The first story that I listened to was “Show ‘em Jackie”: Bat Boy Remembers Being On The Field With Jackie Robinson. The story began with the interviewee providing some background information about how he and his brother (George and Bill) became bat boys. After some introductory information is provided, the first utterance of the interviewer is heard. This indicated to me that allowing the story to begin with the interviewee gave more of an immersive feeling than if the interviewer was the first voice heard in the story. The conversational tone of the story helps weave some of the personal accounts of both Bill and George with some of the general historical information given about both Jackie Robinson and the general time period in which the story took place.
The audio of each of the interviewees was cut together to give their accounts a more casual, back-and-forth feeling. Likewise, it is clear after listening to the story that someone had to go back and edit out many long pauses taken by both interviewees between statements, so as to deliver the story in a more concise manner. Outside of the actual story, there is no additional audio included except for the laid-back music that concludes the interview. The rising music indicates the end of the story, but also emphasizes the final words of the second interviewee, saying “It’s not every day that you get to be a part of something so important; he was the key figure to get things on the right track to where they should have always been.”
The second story that I listened to was Sisters Remember Growing Up In Their Parents’ Hollywood Laundry Business. It tells the personal account of two sisters, Suzi and Donna Wong, and their childhood living in their father’s laundry business. This story chose a different introductory approach than the previous one. Instead of a natural lead-in with the storyteller, this story begins with some uplifting music along with a narrator laying out some background information about the two sisters.
One of the main differences between the approaches of each story is how the storyteller’s personal histories were edited in a way to highlight the stories’ different purposes. In “Show ‘em Jackie,” the memories recanted by Bill and George lent much more weight to a historical retelling of Jackie Robinson’s early career. With the story told by Suzi and Donna, however, their words conjured a more vivid and relatable image of a particular person, their father, in order to carry the story forward. I do enjoy how both stories conveniently utilize the same relaxing song clip as a wrap-up.
“Show em Jackie” – https://storycorps.org/stories/show-em-jackie-bat-boy-remembers-being-on-the-field-with-jackie-robinson/
Sisters Remember Growing Up In Their Parents’ Hollywood Laundry Business – https://storycorps.org/stories/sisters-remember-growing-up-in-their-parents-hollywood-laundry-business/