Summary: Susan Anarino and her tiny but mighty ukulele on Cape Cod. (Photo by Joanna Solotaroff.) r Joanna Solotaroff was a student of mine at the Transom Story Workshop this spring. When Joanna said she wanted to do a story on a Ukulele Orchestra I thought to myself "Yeah, whatever. Go for it. It's your first piece. Make what you can. I'm sure it will be good but not something to write home about given the subject." Well, little did I know Joanna would put together a piece that captures the feelings of life lived every day, what Washington Post reporter Walter Harrington refers to as "intimate journalism." Harrington writes "... to most journalists honored with the job of remembering the stories of the tribe, (the) momentous events of everyday life are virtually invisible. To most American journalists, such events are akin to the dark and unknown matter believed to make up 90% of the universe: We keep reporting the movement of the planets when the big news is the unseen matter in which they spin.... In the language of the craft, we’re missing the story." Joanna didn't miss the story. Not only is her story something to write home about, it's something to podcast about. Have a listen Joanna's first radio story ever, "Mighty Tiny." Best, Rob PS - The Transom Story Workshop is accepting applications for the Fall of 2012.
