Remembering the Start of a Lifelong Love of Books
At StoryCorps, we’re used to hearing tales of love. But here’s one of a different sort: a love letter to the written word.
Meet Alagappa Rammohan, who has amassed enough books over the course of his life to fill a small library (10,000, to be exact).
Rammohan immigrated from India to the United States in 1962. He came to StoryCorps in Chicago with his daughter, Paru Venkat, who as a child witnessed his love of books.
Continuing his lifelong love of books and learning, Rammohan plans to donate all 10,000 of his books to a learning center and library he’s founded in his hometown in India.
Top photo: Paru Venkat and Alagappa Rammohan pose after their StoryCorps interview in Chicago on June 23, 2018. By Eliza Lambert for StoryCorps.
Bottom photo: Alagappa Rammohan poses at the site of the ancient Great Library at Alexandria (350 B.C. – 280 B.C.) in Alexandria, Egypt in 2013. Courtesy Alagappa Rammohan.
Originally aired January 4, 2019, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
DACA Recipient on the Pressure of Living Life Undocumented
Irakere Picon was just two years old when his parents brought him to the United States from Mexico on a tourist visa. They never left.
He was aware something was different about his childhood, but it wasn’t until he applied to get a driver’s license that he realized his immigration status might get in the way of his dreams.
In 2012, Irakere received protections from the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and was able to attend law school.
It was around that time that he met Arianna Hermosillo on a bus and later asked her on a date to Millennium Park in Chicago. When they were together, Irakere told Arianna he was undocumented.
Irakere and Arianna were married earlier this year, but it remains unclear whether Irakere will be approved for a green card for permanent residency.
Top photo: Arianna Hermosillo and Irakere Picon pose at their StoryCorps interview in Chicago on February 3, 2018. Photo by Laura Saenz for StoryCorps.
Bottom photo: Irakere Picon and Arianna Hermosillo on their wedding day in Oak Park Conservatory in Chicago. Courtesy Arianna Hermosillo and Irakere Picon.
Originally aired October 19, 2018, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
StoryCorps 534: Ghetto Life 101
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the radio documentary Ghetto Life 101. Back in March of 1993, LeAlan Jones, 13, and Lloyd Newman, 14, collaborated with public radio producer David Isay — who would later become the founder of StoryCorps — to create audio diaries of life on Chicago’s South Side. The boys taped for ten days, walking listeners through their daily lives: to school, to an overpass to throw rocks at cars, to a bus ride that took them out of the ghetto, and to friends and family members in the community.
The candor in Jones and Newman’s diaries brought listeners face-to-face with a portrait of poverty and danger and their effects on childhood in one of Chicago’s worst housing projects. Like Vietnam War veterans in the bodies of young boys, Jones and Newman described the bitter truth about the sounds of machine guns at night and the effects of a thriving drug world on a community.
Ghetto Life 101 became one of the most acclaimed programs in public radio history, winning almost all of the major awards in American broadcasting, including the Sigma Delta Chi Award, the Ohio State Award, the Livingston Award, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting Awards for Excellence in Documentary Radio and Special Achievement in Radio Programming. Ghetto Life 101 was also awarded the Prix Italia, Europe’s oldest and most prestigious broadcasting award. It has been translated into a dozen languages and has been broadcast worldwide. Read more about the radio documentary here, with updates from LeAlan Jones and Lloyd Newman.
On the podcast this week, we bring you a special presentation of Ghetto Life 101.
Recorded in Chicago, Illinois. Premiered May 18, 1993, on WBEZ Chicago. This rebroadcast released on June 8, 2018.
Like the music in this episode? Support the artists:
“Beat Bop” by Rammellzee Vs. K Rob from the album Downtown 81
More Madness by Magic in the Threes from the album Return Of…
Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat) by Digable Planets from the album Dope: Music From The Motion Picture
Funky Child by Lords of the Underground from the album Here Come the Lords
Without A Song by Billy Eckstine from the album Without A Song
Passin’ Me By by The Pharcyde from the album Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde
Anna Freeman and Brianna Freeman
Most of the people who step into a StoryCorps booth have never interviewed anyone before. But, as every great interviewer knows, the best moments are often the ones you can’t plan for.
That’s what Anna Freeman discovered when she sat down with her 8-year-old daughter, Brianna, in our Chicago StoryBooth and asked what seemed to her to be a simple question.
Bottom photo: Brianna Freeman poses as her favorite mythical creature, the unicorn. Courtesy of Anna Freeman.
Originally aired December 29, 2017, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Johnny Holmes and Christian Picciolini
In the 1990s, Johnny Holmes was head of security at a high school in Blue Island, Illinois, located just outside of Chicago, where he met Christian Picciolini, a teenage student who was the leader of a local neo-Nazi group.
Christian was involved for eight years before he renounced the movement’s racist principles. Today, he devotes himself to helping others leave hate groups.
He credits Johnny with being the person who helped turn him around. Christian and Johnny came to StoryCorps to remember how it happened.
Christian founded EXIT Solutions, a global organization of former extremists with a mission to help people to leave hateful and violent ideologies.
Johnny now serves on his local school board.
Editor’s note: This story contains a quote where a racial slur is used.
Originally aired October 6, 2017, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Bottom photo: Johnny Holmes from the 1987 issue of the Eisenhower High School yearbook, Crest. Photo courtesy Johnny Holmes.
Terry Banies and Darryl Cooke
Terry Banies (below left), a violence prevention counselor, met Darryl Cooke (below right), a radio host and advocate, when they were students at Governor’s State University in the Chicago region. As they pursued their education, they bonded over a shared commitment to healing and their past experiences with incarceration.
Terry and Darryl came to StoryCorps to reflect on their understanding of historical trauma and discuss how their brotherhood has supported them through the challenges of re-entry.
Terry and Darryl’s conversation was recorded through the StoryCorps Justice Project, which preserves and amplifies the stories of people who have been directly impacted by mass incarceration. The Justice Project is made possible, in part, with support from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Safety and Justice Challenge, #RethinkJails, and the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation. This conversation was recorded through our community partnership with JustLeadershipUSA, an organization and training program that empowers people most affected by incarceration to drive policy reform. It was produced in partnership with WBEZ 91.FM Chicago.
Released May May 10, 2017.
Larry Kushner and Eileen Kushner
For as long as she can remember, Eileen Kushner has had a difficult time reading and doing simple math. Growing up in Detroit the 1950s, she recalls her teachers calling her “stupid” and “lazy,” but no one knew she had a processing disorder until she was tested and diagnosed by a psychiatrist when she was in her mid-30s. “It was like a door in my brain would drop and it wouldn’t allow me to process any of the information.”
After graduating high school, Eileen married Larry Kushner and over time they had three daughters. Eileen hoped that staying out of the workforce would help her hide her learning difficulties, but surviving on the money Larry earned as a bank teller was hard. There were days when their family didn’t have enough food in the refrigerator, so Eileen began to look for a job.
She worked briefly as a secretary but was fired because her notes were riddled with misspellings, and then Larry suggested that she apply for a job at the McDonald’s next to the bank where he worked. Eileen was overjoyed when she got the job and started by making French fries and milkshakes and cleaning the floors. She secretly hoped she would not be promoted because she knew that would mean working at the cash register.
In the 1960s, McDonald’s cashiers manually calculated the cost of an order, and Eileen was afraid that a promotion would lead others to discover her secret — she wasn’t able to add. But she did so well with her first responsibilities that a promotion to the register soon followed. For Eileen, it was a tragic moment, and she told Larry she was going to quit. That’s when he came up with a solution.
Larry brought home different denominations of bills from the bank, and Eileen brought home Big Mac boxes, French fry containers, and cups, and they began playing McDonald’s at their kitchen counter. Larry would pretend to be the customer and Eileen would practice adding up his order. They did this every day until Eileen felt comfortable enough to accept her promotion.
Eileen moved her way up at McDonald’s eventually becoming a manager and then attending Hamburger University. Together Eileen and Larry have owned five separate McDonald’s restaurants (currently, they own one). Now in their 70s, she credits Larry with their success while he believes that it was her dogged perseverance and hard work that got them to where they are today.
They came to StoryCorps to remember their earlier struggles.
Originally aired September 16, 2016, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Top photo of Eileen and Larry at their February 1963 wedding and bottom photo of Larry and Eileen in their McDonald’s uniforms courtesy of the Kushner family.
Carol Miller and Marge Klindera
Marge Klindera spent decades teaching home economics to Illinois middle and high school students. As she was transitioning into retirement, she began looking for other ways to share her years of knowledge and experience. In 1983, she began working at a seasonal call center—answering questions from those needing last-minute information on cooking a turkey.
Each Thanksgiving, for more than 30 years, Butterball has run their Turkey Talk-Line. Operating from October to December, trained professionals like Marge answer thousands of turkey-related questions from home cooks across the United States and Canada.
At StoryCorps, Marge (pictured above right), 79, sat down with her longtime coworker, Carol Miller (pictured above left), 68, to remember some of the best callers they have had, as well as some of the best advice they have dished out.
Originally aired November 27, 2015, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Barry Romo
Barry Romo (above left) grew up in a tight-knit family in Southern California in the 1950s. The youngest of his siblings, he spent his childhood surrounded by a niece and nephews of a similar age.
Barry was particularly close with one of his nephews, Robert, known to everyone as Bobby (above right). Bobby was just a month younger than Barry and Barry considered Bobby to be another brother.
During the Vietnam War, Barry enlisted in the Army and Bobby was drafted. Only one of them came home. Private First Class Robert Romo was killed in action in 1968. First Lieutenant Barry Romo was chosen to escort his body home.
Barry came to StoryCorps to remember his nephew.
After Bobby’s death, Barry did not return to Vietnam, he was reassigned to a post in the United States to serve out the remainder of his commitment.
Today Barry is an active member of Vietnam Veterans Against the War.
Originally aired November 6, 2015, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Photos courtesy of Barry Romo and Beverly Mendoza.
Tom Howard and Bill O’Hara
For 167 years at the Chicago Board of Trade Building, you could find traders in the Chicago Mercantile Exchange’s Futures Pits jockeying for position and shouting orders for wheat, cattle, and corn.
But on July 6, 2015, that way of doing business came to an end when the Futures Pits closed for good.
Many young men from nearby working-class neighborhoods found their way into the financial industry at the Board of Trade.
Tom Howard (left) and Bill O’Hara (right) both worked as traders there, and recently came to StoryCorps to remember how they got started.
Originally aired July 6, 2015, on NPR’s Morning Edition.