in life really means.

Your Story - Near Miss - Zach Allen

Mon, 05 Mar 2007 04:00:00

Your Story - Near Miss - Zach Allen

Zach Allen was featured on the very first Your Story, which we aired almost exactly one year ago. Zach was a lieutenant in the Navy when his story took place. It was early December, 1963. He was aboard a 120 foot minesweeper, leaving Guantanamo Bay for the US when his captain decided to head straight into an incredibly violent storm. Zach's ship nearly capsized.

I went up on the bridge. The captain lay curled up on the bridge sucking his thumb. I've never seen anything like it in my life: curled up in fetal position, sucking his thumb.
-Zach Allen

Your Story - Daniel Livingstone

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 04:00:00

YOUR STORY - DANIEL LIVINGSTONE

Daniel Livingstone's story could be filed under the 'near miss' category.

It was November, 1960. He was conducting field research in Africa with his work partner, Joe. They had to row out to the middle of a lake, to take soil samples from the lake bed. It should have been a routine day of work. But a crocodile had other ideas.

Music heard during the story: Ah les crocodiles by Chansons et comptines de notre enfance for the album Chansons et comptines de notre enfance

Your Story - Touched By Kindness - Halima Voyles

Thu, 01 Mar 2007 04:00:00

Your Story - Touched By Kindness - Halima Voyles

Halima Voyles with her daughter

Halima Voyles grew up in Pakistan, the daughter of a diplomat.

Last summer, she went back to one of her family's homes for a visit, and was disappointed in herself when she realized she couldn't remember any of the domestic staff's names.

But she'll never forget one staff member, the household driver, who showed her an incredible act of kindness that Halima continues to find both humbling and exemplary.

This is the shawl Halima was given

Though the man had very little, he gave Halima a shawl to say thank you.

Your Story - Linda Powell

Tue, 20 Feb 2007 05:00:00

Your Story - LINDA POWELL

Linda Powell

Linda Powell wrote to us about a moment which she says changed her life. She was living in a small town in Alaska. She was newly single, living away from her family, her children and her friends. She was about to turn 50 and felt invisible. She got depressed. But when she visited an elderly aunt, she discovered that her ancestors were among the original colonists, that they crossed America in wagon trains and served in two world wars.

It gave me a different perspective because I realized I came from strong stuff. And I also thought they have come so far, I'm not going to drop the ball. Obviously, my little problems in life are not nearly as difficult as [what] these other folks went through.
-Linda Powell

Your Story - Tucker Crum

Tue, 06 Feb 2007 05:00:00

YOUR STORY - TUCKER CRUM

Tucker Crumb shares the pivotal moment in her life. In 1977, Tucker worked in a lab. She spent a year conducting an experiment. On the last day of the experiment, she pulled out the test tube, and dropped it. The accident altered the course of her life.