In Which We Introduce Frank & Eloise, Welcome Back Lena

Well, whew! A lot of exciting things have happened here at the San Francisco StoryBooth since last we’ve blogged. There was the Teacher Development Workshop that we co-hosted with the Contemporary Jewish Museum’s Education Department, and an Oral-history Workshop for Teens, and then there was a Community Listening Event at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center.

And, perhaps most exciting of all, there have been some new additions to our San Francisco team. Let me introduce Facilitators Frank Kingman, Eloise Melzer, and Lena Richardson!

Frank comes to StoryCorps following an over thirty-year long career as a locomotive engineer and conductor for the Southern Pacific Railroad and Amtrak. Originally from San Jose, California, Frank studied history, philosophy, political theory, and sociology at the University of California in Santa Cruz. He lives with his wife, Rhonda, in a designated historic district of San Francisco known as Dogpatch.

Hailing from Wisconsin with a degree in Anthropology from Middlebury College, Eloise has always been fascinated by the stories people tell and what lessons we glean from them. Eloise recently completed the radio program at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies, an enriching experience that introduced her to many wonderful people and reinforced the power of storytelling in everyday life.

After earning a Masters Degree in Adult Education and Community Development in Toronto, Lena moved back to her native Brooklyn to spend a year working as a New York City-based StoryCorps Facilitator. Long-time readers of this blog might recognize her from midwest adventures such as this and this, not to mention serving as an accomplice to this wild and crazy act, here. Lena now lives in Berkeley, California, where she works as an acupressure practitioner and continues to study the healing arts. We are so thrilled to have her back!

We couldn’t be happier to welcome these folks to the StoryCorps family. Come by the booth and say hello some time!

A Chinatown Tale For You

Everyone one of us feels attached to the place(s) we grew up. Be it amongst the bustling city streets or acres of grassy farmland, a quiet ocean beach or a sandy desert stretch, the word “home” means more than simply a place to rest one’s head at night. For Wilson Wong, home is the Chinatown districts of Oakland and San Francisco.

Roy Chan and Wilson Wong

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