Gary O'Blog
WELCOME TO MY BLOG!
Posted by: Gary O'Brien
Thursday, September 13, 2007 2:05 AM
Welcome to my blog! I'll be sharing fun and interesting information on my guests. I've also been asked if there is a listing of guests and their book titles available. I will include them in this blog as well. I'll also look forward to any comments you may have.SHOWS USED IN HIGH SCHOOL CLASS
Was at a local store with my son the other evening when Justin ran into a teacher he knew from Centennail High School. Ends up Jason Franklin is a regular listener, and he enthusiastically shared with me some of his favorite guests.
Two of them were the authors of "The Average American" and "The Physics of Superheroes."
In "The Avergae American," the author set out to find the person, based on a series of statistics, who was THE average American. He does find that person by the way.
"The Physics of Superheroes" was written by James Kakalios, a professor in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Minnesota. He examines if the laws of physics can explain a superheroes' super powers. In many cases they can!
Mr. Franklin asked if he could get copies of the interviews to play to his class at Centennial High School. I was happy to do so! If Mr. Franklin has half the enthusiasm in the classroom as he had of these guests, his students are very lucky indeed!
REMEMBER THE DASH
One guest that especially moved me was Dr.Tonea Stewart, who spoke to a women's group in Decatur this week. Dr. Stewart is also a respected actress, having starred in television shows like "In The Heat of the Night," "Matlock," "Murder She Wrote" and many others.
During our visit she spoke of her Papa Dallas, who as a child was a slave who was brutally beaten by his cruel overseer for learning how to read.
When Tonea was very yuong, she would read to Papa Dallas because by then he was blind. She didn't fully appreciate those times at that age, but as she grew older she came to value those visits and the message he gave her: "learn to read, go to school...and continue telling my story."
She did just that as she earned her PhD, and as a professor she had great impact. The number of theatre majors, minors and total graduates more than doubled.
And she continued to tell the story of Papa Dallas. She believes to fully understand who we are today, we must understand who came before us.
Here is what she said that I won't soon forget: "Each gravestone has the year the person was born and the year they died. And in between there is a dash. That's the important part...the dash. That's the life they led. We must remember the dash."
What a great guest. What an inspirational person. I get chills now thinking about how she said that. "Remember the Dash."
WALL TO WALL GUITAR FESTIVAL PODCASTS/LES PAUL
The prestigious Wall To Wall Guitar Festival kicks off Thursday at Krannert Center. More than 30 guitarists from all over the world will be performing, including artists from right here in Champaign and also the U.S., Spain and even Iraq!
Podcasts of interviews with the artists performing at the festival are available at walltowallguitar.com.
I was honored to have been asked if my interview with the legendary Les Paul could be included among the podcasts. It is available now for download.
Thinking of that interview brings back so many memories. Les Paul had been on my guest wish list from the time I started at WDWS. One night Justin and I came home from whatever we were doing and there was a message on my answering machine from Mark Rubel, a friend of Mr. Paul's, saying he could do the interview that night at 10 p.m. That was about 2 hours from when I received the message! I dropped everything and headed to the station to prepare an outline.
We did the interview at what was 11 p.m. eastern time for Les Paul. He has performed in the evening almost his entire life, so even at age 90 he was in the habit of staying up all night and sleeping during the day. At a time I would normally be going to bed, 90 year old Les Paul could not have been more full of energy!
His house was busy during our interview. Also going on during our hour-long conversation, was a PBS camera crew shooting footage for a PBS special (which recently aired and was just terrific!) and some kids cataloging the "Les Paul and Mary Ford" television show from the early 1950's. Most of the shows from that era do not exist because the shows were either recorded over or the tapes were destroyed due to lack of starage space. Thankfully these shows still survive and are in good condition!
It wasn't until Mr.Paul mentioned that he had worked with everyone from W.C. Fields to Bing Crosby to Jimi Hendrix to Paul McCartney did the magnitude of his incredible career sink in. What an honor it was to speak to this true legend.
An interesting sidenote: Les Paul and Mary Ford were the first professional act ot perform at the University of Illinois Assembly Hall at the Open House on March 2, 1963.
GUESTS THE WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 10
MONDAY, SPETEMBER 10
-no show due to Cardinal baseball
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11
-David Spelman, artistic director for the Wall to Wall Guitar Festival at Krannert Center and Bridget Lee Calfas, Krannert's Public Information Director.
-"Talking Dirt" with Shane Cultra from Country Arbours Nursery
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12
-Robert Novak, nationally syndicated columnist and UI alumnus. His book: "Prince of Darkness: 50 Years of Reporting in Washington."
-Reverand Mike Mulberry on the lecture on immigration at the Channing-Murray Foundation
-Shirley and Jeff Lawrence on their experiences as a Hollywood extra. "Hollywood Be Thy Name: An Inside Look at Hollywood Actors and Extras."
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 13
-Lars Anderson "Carlisle v. Army: Jim Thorpe, Dwight Eisenhower, Pop Warner and the Forgotten Story of Football's Greatest Battle."
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14
-The Billy Barooz/Guido's ILLINI NOTEBOOK with the voice of the Fighting Illini Brian Barnhart as we preview the Illinois/Syracuse game.
-Wall to Wall Guitar Festival guest to be announced.
Thanks for checking out the blog. I'll be adding information and behind the scenes items on a regular basis.
GARY O'BRIEN
Comments
Love the O'blog! Thanks for letting us know what's coming up!
Posted by jennifer on September 13, 2007 at 7:07 PM