I Am Somebody

CD Review

Stories written and performed by Linda Gorham. $10.00, plus $2.00 shipping & handling.

www.LindaGorham.com,

email: Linda@LindaGorham.com

Reviewed by Linda Goodman

            In the introduction to her life-affirming CD I Am Somebody, Linda Gorham shares that she is descended from many people, including a grandmother who loved plastic, a grandfather who was a Pullman Porter, and a father who lived by the mantra “proper prior planning prevents poor performance.”   

            Gorham was raised to be morally responsible.  It’s In the Book is a tribute to her father, who used that phrase to verify values.  A typical good daughter, Gorham did not buck her father’s standards until she was a teenager.  Using popular songs from the late sixties to good effect, Gorham decides to do her “own thing.” Ultimately, this leads her on a journey that culminates in a tender scene in which her father interrogates her future husband in an effort to assure himself that the man can be trusted with such a valuable treasure. Ultimately, secrets are revealed that make Gorham see family members in a new light.

            Dog lovers will enjoy Juno, Not My Dog, a touching tale of a pesky dog that gradually creeps into the heart of a child who claims to resent it.

            In Plastic Glory, childhood adventures in a house where everything is covered with plastic lead to a somber moment when a father returns from Viet Nam.  This story is as relevant to today’s military as it was to the military of the sixties and seventies.

            A Prince of a Man features Gorham as an independent, self-sufficient, strong woman who discovers that having a Prince Charming around can have its advantages. Clearly, a woman can be a feminist and feminine at the same time.

            In a clever parallel to the old story of the tailor who becomes obsessed with a piece of cloth, Sofa to Cotton is an ode to reducing, reusing, and recycling. Being environmentally conscious requires some thinking outside the box, but it is worth the effort.

            Realizing that life is short, Gorham ponders life’s treasures and dumps life’s garbage in Red Light Reflections.  Favorite line: “I can open my own doors, but do it for me, because I’m worth it!”

            I Am Somebody is a loving tribute to ancestors, family, and self. This CD is a verbal monument to Gorham’s heritage, and it encourages its listeners to begin building monuments of their own. 

A Note from Diane Edgecomb

Those of you who know storyteller Diane Edgecomb are aware of her devotion to the Kurdish people and the reverence and joy with which she shares their tales.  I recently received the email post below from her.  Please read it and assist her if possible.  The task she is undertaking is a daunting one.  Many hands will make the load lighter.

 

Linda Goodman

 

November 10, 2011

 

Dear friends,

 

It is with a heavy heart that I am writing to you about the situation in Van, Turkey where another major earthquake just happened.

 

Van and Ercis (area most hit by the first quake), Turkey form the hub where I begin all of my storytelling journeys among the Kurdish people. They have been rocked by major earthquakes. Another one happened today. This last Sunday I was at a meeting of the New England Kurdish Community. There eyes were hollow with sorrow and they do not even know how to reach out with their fund raising efforts. They are new immigrants and they also have no country of their own to support any efforts.

The community is decimated by the way the Turkish government has interfered with humanitarian efforts. In an effort to make sure it has absolute control over this region, Turkey delayed relief efforts offered from Israel and other well-equipped countries for six crucial days. Family members of my friends texted from under the rubble "I am here, I am here" until they finally fell silent.

I have worked with these resilient and wonderful people for over ten years and am going to be heavily involved in trying to raise funds as quickly as possible. Tents are arriving for the homeless, but can you imagine living in a tent during a New England winter? Winters in the Kurdish region are much more fierce. They need wooden houses and my friend, Memet who is in the area, of his own determination and sense of service is already building these structures in a tremor free zone. I hope that some among you will consider helping in the effort I need to launch. Any help in any way is so appreciated.

If anyone has ties to any religious or other group that supports humanitarian aid and would ask on behalf of this cause, please please let me know. I can go anywhere to speak, show slides, and invite the Kurdish community whenever they are available. It is such a horrible situation. And it seems that everywhere I turn there is a cruel reminder. Yesterday driving home I saw a billboard "Can you imagine not having a home to go to?" I again imagined and also imagined winter descending.

Please let me know if you have any thoughts or ideas or can help in anyway.

Diane Edgecomb

www.LivingMyth.com

617-522-4335

PS here was the latest news on what people are suffering in the Kurdish region of Turkey today, hours after the second quake ....

"Riot police in the Kurdish region fired tear gas and used batons to disperse protesters angry at the state's relief efforts after the second earthquake in eastern Turkey in three weeks. Rescue teams searched for survivors after the 5.7 magnitude tremor on Wednesday night heaped misery on the predominantly Kurdish region where many people died following a major quake on October 23.

"How can you fire pepper spray on people who have already suffered so much?" said Abdulrahim Kaplan, 32. He had gone to the crisis center for a tent when police began firing tear gas, he said. "Our people are freezing. We are sleeping outside -- all seven of my family," he said, complaining bitterly over the alleged unfair distribution of tents. "Some people take five tents, some 10 and others get nothing. This is wrong." Thousands of families are living in makeshift camps with temperatures falling to freezing with the onset of winter. The latest tremor cut power to the area.

          

Mama's Wreaths

By Julia Taylor Ebel with M. Joann Moretz

Published by Canterbury House, $10.95, www.juliaEbel.com

Reviewed by Linda Goodman

            This enchanting story poem is a loving tribute to the knowledge, traditions, and stories that richly infuse the North Carolina Mountain culture.

            Using the character of Joanie, a young mountain girl who wants nothing more than to make Christmas wreaths as beautiful as her mother’s, Julia Taylor Ebel guides us through the autumn and early winter seasons of a people who value character above wealth.

Ruled by the “I’ll be beholden to nobody” attitude that she learned from her daddy, Joanie will not rest until she can pay back the nickel (milk money) that her teacher gave her to replace the one that she lost. Particularly moving is the Lost episode in which Joanie, given the responsibility of delivering one of her mother’s wreaths, loses the money that she collected for it. Her resulting distress is caused by her knowledge that the lost money was to have been used for necessaries: flour, sugar, and shoes. When she finds the money, she experiences not only relief, but true joy:

not joy about the money

but joy about a job seen through,

about a trust kept,

about the smile I expect

on Mama's face

Making Christmas wreaths, we learn, requires skill, teamwork, and sacrifice. Listening to instructions is essential. Joanie hangs her own wreaths around her home, declaring that:

We may not have much money

 to spend for Christmas,

 but this is a Christmas house.

            Ebel credits Joann Moretz, who shared her memories of making wreaths in Watauga County, North Carolina, as her information source for this book. As a native Appalachian, I particularly appreciated Ebel’s simple black and white illustrations, which took me back to a time when life moved at a slower pace and Christmas was magic.  No expensive presents required: family and friends sharing the holiday spirit was the ultimate and most sought-after prize

          After the story’s end, Ebel adds information about the history of wreath making in the North Carolina Mountains and instructions on how you can make your own evergreen wreath. A study guide and book discussion starters are available on Ebel’s website.

            This book, recommended for ages eight through adult, would make a wonderful Christmas present for both young and old.  The young will delight in the intimate peek at a culture often taken for granted.  Adults will garner sweet memories of a time when Christmas was neither rushed nor expensive.  The book is one that children and adults can read together and equally appreciate. What better way to spend precious time and revel in the Christmas spirit?

Hidden Treasure at The Mountain Spirits Art Festival

            I have always preferred community theater productions to professional ones because I love being one of the favored few to witness a stellar performance given by an actor who is relatively unknown.  You know what I am talking about – that performance that is so convincing it consumes the stage and makes you forget that what you are watching is acting.

            This past weekend, I had that same experience at the first annual (hopefully) Mountain Spirits Art Festival at the Franklin County Library in Rocky Mount, Virginia.  In addition to painting, quilts, music, and regional authors, four storytelling performances were featured.

            I was one of the four storytellers.  The other three were Charlie Lytton, David Bass, and Linda Hartman.

            Of the other three tellers, the only one that I had heard before was Charlie Lytton.  I had the pleasure of hearing him share Appalachian tall tales at the Galax Book Festival, where he graciously invited me to share the stage at the end of his set. As a performer, I found him to be both charming and captivating.  As a person, I found him to be both a gentlemen and a generous colleague. I am truly enjoying my copy of his book, New River: bonnets, apple butter, and moonshine (The Raising of a Fat Little Boy). 

            I am happy to report that Charlie is not a one-story wonder. At Mountain Spirits, he shared a beautiful yet tragic true ghost story about the specters of two little girls haunting the Appalachian Trail.  I was left heartbroken by the image of these young giggling ghosts, seen by hikers on the trail from time to time. 

            David Bass, a dead ringer for Hal Holbrook, followed Charlie onstage to share a funny, endearing tale of Grandpa Hurt, who was so entranced with the new “horseless carriage” that he decided to get one of his own.  This well-researched and expertly constructed story made me appreciate modern times, where a simple twist of a key in an ignition will start a car. Bass certainly knows how to use movement, body language and facial expressions to enhance a story. I almost split my sides laughing at Grandpa Hurt unsuccessfully trying to crank his new car and get in the driver’s seat before he had to crank again.

            Linda Hartman was the only storyteller whose set I was able to watch in its entirety (I had customers wanting to buy my book during the others).  Linda actually became the characters in each of her stories, expertly changing her voice, body language, and facial expressions for each one. Watching her face progress from reluctance to surprise to downright delight as her character chewed a gooey substance from an unknown flower was pure magic. Her command of her voice was phenomenal. Amazed at her mastery of the stage whisper, I was so enraptured that I jumped several times when she pumped up the volume. Her stories were about the importance of listening and about courage in the face of dangerous odds.  The children attending were riveted to her performance.  Even the adults were captivated.

            Unfortunately, attendance at the festival was small, probably due to the unusually cold weather and competition from a Virginia Tech home football game. Library staff, though, seemed to enjoy the event and hope to have it again next year. Congratulations and thanks are due to the Franklin County Public Library for hosting this event.

Dark Matter

CD Review

Written and performed by Lynne Duddy.  Musical soundscape by a cappella singing sensation Emily Post. Available from CD Baby (www.cdbaby.com/cd/lynneduddy)for $10.00 (CD) or $9.99 (MP3) 

Reviewed by Linda Goodman

            “Have you ever been afraid of the dark?” Lynne Duddy asks in the introduction to her powerful and thought-provoking CD Dark Matter. Her haunting, hypnotic voice then proceeds to guide the listener on a trip through the dark side, a journey filled with wonder, science, love, and more than a little mystery.

            The stories begin with an Amazon Creation Myth about an anaconda that introduces light to the world through song. Substance, we are told, comes from nothing and it takes faith to believe in this concept. That faith is the central theme of the stories on this recording.

            9 to 4 takes us to a cemetery at night, where a large, seemingly foreboding, stranger awaits. Can we trust without evidence of trustworthiness?  Can we have faith in our instincts? The shades of truth in this story are subtle, yet powerful.  I listened to it over and over, just for the beauty of the telling.

            Vera’s Story shares the history of Vera Reuben, the woman who in 1951 unlocked the mystery of stars rotating in spiral galaxies. Sadly, Ms. Reuben was born in a time and place where astronomers did not take women’s research seriously. Her work did, however, lead to the discovery of dark matter in the 1970’s.  Can we have faith in our destiny, even when society contradicts all that we hold dear?

            Lightning features two young girls whose fascination with lightning leads them to become “blood brothers.” This sacred moment taken in secret leads to harsh punishment and the revelation of an ugly truth. Can we have faith that all will be well, in spite of that truth?

            Into the Mist is a beautiful story about the misunderstandings between a woman and her dying father, and how those misunderstandings are resolved before it is too late. How sad to have such a heavy weight lifted so late in life’s journey! Can we have faith that our loved ones understand that harsh words are just old hurts turned hard?

            Lost and Found is a tale of stumbling upon an old memory on a country drive that spurs a quest for a missing piece of the past. Can faith mend a tear in our personal fabric?

            The stories on this CD are well-written and wonderfully told.  There are no breaks between stories, so listening to them feels like being at a concert. The musical soundscape provided by Emily Post is grand, but often threatens to overwhelm the stories. At times I felt that the music was competing for attention, when I would have preferred that it accent the stories.

            I fear the darkness, but at the same time I yearn for it. These stories helped me realize that darkness makes the light more brilliant, and I take comfort in that. Duddy tells us that we should “have faith that everything will be all right, and even if it isn’t, everything will be okay.”  I believe her.

Encounter With a Door Knocker

© Linda Goodman 2011

              In September of 1971, I had been married for just over one year, and I was four months pregnant with my daughter, due to be born during the same month that I would be turning twenty.

                At four months, I was just pregnant enough that my clothes no longer fit.  I was a full-time student who had just been dismissed from my part-time job because I was pregnant (yes, that was legal in 1971), and my husband was a full time musician with a rock band.  On a good week, he brought home $15.00 (I didn’t say it was a successful rock band).

                There was no money to buy maternity clothes, so my sister, who was heavier than me, had given me a pair of her elastic-waist pants. That pair of pants, coupled with a few of my loose fitting shirts, was the only clothing that I could comfortably wear. 

                At a late morning hour, I was attempting to clean my small apartment without waking my husband, who was still sleeping off a late-night gig. A knock at the door interrupted me, and I opened the door to welcome a well-dressed older woman who said she was doing visitation for a church down the street from my house.  In other words, she was a door knocker.

                “We’ve just started a Bible study at the church,” she announced enthusiastically, “and we want to invite everyone in our neighboring communities to join us as we discover the joys and blessings hidden in God’s word.”

                I have always enjoyed good Bible discussions, even when they lapse into arguments, which they often do. The time mentioned was good for me, so I told her that I would be delighted to attend her church’s study.

                “Wonderful!” she exclaimed, as she clapped her hands together with delight. 

                Then her manner changed.   She looked me up and down before continuing, “By the way, you do have a dress you can wear, don’t you?”

                “No,” I responded, “at this particular time, I don’t own a dress that fits.”

                “No worries,” she countered, “we’ll just get you a dress from the church thrift closet.”

                “Why is that necessary?” I questioned her. “Can’t women wear pants at your church?”

                “No!”  She was quite firm, almost militant, with her answer.  “We voted that women wearing pants and men wearing blue jeans will not be allowed to enter our church.”

                “Do you think Jesus would have denied church entrance to those people?” I wondered.

                “Jesus preached in the wilderness.” She informed me. “He wouldn’t expect people to dress up in the dusty desert.  You don’t have to worry, though.  I am sure that we have several dresses in your size in our thrift closet.”

                “I do not accept charity,” I insisted.  “I don’t need it.”

                “Well, then,” she countered, “You will not be able to attend our Bible Study.”

                “I can live with that,” I replied.

                 Suddenly she was livid. “I will never understand this younger generation!  All the women wear pants, even in sacred places like churches!  And all the men want to wear their hair long hair! It’s disgraceful!”

                “Now wait a minute,” I protested, thinking of my husband and his waist long mane of blond curls. “Jesus had long hair!”

                She glared at me.  “We don’t know that.  All we know is that the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 11 verses 14 and 15 that it’s a sin for a man to have long hair.”

                My mind processed what she said and I could not help but debate the issue. “Do you agree that Jesus never sinned?” I asked her.

                “Absolutely!” she affirmed.  “Jesus was God incarnate and the Bible says that he was without sin.”

                “Do you have a picture of Jesus in your house?” I questioned her.

                “Of course I have a picture of Jesus in my house!” she said proudly. “I love the Lord. I have a picture of Jesus in every room in my house.”

                “Does he have long hair in those pictures?” I inquired.

                She paused.   I could see panic racing in her eyes.  “Well, yes he does, but –“

                I stopped her mid sentence.  “So you have pictures in your house of Jesus sinning?” I demanded to know. “Isn’t that heresy?”

                She did not answer that question.  She stared at me for a minute or two and then very slowly and calmly she whispered, “Your husband is going to leave you. You will have to raise your child alone. May God have mercy on you.”

                And then she left.  I watched as she knocked on the door of my neighbor’s house and began her spiel anew.

                She was right about some things.  My husband did eventually leave me.  I did raise my daughter alone for the first eleven years of her life. God has indeed been merciful to me.  But I still will not attend a church that discriminates against people for something as ridiculous as the way they dress or wear their hair. I don’t believe that God would be there either.

The Last American Gladiator

By Slash Coleman

CD Review

Available from CD Baby. $14.95 for the CD; Download MP3 for $9.95.

Reviewed by Linda Goodman

With his latest CD, The Last American Gladiator, Slash Coleman revisits his childhood and shares stories and songs that run the gamut from chasing impossible dreams to realizing his worst fears. His self-effacing delivery and captivating way with words entice us to come along with him on this journey. Enthralled listeners will gladly travel with him as he relives earning his degree from the school of hard knocks and gladly shares the wisdom learned therein.

The Last America Gladiator, the first story on the CD, extols the virtues of having to “wait it out,” as a young Slash schemes to become a gladiator and, simultaneously, get the attention of his third grade teacher, on whom he has a crush. This story delivers the best story quote I have heard in a while: “Every dream should come with a comma.”

Major League Pop Fly is a humorous yet touching tale of baseball, love, and “white man’s perm.” This story is followed by Perpetual Underdog, a dark tale of misplaced trust that almost destroys a family, set in a time where picking up hitchhikers was the norm. As a fan of the dark side, this is the story that settled in my head and traveled with me for days.

The Acquisition of Skipper highlights a clever use of “extreme marketing” at a flea market type event that ends with mom getting a hero and dad becoming a pirate. High School Musical features Slash as a football player wannabe who finds release in the marching band and wrestling, before realizing that he is his own worst enemy.

The CD also features two songs. Believe is an ode to faith in oneself. Flying Lessons is a musical celebration of living one’s dreams.

While I found minor problems with the sound in a few places, the stories are tightly written and memorable. Slash’s delivery is heartfelt and endearing. The responses of his live audience clearly show that they love his tales, as well they should. First and last, Slash Coleman is a gladiator. He knows his arena, and he is not afraid to welcome others into his world.