StoryCorps: Recording The Lives And Stories Of Everyday Americans : NPR

Opinion

The Human Computer And The Cat Chauffeur

September 26, 2008 • Andrew Vollo is a New York City cab driver who has made it his mission to interview as many other cabbies as he can, recording their memories for the StoryCorps oral history project. Recently, Vollo spoke with Oleg Roitman and Jerry Tierstein about their experiences driving passengers around New York.

The Human Computer And The Cat Chauffeur

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Taxi Driver: An Easy Job For A Rare Character

September 19, 2008 • Hyman Bloom started driving a cab in New York City more than 30 years ago. He made $40 for 10 hours of work, he remembers — and started to wonder what he was doing in a taxi. Bloom stayed with it and came away with no regrets — and plenty of stories.

Taxi Driver: An Easy Job For A Rare Character

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A Father's Lessons: Coping With Loss, Love

September 12, 2008 • After his wife died in 1977, Joseph Natale raised three children on his own. Recently, he spoke with his son about coping — and finding the new love of his life. "The amazing thing was, no way was I longing to get married" again, Natale said.

A Father's Lessons: Coping With Loss, Love

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Remembering Sept. 11

Memories Of Sept. 11, Preserved And Bright

September 11, 2008 • The StoryCorps oral history project hopes to collect at least one recording from the families of each of the nearly 3,000 people who lost their lives in the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Sept. 11 Took Boy's Grandfather, Friend

September 5, 2008 • For Frankie DeVito, his grandfather was a favorite playmate and companion. But Bill Steckman, who worked in the World Trade Center, didn't come home after Sept. 11, 2001. Frankie, now 10, talks with his mother about that day — and how his grandfather remains with him.

Sept. 11 Took Boy's Grandfather, Friend

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'Like Family,' Then Nothing: Life After U.S. Steel

August 29, 2008 • For more than a century, U.S. Steel's Homestead Works was the flagship mill of the American steel industry, buzzing with activity. But in the 1980s, it shut down, costing thousands of people their jobs. Betty Esper, who worked there for 36 years, recalls those days and what came after them.

'Like Family,' Then Nothing: Life After U.S. Steel

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Family Traditions: Hard Work And Italian Food

August 22, 2008 • When he opened a restaurant nearly 30 years ago, Joe Spano Sr. used the cooking skills he had learned from his mother. The lessons he passed on to his own son have kept the restaurant in business.

Family Traditions: Hard Work And Italian Food

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Cuban Doctor Found Home, Healing In U.S.

August 15, 2008 • In 1963, Dr. Gustavo Mestas and his family escaped from Cuba and Fidel Castro's communist regime. His daughter, Ileana Smith, was 10 at the time. When she asked about their move recently, her father responded with a laugh. "That is a very complex problem," he said.

Cuban Doctor Found Home, Healing In U.S.

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A Summer Job, A Lifelong Romance

August 8, 2008 • When Walter Sonneborn took a two-month job as a physician at a summer resort, it changed his life. There, he met Babette, whose grandparents owned the Adirondacks hotel that hired him. Soon, they were inseparable.

A Summer Job, A Lifelong Romance

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For A Mother And Son, Living And Loving Openly

August 1, 2008 • Robert Madden grew up in Mississippi in the 1960s. He was close to his parents, able to talk with them about anything. But with his mother, one subject was off-limits.

For A Mother And Son, Living And Loving Openly

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Coping With Polio And A Demanding Stepfather

July 25, 2008 • Tom Domingue was 8 when he contracted polio, which left him with braces on his back and legs. Domingue recently told his wife about how his mother coddled him then — and how his stepfather helped him get back on his feet.

Coping With Polio And A Demanding Stepfather

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A Grandmother Who Lived By The Rules — Her Own

July 18, 2008 • Even at 87, Kay Wang had a reputation for being strong-willed, something that began when she was a child. "I wasn't very nice" as a little girl, Wang told her son, Cheng, and her granddaughter, Chen. But Wang, who died in April, left a deep mark on her family.

A Grandmother Who Lived By The Rules — Her Own

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Summers Of Learning In The Tobacco Fields

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.

Summers Of Learning In The Tobacco Fields

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Remembering A Father's Hard Life And Riches

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.

Remembering A Father's Hard Life And Riches

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Driveway Moments

A Bra's Tale: Detour On A Daughter's Trip Abroad

June 27, 2008 • As a young woman, Betty Jenkins received a gift from her mother that was meant to attract the attention of young men. But as Jenkins tells her niece, the attention she got wasn't the kind she was expecting. The gift was an inflatable bra designed to enhance its wearer's figure. It worked well — until she got on a plane.

A Bra's Tale: Detour On A Daughter's Trip Abroad

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