close
 

Listening Is an Act of Love

A Celebration of American Life from the StoryCorps Project

by Dave Isay

Listening Is an Act of Love

Hardcover, 284 pages, Penguin Group USA, List Price: $24.95 | purchase

close

Purchase Featured Books

  • Listening Is an Act of Love
  • A Celebration of American Life from the StoryCorps Project
  • Dave Isay

Book Summary

A compendium of true American life stories, drawn from an ambitious oral history project, features pieces representing every walk of life from all fifty states, in a nation-wide and thematically arranged celebration of the nation's shared humanity. 75,000 first printing.

This book is about:

  • Oral history,
  • Interviews,
  • Anecdotes,
  • Social life and customs,
  • National characteristics, American,
  • History,
  • Biography,
  • United States

NPR stories about Listening Is an Act of Love

StoryCorps

Summers Of Learning In The Tobacco Fields

Mark Sullivan told his story in Hartford, Conn.

July 11, 2008 As a teenager in the 1950s, Mark Sullivan worked in the tobacco fields of Connecticut. He'd come home so filthy that his mother would make him take off his clothes before going inside. The tar washed off, but the lessons he learned stayed with him.

Transcript

On Morning EditionPlaylist

StoryCorps

Remembering A Father's Hard Life And Riches

James Lacy told his story to his daughter Jamie Breed in Abilene, Texas.

July 4, 2008 When James Lacy was growing up, his father prospered by running a general store in rural Texas. But the merchant lost everything in the economic collapse of 1929. Though his dad spent decades paying off debts, Lacy says, he was rich in other ways.

Transcript

On Morning EditionPlaylist

StoryCorps

Living on 'One Tough Block'

Celedonia 'Cal' Jones (left) and Robert Harris.

June 13, 2008 Celedonia "Cal" Jones grew up in Harlem during the 1930s. When he was 9 years old, his family moved to a new neighborhood. Being the new kid on the block wasn't easy.

Transcript

On Morning EditionPlaylist

Driveway Moments

A Mother's Bittersweet Memories

Myra Dean and Gary Jamison

May 30, 2008 A decision to let her son enjoy a few moments of independence and beauty ended in tragedy. But out of Rich Stark's death in a car accident, Myra Dean managed to extract small comforts.

Summary

On Morning EditionPlaylist

StoryCorps

Honoring the Dead Brings Father, Son Closer

David Shea told his story to his lifelong friend Alice Doyle in Butte, Mont.

May 23, 2008 David Shea didn't know much about his father until one Memorial Day when Denny Shea took his son along for a ride to the cemetery. It was there that the father introduced his son to the people who had made a difference in his own past.

Transcript

On Morning EditionPlaylist

StoryCorps

Moment of Anger Haunts Father

May 16, 2008 Bob Chase Sr. can't shake the memory of a spanking he gave his son 50 years ago. Though he views it as one of his greatest failings, his son urges his father to let the memory fade.

Transcript

On Morning EditionPlaylist

StoryCorps

Remembering 'The Greatest Mom in the World'

Wanda Zoeller and her partner, Susan Herndon

May 9, 2008 Wanda Zoeller, the youngest of six children, was so poor growing up that her family had to keep borrowing a light bulb from one room to light another. Zoeller says her mother, who was the most important person in her life, made sure they didn't feel poor.

Transcript

On Morning EditionPlaylist

StoryCorps

Leaving the Farm, Then Breaking New Ground

Carly Dreher interviewed her grandfather, Lyle Link, 90, in Milwaukee, Wis.

May 2, 2008 Lyle Link left his father's farm after deciding that picking corn and shoveling manure wasn't for him. He met his future wife, Marion, at church and never looked back. Now 90, Link describes the life they lived together and his heartache now that she's gone.

Transcript

On Morning EditionPlaylist

StoryCorps

An Interview Reveals Hard Family Truths

Rahsheed McKenstry and his mother, Rhonetta McKenstry

April 25, 2008 When Rahsheed McKenstry, 10, and his mother Rhonetta McKenstry entered the StoryCorps booth in Memphis, Tenn., he quickly found his own interview style ... a style that uncovered hard truths.

Transcript

On Morning EditionPlaylist

StoryCorps

Learning to Read After Decades Brings Joy

Volunteer tutor Michelle Miller and her student, Joseph Buford.

April 18, 2008 Joe Buford, 63, has a high school diploma but kept a secret, even from his family: He couldn't read. He managed to fool others into thinking that he could. And he was terrified that his inability would be passed on to his kids.

Transcript

On Morning EditionPlaylist

StoryCorps

A Victim Treats His Mugger Right

March 28, 2008 Julio Diaz ends his daily subway commute one stop early, just so he can eat at his favorite diner. One evening, his routine was broken when a teenage mugger took his wallet at knifepoint. But neither of them could have predicted what happened next.

Transcript

On Morning EditionPlaylist

StoryCorps

Lucky Osborne and his wife, Debi.

February 29, 2008 Lucky Osborne grew up with his grandparents at the end of a country road in Mississippi. He remembers shooting alligators and ducking his grandmother's wooden spoon. And the story of an upside-down cafe sign that didn't need fixing.

Transcript

On Morning EditionPlaylist

StoryCorps

A Transformative Moment Sparks Change of Life

George Hill

February 22, 2008 After leaving the Marines, George Hill became addicted to drugs and alcohol, and found himself on the streets of Los Angeles. But a handful of change from a fellow homeless man sent Hill on the path to recovery and joy.

Transcript

On Morning EditionPlaylist

StoryCorps

A Valentine's Romance That's Lasted 40 Years

Mary (left) and Peter Vincelli with their daughter Lauren.

February 15, 2008 Peter Vincelli and Mary Beinert were high school sweethearts in Brooklyn in the 1960s. They fell in love when they met 40 years ago this week — on Valentine's Day. He says it was love at first sight. She says it was love at first kiss.

Transcript

On Morning EditionPlaylist

StoryCorps

Father Finds Peace in Forgiveness

Hector Black

February 8, 2008 After Hector Black's daughter was murdered seven years ago, all he could think about was revenge. But after learning about the killer's troubled background, Black asked authorities to spare his life.

Transcript

On Morning EditionPlaylist

StoryCorps

A Sisterhood Evolves from Hate to Love

Sisters Janaki Symon and Melissa Wilbur

February 1, 2008 During their childhood, Melissa Wilbur and Janaki Symon's relationship was marked by bitterness and jealousy. But an unexpected sign of affection finally brought the sisters closer.

Transcript

On Morning EditionPlaylist

StoryCorps

A Long Life of Love and Wonder

Anna Wise and her daughter Mary

January 18, 2008 Anna and Joseph Wise, childhood sweethearts, were married for nearly six decades. Now 96, she has outlived him for 16 years and wonders how "you get through almost anything."

Transcript

On Morning EditionPlaylist

StoryCorps

Discovering a Mother's Hidden Talent

Cynthia Rahn

January 4, 2008 One day when she was in kindergarten, Cynthia Rahn realized she had forgotten to do an assignment. All hope seemed lost — until she made an unbelievable discovery on the kitchen table the next morning. What she found there revealed her mother's secret talent.

Transcript

On Morning EditionPlaylist

StoryCorps

The Day the Show Didn't Go On

Ron Kroenke and Sharon O'Donnell

December 14, 2007 Ron Kroenke tunes pianos for a living. But when he stopped by a nursing home to work, he inadvertently made the residents unhappy. That's when a lady named Rose managed to say just the right thing.

Transcript

On Morning EditionPlaylist

StoryCorps

They Found Magic on Broadway

Miriam Cruz-Colon and her husband, Oscar Colon

November 23, 2007 Miriam Cruz and Oscar Colon were brought together nearly 50 years ago by a New York acting gig that never panned out. But the moment they met, at a restaurant on Broadway, "there was an electricity," Miriam says.

Transcript

On Morning EditionPlaylist

StoryCorps

Remembering the Tiger Death March

Wayman Simpson

November 9, 2007 During the Korean War, a brutal nine-day trek through the Korean countryside left nearly 100 American prisoners dead. Wayman Simpson, one of those POWs, recounts the ordeal and his treatment at the hands of a ruthless Korean officer nicknamed The Tiger.

Transcript

On Morning EditionPlaylist

StoryCorps

StoryCorps: 'Listening Is an Act of Love'

Dave Isay at the StoryCorps booth in Grand Central Terminal.

November 8, 2007 Since 2003, the StoryCorps project has recorded 15,000 personal conversations between family members and friends. A new book chronicles some of the stories, and two participants describe what it was like to share their private stories with millions of radio listeners.

Transcript

On Morning EditionPlaylist

 

Comments

Please keep your community civil. All comments must follow the NPR.org Community rules and terms of use. See also the Community FAQ.

 

NPR reserves the right to read on the air and/or publish on its website or in any medium now known or unknown the e-mails and letters that we receive. We may edit them for clarity or brevity and identify authors by name and location. For additional information, please consult our Terms of Use.

 

NPR thanks our sponsors

Become an NPR Sponsor