Picnic

Picnic

Monday, March 18, 2013

Letters to Ruthie... Read Aloud!

Alright, I know I've made a mockery of all my earlier promises.

I don't know what sort of delusional, optimistic haze I was living in when I so glibly promised "a letter a week!" but it was apparently a world in which I didn't go to grad school.  I've been receiving a number of subtle and not-so-subtle hints about my timeline for the last month or so, so I figured it was time to put something up, before I stop getting invited to family events.

To tide you over, I am doing something a little different this week.  I was approached by fellow University of Wisconsin School of Library and Information Science student Dana Gerber, who, along with Laura Farley and Prairie Hady, puts out a monthly archives podcast called "Sound of the Archives."  Every month, there is a discussion on some interesting archives topic, meant to educate archivists and bring in non-archivists.  For February, they were looking to do something cute and lovey, in conjunction with Valentine's Day.  As they were looking, it just so happened that I was in the midst of posting my (actually regularly occurring) blog posts to Facebook.  The Letters to Ruthie happen to be cute and lovey, so I was approached about merging our two projects.  I happily accepted.

So, with a few letters in hand, I went to Dana's house, met her kittens (and fellow SLIS student and "voice actor" Jake Ineichen) and we read a few of Jim's letters.

I believe all of the letters included in the podcast are ones that haven't been published here yet - so you all get a sneak preview!  I even managed to squeak my way though the only one of grandma Ruth's letters that I have in my possession, so that was kind of a special treat.

The letters read aloud span a couple of years of letter-writing, and culminate in the one Ruth wrote to Jim directly after receiving a letter from him that basically said "I'm coming home for ten days.  Shall we get hitched?"*

Here is the link to the podcast blog entry: http://soundofthearchives.wordpress.com/2013/02/14/07-ruthie-and-jims-lovely-letters/

You will be able to listen to our readings right from your computer, by clicking where it says "listen HERE" and then clicking the "pod" symbol right to the left of the title "Jim and Ruthie's Lovely Letters."  You can also click around and explore the rest of their site, or subscribe through iTunes. 

Spring break comes up next week, so who knows... maybe I'll post an actual letter next time.  I hope you enjoy hearing the podcast!  I think it's rather fun to hear the letters spoken aloud.

For now, though, I need to go study for a Preservation quiz, which I've been actively avoiding by doing this instead.  ARE YOU HAPPY NOW, MOM?

; )





*This is an imaginary paraphrase, as I haven't read the actual letter yet.  I expect his was slightly more romantic.

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