This week I listen to two stories on StoryCorps. The first story was titled “She’s probably the strongest woman you’ll ever meet” Remembering the Mother of Women’s Judo by Jean Kanokogi and Eve Aronoff Trivella. This story was about martial arts champion Rusty Kanokogi and how she fought for women’s right to compete at the olympic level of women’s judo in 1988, gaining her the title of the “mother of women’s judo.” The second story was titled “Granvilette Kestenbaum” this was a story about how she meet her husband Howard Kestenbaum and how she lost him on 9/11/2001 attacks on the World Trade Center.
The first story about Rusty Kanokogi starts off with the interviewer explaining who she was, and introducing the two women that are going to be telling the story her daughter Jean Kanokogi, and her former student Eve Aronoff Trivella. This is accompanied by an upbeat/insprirational music to set the tone for the inspiring story of Kanokogi. The music fades out as the interviewer transitions to the vocals of Jean Kanokogi. Jean starts the story of how her mother first competed in judo in 1959, when women weren’t allowed to compete, she was substituting for another male participant and ended up winning the match. She was forced to give her medal back after they discovered she was a woman or else her entire team would forfeit. It transitions to Eve Aronoff Trivella telling her experience with Rusty and how big and powerful of a force she was. The audio continues transitioning between the conversation between Jean and Eve, and ends with the two women laughing. As the laughter continues it fades out, while fading in what sounded like trumpet music. This story utilized the interviewers voice over, two interviewees, and music utilized at the beginning and end of the story. This was a newer story that was made in 2024.
“Unless you’re dead, do another push up.” – Rusty Kanokogi
The second story about Granvilette Kestenbaum, and her husband Howard Kestenbaum starts off differently than the first. This story only utilizes one persons voice, Granvilette, there is also no music used for any of the recording. Granvilette starts the story with how she meet her husband, Howard, after he had fell on her at a party and she thought “he was the goofiest guy I had ever meet.” She doesn’t give him a chance at first, but then one day one of her friends convince her to take a chance and go on a date with him. They were together ever since, and married a year later. He went into work, on the 109th floor at the World Trade Center, they had gotten into a tiff before and she didn’t say I love you back, she never saw him again after that day. She ends the story with “There is no closure when you lose a loved one. I don’t care how you lost them. The pain changes but it doesn’t go away. And, uh, I miss him like hell.” I think the choice to not use background music added to the severity and raw emotions that encapsulated this story. This was also notably shorter than the first story, but I think delivered the same punch with the meaning behind the stories being powerful and deep.
“I thought he was the goofiest guy I had ever meet…” – Granvilette Kestenbaum