And then…

Charlie Davis (shown here with his daughter, Stacey Davis Folmar, and with the legendary pitcher Satchel Paige) got his nickname from Charlie Pride, the country singer and one-time baseball player who was his roommate when the two played for the Memphis Red Sox of the Negro American League, in the days before the integration of professional baseball. Pride came up with “Whip” after Mr. Davis, a pitcher, won twenty games in a row and relieved Paige in the East/West All Star game in 1943.

These days Mr. Davis owns and operates an auto repair shop in Cincinnati. He said in his StoryCorps conversation with Stacey that some of his former teammates were unable ever to talk about their playing days, because of the anger they had from playing in a segregated league. Davis says he understands this completely, but adds: “For me, it was still the best days of my life.”

Gil Fishbeck (pictured seated with his stepdaughter Barbara and her husband Bill) was one of six veterans that came in for StoryCorps interviews with family members on our trip to the Delaware Veterans Center in Milford, Delaware on Wednesday. Among his many funny and touching memories, Gil remembered building friendships with Japanese prisoners of war that he met while serving as a mechanic on Guam during WWII. Thanks to Gil and everyone at the center for a great StoryCorps day!

Opening Day in Georgetown, Delaware was a squeeze–we welcomed to the East MobileBooth an entire Delaware Tech and Community College ESL class, and we just might have set a MobileBooth occupancy record in the process! While it was their first time in a booth, StoryCorps isn’t new to these students: Del Tech English professor Susan Schranck and staff member Amy Russell use StoryCorps stories like these in their classes to as part of their English language curriculum. Great idea, no? Some students have already come in for StoryCorps interviews, and we’re looking forward to many more as we kick off StoryCorps’ first visit to the First State. More on an action-packed opening day to come…

So said Storycorps participant Jihad Qasim during his Storycorps conversation with facilitator Soo Na Pak on Wednesday. This Harlem resident and dedicated dance man touched on his favorite style: “mambo with a swing twist, or swing with a mambo twist, I can’t seem to keep them apart” and how when Jihad was young, NYC ballrooms like The Savoy, The Audubon, and The Renaissance were spots where young people learned to get along, according to Jihad, with a respect for each other that “dancing naturally created.”

Jihad remembers the signal that a dance party was underway in Harlem during the 1960s: if he saw flashing lights in an apartment window on a Friday or Saturday he knew that a good time could be found within. It’s a bittersweet memory: Jihad theorized that those window lights were the ancestor of the disco ball, the central symbol of the form of dance that crowded ballroom out of Harlem in the 1970s, a void which, according to Jihad, contributed to social problems in Harlem and other neighborhoods. But Jihad sees signs that a ballroom comeback is starting in New York, and we hope that’s the case. Take that, disco! (Just kidding, we secretly love you too…)

This Saturday Kent Wavekill and Gigi LaSwerve stopped by the StoryCorpse booth to record a special interview. The pair came in to celebrate the forty-year anniversary of their first meeting at a Malibu Beach resort. Gigi had just finished back-up dancing that night at a Jefferson Airplane concert when she found Kent stumbling around in the surf, covered in seaweed, chewing on fish skeletons. (He had washed up there the night before). Gi-Gi did most of the talking during their conversation, (and was dancing the entire time) but Kent added some choice words as well. Mostly: "Brains, dude! Braaaaains!" It warms the heart to see a Zombie Surfer and a 60s go-go dancer staying together for as long as they have. Thanks guys!

This classic Chevy acts as a sentry at the gates of Cave Hill Cemetery, Louisville’s beautiful burial ground that borders the Highlands neighborhood. Many eminent Louisvillians are buried here, including James Speed, Lincoln’s attorney general, and Harlan Sanders, who had this quote when he was alive: "There’s no reason to be the richest man in the cemetery, you can’t do any business from there." Wise words, Colonel, but we reckon you’re still making deals! Here are some shots Yuki & Quentin took walking around the grounds:

In Louisville the booth is parked on West Main St., two blocks from ’21C’, a new art museum/hotel hybrid that exclusively features art made in the twenty-first century. Facilitators Yuki and Quentin spent a lunch break taking in the sights, including the interactive video exhibit shown above. Here are a couple more of our favorites:

above: The Booth takes a final lap around Monument Circle before our ace driver Rocky tows it south to Louisville.

below: some last looks at downtown Indianapolis.

Storycorps had a great September in Naptown, and we echo the sentiments on the giant Chinese food takeout carton pictured above! On to Kentucky!

Above, Yuki performs the highly advanced ‘skimming the reeds’ move, the Segway equivalent of a triple-lutz. Thanks WFYI!

The stand where it was made:

And the he trophies it had won:

Well played, sandwich, well played.