Everybody Has A Story.
I read the newspaper every morning on the radio; it's for the visually impaired and homebound of my area. The obituaries are a big feature, perhaps because we want to know if any of our friends or acquaintances are still with us. As we get older, we know more people and there is a greater chance that one of them will show up in the morning paper.
They aren't just names. Joe Blow was born here, worked there, made a bunch of kids, retired and died. That's not what you will see when you read them carefully. You see, many times, the little differences that families allow to be seen.
"Daniel Fields ... was self-employed as a marriage broker, owning and operating Fields Exclusive Service." He was Jewish, born in Poland; perhaps he conducted his business over there.
"John Barberio ... was a recycling pioneer, establishing his regular practice nearly 70 years ago." I went to his wake and learned that he was a junker since he was 12. Picked up anything he saw that would fetch a dime. Cans, bottles, glass, metal. He knew where the best spots were. Made some good money.
"Geraldine Van Dyke ... treasured her childhood memories of a time when her home often was the hub of holiday festivities for family and friends who visited for food and drinks during the Prohibition years." Just think -- mommy and daddy ran an in-house speakeasy and Gerry was there to experience it.
One woman, who passed away at 77, had been a Radio City Music Hall Rockette many years ago. Another was a five-time winner on "Jeopardy!" and made it to the Tournament of Champions. Yet another was born in a logging camp in a remote part of Luzerne County and, in her old age, decided it was time she joined the Metropolitan Opera. If you've seen the Met, there are people who populate the stage and have no singing roles other than walking around in costume. She was in several productions, fulfilling her ambition to be onstage at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City. I knew her; quite a character.
Everybody has a story. Maybe mine might be that I'm the only person in my profession in the U.S. who also has a broadcast engineer's license, the highest class of Amateur Radio license, was a Notary Public, had a music column in a strike newspaper for over 27 years and is listed in Marquis' Who's Who in Entertainment.
What's your story?
They aren't just names. Joe Blow was born here, worked there, made a bunch of kids, retired and died. That's not what you will see when you read them carefully. You see, many times, the little differences that families allow to be seen.
"Daniel Fields ... was self-employed as a marriage broker, owning and operating Fields Exclusive Service." He was Jewish, born in Poland; perhaps he conducted his business over there.
"John Barberio ... was a recycling pioneer, establishing his regular practice nearly 70 years ago." I went to his wake and learned that he was a junker since he was 12. Picked up anything he saw that would fetch a dime. Cans, bottles, glass, metal. He knew where the best spots were. Made some good money.
"Geraldine Van Dyke ... treasured her childhood memories of a time when her home often was the hub of holiday festivities for family and friends who visited for food and drinks during the Prohibition years." Just think -- mommy and daddy ran an in-house speakeasy and Gerry was there to experience it.
One woman, who passed away at 77, had been a Radio City Music Hall Rockette many years ago. Another was a five-time winner on "Jeopardy!" and made it to the Tournament of Champions. Yet another was born in a logging camp in a remote part of Luzerne County and, in her old age, decided it was time she joined the Metropolitan Opera. If you've seen the Met, there are people who populate the stage and have no singing roles other than walking around in costume. She was in several productions, fulfilling her ambition to be onstage at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City. I knew her; quite a character.
Everybody has a story. Maybe mine might be that I'm the only person in my profession in the U.S. who also has a broadcast engineer's license, the highest class of Amateur Radio license, was a Notary Public, had a music column in a strike newspaper for over 27 years and is listed in Marquis' Who's Who in Entertainment.
What's your story?
posted by Tom Carten at 1:57 AM
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