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Archived Stories |
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Past Florida Stories |
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Rona and Karen Ross |
Rona and Karen Ross
Rona Ross of Sarasota talks with her daughter Karen about the fond memories Rona has of her grandmother: making noodles for a homemade chicken soup recipe, her love of 'secret' movies, and the life lessons she passed on.
(First aired on December 8, 2006, rebroadcast on June 27,
2008)
 Listen now.
Music Credits: Jumpin' At The Woodside, Count Basie, The Basie Alumni: Swinging for the Count, Candid |
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John and Gary Moore |
John and Gary Moore
John Moore was born in Duke, later renamed Irwin, North Carolina, lived there most of his life and recently relocated with is wife to Sarasota. John's son Gary moved to Florida in 2005. Now with his father here, Gary took that opportunity to talk with him about John's training and eventual service with the 91st Chemical Mortar battalion in the Army during World War II.
(First aired on September 14, 2007, rebroadcast on June 20,
2008)
Listen now.
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PHOTO: The 4.2" mortar descended from the old Stokes mortar of the British Army. Britain invented the Stokes in World War I to overcome the disadvantages of gas cloud attacks.
Click for larger image |
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PHOTO: An intact, unexloded 4.2-inch mortar shell containing unknown liquid contents.
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EXTENDED AUDIO: John Moore describes the training of soldiers in the use of chemical gas masks in the field. Listen Now |
Music Credits: Wildflowers, Tom Petty, Wildflowers, Warner Bros. Records |
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Maura Barrios and Yadira Caro |
Maura Barrios and Yadira Caro
Maura Barrios tells journalist Yadira Caro about her life growing up as a member of a working class Cuban-American family in West Tampa in the late-1960s. She remembers being fascinated by the counter-culture of the times, and the challenges she faced during college when choosing between that counter-culture experience and the more familiar cultural upbringing she knew as a child.
(First aired on August 4, 2006, rebroadcast on June 13,
2008)
Listen now.
Music Credits: Incense & Peppermints, Strawberry Alarm Clock, Incense & Peppermints,
UMG Recordings |
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Theresa Hoopingarner
and
Linda Haley |
Theresa Hoopingarner and Linda Haley
Theresa Hoopingarner was a child in 1930's Memphis when her father's ill health forced him to move his family from the area. His Italian ancestry drew him back to the family home in Bassignana, a rural village in northwest Italy. Theresa spoke with her daughter Linda about her family's relocation to Italy just prior to World War II, and how day to day life on the small farm taught her the value of hard work and a greater appreciation of life in the U.S.
(First aired on October 19, 2007, rebroadcast on June 6,
2008)
Listen now.
Music Credits: Movement 1 from the Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra in B flat major, Matt Haimovitz and the English Chamber Orchestra, Cello Concertos, Deutsche Grammophon Recordings |
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Ernest C. Simmons
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Joe Mercurio |
Ernest C. Simmons and Joe Mercurio
Florida wildlife artist Ernie Simmons talks with fishing buddy Joe Mercurio about how he developed his technique for painting Florida's vast wildlife population and the state's native scenery. Many have compared the Dunedin resident's depictions of blue herons, anhingas, pelicans and common seabirds to the works of John James Audubon.
(First aired on February 24, 2006, rebroadcast on May 30,
2008)
Listen now.
Music Credits: Run Through the Jungle, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Chronicle - Vol. 1, Fantasy Records |
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Paula Schoenwether
and
Rev. Nancy Wilson |
Paula Schoenwether and Rev. Nancy Wilson
Artist and photographer Paula Schoenwether and the Rev. Nancy Wilson, moderator of Metropolitan Community Churches, talk openly about their 30-year civil union as partners in all aspects of life — living as a married couple, taking out a mortgage, blending families, caring for children, sharing debt - all of the elements associated with any domestic partnership.
(First aired on June 16, 2006, rebroadcast on May 23,
2008)
Listen now.
Music Credits: Wicked Little Town, Ben Jelen, Give It All Away, Maverick Recording Co. |
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Chloe J. Coney
and
Bernadine White King |
Chloe J. Coney and Bernadine White King
Chloe J. Coney and lifelong friend Bernadine White King discuss Chloe's decision, at age 13 in the early 1960's, to become one of the first African-American students to help integrate the Hillsborough County Public School system.
(First aired on October 6, 2006, rebroadcast on May 16,
2008)
Listen now.
Music Credits: What's Going On/ Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler), Marvin Gaye, What's Going On, Motown Records |
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Mel Downing in 1945 |
Mel and David Downing
Mel Downing was born in Newton Massachusetts, just outside of Boston, in August 1926. By his own admission, Mel didn't do well in high school. At the end of his ninth grade year he entered the New York Military Academy. He enlisted in the US Navy at 17 with his father's consent, and was assigned sea duty on the USS Gosper. He served two years in combat zones in the war's Pacific theater, and by age 19 Mel was a seasoned war veteran. He spoke with his son David about his war experience and how the impact of the war stays with him today.
(First aired on October 12, 2007, rebroadcast on May 9,
2008)
Listen now.
EXTENDED AUDIO: Mel Downing describes the Gosper's hospital ship duty for the dead and wounded after the invasion of Okinawa on April 1, 1945. The crew of the Gosper served this duty through the summer of 1945.
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USS Gosper in San Francisco Bay (1945-46) |
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Mel Downing and his son David |
Music Credits: Opening piece/closing piece: Rainbow Mist, Yesterdays, Coleman Hawkins and His Orchestra, Rainbow Mist, Delmark Records |
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Walt Shaffner
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Mary Fischer |
Walt Shaffner and Mary Fischer
Today on Florida Stories, Walt Shaffner of Valrico talks with his sister Mary Fischer about the legacy of their parents - and how baseball bats and bullhorns represent the power of keeping a promise.
(First aired on December 15, 2006, rebroadcast on May 2,
2008)
Listen now.
Music Credits: Lean On Me by Bill Withers, Bill Withers' Greatest Hits, Sony Music Entertainment, Inc. |
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Edna Holliman
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Dr. Henry L. Porter |
Dr. Henry L. Porter and Edna Holliman
Sarasota native, educator and musician Dr. Henry L. Porter speaks with his friend Edna Holliman about how his father influenced his outlook on education, and how he in turn uses that outlook to change the world in his own way.
(First aired on November 17, 2006, rebroadcast on April 25,
2008)
Listen now.
Music Credits: Selfless, Cold and Composed, Ben Folds Five, Whatever And Ever Amen, Sony BMG Music Entertainment |
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Dr. Sylvia Campbell and
Jeanne Hardin-Gres |
Dr. Sylvia Campbell and Jeanne Hardin-Gres
Dr. Sylvia Campbell in a general surgeon at St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa. She donates thousands of hours in service to charitable causes, including treatment of the working poor who visit the Judeo-Christian Health Clinic in Tampa. She also leads medical mission trips to Haiti and Uganda to care for the poor and sick. Jeanne Hardin-Gres, an Army reservist often called into active duty in recent years, is the nurse anesthetist who has accompanied Sylvia to Haiti. The two spoke about their commitment to service in a StoryCorps booth in Sarasota back in January, 2006.
(First aired on February 17, 2006, rebroadcast on April 18,
2008)
Listen now.
Music Credits: February Sea, George Winston, Winter Into Spring, Windham Hill Records |
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Eva Frank and her daughter Lynne Brolly |
Eva Frank and Lynne Brolly
Eva Frank shares memories of a childhood in Hungary, born to Jewish parents just a few years before the outbreak of World War II. Among the tales she shares with daughter Lynne Brolly: escaping to Paris on one of the last trains out of her ancestral country at a time when a scarcity of food and freedom forced strangers to depend on each other for survival. Both women now live in Sarasota.
(First aired on March 17, 2006, rebroadcast on April 11,
2008)
Listen now.
Music Credits: Exit Music (For a Film) performed by The Brad Mehldau Trio, written by Thom Yorke and Radiohead, Art of the Trio vol. 4 - Back at the Vanguard, Warner Bros. Records |
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Valerie Wojciechowicz |
Valerie Wojciechowicz
Valerie Wojciechowicz moved from New Jersey to Florida in 2002. She's living in Sarasota and working as an HIV/AIDS awareness educator in addition to personal training. Valerie told me, though, that her outlook on life wasn't always what it is now. Her father died when Valerie was 7, and when her mother went to work full time to support 2 children, Valerie found many adult responsibilities at an early age. She credits this responsibility as the foundation of her work ethic, and also as the start of a series of problems with alcohol and drugs. At 23, she found a new direction. She started our conversation with the events that took place at age 28, with a new start and a new marriage.
(First aired on June 1, 2007, rebroadcast on April 4,
2008)
Listen now.
Music Credits: Finer Days, Smog, Red Apple Falls, Drag City Records |
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| Learn more about StoryCorps |
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StoryCorps and WUSF in Sarasota
The History of StoryCorps: Recording America |
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StoryCorps Information on NPR |
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StoryCorps Website |
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