'Morning Edition' Says Goodbye To A Staff Member
Longtime producer Neva Grant is leaving NPR. She found many of the people listeners heard on Morning Edition, like Colleen and Donald Bordelon. Morning Edition wishes Neva and her family good luck as they move to Australia.
STEVE INSKEEP, Host:
Now, coach Dungy famously left his team at the top of his game, and this morning we'd like to call your attention to one of our own colleagues who's done the same thing.
Neva Grant has left her job as an NPR producer. Neva found many of the people we've met on this program. After Hurricane Katrina, for example, she introduced me to Donald and Colleen Bordelon.
How high did the water get in here?
DONALD BORDELON: In here? How high can you see? That's how high it went, buddy.
INSKEEP: Are you planning to fix up this house and stay right here?
COLLEEN BORDELON: Definitely.
INSKEEP: Neva Grant had a way of finding the music in the way people spoke. Maybe that was because she had a musical education.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
Unidentified Woman #1: Our piece on the oboe was produced by Neva Grant, who traded in her oboe for a radio.
INSKEEP: Now she's trading in America for Australia, where her family is moving. She leaves behind many memorable stories, like the one in which she got the automated voice of United Airlines to flirt with the automated voice for Amtrak.
Automated Voice #1 (United Airlines): Hi, I'm Tom.
Automated Voice #2 (Amtrak): I'm Julie.
Automated Voice #1: You've got great diction. You know that?
Automated Voice #2: Yes.
Automated Voice #1: Are you also a little lonely? Please say yes or no.
Automated Voice #2: Yes.
INSKEEP: Most people in Neva's stories were not rich or famous. They were often inspiring, like a high school dropout determined to get her diploma.
INSKEEP: The one think that I am actually truly scared off is not making a difference in anything.
INSKEEP: Something that our departing colleague Neva Grant need not worry about at all.
Thanks, Neva. We'll miss you.
It's MORNING EDITION, from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep.
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