storycorps in the stockyards thru 10.20.2007

you can record an oral history interview for storycorps in the fort worth stockyards thru the 20th. tammy gomez did; here's her testimony:

I booked a recording timeslot to interview my mom
at the MobileBooth that has been parked in the
Stockyards area of Fort Worth since September 27th.

We did the interview, in the tiny airstream trailer,
this past Sunday at 5:30pm. It actually was a very
cool experience. My mom was a little bit nervous,
which is unimaginable, because my mom usually
has no problem with talking (to me, to strangers, etc.).

I guess the fact that we would be recording our
conversation, and that it would be archived for
posterity (Library of Congress) was a bit intimidating
for her.

It was fun, though, to grill her on her childhood, her
teen years, and lots of stuff in between. The facilitator
who sat there taking notes and monitoring the high-
quality recording was very helpful and sweet (Hillary
was her name). I told her where to get Thai food in
town--I could tell that being parked in the Stockyards
area and having to hang out there everyday for her
job was not the most thrilling thing for her or her
co-worker. (She mentioned having been to the
Spiral Diner and appreciating that experience--she's
from Chicago.)

By the end of the 40-minute interview, and after all the
waivers and forms had been completed (painless and
quick, actually), me and my mom left with a burned
cd of our conversation and a feeling of having contributed
a little bit of history to the archives in D.C. Most importantly,
to me anyway, I felt that I had gotten a chance to honor
my mom and celebrate our family connection in a way
that was pretty unique. She talked about other stuff,
which I know someday I'll try to put on tape/film...

So, dear friends & colleagues in Fort Worth----
don't miss out on a cool opportunity to interview a loved
one before October 20th. Read on!

Love,
Tammy

___________________________________

A few basics---

How to participate in StoryCorps at a StoryBooth or MobileBooth:

Choose an interview partner, like a parent, grandparent, sibling, or friend.
All participants must be at least ten years of age.

Make a reservation for a StoryCorps recording session.
See our reservations and locations page to make a reservation online,
or call our reservation line at 800-850-4406 (it's open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week). The suggested donation is only $10.

Conduct your interview or tell your story. You'll have forty minutes for the interview. Our Facilitator will sit with you in the booth, making a digital recording with broadcast-quality equipment.

Take home a copy of your interview on CD. With your permission,
a copy of your interview will go to the StoryCorps Archive, housed at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. You can also make your interview available for broadcast on your local public radio station.

About the FOUNDER of StoryCorps, Dave Isay:

Dave Isay is the founder of StoryCorps and its parent company Sound Portraits Productions. Over the past two decades his radio documentary work has won nearly every award in broadcasting including five Peabody Awards, two Robert F. Kennedy Awards, the Edward R. Murrow award, and two Livingston Awards for young journalists. Dave has also received a Guggenheim Fellowship (1994), a MacArthur Fellowship (2000), and a United States Artists Fellowship (2006). He is the author (or co-author) of four books based on Sound Portraits radio stories including: Our America: Life and Death on the South Side of Chicago (Scribner, 1997) and Flophouse (Random House, 2000).