Kenny Sailors and Anne Brande
Former NBA player Kenny Sailors is credited with pioneering the modern jump shot. Growing up on a farm in Wyoming, he played basketball with his older brother, which required him to find a new way to shoot the ball. (Until then, shots were taken with two hands from chest level while the player stood on the ground.)
Kenny went on to become a three-time all-American at the University of Wyoming and later played a few years of professional basketball. He was inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012.
Kenny, who never explicitly claimed credit for inventing the jump shot, told StoryCorps he likes Ray Meyers (DePaul University’s famed coach) explanation of his place in history best, “Sailors might not have been the first player to jump in the air and shoot the ball, but he developed the shot that is being used today.”
Kenny came to StoryCorps with his friend, Anne Brande, in July 2008, to talk about his early life and the lasting fame the jump shot has brought him. (Kenny Sailors passed away on January 30, 2016 at the age of 95.)
Originally aired October 24, 2008, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Ileana Smith and Gustavo Mestas
Gustavo Mestas talk with his daughter Ileana Smith about the decision he made to escape from Cuba with his family in 1963. A doctor in Cuba, Gustavo arrived in Florida not knowing if he would be able to practice medicine in the United States, but after working jobs picking tomatoes and cleaning motels while attending medical school in the evenings, he was eventually able to begin a practice.
Originally aired August 15, 2008, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Jan Vigiano and John Vigiano Sr.
John Vigiano, Sr. is a retired New York City firefighter whose two sons followed him into service—John Jr. was a firefighter, like his father, and Joe was a police detective.
On September 11, 2001, both Vigiano brothers responded to the call from the World Trade Center, and both were killed while saving others.
At StoryCorps, John Sr. sat down with his wife, Jan, to remember their sons.
Click here to watch the Peabody-award winning animated short about the Vigiano brothers, “John and Joe.”
Originally aired September 11, 2009, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Ray Martinez
Ray Martinez remembers growing up in an orphanage until he was adopted at 5 years old. In the orphanage nothing belonged to him—not a toy nor a coat—but his new parents gave him a blue stocking cap and a little toy stuffed dog and after they passed away he discovered they always held on to those first things he ever owned.
Originally aired June 20, 2008, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Ramón “Chunky” Sanchez
Ramón “Chunky” Sanchez was raised in a small farming community in southern California in the 1950s. As was common practice at that time, teachers at his local elementary school Anglicized the Mexican American students’ names.
Ramón came to StoryCorps to remember a classmate who proved to be the exception to the rule.
Click here to watch “Facundo the Great,” the StoryCorps animation of Ramón’s story.
Originally aired June 6, 2008, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Elmore Nickleberry and Taylor Rogers
Elmore Nickleberry and Taylor Rogers remember why they went on strike as Memphis sanitation workers in 1968.
Top photo: Elmore Nickleberry
Bottom photo: Taylor Rogers
George Turks and Charita Johnson-Burgess
Reverend George Turks, Jr. tells churchgoer Charita Johnson-Burgess (pictured above at left) about witnessing the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Workers’ Strike as a teenager.
Ella Annette Owens and Lynn Reed
Ella Owens tells her daughter, Lynn Reed, about participating in a march during the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Workers’ Strike.
Herbert J. Kneeland
Herb Kneeland (L) tells his son Martavius Jones about being a disc jockey at WDIA in Memphis on April 4, 1968.
Kathy Dean Evans
Kathy Dean Evans remembers the night Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated.