StoryCorps has Left the Building

After spending three weeks at the Rundel Library in Downtown Rochester, the StoryCorps MobileBooth crew has moved on to their next recording site, Erie PA. Over 200 people in Rochester shared their stories, some of which will be heard on WXXI starting in September. Here is a sampling of some of the stories that will be broadcast:

• A one-hundred year old nun talks about what Rochester was like in the early 20th century. She remembers when Mr. Wegman used to push a vegetable cart through the streets of the city; now Wegmans is a huge chain of grocery stores.
• The director of the Center for Holocaust Awareness talks about growing up as a child of Holocaust survivors. She is also a singer/songwriter, and she shares a song she wrote to her grandparents, who died in Auschwitz.
• A young mother tells the tragic story of losing both her daughter and her husband. Her nine year old daughter died after developing flu-like symptoms, and her husband’s health declined in the wake of this untimely death.
• A Laotian-American artist created the sculpture “Let’s Have Tea” at the Susan B. Anthony House. He’s proud to be an American, and to create art inspired by the men and women of American history.
• A young man tells his mother about the time he stuck his tongue to the flagpole after seeing Ralphie do it in the movie “A Christmas Story.”

StoryCorps Rochester will be broadcast Thursdays at 6:35am, 8:35am and 5:45pm on WXXI-AM 1370, WRUR-FM 88.5, WJSL-FM 90.3 and WXXI-FM 91.5 HD2, and will be streamed on the web at wxxi.org/listen. The stories will also be available as pod casts on wxxi.org/podcasts.

I’m proud to produce these stories in partnership with StoryCorps!

The End of an Era in Journalism

Yesterday evening America's Anchorman, Walter Cronkite, died at the age of 92. You can hear NPR Media Correspondent David Folkenflick's coverage here:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91902373

My boss at WXXI Public Broadcasting met Mr. Cronkite on several occasions and found him to be a warm and gracious man. Here is Norm Silverstein's memory of a great man:

My journalism professor at American University, Ed Bliss, Jr., was Cronkite's first editor on the CBS Evening News. Ed always told his students about the day that President Kennedy was killed. Cronkite went on the air right from the newsroom in his shirt and tie. There wasn't time to "get dressed" in a suit jacket to deliver the news. He chocked up and shed a few tears when the confirmation came that Kennedy was dead. Still, CBS received complaints that he had shown "disrespect" for the President by not stopping to put on his jacket. (The clip used to be displayed at the Smithsonian Institution, in an exhibit about Communications.) It was clearly a different time in broadcast journalism, before blogs and the entertainment that passes for mainstream news today.

Cronkite was an old UPI correspondent, covering World War II and many other major stories. Those of us old enough to remember will recall Cronkite following Apollo 13 as the astronauts struggled to return to earth in their damaged spacecraft. Many say that President Johnson knew he had lost the public relations battle over the Vietnam War when Cronkite went to Vietnam and questioned the war. He also helped broker a peace deal between Israel and Egypt.

He remained active in public affairs later in life and was a supporter of public TV, serving on the board of the New York City public station, WNET. He was an avid sailor, visiting Annapolis many times when I lived there, and was often spotted at a local tavern, who's owner sailed with Cronkite. His death marks the passing of an era.

A Day at the Beach

I'm visiting the family in New Jersey this weekend; we're all here to celebrate my father's birthday.

My sister Anne and I took my nephew Patrick and my niece Megan to the beach. We went to Ocean Grove, which is a very quiet resort town, owned by the Methodist Church.

It's very quiet and family-friendly, so it's a great place for kids to enjoy the ocean.

It was warm and sunny but very windy. Patrick and Megan enjoyed boogie boarding in the large waves. Anne and I enjoyed standing in the breakers watching them!

We all highly recommend Ocean Grove, NJ for a great family day at the beach!