NPR and my Amazon Kindle piece

On Friday I visited the local NPR affiliate, WUWM, to record a piece I wrote about becoming a Kindle author. WUWM is located in downtown Milwaukee in a place originally christened "The Shops of Grand Avenue," although I have never heard it called anything but The Grand Avenue Mall. Funny how some things just refuse to stick.

At one time the mall was bustling with business, but the day I went it was pretty quiet, and I noticed a number of vacant stores. A sad reminder of our lackluster economy. On the plus side, I got an awesome parking space.

The mall was built in 1982, but was constructed around the former Plankinton Arcade (1916) with many of its features intact, according to Wikipedia.

Inside the mall, I approached a rotunda centered by a statue of John Plankinton, the founding father of the meat industry in Wisconsin. Again, I got this info from Wikipedia, because I had no idea who John Plankinton was. Apparently he was a very big deal in the 1800s, but last time I looked it was NOT the 1800s. Still his statue lives on.

JOHN PLANKINTON, non-vegetarian

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I was about twenty minutes early for my appointment with Mitch Teich, the executive producer of Lake Effect, WUWM's locally-produced magazine program. To kill time, I approached the staircase slowly....





And went down, down, down, into the lower depths of the Grand Avenue Mall (not its real name) to the business area of the building. I did stop to admire the wrought iron railing, presumably the same since 1916.

COOL STAIRCASE

At the bottom of the staircase was a fountain filled with pennies. I opted not to make a wish. Like I said, I already got the good parking space, and was chosen to be on NPR, so I figured I was doing okay, and would leave the good luck for people who really needed it.

FOUNTAIN AT BOTTOM OF STAIRS

Below the stairs and through an archway, I found the offices of WUWM, shown below. A mall crew was putting up garland during my visit, which explains the box and green foliage in the photo. Despite appearances to the contrary, they were not decorating the floor, but laying it out before using it to decorate the staircase.

EXTERIOR OF WUWM, with floor greenery

I was early. Being early is my family curse. We hate being late, so we always factor in extra time for emergencies like train delays, getting lost, and natural disasters of Biblical proportions. This time I was annoyingly early, so I hung around trying not to look so suspicious I'd arouse mall security.

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When it was about five minutes before the hour, I decided I was no longer freakishly early and went to my appointment. Mitch Teich led me into the only studio where they can see actual daylight. I loved talking to Mitch. He's so well read and has interviewed a bazillion fascinating people from all walks of life. You can see where someone who spends a lot of time in their basement would find this especially impressive.

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I recorded my piece with only a dozen or so flubs, all of which radio magic will fix, and then we were done. I had taken a photo of the studio and Mitch generously offered to take one of me. When I told him I hated getting my picture taken he came up with this solution:

Clever, no?

I had no idea I looked like this from behind. The flash made my hair look glossy, which is good, but I think my back is going on a diet and soon.

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All in all, a good experience and since the offices of WUWM are moving in January, I'm very glad I brought my camera to capture their current location.

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My piece will air on Friday, November 13th. The same show will feature the author of a book explaining how web technology is revolutionizing education. I love how they pair similar things together, like little audio puzzle pieces.

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I'll post a link when I have one.

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In the meantime, someone had suggested I post links to my Kindle books on Amazon. So I'll put them below. Have a good day!

Karen


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FAVORITE
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EASILY AMUSED
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A SCATTERED LIFE
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LIES I TOLD MY CHILDREN