MUSINGS BY JOAN #16
Cuts to the State budget mean little until they suddenly touch something you consider important. Florida’s money problems are threatening Public Radio’s little known on-air Reading Services to the visually impaired.
How do I happen to know this? Because I’m a new “reader” at WLRN, Miami’s public radio station. That means once a week I show up at the station in downtown Miami to read the Miami Herald to Dade County residents, or the Sun Sentinel to Broward County residents, who are unable, for various physical reasons, to read for themselves. It’s proven to be an interesting addition to my ongoing quest for meaningful ways to fill up my days in my new retired status.
My significant other has been a WLRN volunteer for years. He guides tours through the TV and radio station areas for school kids and is the guy they always call on when they need a tall, distinguished looking host for one of their fund raisers. My interest in reading on air was actually sparked by a businesswoman friend named Virginia Jacko who lives in my condo. Virginia enjoyed a successful career as a top administrator at Indiana University until she started losing her eyesight about a decade ago. Today, she is totally blind, but if you met her, except for her ever present guide dog, Gibney, you would never guess.
Singlehandedly, she has raised the local chapter of Lighthouse For The Blind from a small, sleepy charity, to a vibrant and meaningful organization that serves sight impaired clients ranging from small children to senior citizens. If you’re not careful Virginia will enlist you in one of her many Lighthouse projects before you know what’s hit you. She’s a remarkable lady.
But back to my on-air reading. The Herald gets read from 9-10 every morning. The Sun Sentinel from 10:30 to 11:30. USA Today gets read for an hour on Thursdays and a guy who could double as a stand-up comedian reads the grocery ads on Sunday morning. Don’t laugh. It’s one of the most popular items on the reading services agenda.
I read with another volunteer and we alternate reading for the entire hour. First, however, we have to select what we are going to read. Such editing power! Armed with scissors, we spend the first hour culling and cutting in the following order: the first fifteen minutes are devoted to front page and local news; the second 15 to national and international news; the third 15 to business and editorial; and the final 15 to sports and entertainment. Except for the Sun Sentinel, whose listeners demand a full reading of the daily horoscopes. Try leaving that out and the phones start to ring I am told.
I’ve got it down to a science now. I bring my own scissors, a shiny gold pair I bought in Spain years ago, because I’m left handed and the station’s huge Office Depot-style cutters hurt my hand. I bring three Hall’s Menthol Eucalyptus lozenges that I carefully lay out on the desk in front of me along with a Styrofoam cup of water, in case, God forbid, I feel the need to cough. I remind myself to turn off my cell phone. I clear my throat, suck on lozenge #1, and adjust the microphone to the correct height, keeping a nervous eye on the engineer behind the glass wall in front of me. When his hand drops, it’s show time, folks! One of us reads the "intro" and the other launches into the first article of the day.
My new claim to fame? After the first week I found that I am just about the only reader who not only likes to read the sports page
Cuts to the State budget mean little until they suddenly touch something you consider important. Florida’s money problems are threatening Public Radio’s little known on-air Reading Services to the visually impaired.
How do I happen to know this? Because I’m a new “reader” at WLRN, Miami’s public radio station. That means once a week I show up at the station in downtown Miami to read the Miami Herald to Dade County residents, or the Sun Sentinel to Broward County residents, who are unable, for various physical reasons, to read for themselves. It’s proven to be an interesting addition to my ongoing quest for meaningful ways to fill up my days in my new retired status.
My significant other has been a WLRN volunteer for years. He guides tours through the TV and radio station areas for school kids and is the guy they always call on when they need a tall, distinguished looking host for one of their fund raisers. My interest in reading on air was actually sparked by a businesswoman friend named Virginia Jacko who lives in my condo. Virginia enjoyed a successful career as a top administrator at Indiana University until she started losing her eyesight about a decade ago. Today, she is totally blind, but if you met her, except for her ever present guide dog, Gibney, you would never guess.
Singlehandedly, she has raised the local chapter of Lighthouse For The Blind from a small, sleepy charity, to a vibrant and meaningful organization that serves sight impaired clients ranging from small children to senior citizens. If you’re not careful Virginia will enlist you in one of her many Lighthouse projects before you know what’s hit you. She’s a remarkable lady.
But back to my on-air reading. The Herald gets read from 9-10 every morning. The Sun Sentinel from 10:30 to 11:30. USA Today gets read for an hour on Thursdays and a guy who could double as a stand-up comedian reads the grocery ads on Sunday morning. Don’t laugh. It’s one of the most popular items on the reading services agenda.
I read with another volunteer and we alternate reading for the entire hour. First, however, we have to select what we are going to read. Such editing power! Armed with scissors, we spend the first hour culling and cutting in the following order: the first fifteen minutes are devoted to front page and local news; the second 15 to national and international news; the third 15 to business and editorial; and the final 15 to sports and entertainment. Except for the Sun Sentinel, whose listeners demand a full reading of the daily horoscopes. Try leaving that out and the phones start to ring I am told.
I’ve got it down to a science now. I bring my own scissors, a shiny gold pair I bought in Spain years ago, because I’m left handed and the station’s huge Office Depot-style cutters hurt my hand. I bring three Hall’s Menthol Eucalyptus lozenges that I carefully lay out on the desk in front of me along with a Styrofoam cup of water, in case, God forbid, I feel the need to cough. I remind myself to turn off my cell phone. I clear my throat, suck on lozenge #1, and adjust the microphone to the correct height, keeping a nervous eye on the engineer behind the glass wall in front of me. When his hand drops, it’s show time, folks! One of us reads the "intro" and the other launches into the first article of the day.
My new claim to fame? After the first week I found that I am just about the only reader who not only likes to read the sports page
, but actually understands what they are reading. So far, I am the only one who cares that Jason Taylor has returned to the Miami Dolphins, or that Dwayne Wade’s bad shoulder is what caused the Heat to lose in the first round of the playoffs. I like to feel that there are some sight-impaired listeners out there who are grateful for my expertise.
My fellow readers are an interesting bunch. Mostly women and a few men. . all retired professionals and business people, ranging from school teachers to lawyers, doctors and dentists. While we cut apart the paper in the hour before we read, I've gotten to know quite a few of them. I’ve also learned the art of reading and watching the digital clock at the same time in order to switch subjects at the 15 minute intervals and, most imortantly, end up exactly at 58 minutes after the hour for the station break. Now I know how the real pros do it. It’s a whole new world!
I think I may sit down and write a letter to Governor Crist urging him not to cut the funding for reader services throughout the State. If you’re a Floridian, you might want to do so also.
My fellow readers are an interesting bunch. Mostly women and a few men. . all retired professionals and business people, ranging from school teachers to lawyers, doctors and dentists. While we cut apart the paper in the hour before we read, I've gotten to know quite a few of them. I’ve also learned the art of reading and watching the digital clock at the same time in order to switch subjects at the 15 minute intervals and, most imortantly, end up exactly at 58 minutes after the hour for the station break. Now I know how the real pros do it. It’s a whole new world!
I think I may sit down and write a letter to Governor Crist urging him not to cut the funding for reader services throughout the State. If you’re a Floridian, you might want to do so also.
Can’t hurt.
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Caption: WLRN, Miami, my home away from home for Reading Services.
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Caption: WLRN, Miami, my home away from home for Reading Services.
So you're telling me all it takes is some water to stop your coughing? Since when? I'm quite certain the coughing fits Mom and I have observed would alone span more then one 15 min segment. So what you're telling us is next time you start to hack up a lung Mom and I should just throw a newspaper in front of you and tell you to start readying? Who knew that would be the cure all.
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