LP's Candy Tree

LP - see him with his grandkids >>

Steve Lanier wrote to The Story to tell us about the funniest person he has ever known - Mr. Louis Phillip Hornthal, better known to all as "LP."

Steve spent many days visiting with LP when he was a child. He died years ago, but LP's antics are still legendary among his friends and family - he is particularly remembered for his cleverly-executed pranks - including the time he convinced the neighborhood kids that a tree could blossom with candy.

Steve tells Dick about the joy and laughter LP brought to the lives of the people around him, and he shares his favorite stories from LP's book of practical jokes.

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Listening for Amelia

Amelia Earhart

On a July afternoon in 1937, 15-year-old Betty Klenck Brown was listening to her family's shortwave radio. She had her journal and was writing down the lyrics to popular songs when she turned the dial and heard the unimaginable: "This is Amelia Earhart. This is Amelia Earhart." At that point, Earhart had already disappeared, along with her navigator, in her attempt to fly around the world.

Betty jotted down everything she heard over 3 hours. She didn't understand much of what she wrote, but she kept transcribing. No one took Betty seriously, until her diary finally made it into the hands of Ric Gillespie.

Betty Klenck Brown - see her then >>

Ric works for a group called TIGHAR (The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery). Ric has used the information in Betty's diary to lead a new search for the remains of Amelia Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan.

Ric is just back with his team from the search, and they believe they uncovered tantalizing clues.

• See a map of Amelia's Pacific Route
• See a diagram of Earhart evidence on the island of Nikumaroro
• Find out more about Ric's organization, TIGHAR ("Tiger")
  
• See Betty's notebook
  
• See the only film known to exist of the takeoff
  

Maps and photos of Betty copyright TIGHAR, 2007

Music heard in this story: Moonlight Sonata for the album Smart Sleep With Classical; True Story of Amelia Earhart and Following Amelia by Plainsong for the album New Place Now

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Goodbye Darkroom

Joanne Leonard

Joanne Leonard has been a photographer for decades. She often used a makeshift home dark lab, but after taking a job teaching photography at the University of Michigan, she was able to pay someone to build a darkroom for her.

Technology has meant many changes in the photography world, and Joanne recently made a decision to dismantle her darkroom.

She tells us what it was like to take apart and pack up a room that has been a defining part of her life for over three decades.

"Sonia," copyright by Joanne Leonard - larger >>

She also talks with Dick about one particular photograph - of her sister-in-law Sonia, hanging laundry when she was pregnant.

• Learn more about Joanne's work
• Learn about Joanne's book
  

Music heard in this story: Image and Likeness by Fr Charles Klamut for the album Rarefied Air

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Straight Spouse

Erick Wiger

Erick Wiger heard The Story's interview with Bill Shipley, a Coast Guard officer who came out after a distinguished career in the military. Erick was most interested in one part of Bill's story - the years he spent as a husband and father before he announced he was gay.

Erick is a "straight spouse," or the husband of a woman who came out after having been married to him for many years. He talks with Aaron about what it's like to be on the other side.

• Learn about a resource for straight spouses
  

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Closing Shop

Doug Haas Bennett

Policy makers at the state and national level are considering creative ways to reintegrate ex-felons into society. Doug Haas Bennett had a unique approach - she employed former prisoners in her costume shop.

When Doug first opened her shop in 1975, she had a lot to learn. For one thing, it was just before Halloween, and Doug had no idea how busy her store was about to get. Over the years, she was asked to make costumes of all kinds. Once, a drug company asked her to make what they called "Herpes Man."

For Doug, the shop was always about more than fitting people in outrageous clothing - it was a way for her reach out to her community. For years, Doug worked at the North Carolina women's correctional facility teaching writing classes to inmates. Many of the women she helped came to work for her after they were paroled.

Guest host Aaron Henkin talks with Doug about her 30 years running Doug Haas's Raleigh Creative Costume Shop, and why the store had to close last month.

Aaron also talks with Onia Royster, one of the women Doug has helped. Onia is an ex-felon who served as Doug's office manager. These days, Onia continues to pay Doug's kindness forward. She works with people infected with HIV.

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Giving and Taking

Tamara Ball

Tamara Ball spent many years as an E.R. doctor who often had to deliver the news to families that their loved ones were going to die. She also had to ask them whether or not their family member had mentioned or considered organ donation, and she always found this to be an awkward conversation.

Then Tamara herself needed an organ donation. She talks with Aaron about what it's like to be on both sides of the transition - when one family's tragedy becomes another family's thanksgiving.

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Challenging Liftoff

Allan McDonald

The space shuttle Endeavor is set for liftoff tomorrow evening. One member of the crew will be Barbara Morgan, a teacher.

21 years ago, Allan McDonald was a top manager at Morton Thiokol, a company that made the booster rockets for the Challenger. The Challenger exploded just after liftoff, killing six crewmates and Christa McAuliffe, who was to be the first teacher in orbit.

Before the Challenger launched, Allan worried there was a problem and argued, unsuccessfully, for a delay. He joins Aaron to talk about what it was like to work as an engineer on the space shuttle and watch as it exploded.

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