Tag Archives: Inside Appalachia

Telling Stories With Sound

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Writer Wendy’s weekly installment

So most of you know I have this side gig as a Folkways Reporter for Inside Appalachia. It’s fun, albeit with a steep learning curve, figuring out how to tell stories with disembodied sound instead of standing in front of an audience watching their faces.

I’ve had great teachers, though. It’s always a leg up when someone answers a newbie question with “here’s the goal” rather than specifics responding to your exact question. Define the goal and let people reach it based on their ideas: that’s an excellent teaching technique.

And I had some good news recently. The first story I ever did was on mushroom hunting for beginners, a thing that has interested me ever since I acquired some woodland property that proliferates with the little fungi. (And some the size of dinner plates.)

I always liked reporting (I was one fresh out of college) because you’re constantly learning things by listening to other people. It’s fascinating. So the mushroom story was fun in and of itself. But last week I got a message from the producer. It’s up for an award.

My first story??!! My head isn’t gonna fit through doorways.

The Virginias (as in Commonwealth of and West) AP Broadcasters Award has a category of “Light Feature.” I’m up for it – along with a delightful fellow reporter named Rebecca Williams, whom I met at last year’s retreat for reporters. We had a lot of fun bonding, and now we have agreed that whoever comes in first buys the second-placer a margarita. (The event is held at the Greenbriar. They make awesome margaritas.)

I’m excited; I feel validated. I’m plotting more stories to tell with sound. And I’m looking forward to the next story up, about the secret powers of a unicorn mug. Here are a couple of preview photos.

That story starts airing March 24, but local times will vary.

And if you want to hear the mushroom story, here’s the link. https://wvpublic.org/appalachian-mushroom-experts-welcome-sprouting-newbies/

Come back next Friday for more from Wendy Welch

Holding her Grandmother’s Book

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Yesterday before picking up my friend Cami from the airport I recorded a radio program for “Inside Appalachia.”

During the interview, the strange relationship between bookstores and fires came up. Most rural bookstores owners will be familiar with this phenomenon: one of the first things people replace after a house fire, once they have the basics covered, is their beloved childhood books. It was a shock, the first time a man who looked stronger than the mountains surrounding us got red about the eyes as we handed him a replacement copy of Beautiful Joe. “Had it since I was eight,” he said. “Stole it from the school library ’cause I liked it so much.”

Wayne, the radio host, laughed at this story, then nodded. “You know, the other day my daughter was looking through our bookcase, and she pulled out some books of my mom’s, things she sent us before she died, that she’d had since she was a little girl. And my daughter was just idly leafing through one of them, and I got a catch in my throat. There was something so wonderful, seeing that, her grandmother leaving this trail. They’re just objects, but objects that contain thoughts that inspired my mom all her life. And it never would have occurred to me to be that sentimental about them, but yeah, I wouldn’t have missed that moment for the world.”

Yep.

(If you want to hear the “Inside Appalachia” interview, it airs the week of Sept. 28; check your local station, or visit the WETS website for live streaming on the day. Don’t forget caption contest VI is under August 29 if you want to enter, and Big Stone Celtic Festival is Sept. 22; come one, come all!)