| Pieces in Series | 10 |
| Licensor | Jay Allison |
| Producer(s) | Jay Allison |
| Formats | |
| Topics | |
| Produced | 1985 |
| Added to PRX | June 12, 2006 |
Reflections on Life, Love, and Death among the Species
http://www.jayallison.com/radio/
Editor: Christina Egloff. Fundors: National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (through NPR's SPDF); administrative support from The Radio Foundation.
English
This radio series is a collection of a short pieces from the 1980s reflecting on life, love and death among the species. Among these stories you will find monologues, montages, portraits and dreams. Some are funny, some are strange, some enlightening, some sobering:
* A man shelters 300 stray animals
* Killer whales seduce a woman
* A war veteran shoots a bird...and destroys his weapons
* Reptiles attack
* Chimpanzees talk
* Butterflies swarm
* Dogs dream
These stories come in various lengths and styles. Check them out. Use them like spice.
(NOTE TO STATIONS: Be sure to frame these pieces as "vintage," produced in the 1980s. While the content holds up fine, you need to note the fact that these stories were made about 20 years old, so that you don't unintentionally mislead your listeners into thinking these are contemporary voices.)
Here's a few examples of the ten stories in the series:
1. "Hide and Seek" (3:50)
Animal trainer and behaviorist, Ken Decroo, tells the story of the first he talked to a chimpanzee, and the chimp talked back. An aural metaphor ends this piece.
4. "Treeline" (3:35)
Vietnam veteran Jim McMullen tells of the he shot a blackbird outside his hometown, and was compelled to destroy his weapons forever.
7. "Subtext: Communicating with Horses" (4:41)
An animal psychologist searches for the source of one horse's ennui. The horse responds with his story of dislocation and lost youth.
10. "Cross my Path" (8:30)
Leo Grillo can't stand to see an animal suffer. So he takes them all in to his place. He's up to about three hundred dogs and cats, and if he can't find homes for them, he keeps them until they die of natural causes.
