26: Father's Day '96
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Ok, so Dad, so you have the script. I have the script. From WBEZChicago, it's this American life, the Father's Day edition. Dad, you are such a pro. I haven't done this in 40 years, it brings back all kinds of memories. Now, you better explain to our radio listeners in what context you actually sat in front of a radio microphone, Dad. Well, it was around 1955 or 1956. When I graduated from Maryland, instead of getting an honest job, I went to work in radio. So here's a tape of what you sounded like back in 1956 on the radio. Please don't play that tape. This is three years before I was born, and you're just a kid in this recording, you are 23 years old. Do personal problems and worries have you down? Are you disturbed by business problems, marriage problems, or emotional problems? See, Mrs. Kay, reader and advisor. Mrs. Kay, formerly of Europe, gives you a reading and answers all your questions for just $1, and you'll feel much better. How could somebody, Dad, how could somebody who's charging a dollar for a reading even afford to buy a radio ad? Well, look, she's been to Europe. She got her education there. So they must have taught her something over there. So now, at some point, you gave up your career, your burgeoning career in radio really before it took off the ground, and that was because it was nothing important. It was something called making a living. Right, and so now you're a certified public accountant living in Baltimore. Right, right. Well, let me say this. Let me give a little explanation that we try to give each show for new listeners. Each week in our program, we document stories of life in these United States using all the tools of radio storytelling, documentaries, monologues, found tapes, anything we can think of. And today, for Father's Day, my co-host will be my own father, Barry Glass, Certified Public Accountant. And it's a real kick to do this. I know, this is our little Father's Day adventure together. You could have bought me a tie. Dad, why don't you read the billboard? Our program today will have four acts. Act one, Sandra Singh Lowe finds out that the world sees her father very differently from the way she sees him. Act two, Dad's music. We have a story from writer Sherman Alexi. Act three, the moment Dad left. Act four, reconciling with Dad, a story from playwright Beau O'Reilly. [music] So, Dad, take us into Act one. Will you please? Act one, how the world sees your father. So, Dad, our first story today is from Los Angeles. It's from Sandra Singh Lowe, as you said, at the beginning of the show in the billboard. When she was growing up, her father was not -- he was not a fun dad. He, himself, had been orphaned in Shanghai when he was 12. He was raised in poverty. And because of that, he was just this -- this -- this -- this -- Penny Pincher doesn't even capture this miserly. They didn't celebrate Christmas.
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