One last holiday hit before the new year arrives
It’s that time again: to look back and forward, hold on and let go, at the brink of a new year, with fruitcake.
Please, don’t judge it ‘till you try it.
We’re ending the year at Speakers Forum “almost accidentally.” An email came a while back — a reminder of a University Book Store tradition. For 13 years now, on a given afternoon, bookseller and author Brad Craft has performed a reading of Truman Capote’s short story “A Christmas Memory.”
We hadn’t planned to record it, but I had some free time, and a sweet tooth — they serve cookies and hot chocolate — so I ambled over. Almost immediately, I wished I’d brought my recorder.
Craft calls this story "an American holiday classic." He brings great feeling and history to his reading. And every year he prepares short stories of his own to introduce and end his reading.
Determined to capture the moment one way or another, I invited Brad over to the KUOW studios for a repeat performance. This is late for Christmas, but well within the season. It might be the perfect thing to share with people you love as the holidays wane and the new year begins.
Best wishes for a happy new year from all of us at Speakers Forum. -John O'Brien
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John O'Brien
Senior Producer, All Things Considered
John O’Brien is KUOW's All Things Considered Senior Producer. He spends his days setting up interviews with newsmakers on subjects from politics and public health to arts and culture. John learned to make radio starting in 2006 as an intern on KUOW’s The Conversation with Ross Reynolds.
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