StoryCorps

Love At First Punch: Still Going Strong After 75 Years

Fri, 18 May 2012 03:09:00 +0000

Van Harris and his wife, Shirley, grew up in the same Brooklyn neighborhood. They lived about a block away from each other. At StoryCorps, they talked of how they first met — 75 years ago.

Van, 87, recalls the day that he first noticed Shirley, 85.

"I met her when she was about 10 years old, and she was beating up a couple of guys," he says. "The boys had taken her hat off her head, and they were tossing it around."

Shirley kept asking the boys to give her hat back, but they wouldn't do it.

"So one by one, she punched out every boy," Van says.

Brain Injury Gives Man A Second Chance To Be Kind

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 06:50:00 +0000

Four years ago, Marco Ferreira was riding his motorcycle down an isolated road in Los Angeles when he hit some grout and had an accident.

Though he was wearing a full helmet, leather pants and jacket, Ferreira suffered a traumatic brain injury.

When he woke from a six-week coma, his wife, Wendy Tucker, was there.

After Marriage Ends, Exes Become 'Best Friends'

NPR Staff — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 10:53:00 +0000

After the marriage between James Hanson-Brown and Lisa Combest ended, something unusual happened: Their relationship deepened.

"We got married Jan. 11, 1986, and the minister who married us told me, 'You guys are the best-matched couple I've ever talked to,' " Lisa recalls. "But I guess we were in our marriage for about a year when I started thinking that something was wrong.

Colleagues Recall L.A. Riots Unfolding Like 'A Movie'

NPR Staff — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 07:06:00 +0000

It's been 20 years since the Los Angeles riots shook that city — and the nation. On April 29, 1992, several white Los Angeles police officers were acquitted in the beating of black motorist Rodney King during a traffic stop.

News of the acquittals sparked unrest across the city.

A Mom Becomes A Man, And A Family Sticks Together

NPR Staff — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 23:21:00 +0000

This spring, Les and Scott GrantSmith will mark their 25th wedding anniversary. The couple raised two daughters along the way. But 15 years ago, they hit a crisis that nearly shattered their family. Les was keeping a secret, and that became a problem.

'Life Is Really Good,' Says Cancer Survivor, 12

NPR Staff — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 08:41:00 +0000

When Grant Coursey was a toddler, he was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a cancer often found in young children. A tumor had wrapped itself around Grant's spinal cord and had grown so that it pushed against his lungs.

Now 12, Grant is cancer-free; he received his first "clean" scan 10 years ago in March 2002.

Stories of Love and Commitment from Dave Isay and StoryCorps

Brady Carlson — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 22:13:44 +0000

No doubt many of us are rushing out the door to grab a last minute Valentine’s Day gift for our significant others.

Our guest has a suggestion: hold off on the chocolates and flowers, and spend a little time talking to that loved one.