Great storytelling, great radio. Makes you think and feel. It's funny and sad. I like Gwen's presence and style, her matter of fact tone and insightful writing.
One of the best things about the piece is how it begins. I was not sure where it was going but I was happy to be on the ride. And then the piece turns. It's a great surprise, and the set-up makes sense and the subject matter becomes more "meaningful." Gwen takes us on a journey (love the stuff about how she could not get editors interested). She starts with herself, single voice, memories of childhood, and it becomes an investigation/ documentary full of other voices, probing questions.
I have two constructive pieces of critique. If I was editing this piece, I would have pushed hard to cut down on the middle/ end segments about the police. The story makes a very distinct shift when the tape of the TV news story is played in its entirety. That tape was too long, and did not add anything to my understanding of the story. And from there the story gets side tracked, to my ears. Not that the hard questions for the police are not really important ones, but I didn't think all the time spent on that was really part of THIS story. I think the time spent on challenging the accounts of the shooting got me off track a bit, took me away from the story/ journey that the producer was on.
Also, music at the end is too dramatic. I had to turn it off. The music made much too strong a comment. The story didn't need that drama to conclude.
Overall though, great, great work and I loved listening.
Gwen Macsai remains one of publis radio's great storytellers. Here she gives light to the life of Arthur Earl Hutchinson, her high school friend who died as a homeless man at the hand of police a few years ago. Her story's wordy beginning quickly evolves into a piece of investigative journailism that never forgets that at the heart of the story is a man who touched Gwen'slife as well as the life of many others. The "Mayor" of Nichols Middle School was no saint, but Macsai's tribute/ investigation/ personal essay / documentary portarit of a friend certain makes clear what a blessing his life was to those he touched.
At an odd length of 35:00 will make this program hard to air, but find the time, during a literary block of programming or other spoken word shows.
This story works because it accomplishes two things that by themselves might seem simple, but together are difficult to do successfully. First, Gwen tells a story, clearly and confidently, with pacing driven from the obvious chronologies of events - all crossing paths with the life of one homeless individual, Earl Hutchinson. Then she does something that is rare. She tells this story in such a way as to give us all a certain empathy to the story - not necessarily the individual. Those of us "of an age" have these stories in our past. Friends and acquaintances that have dropped off our radar, but who, somehow, pop up now and again in our memories - fond and rich with the clarity of a photograph. This allows us to attach ourselves to the story, relating to it, step by step, saying "Damn, that's sad, and I knew someone just like that." The story is the radio equivalent of a surveyor tying bright orange ribbon to the trees, and stakes, and brush in a field - that field of course is our memory. Those bright flags provide us with markers to measure our own story.
The length of this piece and its narrative tone lend itself to the likes of This American Life, or at least a show with longer-form content. It is compelling, well recorded, and beautifully written.
Comments for The Mayor of Nichols
Produced by [redacted] [redacted]
Other pieces by Third Coast International Audio Festival
Rating Summary
3 comments
Emily Hanford
Posted on November 06, 2005 at 04:45 PM | Permalink
Review of The Mayor of Nichols
Great storytelling, great radio. Makes you think and feel. It's funny and sad. I like Gwen's presence and style, her matter of fact tone and insightful writing.
One of the best things about the piece is how it begins. I was not sure where it was going but I was happy to be on the ride. And then the piece turns. It's a great surprise, and the set-up makes sense and the subject matter becomes more "meaningful." Gwen takes us on a journey (love the stuff about how she could not get editors interested). She starts with herself, single voice, memories of childhood, and it becomes an investigation/ documentary full of other voices, probing questions.
I have two constructive pieces of critique. If I was editing this piece, I would have pushed hard to cut down on the middle/ end segments about the police. The story makes a very distinct shift when the tape of the TV news story is played in its entirety. That tape was too long, and did not add anything to my understanding of the story. And from there the story gets side tracked, to my ears. Not that the hard questions for the police are not really important ones, but I didn't think all the time spent on that was really part of THIS story. I think the time spent on challenging the accounts of the shooting got me off track a bit, took me away from the story/ journey that the producer was on.
Also, music at the end is too dramatic. I had to turn it off. The music made much too strong a comment. The story didn't need that drama to conclude.
Overall though, great, great work and I loved listening.
Michael Johnson
Posted on August 23, 2005 at 01:41 AM | Permalink
Review of The Mayor of Nichols
Gwen Macsai remains one of publis radio's great storytellers. Here she gives light to the life of Arthur Earl Hutchinson, her high school friend who died as a homeless man at the hand of police a few years ago. Her story's wordy beginning quickly evolves into a piece of investigative journailism that never forgets that at the heart of the story is a man who touched Gwen'slife as well as the life of many others. The "Mayor" of Nichols Middle School was no saint, but Macsai's tribute/ investigation/ personal essay / documentary portarit of a friend certain makes clear what a blessing his life was to those he touched.
At an odd length of 35:00 will make this program hard to air, but find the time, during a literary block of programming or other spoken word shows.
Bill Palladino
Posted on June 28, 2005 at 10:55 AM | Permalink
The Mayor of Nichols Compels
This story works because it accomplishes two things that by themselves might seem simple, but together are difficult to do successfully. First, Gwen tells a story, clearly and confidently, with pacing driven from the obvious chronologies of events - all crossing paths with the life of one homeless individual, Earl Hutchinson. Then she does something that is rare. She tells this story in such a way as to give us all a certain empathy to the story - not necessarily the individual. Those of us "of an age" have these stories in our past. Friends and acquaintances that have dropped off our radar, but who, somehow, pop up now and again in our memories - fond and rich with the clarity of a photograph. This allows us to attach ourselves to the story, relating to it, step by step, saying "Damn, that's sad, and I knew someone just like that." The story is the radio equivalent of a surveyor tying bright orange ribbon to the trees, and stakes, and brush in a field - that field of course is our memory. Those bright flags provide us with markers to measure our own story.
The length of this piece and its narrative tone lend itself to the likes of This American Life, or at least a show with longer-form content. It is compelling, well recorded, and beautifully written.