Listening is an Act of Love is technically by David Isay, however, the stories in this book aren't his. These stories are the stories of everyday citizens, stories of people who wouldn't necessarily write their stories down. These are stories of people who have lived through history, stories of people meeting their husbands and wives, and stories of people surviving all sorts of live obstacles and challenges.
The stories themselves are amazing, poignant and most of all, real because they are true. Yet the real story of this particular novel is the story behind these stories, the foundation of Storycorps. Storycorps was founded in 2003 to preserve real life stories. Anyone can record a story by going to a Storycorps booth either with a loved one or alone, and asking/answering questions. People have said in the particular environment that Storycorps has created, stories came out that had never been spoken of before.
Each Storycorps participant gets a CD of their story and the copy goes to the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. Each week, stories are broadcast on NPR's Morning Edition. People have said that participating in Storycorps made them feel like they mattered, that their lives mattered. What better way to honor the fact that everyone's story is important?
"The essence of America lives not in the headlined heroes....but in the everyday folks who live and die unknown, yet leave their dreams as legacies." - Alan Lomax, 1940
No comments:
Post a Comment