Abandoned Theatre

David Kingsley

There's always that one building in town that has a story behind it.

David Kingsley and his daughter Emily had always wondered about a long-abandoned building in their hometown of Heuvelton, NY. So one day, they cracked open the door and went inside. Once inside, they discovered it used to house an opera hall. They kept exploring and discovering - and even started restoring the building.

Emily Kingsley

Pickens Hall is now a store where the local Amish population can sell their goods. David and Emily talk with Dick about the magical discoveries they continue to make as they renovate the rest of the building.

• Visit the website for the Heuvelton Historical Association
• See more photos of Pickens Hall

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Comic Lessons

Michael Sweig

Michael Sweig was a maitre d' at Chicago's Pump Room in the early 1980s when one of his favorite celebrities, Richard Pryor, came in to the restaurant. Pryor was known for his colorful humor and the colorful language that peppered his acts.

Pryor ended up inviting Michael to his show that night in Chicago. Michael had front row seats and backstage passes, but Pryor ended the show much differently than Michael ever could have expected. Pryor forever changed the way that Michael viewed language, particularly racial slurs.

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Cooperation - Only under Pressure

Heather Haskins

Heather Haskins had never seen her parents work together. In fact, they didn't really get along well at all.

But when she was just a kid, her dad had come by her mother's house to pick them up for dinner. Just as they were about to leave, a stranger started to attack the entire family. Heather's mother and father worked together to defend the family, and they all survived the attack.

Heather talks to Dick about how what this event means to her now that she has her own children.

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Born in Prison

Deborah Jiang Stein

Deborah Jiang Stein grew up knowing that she was adopted. But when she was in her teens, she discovered that she was born in a prison and had lived there during her early life.

Her world then began to spin out of control, and she started to run with a tough crowd, breaking the law regularly. After getting into a lot of trouble in her early 20s, she finally decided that it was time to change her life.

Deborah reflects on how her adopted family continued to love her throughout all of this, and she talks to Dick Gordon about work she has done recently with mothers who are incarcerated.

• To learn more about Deborah, visit her website
  

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I'll have the baked fries, please

Mike Allen

Dick has spoken with several people about their biggest mistakes, and Mike Allen wrote in to tell us about what he did many summers ago.

Mike's parents had a summer cottage in Delavan, WI. His father and mother had done a great deal of work on it, and they let Mike and his friends use the cottage the summer before they returned to college. The guys decided to have a cookout followed by a campfire. So Mike went to the town police station to get the proper burning permit. While leaving the station, Mike noticed trucks leaving the fire department next door, and he suddenly remembered the French fries he had left cooking back at the cottage.

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I am not a Spy

Neil Smith

Like many Americans, Neil Smith was curious about China. When he got an urge to get out of town, he found a position in China teaching English.

Neil ended up in Hulu Dao City, in northeastern China, where it's often freezing cold. One day, he decided to take a walk on the beach that everyone had been telling him about. He soon found himself trapped by the tide, and he had to climb a rock wall to safety. After wandering through the woods for an hour or so, Neil came upon what he thought was a little house, but it turned out to be a guard station ... on a military base. The Chinese authorities thought Neil was a spy.

Neil talks with Dick Gordon about how he talked his way out of trouble.

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A Muslim Televangelist?

Moez Masoud

Moez Masoud is the host of TV shows in English and Arabic that focus on Islam. It's an unlikely career choice for a young man who never had much interest in religion.

As a teenager attending American schools in Egypt, he was busy meeting girls and partying. But when he was in college, a number of his friends died, and then he had his own scrape with death when a tumor was found and removed from his body. He found himself making a deal with God: "Let me survive this and I will dedicate my life to you."

Moez admits to being tempted to stray from his promise, but he did find his path, and a style all his own. He talks with Dick Gordon about how he discusses Islam—in particular with young people. He believes their faith doens't have to be what he calls "angry Islam" -- that it can help them, even with tough issues like extramarital sex and homosexuality.

• Visit Moez Masoud's website
• Listen to or download "Coffee for the Heart," the theme song written by Moez for his newest show, The Right Way
• See a clip of Moez speaking at a conference called "The Search for Mutual Understanding"
  
• Read an article about Moez and his work

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