Lanie, Alex, and Eric Jones
Eric Jones was one of the first 10 people in the United States to be fitted with a bionic hand.
His children, Lanie and Alex, interview their father about how he got his bionic hand, people’s reaction to it, and some of the things he misses most about not having his original hand.
Originally aired July 9, 2010, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Sylvia Mendez and Sandra Mendez Duran
Sylvia Mendez (left), 73, talks to her sister Sandra Mendez Duran (right), 59, about Mendez v. Westminster, their family’s 1945 lawsuit that won Mexican-American children the right to attend white schools.
Originally aired March 26, 2010, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Jim Krawczyk
Jim Krawczyk recalls a trip he made to New Hampshire in the 1960s to meet reclusive author J.D. Salinger. After being told by Salinger’s ex-wife, “Anything he says, he says in his books,” Jim eventually tracked down Salinger in person and got a handshake.
Originally aired June 8, 2007, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Mala Fernando and Ashanthi Gajaweera
Mala Fernando (left) talks with her daughter, Ashanthi Gajaweera, about her marriage to Ashanthi’s father when she was 22 years old and still living in Sri Lanka, and finding love once again after his death.
Originally aired November 13, 2009, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Karama Neal and Judge Olly Neal
Judge Olly Neal grew up in Arkansas during the ’50s and didn’t care much for high school. One day he cut class and wandered into the library. It’s there he came across a book by African-American author Frank Yerby. The provocative cover piqued his interest, but Olly had a rough-and-tumble reputation to uphold. So rather than check out the book and have his classmates see he was voluntarily reading, he stole it.
He came to StoryCorps to tell his daughter Karama Neal about what happened next.
Check out Judge Olly Neal’s story as a StoryCorps animated short, “The Treasures of Mrs. Grady’s Library.”
Originally aired on October 2, 2009, on NPR’s Morning Edition. A rebroadcast aired on September 27, 2019 on the same program.
Jeffrey Perri and Tony Perri
When Tony Perri was 17 years old he went to confession and told his priest that he was attracted to men. After that he didn’t tell anyone else about his feelings for another 17 years until he told his wife, Shirley. At StoryCorps Tony talks with his grandson Jeffrey about coming out, and Jeffrey talks about his own coming out experience.
Originally aired September 18, 2009, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Bob Panara and Greg Livadas
When Bob Panara was 10 years old, he became deaf. He tells his friend Greg Livadas about his father arranging for him to meet his childhood hero—Babe Ruth—in the hope that the shock would help his hearing return, and what Brooks Robinson later did to become his idol.
Originally aired July 31, 2009, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Bob Heft
For an American history project during his junior year of high school in 1958, Bob Heft created a 50-star flag. The only problem was that at the time there were only 48 states. Bob had a hunch that two more states would be added and in 1959, Alaska and Hawaii became our 49th and 50th states.
Bob created the 50-star flag by cutting up a 48-star flag his parents had received as a wedding present. “I’d watch my mom sew, but I had never sewn…and since making the flag of our country, I’ve never sewn again.” Bob’s teacher was unimpressed and gave him a B- asking if he even knew how many states we had, and telling him, “If you don’t like the grade, get it accepted in Washington then come back and see me.”
Two years later his perseverance paid off when he received a call from President Dwight D. Eisenhower who invited him to Washington, D.C., for a ceremony adopting his 50-star flag. Bob’s teacher also went back and changed his grade to an A.
Bob later became a high school teacher, college professor, and served as mayor of Napoleon, Ohio, before he died in December 2009 at the age of 68.
Originally aired July 3, 2009, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Allen Hoe
Allen Hoe was as a combat medic in Vietnam. His son, Nainoa K. Hoe, served as a 1st lieutenant infantry officer with the Army’s 3rd Battalion in Mosul, Iraq and died there on January 22, 2005, at the age of 27.
On Memorial Day in 2005, Allen traveled from Hawaii to Washington, D.C., for an event at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial honoring Army nurses returning home from the war. At StoryCorps he describes the amazing circumstances around how he met Major Paula Coughlin who was the nurse with his son when he died.
Originally aired May 22, 2009, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Sue Adam and Deborah Dimasi
After giving birth to her, Sue Adam decided to give Deborah Dimasi up for adoption. At StoryCorps they discuss why Sue made the decision she did to find an adoptive family for Deborah, and Deborah feelings about being put up for adoption.
Originally aired on May 8, 2009, on NPR’s Morning Edition.