The first story I listened to on story corps was “He Didn’t Like Losing, But He Knew There Was a Greater Purpose”: Remembering Washington Generals’ Coach Red Klotz. Right off the bat, this story distinguished itself from the others I’d heard so far by being a memorial story as opposed to a story told by the subject. Red Klotz provides a little audio snippet at the beginning, but otherwise the content comes from a dedicated narrator, who speaks with a newscaster-like air to her voice, and audio snippets from the people in Red Klotz’s life. He had quite an interesting job, being the coach for the basketball team that was supposed to get crushed by the Harlem Globetrotters every night. The story is light hearted and reverent, discussing how Red was ultimately content with his role as the dedicated loser, and he chose to play it well anyway. The storytelling in this one is pretty thoroughly edited for flow and emotional impact, cutting between different speakers. The beginning and end are overlayed with what I can only describe as jovial elevator music, setting the happy tone.
The second story I listened to was “From War Zones to Flood Zones: Two Veterans Find A New Calling”. Unlike the previous video, this one did not have a musical intro or narrator. It was presented in an interview/discussion format between two people with a mutual experience in the Navy. They discuss how after leaving the navy, they carried their skills forward helping people in the aftermath of natural disasters. This story was moderately somber, but not overly so. A lighthearted but nostalgic guitar melody started as they said their last few sentences, and carried on for a few moments by itself before the video ended. The tone of this video was overall reflective.
A Community Audio Journal