#she was the legendary journalist and broadcaster

[larrylimericks]

30Dec22

One of broadcasting’s mightiest stars Has passed; Our respects to dear Barb. Her words became legend: She, of kids and wedding, Asked, “Even as young as you are?”

#larry #louis #louis tomlinson #harry #harry styles #barbara walters died #she was the legendary journalist and broadcaster #behind the famous ‘even as young as you are’ interview #god this was a decade ago #limerick-lt #limerick-hs #december 30 #2022

[oldfarmhouse]

Barbara Walters was a legendary journalist, broadcaster, and trailblazer. During her remarkable career that spanned more than five decades, she covered many of the world’s top stories, interviewing renowned figures with the utmost professionalism and integrity. She was a news anchor, a talk show host, a show creator, a loving mother, and an individual who paved the way for so many. She will long be remembered and deeply missed. #RIPBarbaraWalters (Photo by Virginia Sherwood/ABC via Getty Images)

#rip barbara walters

[d474designs]

Barbara Walters, first among female TV journalists, dead at 93

Legendary journalist Barbara Walters died on Dec. 30, 2022 at age 93.

Joal Ryan Fri, December 30, 2022 at 7:58 PM GMT-7·6 min read Legendary journalist Barbara Walters died on Dec. 30, 2022 at age 93. (Photo: AP Photo) Barbara Walters, the legendary TV journalist who grilled the famous and infamous, co-created ABC’s The View, and, above all, blazed trails for women in broadcasting, died on Friday, according to the network. She was 93. The first woman to co-host…

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#barbara walters #influential person #Life #news #news anchor #obituary #Reporter #rip #television #The News #the view #tv #tv personality

[abcnewspr]

ABC NEWS ANNOUNCES DEBORAH ROBERTS AS ‘20/20’ CO-ANCHOR  

ABC News president Kim Godwin sent the following note to the news division announcing Deborah Roberts as the new co-anchor of ‘20/20’ 

Photo Credit: ABC/Michael Le Brecht II 

Good morning, ABC News! 

I’m thrilled to announce that Deborah Roberts will be elevating her role to co-anchor of “20/20,” after her elevation to contributing anchor of the program one year ago. 

Deborah will join David Muir as co-anchor and will also continue to report across all programs and platforms as senior national affairs correspondent.  

Deborah has been reporting for “20/20” since 1995, covering everything from profiles of political figures to the most shocking crime cases gripping the nation. She is a skilled investigative journalist, oftentimes trekking across the country to conduct hard-hitting interviews providing viewers with relevant, insightful information. Deborah is an empathetic reporter, bringing humanity to every story. 

Deborah was recruited by her mentor, Barbara Walters, to join ABC News in 1995. Since then, she has reported for “Nightline,” “Good Morning America” and “World News Tonight with David Muir,” as well as served as a substitute anchor for “Good Morning America” and guest co-host on “The View.” Over the course of her legendary career, Deborah has received a Peabody Award for the “20/20” special “Say Her Name: Breonna Taylor,” was inducted into the Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame in 2023, and has been awarded multiple Emmy® Awards for her national and international coverage of world events, including the AIDS crisis in Africa and maternal mortality in Bangladesh.   

In addition to her accomplished journalism career, Deborah is also the author of two books - “Lessons Learned and Cherished: The Teacher Who Changed My Life,” which was a New York Times bestseller, and “Been There, Done That: Family Wisdom For Modern Times,” written with her husband, Al Roker.  

Deborah joins David, executive producer Janice Johnston, and the “20/20” team at an exciting time. Now in its 46th season, the two-hour broadcast continues to produce innovative weekly documentaries and top-notch journalism. “20/20” is the #1 newsmagazine on Friday nights across the board, regularly featured in Hulu’s ‘Top 15 Today’ List, and the #1 Disney podcast. There is no limit to what this powerhouse team can accomplish next.   

Please join me in congratulating Deborah on her well-deserved new role. 

Kim 

[ear-worthy]

A Breath Of Fresh Air Podcast: A Gold Medal Show About The Oldies

Gordon Lightfoot, the Canadian singer-songwriter whose enduring folk hits included “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” and “Sundown,”died last week. He was 84.

Lightfoot found success on the US pop charts in 1970 with the song “If You Could Read My Mind.” That track also earned the artist his second of four Grammy nominations, that one for best malepop vocal performance.

Lightfoot’s songs have been covered by numerous legendary artists, including Dylan, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Neil Young, Barbra Streisand, and Eric Clapton, according to the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.

In July 2022, Lightfoot was interviewed by Australian broadcaster Sandy Kaye for her radio show and podcast A Breath Of Fresh Air.

Lightfoot, in that interview, talked about being in a state of repentance, giving up alcohol and other vices. Lightfoot talked about his two-and-a-half year recovery from an aortic aneurysm. He told Kaye that his big hit, “If You Could Read My Mind” was about the end of his first marriage.

When Lightfoot died, Kaye replayed that episode as a tribute to the singer-songwriter.

Those most Americans don't know her, Sandy Kaye is an extraordinary woman and broadcaster, journalist, and producer who has spent more than 35 years on both sides of radio and television microphones. She has worked with every TV network in Australia, and has hosted her own commercial radio talk-back show. She even held the distinction of being Sydney’s first female newsreader on radio.

Kaye began A Breath Of Fresh Air as a COVID project. It’s now a weekly, hour-long show that’s broadcast on radio stations right across the world, and it can be heard as a podcast on all major podcast platforms.

This is what Kaye says about her podcast: "A Breath of Fresh Air is my passion project. I wake up with it and go to sleep at night with it. I research, produce and present relentlessly and spend a great deal of time finding the artists you hear.  It gives me a great deal of pleasure to share these stories with you. Together we learn about where their music took root, how they navigated the road to success, and what’s happened to them since. We get in behind the songs and hear them too. It’s fascinating stuff and, I think, makes for some easy, fun, and engrossing listening."

So what does Sandy Kaye do on A Breath Of Fresh Air? First, she interviews pop music stars from the 60s, 70s, and 80s. Yes, that's right. The 60s!

Kaye interviewed teen idol Bobby Sherman in March 2023 about his TV and music career. Late that month, she talked to Elliott Lurie of the group Looking Glass, who wrote and sang Brandy, a 1972 top ten hit. Lurie explains how the song originally was built around his high school girlfriend, Randy. A year after the song peaked on the charts, the girl's name Brandy skyrocketed in popularity. In an odd twist of fate, Barry Manilou had written and recorded a completely different song called Brandy, and the singer was reluctant to, but ultimately convinced, to change the name of the song to Mandy.

So if you're a fan of 60s, 70s, and 80s music and enjoying reminiscing with the artists who made those hits, A Breath Of Fresh Air will get you tapping, clapping, and humming. Kaye is generous in playing those old hits with excerpts running over a minute, sometimes two.

 Kaye excels at corralling reluctant guests. After all, many of these people are in their 80s. An example is John Kay of Steppenwolf, who admitted in the beginning of the podcast interview how reluctant he was to do her show, To Kaye's credit, she warmed him up, and John Kay was a fascinating interview. 

This year alone, Kaye has interviewed Gary Puckett, Supertramp's founding member John Helliwell, the Go-Gos drummer Gina Schock, singer Melissa Manchester, John Ford Coley, and Felix Cavalliere of The Rascals. 

With so much experience in broadcasting, Kaye is as fluid as water as a host. She exudes an approachable warmth with a rich, sweet-sounding voice, and a strong desire to please her guests and her listeners.

Yet, don't misconstrue her for weakness. Kaye can ask the tough questions about controversies that arose when these musical artists were at the height of their popularity. 

What makes these interviews -- and the show -- so captivating is listening to musicians who were famous during those decades, and  hear their perspective now as people in their 60s, 70s, and 80s. If there are any common themes about these remembrances of fame, the artists all seem to characterize their sudden popularity as a whirlwind in which they were too busy to enjoy it. Others admit mistakes, and chuckle at the decisions they made in their youth. 

If you're someone who was there and part of the music of the 60s, 70s, or 80s, you'll definitely revel in the memory lane free trip. But if you're a millennial or Gen Zer, there's also something for you in these recollections by iconic musical artists. 

Check out A Breath Of Fresh Air. It can take you back to your youth, or, at least, offer younger listeners insights into why Baby Boomers are the way they are.

#podcast #music #oldies

[rickztalk]

Every ‘The View’ Host Who Paid Tribute to Barbara Walters Following Her Death – See Their Statements in Full

Every ‘The View’ Host Who Paid Tribute to Barbara Walters Following Her Death – See Their Statements in Full

Multiple The View co-hosts have taken to social media to pay tribute to the show’s founder Barbara Walters after she passed away. The legendary journalist’s death was confirmed on Friday (December 30). She was 93 at the time of her passing and had a lengthy and groundbreaking career in front of the camera as a broadcaster. “Barbara Walters passed away peacefully in her home surrounded by loved…

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[thunderrabby-blog]

Barbara Walters Dead At 93 – Hollywood Life

Barbara Walters Dead At 93 – Hollywood Life

View gallery Image Credit: Dario Cantatore/Invision/AP/Shutterstock Legendary broadcaster Barbara Walters has signed off for the last time. The iconic television anchor, journalist, and creator and host of The View has died, ABC News confirmed on Friday, Dec. 30 at 93 years old. In a statement to HollywoodLife, her rep said that she “passed away peacefully in her home surrounded by loved ones.…

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[cryptonews256]

Legendary Journalist Barbara Walters Dead at 93

Legendary Journalist Barbara Walters Dead at 93

Barbara Walters, the broadcast journalist whose impressive career spanned over 60 years, has died, according to ABC News. She was 93 years old.  Bob Iger—the CEO of the Walt Disney Company, which owns ABC, Walters’ longtime employer—said she died Dec. 30 at her home in New York.  “Barbara was a true legend, a pioneer not just for women in journalism but for journalism itself,” Iger tweeted. “She…

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[petnews2day]

Barbara Walters, legendary news anchor, has died at 93

New Post has been published on https://petn.ws/lZ8qJ

Barbara Walters, legendary news anchor, has died at 93

CNN  —  Barbara Walters, the pioneering TV journalist whose interviewing skills made her one of the most prominent figures in broadcasting, has died, her spokesperson confirmed to CNN. She was 93. “Barbara Walters passed away peacefully in her home surrounded by loved ones. She lived her life with no regrets. She was a trailblazer not […]

See full article at https://petn.ws/lZ8qJ #OtherNews

#Other News

[xtruss]

Pioneering US Journalist Barbara Walters Dead at 93

Legendary News broadcaster Barbara Walters has died, she was 93. Her death was announced by ABC news in a special broadcast.

Barbara Walters joined ABC in 1972 and quickly became a household name in the United States. She was the first female anchor on an evening news program and in 1979 became a co-host of the award-winning "20/20" news show. In 1997, she launched "The View." Both 20/20 and The View remain staples on American televisions screens today.

Walters' career spanned five decades, during which she won 12 Emmy awards. She is survived by her daughter Jacqueline Dena Guber. She was married four times to three different men, trying twice with TV executive Merv Adelson.

This June 5, 2003 file photo shows co-hosts, from left, Meredith Vieira, Star Jones, Joy Behar and Barbara Walters on the set of "The View" in New York. In July 2006, Jones surprised the audience by announcing that she would be leaving after 10 years. It was six years before she was welcomed back onto the ABC show as a guest. © AP Photo/Ed Bailey

Known for her interviews, Walters got her start as a correspondent before working her way up to news anchor.

"We were all influenced by Barbara Walters," ABC News' David Muir said in a tribute that aired Friday. Muir called her an "extraordinary human being, journalist, pioneer, legend."

Posting on Twitter, Disney CEO and former President of ABC Television, Bob Igor posted on Twitter about Walters' life and death.

"Barbara was a true legend, a pioneer not just for women in journalism but for journalism itself. She was a one-of-a-kind reporter who landed many of the most important interviews of our time, from heads of state and leaders of regimes to the biggest celebrities and sports icons. I had the pleasure of calling Barbara a colleague for more than three decades, but more importantly, I was able to call her a dear friend. She will be missed by all of us at The Walt Disney Company, and we send our deepest condolences to her daughter, Jacqueline."

Walters was born on September 25, 1929 in Boston, Massachusetts to Dena and Louis Walters. Her dad was a nightclub owner and Walters joined the news business after her family went broke. She went on to interview some of the richest and most powerful people in the world.

Walters' longtime representative and friend Cindi Berger responded to the news by calling Walters "a trailblazer not only for female journalists but for all women," noting that she passed away peacefully and while surrounded by loved ones in her home.

In this Oct. 7, 2014 file photo, Barbara Walters addresses an audience at the John F. Kennedy School of Government on the campus of Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. The Investigation Discovery channel said Thursday that "Barbara Walters Presents American Scandals" will debut Nov. 2. The hour-long episodes will focus on the big news stories Walters covered during her career. © AP Photo/Steven Senne

Before working at ABC, Walters graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in the 1950s and got work as a writer for NBC's Today show in 1961. Later she would become the show's first female host and won her first Emmy for her work there in 1975. The next year she would join ABC's Evening News as the first female co-anchor of an evening news program.

During a 2014 ceremony that renamed part of the ABC News' Headquarters "The Barbara Walters Building" Walters explained what she thinks her legacy is.

"[I]t's not the interviews with presidents, or heads of state, nor celebrities. If I have a legacy, and I've said this before and I mean it so sincerely, I hope that I played a small role in paving the way for so many of you fabulous women."

[theultimatefan]

Telemundo Deportes Introduces Expanded FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ Commentary Team

Telemundo Deportes, the exclusive Spanish-language home of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™, announces an expanded lineup of experts joining its commentary team as it kicks off the 100-day countdown to the start of the tournament this fall, airing live exclusively in Spanish on Telemundo, Universo and Peacock.

“This is a year that will be a total game-changer for the biggest sporting event in the world, and we’re thrilled to celebrate this milestone by introducing and welcoming an impressive roster of legendary figures joining us in Qatar in 100 days,” said Ray Warren, President of Telemundo Deportes.

Former Mexican national team head coach Miguel “Piojo” Herrera, Real Madrid and Spanish national team legend Fernando Hierro, World Cup champions Mauro Silva of Brazil and Claudio Borghi of Argentina, and 2010 FIFA World Cup Golden Ball winner Diego Forlán of Uruguay are some of the iconic soccer personalities joining Telemundo Deportes to provide an “on-the-pitch” perspective and expert analysis.

Telemundo Deportes assembled an unprecedented lineup of experts to enhance the coverage and broaden the scope of the World Cup commentary team’s technical expertise, experience and diversity with voices that represent many of the countries participating in the World Cup that are most relevant to Hispanic audiences.

“This is our most ambitious World Cup presentation yet with the largest onsite presence the network has ever had, and we’re proud to have a world-class team of experts and on-air talent at the helm of our coverage,” said Eli Velazquez, Executive Vice President of Sports Content, Telemundo Deportes. “This group reflects our commitment to deliver deeper coverage, unique perspectives, relevant storylines, and more excitement than ever before.”

The roster combines diverse soccer legends and experts who bring unique experiences from all facets of the game to complement Telemundo Deportes’ renowned award-winning commentary team. Coverage will be anchored by soccer Hall of Famer, six-time Emmy award-winner and chief commentator Andres Cantor alongside Emmy-award winning sports journalist Miguel Gurwitz, Telemundo’s Emmy-nominated sports and entertainment host Ana Jurka, Premier League host Carlota Vizmanos and Mexican soccer icon Carlos Hermosillo as the official hosts, leading the pre- and post-game analysis from Telemundo’s presentation studio located at the center of the cultural Souq Waqif Marketplace.

Telemundo Deportes’ production will feature the largest onsite footprint ever with in-venue presence at all 64 games and dedicated commentary teams calling the games from within the stadium. The experts join Telemundo Deportes announce teams to serve as analysts and join the announce teams for relevant matches. Former Mexican National Team and Chivas player Manuel Sol will join Cantor as lead analyst; network play-by-play veteran Copán Álvarez, two-time Emmy award nominee Sammy Sadovnik and accomplished Spanish-language sports broadcaster Jorge Calvo will provide play-by-play alongside experienced sports analyst Eduardo Biscayart, who has four World Cups and nine Champions League finals under his belt.

Telemundo Deportes is the exclusive Spanish-language home of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022TM taking place in Qatar this fall. The network is prepared to deliver the most ambitious coverage in Spanish-language history with all 64 matches live, including all four games on Thanksgiving Day. Peacock will provide live coverage of all matches live and a dedicated 24/7 channel with exclusive content.

Biographical highlights of Telemundo Deportes’ lineup of experts for FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ coverage below. Visual assets such as images and videos here or at https://publicity.gettyimages.com/telemundo/Qatar2022.

AMELIA VALVERDE

Costa Rica

Coach

As the current head coach of the Costa Rica Women’s National Team, Valverde will bring her expertise to Telemundo Deportes for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar™. She has previously contributed as game and studio analyst for the Tokyo Olympics women soccer coverage and expert commentator for 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup France.

CARLOS TENORIO

Ecuador

Forward

Former Ecuadorian player represented his nation in two FIFA World Cups. Tenorio’s club career began with LDU Quito and later joined Saudi Arabian Al-Nassr FC for one season, scoring 15 goals in 16 appearances. From 2003 to 2009, Tenorio played in Qatar for Al Sadd, winning three Qatar Stars League titles, before moving to Al-Nasr SC in the United Arab Emirates and later returning to South America and finishing his career with the Ecuadorian club Atlético Saquisilí.

CLAUDIO BORGHI

Chile-Argentina

Midfielder

World Cup champion played alongside Maradona when Argentina won the 1986 FIFA World Cup™. The Argentine-Chilean manager and former attacking midfielder returns to Telemundo Deportes after serving as guest analyst in Russia.

DIEGO FORLÁN

Uruguay

Forward

Regarded as one of the greatest Uruguayan players of all time, Forlán has participated in three FIFA World Cups, including the 2010 tournament where Uruguay came in fourth place, and he received the Golden Ball as the best player. Through his career he also played for some of Europe’s top clubs including Manchester United, Villarreal, Atletico de Madrid, and Inter Milan. He returns to Telemundo Deportes after serving as analyst for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™.

FERNANDO HIERRO

Spain

Center Back & Defensive Midfielder

Decorated Spanish player regarded as one of the best defenders in the history of the Real Madrid. Hierro won La Liga five times and the Champions League in three occasions. Representing his National Team, he played in three FIFA World Cups and was a member of the FIFA All-Star World Cup Team in Korea/Japan 2002. As a coach, he managed the Spain National Team during 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia™.

HORACIO ELIZONDO

Argentina

Referee

Former international football referee who’s best known for being the first ever to officiate both the opening and Final Match in a World Cup (2006). Elizondo has analyzed calls for Telemundo Deportes’ coverage of the 2018 FIFA World Cup and will rejoin our team in Qatar.

JAIME HERRERA GARDUÑO

Mexico

Referee

With a five-year career in Mexico’s First Division, Jaime Herrera Garduño is recognized for being the first Mexican referee to officiate in the Major League Soccer. During his 19-year career he officiated international tournaments such as Copa Libertadores among others. He retired in 2016 and will join Telemundo Deportes for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar™.

MAURO SILVA

Brazil

Defensive Midfielder

World Cup champion and standout figure of Deportivo de La Coruña. Silva won La Liga title once, Copa del Rey twice and the Supercopa de España on three occasions with the Galician team. He represented Brazil in the nation’s victorious 1994 World Cup where he played in all of Brazil´s seven matches.

MAXI RODRÍGUEZ

Argentina

Midfielder

Former Argentine footballer nicknamed “La Fiera” left his mark in Spain playing for Espanyol and Atlético Madrid for the bulk of his career, spent two years with Liverpool in England, and returned to Newell's Old Boys where he began and ended his career. Rodríguez represented his country in three World Cups, finishing second in 2014. One of his career highlights occurred in Germany 2006 when he scored the goal that eliminated Mexico during the extra time of the Round of 16 match played in Leipzig.

MIGUEL “PIOJO” HERRERA

Mexico

Midfielder

Former Mexican player, and current manager for Liga MX club Tigres UANL. “El Piojo” is best known for his coaching career with Club America, where he won his first title at the 2013 Clausura Tournament, and with the Mexican National team when he led “El Tri” to a playoff victory over New Zealand securing the last qualifying spot and final ticket for the FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014.

NATALIA ASTRAIN

USA

Coach

Recently appointed new head coach of the U.S. Under-17 Women's National Team, Astrain returns to Telemundo Deportes for 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar™ after her contribution as soccer analyst for the Tokyo Olympics women soccer coverage. She is a well-respected and experienced soccer coach previously serving as an assistant coach with NWSL Kansas City after a long run in Spain with FC Barcelona, Atletico de Madrid, and the Spanish Federation.

ÓSCAR “CONEJO” PÉREZ:

Mexico

Goalkeeper

Goalkeeping legend nicknamed “El Conejo” is considered one of the best in Mexican history. While representing Mexican teams Cruz Azul and Pachuca, Pérez achieved three CONCACAF Champions League titles, two Mexican leagues and one Mexican Cup. He represented his country in 55 matches including three World Cups. Additionally, he won three CONCACAF Gold Cup titles along with the 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup.

SEBASTIÁN ABREU “EL LOCO”

Uruguay

Forward

Commonly known as “El Loco” for his unpredictable shows of skill and technique, Abreu is a former Uruguayan player who gave “La Celeste” a ticket to the 2010 World Cup semifinal scoring a “Panenka style” penalty in the controversial victory over Ghana. He´s also recognized for his record of playing in 32 teams from 11 different countries.

TAB RAMOS

USA

Midfielder

Former American soccer player returns to Telemundo Deportes after serving as analyst for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™. Over his thirteen-year professional career he played as a midfielder in Spain, Mexico, and the United States. Ramos participated in three FIFA World Cups with the USMNT. He was inducted to the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2005.

[cecilspeaks]

Live Show: A Spy in the Desert

1. A Spy in the Desert

Cecil: A tisket, a tasket. My god, what’s in that basket?! Welcome to Night Vale.

Listeners, it’s another beautiful day here in Night Vale, and I hope that you’re all outside staring wild-eyed into the sun, instead of cooped up in some dark room full of a bunch of people that you don’t know. The only thing that could ruin such a beautiful day as this is, well, this breaking news.

We have an outsider in our midst. A spy from a faraway land, a master of disguise who can mix imperceptibly into any crowd. Now this spy has been known throughout the world as the Sparrow Hawk, the Nightingale, the Southern Blue-Eyed Glossy Starling, and the Tough-Tit Titmouse. But recently, the spy started going by the code name the Mink. Which is much better, because minks are adorable and birds are idiots. Now the Mink has stolen secrets from the world’s most powerful governments, but unlikely most spies, the Mink works independent of any agency. They steal confidential information, but they never reveal any of that information to anyone. They are the perfect keeper of stolen knowledge. Now the Mink does possess an unparalleled range of regional and national accents, as well as a fanny pack full of fake mustaches, eyeliner and press-on nails. Right in the fanny pack. The founders of Night Vale built this town upon secrets, with a Byzanthine system of powerful and opaque city leadership, and what are we as a town without those secrets? It would make sense, then, that the City Council and the Sheriff’s Secret Police would want to stop The Mink from learning our secrets. So if you see anyone that you do not know, do not approach them. Because they could be a dangerous spy. Simply carry on as normal, as you would, and treat them like you would any stranger. Which is to stand 20 feet away, point and shout: “INTERLOPEER!!!” And thus by behaving in this completely normal way, they will not think that they’ve been spotted. And then immediately go and call the Secret Police. Make sure that you have registered for a citizen’s protection account with plans starting as low as 25 dollars a month, otherwise the police will not assist. And then once you’ve registered your account, tell the police that you saw a person you do not know. In public! And that person, thus logically could be The Mink! And they’ll catch them and we can all move on to the next terrifying news story.

2. Sports news

But first, a look at sports. Last night witnesses reported seeing a padded man carrying an inflated lump of animal skin across an open, well lit field. They could not identify him, as his face and head were fully covered by a round plastic hat. Several other unidentified men were chasing this man, panting and sweating, and hundreds of witnesses on this side of the field all began shaking their fists in the air and chanting: “Crush! Him! Crush! Him! Crush! Him!” [audience chants] And then witnesses on this side of the field were shaking their fists and shaking “Vio-lence! Vio-lence!” [audience chants] And their screams reached a crescendo, and then they stopped and they watched as this man spiked the lump of animal flesh and began to inch along a pinkish trail of viscous ooze. And the very back rows began a soft chant of “What have you done? What have you done? What have you done?” and it made its way forward, row by row, until the whole auditorium was chanting: “What have you done? What have you done? What have you done? What have you done?” And the skin split open revealing a white skeletal face with two bulbous red eyes, and the face craned up on a long neck, and it hissed and it bared its fangs and snapped into the neck of the man who had spiked it tore off a long swab of fleshhhhhh. And a woman wearing all black and white stripes took this flesh and blew into it like a balloon, and handed it to another padded man, and the process started all over again. And everyone in the crowd shouted: “Mortality!” [audience shouts it] And this has been sports. Hmm.

3. A Word from our Sponsors

And now a word from our sponsors. For that, we go to our lovably malicious spokeshaze, Deb the sentient patch of haze!

Deb: Hiya Cecil. Hiya listening audience with your squishy human minds. So easy to manipulate! Cute, so cute. Today’s show has been brought to you by Folgers brand coffee. We at Folgers believe good coffee comes from good hammers.

Cecil: Oo, that’s so true! You know, a lot of people don’t realize that good coffee is 90 percent the quality of the hammer that you use to smash up the bean, and ten percent how much you’re willing to lie to yourself that a 20-dollar bag of coffee tastes different than a 10-dollar bag of coffee.

Deb: That’s why we at Folgers hammer our coffee extra smooth, using only American made sledgehammers. We follow the hammer traditions of the finest coffee houses. From Sicilian espresso shops where they use wooden mallets, to the great institutions of Vienna, where the ornate tile walls ring with the echoes of handcrafted silver (ball-pin) [0:01:13] wielded by tuxedo-wearing waiters.

Cecil: You know, on my vacation I went to an espresso shop in Italy, and the woman behind the counter, lovingly crushed each and every ben with just the tiniest wooden mallet. And then she lit a whole pack o matches, threw it into the cup, and that is called a macchiato.

Deb: Macchiato. I’m unconvinced Italy even exists. For instance, have I ever seen it? No, there you go.

Cecil: Uh.

Deb: Yeah.

Cecil: But Deb, let me tell you, the flavor profile of that macchiato, it was – oh, it just had hints of sulfur and splinters, it was so authentic!

Deb: Gross.

Cecil: Yeah, it was kind of gross.

Deb: Why buy your own beans and pound away them in your kitchen, when Folgers has already hammered them for you? Folgers coffee. You guys wanna go see a dead body?

Cecil: Thanks, Deb. Oh hey, have you been following this news story about The Mink?

Deb: Oh, a little. It doesn’t interest me much because I already know every secret in town.

Cecil: Wait, what?

Deb: Yeah, yeah.

Cecil: How?

Deb: Oh, how doesn’t sound important, no no no. what’s important, listeners, is that I know.  [pause, laughter] So please do buy the products that I’m advertising. I’d hate to have a teensy slip of the tongue next time I’m broadcasting to the whole town, Joanne. Hey Cecil, you wanna know Joanne’s secrets?

Cecil: I mean it seems a little private – yeah, I do. [pause, Deb whispers into Cecil’s ear]  [sultry voice] Joanne!! I am simultaneously disgusted and impressed.

Deb: And that’s just one of the secrets I know. Well, it has been great talking at you Cecil. Goodbye!

Cecil: Alright, thank you Deb! Whooo! Wow.

4. Who is the Mink?

The Secret Police are hot on the trail of the Mink. In the hall of public records, they found a set of footprints left by a size 9 Adidas, but those shoes do not match any of the hall clerks, as the hall of record employees only have hooves. The police also found a person wearing a cloak and carrying a dagger inside the Moonlite All-Nite Diner. But upon investigating, it just turned out to be Steve Carlsberg. He was holding a lobster splitter and he got his lobster bib twisted around backwards. Oh, Steve. The City Council has upgraded our alert system from orange level to red. “Um, it’s really more of a lovely amaranth?” The multi-voiced council cooed in unison. “Um, excuse me, if the Mink never reveals any of the secrets that they learn, then what is the harm in them knowing?” asked one intrepid reporter. A brave and experienced radio man, who is quite smart and very handsome. But the City Council just hissed back: “All knowledge is harmful!” So I can’t argue with that. Now the Mink has carried out heists of secrets all over the globe. West Berlin 1985, the Mink disguised themself as a security guard and learned every account number in Deutsche Bank. German police noticed a person in a security guard uniform quietly mumbling numbers to themself, and they did give chase but lost the culprit in the crowd when they donned one of those glasses with a fake nose and eyebrows.

Kuala Lumpur, 1998. The Mink disguised themself as one of the Petronas towers and learned the secrets of every person inside. Witnesses reported seeing one of the towers just leeeaning over ever so slightly, as if listening in on a conversation. But when the national police arrived, the tower leapt into the Klang River and witnesses said: “Ooh, look at that kinda long but otherwise completely normal looking boat!”

2011, the Mink staged a daring escape from a military base in Nulogorsk. After discovering the intruder, the Nulogorskian got very excited, because they had never before met anyone with only two eyes. The Mink did get away, however, by disguising themself as a pirogi. [long pause] Having been eaten, they escaped two days later through the city sewer system. Weren’t expecting that, were you? You know, I hope we apprehend the Mink soon. I really, man, need to talk to somebody who has other secrets, it’s a journalist’s dream interview. And I mean, everybody has secrets so, I mean we all have something that we probably wouldn’t want the Mink to share on the air, I mean I know I do. You know what, “I value privacy above all else,” I have just now written on my Facebook page, so you know it’s super important to me.

5. Lee Marvin

Cecil: Oh wait, listeners, OK, I’ve just been given a note saying we have a very special birthday today. Wow, OK, this is a real honor. Listeners, please welcome to the studio, on the day of their 30th birthday, legendary actor and Night Vale resident, Lee Marvin!

Lee: It is a pleasure to be here. I don’t think we have ever met, even though it seems like we have both lived in this town forever.

Cecil: It actually does feel like forever, doesn’t it?

Lee: As we all know, time doesn’t work correctly in Night Vale. For instance, it has been my 30th birthday continuously for many years, and yet I never grow any older.

Cecil: I know just what you mean, I mean I was 19 for a long time like, decades probably.

Lee: And that’s the problem with millennials, you know?

Cecil: Yeah.

Lee: Instead of buying houses or shouting at barns, or researching owls, or any other number of normal and productive activities, they just age.

Cecil: Ugh!

Lee: Normally one day after the next. Why, I think there is not a millennial in this world who even tried to remain 19 for a terrifying number of years.

Cecil: I know! It’s lazy. Now let’s talk about the Mink. Mr. Marvin, as a very famous movie actor, I felt that you might be able to offer some analysis on someone so adept at disguises and false personas.

Lee: Well, sure sure I mean after all, what is acting but lying to a room full of strangers?

Cecil: Mm. Literally nothing at all.

Lee: When lying to a group of strangers, there are definitely some basic techniques to watch out for. One is speaking aloud. Anyone speaking aloud could be lying. Why, almost anything could be said out loud without research or citation .for instance, I could say aloud that uh, mountains are real…

Cecil: Oh come on! [Cecil and Lee laugh]

Lee: And it doesn’t matter that this is a ridiculous statement perpetuated by the mountain enthusiasts. It is still something I could and di say out loud. Another technique to look out for is accents. It seems that this Mink is able to deploy at will any accent at all. I myself am an expert at dialect and accents.

Cecil: Ooh! Would you care to give us a demonstration?

Lee: Well sure sure. Uh, start with something, a basic accent. This is an accent for someone from the country of Svitz. You’ll noticed that the Svitzians sort of speak from the back of the throat, it’s uh something like this um, [very deep, monotonous voice] “Hello, yes, thank you. I would like some cake.” Like that. Cecil: Yeah, oh yeah.

Lee: And um, here’s another one um, this is an accent for someone from the nation of Franchia. The Franchians have an interesting thing where they an, uh, a diphthong on every single vowel. Here goes, um. Yaa-aa, soo-am ceek, thyat would bee a boath low-ly and filing. Something like that, yeah.

Cecil: Oh wow, yeah, yeah!

Lee: And here is the ccent of someone who lived until the age of ten in  Svitz, before immigrating to Franchia. And now, at the age of 50, is learning to speak English.

Cecil: Right, OK, OK.

Lee: [deep voice] Aah piece of cay-ek for me, you’re only too kind. Something like that.

Cecil: Oh that’s, that’s amazing!

Lee: Yeah. Uh, seriously though, do you have any cake, I’m starving?

Cecil: Oh. Oh actually no I’m sorry, we’re not allowed to hae cake at the radio station because it makes  Station Mangement very restless.

Lee: That’s fine, that’s fine. Well the final technique I wanted to talk about is, is disguise, I am to understand that the Mink is able to easily adopt the look of anyone they wish to. Here’s a couple of ways of disguising yourself. One is through, of course the use of masks, make up, prosthetics, it’s very difficult, technical, very Hollywood. Let’s talk about the other method though, which is simpler and just as effective.

Cecil: Oh, wait, what is that one?  

Lee: It’s OK so you simply… so you take your hand.

Cecil: uh huh.

Lee: And you put it in front of your face. And then you say aloud who you’re supposed to be disguised as.

Cecil: Ah

Lee: For instance, I’ll demonstrate. Hello, I am Tom Hanks!

Cecil: Oh my god, oh my god! Oh my god Mr Tom Hanks, I-I loved you in Turner and Hooch, and whatever else you did after that, I..

Lee: No see, it’s just me, Lee Marvin!

Cecil: Oh man!

Lee: But with my hand in front of my face… Life is very similar to a bag of chocolates!

Cecil: Oh my god it is similar to a bag of chocolates!

Lee: There’s no way to tell!

Cecil: Oh my gosh, that’s amazing, Mr. Marvin! Thank you so much, we appreciate having you on the show.

Lee: It was no problem at all, thank you for having me, Cecil. Um, we before I go, this is Judy Garland saying goodbye.

Cecil: Oh my god, oh my, oh my gosh, no wait, wait wait, Ms. Garland, Ms. Garland, just one song before you go, Miss Judy Garland!

Lee: [sings] Ring ring ring goes the (--)..

Cecil: Ah! Judy Garland, everyone!

6. Children’s Fun Fact Science Corner

Now it’s time for the Children’s Fun Fact Science Corner. It’s a very special anniversary today, kids. On this day in 1872, the moon was invented. Yeah. You see, scientists had been reading a lot of paperback horror novels about werewolves and thought, wait! If the moon were a thing, then werewolves might also be a thing! So they built a moon out of limestone and hired artist (Marie Kassaut) [0:00:30] to paint it with a giant smiling wolf doing an “okay” sign with its paw and winking. But there was a problem: when they launched it up into the sky, something happened with the catapult, and it landed with the unpainted side facing the Earth. And almost a hundred years later, NASA would claim to have landed on the moon, but twinkly dot scientists or, oh sorry that’s what I call astronomers, they just proved that to be false. And you know, NASA retracted their statement saying: “Oh we were just joshing” and the American people all had a good chuckle. And ever since Alexander Fleming invented the werewolf vaccine – also known as penicillin – the moon is mostly just an ineffectual artefact, like a reminder of our once terrible taste in celestial bodies. And that is why each and every night, we all shout: “I hate you, moon!” up into the sky, and even though we can’t see it, we all think of that wolf on the dark side, quietly winking, and shedding a tear. [weeping] And this has been the Children’s Fun Fact Science Corner. It’s true. Science.

7. The Community Calendar Let’s take a look at the community calendar, shall we? Let’s see here, Monday night there is a blood drive in the Ralphs parking lot. There’s gonna be a van parked in the far corner, like just beyond the trees, and if you go inside that van, some blood will be taken from you. “Oh yeah, (she’s) gonna come out of you one way or another, man!” said a rapidly talking man in a dirty T-shirt, who I am not sure is connected to the blood drive at all. “Oh yeah, we’re just gonna do amazing things with your blood, man! Don’t worry about what, [disturbing voice] we’re just gonna do really good things with your blood!” and then he finished up by saying the national blood drive slogan: “Bloooooooooooood!!!” So I guess just, get on into the blood van!

Tuesday was lost last night by Bernadette Flynn, as she was watching the newly released remake of last year’s Spiderman movie. She thinks maybe Tuesday fell behind the seat during the film or something. So if anybody sees Tuesday, please let Bernadette Flynn know, as it was an old family heirloom, and her favorite day of the week.

Wednesday night is 80’s night at Dark Owl Records. For more on that, let’s hear from Dark Owl owner, Michelle Nguyen!

Cecil: Hey, Michelle!

Michelle: Hello, Cecil! On 80’s night, we’ll be putting on leg warmers and fingerless gloves, listening to Duran Duran, and thinking hard about what our lives will be like when we are 80 years old.

Cecil: Ahhh, that sounds like fun!

Michelle: We will consider life insurance plans and talk about several types of diseases that will affect our later years. There will also be a moonwalking demonstration, just like that famous Michael Jackson dance where he walked around shouting: “I hate you moon!”

Cecil: Yeah, yeah. Did you know it’s actually the moon’s birthday today?

Michelle: Stupid rock!

Cecil: Garbage satellite! Anyway, so Michelle, to change the subject, the Mink could peek into our private lives at any moment. Is there something that you are personally worried that they would find?

Michelle: [long pause] No.

Cecil: Oh, come on Michelle, we all have secrets! Is there any music you listen to that you would be ashamed of people knowing about?

Michelle: Please. You’re the one that starts every day with a choreographed lip sync to Robyn’s 2010 B-side “Cry When You Get Older”, and then you cry for a while, because you have gotten older.

Cecil: [sourly] Yeah.

Michelle: Each day just a little bit more and sometimes that makes you happy and other times it makes you sad and either way you feel like crying. Probably.

Cecil: [mumbles] Oh, yeah.

Michelle: That’s probably what you do, certainly I wouldn’t! I wake up listening to Leonard Cohen’s new album: “Wait Where Am I, I Thought I Died and How Is This Even Being Recorded?”

Cecil: [impressed] Oh, yeah.

Michelle: I listen to that album in full and then nod thoughtfully, and drink three cups of black coffee.

Cecil: Mmm.

Michelle: [scoffs] I don’t even know who Robyn is and I would never scream sing along to “Dancing On My Own” whenever I miss my mother.

Cecil: [scoffs] Oh wait, your mother, I don’t think you’ve ever mentioned her before.

Michelle: I learned everything about music from her. She once found me listening to The Smiths and said, [different accent] “Michelle! What are you doing! Morrissey turned out to be the worst person ever! I give you shelter over your head, three meal a day and access to a working time machine. And you don’t even use it to find out which celebrity turned out to be bad? It’s almost all celebrity, Michelle! Almost all celebrity turned out to be bad!” And she was right about that, Cecil. Can you name a good celebrity?

Cecil: Um, oh there’s Lee Marvin!

Michelle: That’s right, just Robyn.

Cecil: Just Robyn, yeah that’s it.

Michelle: I can’t think of anyone else either. Then my mother would say: “Michelle! I don’t wan the world to be the way that it is, but the world is that way. And people will judge. They will judge you for what you wear and what you listen to and what you say. They will judge you especially hard for so many unfair reason. So that music you listen to, that make you happy? Don’t let go of it. Never show that weakness to the world. In public, you listen to the music that tell them who you are, and you wear the clothes that show them wo you are. Always be one step ahead of them. And then at night, when it’s just you and  you’ve played their game and you’ve won, then you put on a record that makes you happy, and you let yourself sing!” Then one day, my mother took the time machine back to prehistoric times, to try to retrieve some of their music, which would have been the coolest and most obscure sons. But she never returned. I miss her, but I’ll never forget the last thing she told me. She said, “Michelle! I cannot emphasize enough how awful Morrissey turned out to be!”

Cecil: Awwww. Wow. Gosh Michelle, I’m so sorry about your mother, but thank you for sharing that extremely personal story on the air.

Michelle: Uh.. No what no? No, I don’t think I did. We were talking about 80’s night. Come to 80’s night! There will be a Cyndi Lauper lookalike competition, and the winner will take over Cyndi’s life, becoming the fifth person to play that role. See you there! Or not, whatever.

Cecil: Thank you, Michelle!

More on the community calendar. Thursday night is the adopt a pet fair at the Last Bank of Night Vale. There’s gonna all sorts of animals, and they will come home with you. You don’t even have to go to the fair. They already know where your home is. And they’re gonna be waiting for you. When you open your door that night, there’s gonna be panting and snarling and two little blinks of light, right inside your darkened doorway. So wow, that sounds like a really fun and socially important event!

And finally, Friday is Bring Your Issues to Work Day. So really dig deep there, people! Let ‘em loose! And this has been the community calendar.

8. Tamika Flynn

Cecil: So listeners, I’m joined in my studio right now by the most vigilant defender of Night Vale and of literature. Please welcome to the air 16-year-old Tamika Flynn!

Tamika: [giggles] Hi Cecil, hi!

Cecil: Hi Tamika! Now, you must be alarmed that there’s a dangerous spy on the loose.

Tamika: Of course! It’s not safe to have an interloper learning our secrets.

Cecil: But what could they learn that would hurt us?

Tamika: Oh, lots of stuff. What if they start uncovering all the plot twists of our favorite novels, like “Murder on the Orient Express”, Agatha Christie’s brilliant whodunit. What if they read ahead and learned at the murderer turns out to be-

Cecil: Wubububububuh! Spoilers! I mean, some of us haven’t read it yet!

Tamika: Oh I’m just teasing. That book doesn’t even have an ending. It’s the only murder Agatha could never solve.

Cecil: Hmm, hm.

Tamika: But learning secrets can be harmful, like one time, I was waiting in line at midnight for the release of the sixth Harry Potter book, and some jerk drove by and shouted: “Snape and Dumbledore are both featured prominently in the new novel!” [angry noise] Ruined.

Cecil: I’ve never read the sixth book!

Tamika: Oh.

Cecil: I’ve only read the third and the seventh. So now the whole experience is ruined!

Tamika: Well, if it makes you feel any better, I chased that fool down and I punched him until his bruises spelled out: “Don’t mess with a Hufflepuff!” But I do have a plan to catch this spy. I’ll disguise myself as the Mink. And then I’ll walk around town until I find someone that’s dressed exactly like me.

Cecil: Ah.

Tamika: [giggles] And then I’ll grab them and I’ll whisper that famous, oh um and then I’ll grab them and shout at them and say: “You wanna spoil the endings of books, pal? Why don’t you try Stephen King’s ‘It’, that whole ending is terrible!”

Cecil: Oh, come on, I liked the ending of “It”!

Tamika: Really?

Cecil: Yeah, you know when It just turns out to be the friends we made along the way. You and you and you… It’s nice. OK, anyway, Tamika. Now I have a question. How are you going to disguise yourself as the Mink, when nobody knows what the Mink actually looks like?

Tamika: Well I’ll j-, but I c-..

Cecil: I know.

Tamika: Oh.

Cecil: Yeah…

Tamika: Fine. Then, oh I’ll dress up as a manila folder with a “top secret” stamp on it!

Cecil: Oh yeah.

Tamika: And then when someone tries to take me, I’ll grab them and whisper that famous movie speech: “I don’t know who you are. I don’t know what you want. I don’t have any money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills.”

Cecil: Ah!

Tamika: “Skills that I’ve acquired through reading! Would you like a list of book recommendations? Here are a few I think you’d enjoy.”

Cecil: Ah, ha ha!

Tamika: Yes!

Cecil: Oh man, that is my favorite scene from “Say Anything”.

Tamika: Yeah! [giggles] When John Cusack holds that boombox above his head outside the terrorist headquarters, I mean [kiss]! [laughs]

Cecil: So good!

Tamika: Yes.

Cecil: Mm mm, now wait. The Mink is a real threat, and they are interested in learning far more than just book spoilers. I mean, you in particular might be in danger, Tamika.

Tamika: [giggles] Cecil, I’m 16 years old. I know everything there is to know about taking care of myself, OK?

Cecil: Oh yeah, OK, alright. Alright. But listen, if you catch the Mink, bring them here to the studio, because I need to have a moment…

Tamika: Wanna rough him up?

Cecil: Oh uuuuh, um..

Tamika: Yeeeah, like I’ll pin him down and then you take this copy of Hanya Yanagihara’s “Little Life” and just like, bam, bam, bam!

Cecil: Oh, oh.

Tamika: Bam!

Cecil: Oh!

Tamika: This book made me cry, now it’s making you cry, sucker!

Cecil: Uh.. Yeah sure, something like that.

Tamika: Yeah. [giggles]

Cecil: Um-

Tamika: Well, I think I’m off to get that Mink!

Cecil: All right, thank you Tamika! Be safe. Tamika Flynn, everyone!

9. Public Service Announcement

And now, a public service announcement. The Night Vale Youth Fitness Initiative recommends at least 60 minutes a day outdoors for children under the age of 18. Being outdoors encourages kids to be more active and social. Fitness Initiative spokesperson, (Jin Housong) said: “Kids spend too much time indoors, and that makes it very difficult for us to monitor their physical agility and speed! We are trying to find children to fight in the Blood Space War, and that is very difficult when all kids wanna do is spend all their time inside Snapchatting and playing Fortnite.” Some outdoor activities encouraged by the Youth Fitness Initiative include cycling, soccer, breath holding, sensory deprovation, G force resistance, and string theory. The staff of the Youth Fitness Initiative welcome any kid wanting to have fun outdoor time to come on down to the Intergalactic Military Base. They can’t tell you where it is, but they are more than happy to send a chaperone in a burlap sack, and a van. And this has been a public service announcement.

10. Telly the Barber

So listeners, several Night Vale residents have sent in reports of seeing strangers sneaking about town, possible sightings of the elusive Mink. And we have one such witness with us in the studio right now. Please welcome – Telly the barber.

Telly: Hi Cecil!

Cecil: [long pause] Have you cut any hair lately,  Telly?

Telly: Oh sure, I’m always-

Cecil: Have you cut any hair that didn’t need cutting, Telly?

Telly: I-I think we all saw the signs..

Cecil: Have you taken any innocent person, any handsome person and perfectly coiffed scientist person’s hair and then just destroyed it so completely that you had to leave town, Telly?

Telly: Not lately.

Cecil: Mm hm.

Telly: Did you wanna hear my story?

Cecil: No.

Telly: OK, I’ll just hum and cut my hair with this butterknife.

Cecil: Oh OK, alright alright alright alright, I’ve changed my mind, I do wanna hear your story.

Telly: OK. So ever since that one bad haircut and please tell Carlos I’m so sorry, see he asked me for a light trim on the sides, and I misheard it as “shave asterisk in my sideburns, then cut me some bangs.”

Cecil: Bangs? Ugh.

Telly: After that, I banished myself to the desert, rehoning my cutting skills on cacti and tarantulas. Did you know that tarantulas are venomous?

Cecil: Yeah, I- I actually knew that. Oh my god, your hand!

Telly: I learned the hard way. But, but it was a great experience, see I finally reopened my barber shop in Night Vale last year, over by the library. Some of the librarians come in from time to time, I-I have to chain their tentacles to the (--) [0:01:45] first, and then I use grooming sheers to trim the hair along their pincers, which is tough because of the foaming slime that gathers there. Did you know that librarian saliva is acidic?

Cecil: Yeah of course, everybody – oh my god, your other hand!

Telly: I’m earning so much

Cecil: Ugh.

Telly: Anyway, earlier this week, an interloper came to my shop. They were wearing a hockey mask and a turtleneck, they had long thick curly black hair and they whispered: ”I need a new look! Can you cut it short and blond?” so I did.

Cecil: That could have been the Mink!

Telly: Why don’t you just tell the story, Cecil?

Cecil: Well no I’m sorry, I’m sorry. No please, go ahead.

Telly: So the next day-

Cecil: Please tell us more about the lives that those scissors have ruined.

Telly: The next day, the same person returned and they were wearing a sleep mask, vampire teeth, and a drum major coat. An excellent disguise, but I know my own work and I recognize their haircut immediately. I said: “Hello, brand new customer whom I have never seen before! What can I do for you?”

And they whispered: “I need a new look. Can you cut it long and straight with a beard like that guy from Queer Eye?”

Cecil: Awww, I love Jonathan Van Ness! Oh hey, did you ever see that episode where they consult that stone obelisk on that uninhabited island?

Telly: Yeah yeah that's the one where Jonathan was like: “We’re gonna make those cliffs glow!”

Cecil: Yeaah!

Telly: And then he uttered an ancient prayer and was granted a bent scepter and control of the weather.

Cecil: And then they just spent the rest of the episode flying around the island, screaming in Latin and zapping Bobby with lightning.

Telly: That was a great episode!

Cecil: So good.

Telly: You know, the part about the cliffs was so empowering .

Cecil: Yeah!

Telly: Anyway, I performed a wild flurry of scissor snips around the stranger’s head, and voila, they have long straight hair and a beard. Every day this week they’ve come to me, they wanted a Pam Greer Afro, a Sid Vicious Mohawk. That famous Friends haircut, the Ross.

Cecil: You know what you should do? Next time they come in, ask them to get like a blow dry or a perm, and then while they’re waiting-

Telly: Uh, well… don’t be mad.

Cecil: Wait, what?

Telly: So they were today and I kinda messed up? I-I don’t think they’ll be back.

Cecil: Oh come on, Telly!

Telly: See they wanted a 90’s fade and I misheard, and I cut my own foot off. See?

Cecil: Oh my god! Telly, you didn’t even put a bandage on it!

Telly: I didn’t wanna be late to your show. Anyway, they looked really annoyed and left before they got any more blood on them.

Cecil: Ugh. Well you know the important thing is that you tried. I mean, you messed up in a really serious way that I did not even think was possible, but… you tried. And also, I’m sorry I yelled at you before.

Telly: Thanks, Cecil. You know, this might be the blood loss talking but that means so much to me.

Cecil: Sure. Hey listen, have you ever thought about a different career maybe?

Telly: Like knife sharpening or gun cleaning, or chainsaw repair?

Cecil: You know what, no no, just stick to the barbering, Telly. Thank you so much.

Telly: Sure thing.

Cecil: Telly the Barber, everyone! Just grind it into the carpet, no one will ever know.

12. Sightings of the Mink

We are getting reports of Mink sightings all over town. Archeology professor Joel Eisenberg saw a stranger outside of Mission Grove Park, and they were dressed all in black and they were holding copy of the Night Vale Daily Journal, just high enough to cover their face. Now, Joel Eisenberg saw this person, and pointed and shouted “Interloper”, and then being a friendly neighbor, went over and said “Hi, I’m Joel, do you like dinosaurs?” And the stranger said yes, but kept their face hidden.

“What’s your favorite dinosaur? Mine’s the ichthyosaur.”

And the stranger said, “Yeah, I guess so, sure.”

And Joel’s face reddened and his voice thickened like wet concrete.

“Ichthyosaurs aren’t dinosaurs! Mink!” [scoffs]

Imposter didn’t even know the difference between a marine lizard and a dinosaur. But they did know how to throw that newspaper in Joel’s face and run.

Jackie Fierro, owner of the local pawn shop, said her half mother Diane Crayton came to the store to ask if Jackie sold cars that fired rockets from behind their headlights and/or turn into boats, and/or had ejector seats. Now, Jackie thought this was a fairly odd request from a single mother with a fairly bland day job. “What do you need all that for, Diane?” asked Jackie.

“It’s for my son, Josh Josh, my son’s name is Josh.”

Now Jackie knew this was not the real Diane. She was nose to nose with the Mink. Jackie started to speak, but there was a quick puff of smoke and the would-be-Diane was gone, and in their place, there was a wad that looked like skin and hair. And Jackie picked it up, and it was a perfect replica of Diane’s face.

Later, at the old shipping port, Tamika Flynn trailed a suspect into a dilapidated warehouse along the waterfront, which has no water, because we live in a desert. Which is a huge reason why they had to shut down the shipping port. Anyway, it was dark inside the abandoned building save for streaks of dusty sunlight through the shaddered windows, and Tamika heard a creaking from a pile of boxes nearby, and she was frightened, unable to move. But wait, she thought. Why, I’m the predator, the Mink is the prey. And then she remembered those famous lines from Alfred Lord Tennyson’s “Charge of the Light Brigade.” “I’m here to kick butt and chew bubblegum. Why not both?”

So she threw some chicklets into her mouth and shouted: “You’re trapped, Mink!” and raced toward the sound and a figure emerged from behind a tower of boxes, and they pushed the crates down on Tamika, but she did this like, backflip-kick thing and knocked that interloper right out of the warehouse onto the deck. And as they approached, the Mink pulled out a remote control and a tiny helicopter descended from nowhere and a tiny ladder descended from the tiny helicopter, and the Mink grabbed onto it and flew away.

Man, I thought Tamika really had him that time. I really wanna take a moment to just interview this person, someone who has all these secrets, just for journalistic reasons of course.

It would make the interview of the century.

13. Sheriff Sam

But until that moment, the Sheriff’s Secret Police would like us to know that they have this Mink situation firmly in hand. And in order to show how under control it is, the Sheriff would like to speak to you themself. Listeners, Sheriff Sam!

Sam: Hello Sessil.

Cecil: Cecil.

Sam: Sessil.

Cecil: Cecil.

Sam: Do you know, I really feel like I’m saying it. Sessil.

Cecil: Yeah, it-it sounds good enough, alright.

Sam: Now before I start, I want to apologize to the people of Night Vale for what I’ve done. And let me finish. I disagree that the new seasons of “The Great British Bake Off” are better. And I’m very sad that Mary Berry is no longer there, you know I couldn’t get enough of her famous catch phrase: “I’m unable to feel anything at all. Unless I can see clear layers in a baked good.”

Cecil: Ah, such a good catch phrase!

Sam: And I don’t like that they replaced Mel and Sue with two polar bears, who toy with and eventually eat the last place finisher.

Cecil: Yeah, I think I think it will grow us on, right?

Sam: Yeah but all that being said, I really shouldn’t have done what I did last night. When I raised my voice and said: “Paul Hollywood needs a new wardrobe.” I mean, what’s with those blue jeans, right?  

Cecil: Yeah, yeah.

Sam: And then Paul started crying and wailed: “Why would you say that, powerful desert law enforcer?” And channel 4 immediately cancelled the series.

Cecil: I know, I-I didn’t get to see the technical challenge that episode.

Sam: No. And I-I know it was your favorite show and now it’s gone..

Cecil: Yeah.

Sam: So I’m sorry. Television is a two-way street..

Cecil: Yeah.

Sam: ..and I should have thought about that.

Cecil: That’s right, they can hear us. So I-I, listen, I accept your apology and besides, it’s actually kind of nice not to have the TV on and to get to spend more time with my husband. Yeah.

Sam: And you know I didn’t even mean what meant, what I said. I didn’t even mean what I meant. [chuckles] I didn’t even mean what I meant when I said that thing about Paul Hollywood. I should look at the script, it would be more useful.

Cecil: That’s…

Sam: [chuckles] I think Paul Hollywood does look good in jeans, I mean he’s stepfather hot.

Cecil: Oh wait, please. He’s more like divorced tax accountant dad hot. That’s, you know. Anyway, let’s change the subject. I wanted to speak to you today about the Mink. Now, they are a master of disguise and this has made it impossible for us to find them. Does the Sheriff’s Secret Police have a plan to determine who the Mink is?

Sam: Well, we’ve consulted with experts, and outside of fringe sciences like parapsychology, divination, genetics…

Cecil: Yeah, right.

Sam: Not really, no. But we do have a new law enforcement tool. It’s called the brainwave transposition ray. [long pause, apparently something visual is going on]

Cecil: OK you’re just doing like spirit fingers.

Sam: Not at all. This is the brainwave transposition ray. Sessil, simply put: you point it at a potential criminal, which is to say anybody at all. And it tells you exactly what they’re currently thinking.

Cecil: Whoa!

Sam: Here, I’ll show you how it works. Now there might be Night Vale citizens on the sidewalk outside the studio, I can try it on.

Cecil: OK.

Sam: Let me move over to the window and… weird.

Cecil: What?

Sam: There’s hundreds of people staring at us right now.

Cecil: I know, they’ve been here the whole time. It’s making me nervous, but you know, it’s fine.

Sam: Yeah, creepy.

Cecil: Yeah.

Sam: Well, you see if I point the device right at this person, we should be able to hear their exact thoughts.

Cecil: Mm.

Voice: I like many kinds of animals, but I like sea lions best.

Cecil: Huh.

Sam: I mean doesn’t sound like the Mink…

Cecil: Ah no, no.

Sam: OK, let’s try someone else.

Voice: I forgot to wash the blood off the bath tub, my wife’s gonna kill me. Oh god.

Sam: No, the Mink wouldn’t be married.

Cecil: Yeah, yeah.

Sam: Let’s try…

Voice: Sure hope the Secret Police won’t arrest me for wearing a full disguise and a mask.

Cecil: Whoa! That’s the Mink!

Voice: Cause I’m not wearing a disguise or a mask. I’m just Chris (Brothon) from Night Vale with my usual face and limbs, and my greatest fear is false arrest.

Cecil: Oh. That was very specific.

Sam: Ahem. You know, having a fear of false arrest is highly illegal, so we’ll be by soon to collect you, Chris. Let’s try one more. Do you want to try doing it?

Cecil: Well I oh, I don’t know Sheriff, I mean it’s an amazing device but it does seem rather intrusive. Are you sure it’s safe?

Sam: Yes yes of course come on, try it on me. [loud music, glass shatters]

Cecil: Oh wow. That’s, that’s great. I-I had no idea that that’s what you’re thinking right now.

Sam: Yeah sure, why what do your thoughts sound like?

Cecil: I love my husband. I love my husband. I also agree that sea lions are so cute. So cute! Soo cute!!

Sam: None of that was illegal at all, how disappointing.

Cecil: Yeah I know, I’m sorry. Um, you know but I do hope that you end up arresting Chris later on.

Sam: Well that will cheer me up. Now Sessil, you do help me look on the bright side so thank you and do give me a shout if you find out anything about the Mink.

Cecil: Alright, I will. Thank you, Sheriff Sam!

13. Ascentia Ad

Cecil: And now another word from our sponsors.

[talks very fast] Today’s show is also brought to you by Ascentia. If you’ve ever felt anything at all, there’s Ascentia. Talk to your doctor about Ascentia. Your doctor is a spider, all black eyes and long legs, clinging effortlessly to the wall. Tell your doctor how afraid you are but don’t say anything out loud unless you are (-) [ 0:00:18] paralyzed by your choice of fight or flight. Do not fight your doctor, your doctor is good. They eat a lot of bugs, they’re super helpful. Your doctor is just as afraid of you as you are of them. Do not take Ascentia if you’ve ever seen a dog. Spiritual transcendence is uncommon, but if you find yourself no longer in a physical body, please stop taking Ascentia immediately and contact a medium with a medical training and a Ouija board. Ascentia might cause night (-). Ask your doctor about Canada. Do not take Aponto which is our competitor. Aponto users report high levels of centipedes inside their necks, crawling around right before bed and on first dates. Ascentia is a solar flare, a radioactive magnetic burst that should not be taken with alcohol. Do not breathe for 30 minutes after taking Ascentia.

You’re a person. That’s why there’s…

Ascentia.

14. Deb Returns

Cecil: And now I present to you a major milestone in radio history: the first ever audio only magic shooooow! Yes, yes, yes!

Now listen, I’ve been practicing these tricks perfectly and I have every single one of them down, even the one with the-the doves and the aerial dancers. So, for my first trick, I will take a flamethrower that I have hidden under the… [long pause] OK, listeners, that may have to wait. For some reason, Deb the sentient patch of haze has returned to my studio. What’s up Deb?

Deb: Hello, Cecil! How are you? Oh, doesn’t this place just look a treat? Oh, and all the doves! I love doves! Almost as much as I love horses.

Cecil: Deb, are you OK?

Deb: Cecil, thank you, I’m doing wonderful, how are you? Oh, and isn’t this just the cutest little studio! Is that a safe? Full of secrets? How adorable! I can’t, I won’t, I absolutely will not...

Cecil: You sound a little different or something.

Deb: Well do you know what would make this studio that much more perfect, Cecil? Beautiful crystalline horse figurines. Can’t you just picture them? Oh, all of the sparkly horses! Especially, tsk tsk tsk, on that safe. I bet that safe just has the cutest combination.

Cecil: Oh yeah, it’s super cute, but I don’t see what it has to-

Deb: As a kid, I remember watching the horses drop by my house. Can you believe it, I grew up near a horse farm? “Get inside!” my mother would yell. [shrill voice] “You know you’re allergic!” But how could allergies ever stand up to my love of horses? Say, I bet the inside of that safe is even that much more adorable..

Cecil: Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!

Deb: Can I ju-

Cecil: Love? Deb isn’t capable of love! Oh my god, you’re the Mink!

Deb: Nooo! No!

Cecil: Yes, the Mink has disguised themself as Deb in order to infiltrate my studio!

Deb: That’s not true.

Cecil: Yeah, certain small tells in their behavior indicated that this is not the real Deb!

Deb: No I’m definitely Bed, I mean Deb, excuse me..

Cecil: No wait wait wait, before you go, I just need to have a moment…

15. The Chase

Cecil: Tamika, this is the Mink! [long pause, suspenseful music] And the Mink has just jumped into a 1987 yellow (-) [0:00:22] and raced off, and Tamika is leaping onto her motorcycle and speeding after, and the Sheriff’s Secret Police, who had our station under surveillance, are joining the chase. The Mink has now turned the wrong way down a one way street and is weaving through oncoming traffic, and Tamika is racing up a loading ramp, jumping her bike from rooftop to rooftop, from rooftop to bus stop, and from bus stop to the street. She’s finally hit the ground and she’s only a few feet away from the Mink’s car and they’re swerving back and forth trying to get her to veer off. Watch out, Tamika!

Breaking news: I have just learned that the Mink and their ever increasing search for secrets has started to delve into forbidden and dangerous knowledge. Six security guards at the top secret facility on Oak Street have gone missing, and the entire place was ransacked. This is all according to a spokesperson from the Vague Yet Menacing Government Agency, who looked a lot like my neighbor Madeline, and lives in Madeline’s house but had a sign that says “I’m not Madeline”, so I have no idea where I’m getting any of this information.

Anyway, that spokesperson said that among the classified secrets taken were the truth about who killed JFK, Amelia Earhart’s continued whereabouts, several nuclear codes and what, what, what? That Night Vale resident and actor Lee Marvin died decades ago? But that’s impossible! Like, he’s alive and well, and today is his 30th birthday.

Update on the chase. Tamika has now trapped the Mink’s car at the top of a towering cliff, and the Mink is fleeing on foot, and overhead helicopters of every kind circle, and the Sheriff’s Secret Police secret police cars roar by on a nearby road, and dark clouds are gathering, and there is lightning and thunder and listen, I know it does rain sometimes in the desert but it was, like, sunny 15 seconds ago but this is a really compelling picture that I’m painting for all of you. And the wind is whipping back Tamika’s hair as she sprints after the Mink, who is rearranging their disguise even as they flee, but finally they hit a dead end. It’s a sheer drop on both sides. “There’s no way left to go, Mink!” Tamika shouts into the gusts of wind, and the Mink smiles at her ever so sadly and then – steps backward off the cliff. Now Tamika, not willing to let her (quarry) go so easily – jumps after. Let me get some information on this, this has all gone terribly wrong. But in the meantime,

Let’s check in

On the weather.

16. The Weather

[“Company Man” by Dane Terry, https://daneterry.bandcamp.com/]

17. Where is the Mink

Listeners, I do hope you found that weather report was edifying. I’ve been trying to get any word that I can on Tamika or the Mink, but they both have vanished. The helicopters lost track of them as they fell through the long curtain of rain, and so no one can say what happened next but – that fall was quite long.

This is all my fault. I knew it was dangerous, but I was blind to the dangers that I was asking Tamika to perform, because I wanted to speak with the Mink so badly. And now I fear – we have lost her.

I have never wanted to say these words but.. to the family of Tamika Flynn, I will never forget myself for what I have done, I will never be able to-

Tamika: No, I’m alive! I’m not dead!

Cecil: Tamika, oh Tamika!

Tamika: Hi hi hey hey hey, hey hey hey, I’m down here, no worries.

Cecil: What happened?!

Tamika: Oh, I-I caught the Mink.

Cecil: What?

Tamika: Yeah! They’re right hear.

Cecil: [gasps] [long pause]

Tamika: Yeah, I-I found them.

Cecil: That’s amazing, I’m so impressed!

Tamika: [chuckles] Bam, one Mink caught, I am very good at this.

Cecil: Yeah! No wait, are you positive that’s the Mink though?

Tamika: Yes. Well, I got some intel on their latest disguise, and they’re wearing sunglasses.

Cecil: Uh huh.

Tamika: You can put them over (--)  [0:01:33]. They’re wearing a hat.

Cecil: OK, yeah.

Tamika: It’s clean.

Cecil: Yeah, yeah, clean hat. Clean hat Mink, that’s what they call him.

Tamika: And they’re wearing a name tag that says: “Hello, I’m the Mink!”

Cecil: Aaaa, yes, that is some brilliant deduction!

Tamika: I am very smart.

Cecil: Yeah, well done but Tamika, bring them into my studio for just one second before the Secret Police get here, OK?

Tamika: Alright, we’re on our way!

Cecil: Alright, thank you Tamika! Oh, that’s such a relief! Whoa. (But!)  You know, it just goes to show that reckless decision making and snap decisions always pay off. And I’m so glad that I turned out to be 100 percent right about this whole situation. Versus how 100 percent wrong about this whole situation I was just a few months ago.

But you know, listen, I’ve gotta confess something to you all, and I hate to do this because I hold myself to high standards both morally and journalistically, but – I lied to you just a tiny little bit on my show, because I didn’t know who was listening. But now I will make it up to you by telling you all the truth. Not all the truth, I’m gonna withhold just a little piece of information, but I’m letting you know upfront that there’s one thing that I cannot tell you.

Listen, I was never seeking the Mink for professional reasons, not because it would make the interview of the century or because I wanted to get them to spill all their secrets on the air, no. I wanted to talk to them because they never spill their secrets, because listeners, I have this secret that I have been holding for two years, and I have to tell someone! And here comes this opportunity to talk to his person that never spills any of their secrets. They’re the perfect keeper of forbidden knowledge. And now, here they are.

Thank you so much, Tamika. Now Mink, I gotta tell you something, you know and I’ve only, I don’t think I’ve ever told anybody. Wait, hold on a sec-

18. Secret Interdlue

[music, audience reacts, no audible dialogue]

19. The Escape

Cecil: Oh no, they’re getting away! Aaaaah. Oh man, uh! Ahhhh. [strained noises] We’ll never catch them now. The Mink has escaped. Now, we as a society, we fear secrets. You know, maybe as a species, if we don’t fear them we look down upon them like secret lies or dirty little secrets, and if someone is not willing to say something out loud, then it must be shameful or evil or somehow incorrect but a secret, it’s not good or bad, it’s just not known and the universe is filled with secrets, like consider a field flush with flowers that humans have not seen in generations. If we don’t know about it, is it a secret or or, or a star in the middle of the galaxy that our telescopes do not reach. We will never know about this star, but it glitters secretly in the heart of the universe or, or something more down to earth and mundane like a, like a person who has never tasted a turnip. Doesn’t know what a turnip tastes like and just refuses to ask anybody or eat a turnip. Is that a secret? I don’t know. What is unknown and what is merely unsaid?

Officials from the Sheriff’s Secret Police, the City Council, and the Vague yet Menacing Government Agency all say that they have plans to catch the Mink and those plans are top secret. And since they’re top secret, the Mink has already learned about them, so they are highly unlikely to work. But you know what? Good luck.

Soon I imagine we will all return to a baseline normal as a town, a little less darkness, a lot less secrets but we’re still us, we’re still Night Vale. You know, there’s an energy in secrets. Who we share them with, who we don’t. And not everybody has a right to know everything about everyone, and our curiosity, it’s not a license. And we don’t have to share every part of ourselves with everyone, there’s no shame in privacy. There is, however, an energy in secrets, there’s a-a fission that happens when you share a secret with somebody. And that secret could be an aspect of love, platonic love or romantic love or the love you owe to yourself, love of every kind. And the biggest secret of all is the universe, one that we will never get to unravel.

I mean, I had a secret, and I needed the Mink to help me carry it. And I know that they’re not going to bow to peer pressure and tell aanybody what I just told them. No matter how many drinks people buy at the bar afterwards and say “Hey, what did he just say to you?” No, they’re gonna keep that secret. You know, secrets can be light. Share them with somebody, don’t share them with somebody, hold them for yourself. I mean I’m not ashamed of my secret, certainly not. Certainly not.

See? There’s an energy in secrets. Especially in secrets that all of you will never get to know.

There is an energy in secrets, and I hope that that energy lifts you.

So stay tuned next for the quiet roar of your secret thoughts, some of which you may some day share.

And for the secret heart of my secret self,

Good night, Night Vale,

Good night.

#live shows #a spy in the desert #thiis is NOT finished yet #sorry #i'll update it in the next few days #but you can get started wtih this

[lorem-text]

The Dragon’s Tale

[The following is broadcast through a secure kindred channel.]

Vlad III Dracula Tepes has long been the subject of many stories, myths and legends for kindred and kine alike. From Vlad the Impaler, legendary Voivode of Wallachia to Bram Stoker’s iconic Count, Dracula’s tale has been shared by word of mouth for aeons.

But with each person the tale changes, and even now there are countless conflicting adaptations being produced every day, each getting further and further from the truth.

Tonight, however, we have the pleasure and honour to present to you; the true story of Vlad III Dracula Tepes, from the past...to the present.

"I am Vlad Dracula. Third to my name, Voivode or Prince of Wallachia. Crusader, Elder, and Templar. Had a book written about me sometime in 1800′s and have become a bit of a dandy for Kine and Kindred since. "

Vlad was born in the Transylvanian Saxon town of Sighișoara to Vlad II Dracul and was the second child of 6, having two brothers and three sisters.

In 1436, Vlad II Dracul seized Wallachia after the death of his half-brother, Alexander I Aldea, and he prospered as Wallachia's ruler for 16 years until 1442 when he refused to support an Ottoman invasion of Transylvania. For his defiance, the Ottoman Sultan, Murad II, summoned Dracul to Gallipoli to demonstrate his loyalty. Vlad and the youngest brother, Radu, accompanied their father to Gallipoli where all three were imprisoned. Dracul was released after only a year but his children remained hostages to secure his loyalty.

It took Dracul 5 years and one failed rebellion to recognise the Sultan's suzerainty and accept to pay tribute to him. In return, Vlad and Radu were allowed to return to Wallachia, but the relationship between Vlad and Dracul was irrevocably damaged and the two never saw each other again.

Dracul's tribute mattered little in the end, as he and his eldest son, Mircea, were murdered soon after for their rebellion against the Sultan.

"I was a crusader, a prince. What made a mark on the world for a rather typical existence of such at the time was my war tactics. Shock and awe, something I still employ to this day."

Upon the death of Dracul and Mircea, Vlad became a potential claimant to Wallachia. In 1448, taking advantage of the absence of Vladislav II, ruler of Wallachia, Vlad stormed Wallachia at the head of an Ottoman army.

Vlad's time as ruler of Wallachia was short-lived, however, as only two months later, Vladislav II returned and took back the throne of Wallachia with the assistance of John Hunyadi.

Vlad's whereabouts are uncertain up to mid-1456 when Vlad invaded Wallachia with Hungarian support. Vladislav II died during the invasion, and Vlad III Tepes was named Voivode of Wallachia.

One of Vlad's first orders of business as Voivode was to stop paying an annual tribute to the Ottoman sultan — a measure that had formerly ensured peace between Wallachia and the Ottomans. In the conflict that followed between the young voivode and the Sultan Mehmet II, Vlad became known as 'Vlad the Impaler'.

To quote Florin Curta, a professor of medieval history and archaeology at the University of Florida, "After Mehmet II — the one who conquered Constantinople — invaded Wallachia in 1462, he was actually able to go all the way to Wallachia's capital city of Târgoviște but found it deserted. And in front of the capital, he found the bodies of the Ottoman prisoners of war that Vlad had taken — all impaled."

Despite the 'infamy' of the Wallachian ruler, Vlad remains a positive character in Romania, reputed to have been a just, though very harsh, ruler.

In 1476, after the third time of being dethroned by the Ottomans in August 1462 and then managing to reclaim Wallachia in 1475, Vlad and a small vanguard of soldiers were ambushed and Vlad was killed.

According to Leonardo Botta, the Milanese ambassador to Buda, the Ottomans cut Vlad's corpse into pieces and Vlad's head was sent to the Sultan Mehmet II as tribute.

That's where history ends...and the legend begins.

 "[...]completely unchained from the shackles of responsibility, pride, and God himself I sought every ounce of knowledge and pleasure I could get my greedy hands on[...]"

Now, we reach the years between 1475 and 1897, between the voivode's alleged death and Bram Stoker's 'Dracula'.

Called 'the golden years' by the illustrious count, that era's tone was set by Dracula's first act as a Kindred; diablerizing Tabak Ruthven.

In the next four hundred years, Dracula mastered koldun sorcery, learned about the mystical art of Thaumaturgy, and, in Dracula's own words, 'sought every ounce of knowledge and pleasure'.

Over time, Dracula's power and ambitions grew, until some time around the mid-1800s, the young Ancillae decided to expand his reign to the world...

We've all read, or watched, what happened next.

 "The book is…tsk, it’s not really what I wanted it to be, but is at the same time. [...] It’s mostly truth which just enough fiction in it I can lay my head on my dirt-filled pillow at night and get some sleep knowing it’s at least out there partially what happened."

Although Stoker's literary masterpiece holds much of the truth in it, there are still many things it got wrong; for example, the true extent of Hellsing's madness, Mina's betrayal...and the true nature of the Count's first love: Lucy.

I did not ask for details, as that was a difficult time in the elder's life, but the Count did share with me a very poetic and moving description of Miss Lucy:

"My Lucy. She saved the world with a smile. Talked me out of trying to conquer the world with a kiss. Describing her is like describing the Mona Lisa, all the words in the world will never do her justice. Turned down being Lucy Dracula, Empress of the World in favour of being Lucy Dracula, loving wife… She took to my nature like a fish to water, it must have been like a carp climbing a waterfall. I don’t think she was capable of hate. Even as she died she told me to forgive Van Helsing… "

 Legendary Voivode, ambitious Ancilla, and infamous Count, the life of Vlad III Dracula Tepes has been long and hectic, but it seems the elder has found some respite in these modern nights.

Following 200 years of isolation, Tepes has recently set the foundations of a new life. In the company of friends and his partner Nero Giovanni, Tepes leads a peaceful life -at least for kindred standards-, readily meeting the surprises and changes each new night brings.

"Well, I’m still trying to sort [things] out I suppose[...] but it’ll certainly be interesting to find out what this new world will find me being other than Tepes."  

Eliot Wilde, journalist and writer for Night Owl and host of Night Owl FM

#vtm rp #article #voivodevlad #kindred channel #(me slapping open the wiki for Extra Sauce: Hello & welcome to History Side of Tumblr)

[abcnewspr]

ABC NEWS ANNOUNCES TWO SPECIALS HONORING THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF MEDIA PIONEER BARBARA WALTERS

‘Our Barbara: A Special Edition of 20/20’ Airs Sunday, Jan. 1, at 8 p.m. EST on ABC, Next Day on Hulu

ABC News Live Presents ‘The View Honors Barbara Walters’ Airing Throughout the Weekend

ABC Photo Archives/Donna Svennevik*

Today ABC News announced two specials, “Our Barbara: A Special Edition of 20/20” and “The View Honors Barbara Walters,” celebrating legendary broadcast pioneer Barbara Walters (Sept. 25, 1929 – Dec. 30, 2022) following the death of the television icon who paved a path in journalism unlike any other.

“Our Barbara: A Special Edition of 20/20,” a two-hour primetime special, honors trailblazer and longtime ABC News journalist Barbara Walters, told by her colleagues, those who knew her best and in the iconic newswoman’s own words. The special will feature Walters’ most groundbreaking and iconic interviews, never-before-seen behind-the-scenes footage of Walters, and interviews with Bob Iger, David Muir, Diane Sawyer, Deborah Roberts, Robin Roberts and George Stephanopoulos, among others. ABC News will profile Walters’ prolific life and legacy, including making history as the first woman to co-anchor network morning and evening newscasts and paving the way for women in broadcast journalism. Walters joined ABC News in 1976, where she was the “20/20” co-host and chief correspondent for 25 years and created “The View” as a co-host in 1997. Walters has received national recognition for her influential body of work and has been the recipient of numerous prestigious honors and awards. “Our Barbara: A Special Edition of 20/20” airs Sunday, Jan. 1, at 8 p.m. EST on ABC, next day on Hulu.

“The View Honors Barbara Walters” celebrates the television icon and creator, executive producer and co-host of “The View.” Homes across the country welcomed the broadcast legend throughout her unparalleled career that spanned six decades. The special reflects on her legendary interviews, unforgettable moments from “The View” and how she inspired generations of women to follow the trail she blazed for them. Walters shares an honest and vulnerable look at her childhood, raising her daughter, family life and the demands of her career. The special celebrates the best of Walters on “The View,” from unexpected moments to her fierce journalistic instincts, and looks back on her emotional final days as co-host, including her last episode where 25 female journalists surprised the woman who led the way. And finally, in her own words Walters says goodbye to the show she created. “The View Honors Barbara Walters” airs on ABC News Live throughout the weekend, including Sunday, Jan. 1, at 8:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m., 2:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. EST, and later today on Hulu.

For photography of Barbara Walters throughout her decades at ABC, please visit:

COPYRIGHT ©2022 American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. All photography is copyrighted material and is for editorial use only. Images are not to be archived, altered, duplicated, resold, retransmitted or used for any other purposes without written permission of ABC. Images are distributed to the press in order to publicize current programming. Any other usage must be licensed. Photos posted for Web use must be at the low resolution of 72dpi, no larger than 2x3 in size.

[blackkudos]

Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou (born Marguerite Annie Johnson; April 4, 1928 – May 28, 2014) was an American poet, singer, memoirist, and civil rights activist. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and is credited with a list of plays, movies, and television shows spanning over 50 years. She received dozens of awards and more than 50 honorary degrees. Angelou is best known for her series of seven autobiographies, which focus on her childhood and early adult experiences. The first, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969), tells of her life up to the age of 17 and brought her international recognition and acclaim.

She became a poet and writer after a series of occupations as a young adult, including fry cook, sex worker, nightclub dancer and performer, cast member of the opera Porgy and Bess, coordinator for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and journalist in Egypt and Ghana during the decolonization of Africa. She was an actress, writer, director, and producer of plays, movies, and public television programs. In 1982, she was named the first Reynolds Professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She was active in the Civil Rights Movement and worked with Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Beginning in the 1990s, she made around 80 appearances a year on the lecture circuit, something she continued into her eighties. In 1993, Angelou recited her poem "On the Pulse of Morning" (1993) at the first inauguration of Bill Clinton, making her the first poet to make an inaugural recitation since Robert Frost at the inauguration of John F. Kennedy in 1961.

With the publication of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Angelou publicly discussed aspects of her personal life. She was respected as a spokesperson for black people and women, and her works have been considered a defense of black culture. Her works are widely used in schools and universities worldwide, although attempts have been made to ban her books from some U.S. libraries. Angelou's most celebrated works have been labeled as autobiographical fiction, but many critics consider them to be autobiographies. She made a deliberate attempt to challenge the common structure of the autobiography by critiquing, changing and expanding the genre. Her books center on themes such as racism, identity, family and travel.

Early life

Marguerite Annie Johnson was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on April 4, 1928, the second child of Bailey Johnson, a doorman and navy dietitian, and Vivian (Baxter) Johnson, a nurse and card dealer. Angelou's older brother, Bailey Jr., nicknamed Marguerite "Maya", derived from "My" or "Mya Sister". When Angelou was three and her brother four, their parents' "calamitous marriage" ended, and their father sent them to Stamps, Arkansas, alone by train, to live with their paternal grandmother, Annie Henderson. In "an astonishing exception" to the harsh economics of African Americans of the time, Angelou's grandmother prospered financially during the Great Depression and World War II because the general store she owned sold needed basic commodities and because "she made wise and honest investments".

Four years later, the children's father "came to Stamps without warning" and returned them to their mother's care in St. Louis. At the age of eight, while living with her mother, Angelou was sexually abused and raped by her mother's boyfriend, a man named Freeman. She told her brother, who told the rest of their family. Freeman was found guilty but was jailed for only one day. Four days after his release, he was murdered, probably by Angelou's uncles. Angelou became mute for almost five years, believing, as she stated, "I thought, my voice killed him; I killed that man, because I told his name. And then I thought I would never speak again, because my voice would kill anyone." According to Marcia Ann Gillespie and her colleagues, who wrote a biography about Angelou, it was during this period of silence when Angelou developed her extraordinary memory, her love for books and literature, and her ability to listen and observe the world around her.

Shortly after Freeman's murder, Angelou and her brother were sent back to their grandmother. Angelou credits a teacher and friend of her family, Mrs. Bertha Flowers, with helping her speak again. Flowers introduced her to authors such as Charles Dickens, William Shakespeare, Edgar Allan Poe, Douglas Johnson, and James Weldon Johnson, authors who would affect her life and career, as well as black female artists like Frances Harper, Anne Spencer, and Jessie Fauset.

When Angelou was 14, she and her brother moved in with their mother once again, who had since moved to Oakland, California. During World War II, Angelou attended the California Labor School. At the age of 16, she became the first black female cable car conductor in San Francisco. She wanted the job badly, admiring the uniforms of the operators—so much so that her mother referred to it as her "dream job." Her mother encouraged her to pursue the position, but warned her that she would need to arrive early and work harder than others. In 2014, Angelou received a lifetime achievement award from the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials as part of a session billed “Women Who Move the Nation.”

Three weeks after completing school, at the age of 17, she gave birth to her son, Clyde (who later changed his name to Guy Johnson).

Career

Adulthood and early career: 1951–61

In 1951, Angelou married Tosh Angelos, a Greek electrician, former sailor, and aspiring musician, despite the condemnation of interracial relationships at the time and the disapproval of her mother. She took modern dance classes during this time, and met dancers and choreographers Alvin Ailey and Ruth Beckford. Ailey and Angelou formed a dance team, calling themselves "Al and Rita", and performed modern dance at fraternal black organizations throughout San Francisco but never became successful. Angelou, her new husband, and her son moved to New York City so she could study African dance with Trinidadian dancer Pearl Primus, but they returned to San Francisco a year later.

After Angelou's marriage ended in 1954, she danced professionally in clubs around San Francisco, including the nightclub the Purple Onion, where she sang and danced to calypso music. Up to that point she went by the name of "Marguerite Johnson", or "Rita", but at the strong suggestion of her managers and supporters at the Purple Onion, she changed her professional name to "Maya Angelou" (her nickname and former married surname). It was a "distinctive name" that set her apart and captured the feel of her calypso dance performances. During 1954 and 1955, Angelou toured Europe with a production of the opera Porgy and Bess. She began her practice of learning the language of every country she visited, and in a few years she gained proficiency in several languages. In 1957, riding on the popularity of calypso, Angelou recorded her first album, Miss Calypso, which was reissued as a CD in 1996. She appeared in an off-Broadway review that inspired the 1957 film Calypso Heat Wave, in which Angelou sang and performed her own compositions.

Angelou met novelist John Oliver Killens in 1959 and, at his urging, moved to New York to concentrate on her writing career. She joined the Harlem Writers Guild, where she met several major African-American authors, including John Henrik Clarke, Rosa Guy, Paule Marshall, and Julian Mayfield, and was published for the first time. In 1960, after meeting civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. and hearing him speak, she and Killens organized "the legendary" Cabaret for Freedom to benefit the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), and she was named SCLC's Northern Coordinator. According to scholar Lyman B. Hagen, her contributions to civil rights as a fundraiser and SCLC organizer were successful and "eminently effective". Angelou also began her pro-Castro and anti-apartheid activism during this time.

Africa to Caged Bird: 1961–69

In 1961, Angelou performed in Jean Genet's play The Blacks, along with Abbey Lincoln, Roscoe Lee Brown, James Earl Jones, Louis Gossett, Godfrey Cambridge, and Cicely Tyson. Also in 1961, she met South African freedom fighter Vusumzi Make; they never officially married. She and her son Guy moved with Make to Cairo, where Angelou worked as an associate editor at the weekly English-language newspaper The Arab Observer. In 1962, her relationship with Make ended, and she and Guy moved to Accra, Ghana so he could attend college, but he was seriously injured in an automobile accident. Angelou remained in Accra for his recovery and ended up staying there until 1965. She became an administrator at the University of Ghana, and was active in the African-American expatriate community. She was a feature editor for The African Review, a freelance writer for the Ghanaian Times, wrote and broadcast for Radio Ghana, and worked and performed for Ghana's National Theatre. She performed in a revival of The Blacks in Geneva and Berlin.

In Accra, she became close friends with Malcolm X during his visit in the early 1960s. Angelou returned to the U.S. in 1965 to help him build a new civil rights organization, the Organization of Afro-American Unity; he was assassinated shortly afterward. Devastated and adrift, she joined her brother in Hawaii, where she resumed her singing career. She moved back to Los Angeles to focus on her writing career. Working as a market researcher in Watts, Angelou witnessed the riots in the summer of 1965. She acted in and wrote plays, and returned to New York in 1967. She met her lifelong friend Rosa Guy and renewed her friendship with James Baldwin, whom she had met in Paris in the 1950s and called "my brother", during this time. Her friend Jerry Purcell provided Angelou with a stipend to support her writing.

In 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. asked Angelou to organize a march. She agreed, but "postpones again", and in what Gillespie calls "a macabre twist of fate", he was assassinated on her 40th birthday (April 4). Devastated again, she was encouraged out of her depression by her friend James Baldwin. As Gillespie states, "If 1968 was a year of great pain, loss, and sadness, it was also the year when America first witnessed the breadth and depth of Maya Angelou's spirit and creative genius". Despite having almost no experience, she wrote, produced, and narrated Blacks, Blues, Black!, a ten-part series of documentaries about the connection between blues music and black Americans' African heritage, and what Angelou called the "Africanisms still current in the U.S." for National Educational Television, the precursor of PBS. Also in 1968, inspired at a dinner party she attended with Baldwin, cartoonist Jules Feiffer, and his wife Judy, and challenged by Random House editor Robert Loomis, she wrote her first autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, published in 1969. This brought her international recognition and acclaim.

Later career

Released in 1972, Angelou's Georgia, Georgia, produced by a Swedish film company and filmed in Sweden, was the first screenplay written by a black woman. She also wrote the film's soundtrack, despite having very little additional input in the filming of the movie. Angelou married Paul du Feu, a Welsh carpenter and ex-husband of writer Germaine Greer, in San Francisco in 1973. Over the next ten years, as Gillespie has stated, "She [Angelou] had accomplished more than many artists hope to achieve in a lifetime." Angelou worked as a composer, writing for singer Roberta Flack, and composing movie scores. She wrote articles, short stories, TV scripts, documentaries, autobiographies, and poetry. She produced plays and was named visiting professor at several colleges and universities. She was "a reluctant actor", and was nominated for a Tony Award in 1973 for her role in Look Away. As a theater director, in 1988 she undertook a revival of Errol John's play Moon on a Rainbow Shawl at the Almeida Theatre in London.

In 1977, Angelou appeared in a supporting role in the television mini-series Roots. She was given a multitude of awards during this period, including over thirty honorary degrees from colleges and universities from all over the world. In the late 1970s, Angelou met Oprah Winfrey when Winfrey was a TV anchor in Baltimore, Maryland; Angelou would later become Winfrey's close friend and mentor. In 1981, Angelou and du Feu divorced.

She returned to the southern United States in 1981 because she felt she had to come to terms with her past there and, despite having no bachelor's degree, accepted the lifetime Reynolds Professorship of American Studies at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where she was one of a few full-time African-American professors. From that point on, she considered herself "a teacher who writes". Angelou taught a variety of subjects that reflected her interests, including philosophy, ethics, theology, science, theater, and writing. The Winston-Salem Journal reported that even though she made many friends on campus, "she never quite lived down all of the criticism from people who thought she was more of a celebrity than an intellect...[and] an overpaid figurehead". The last course she taught at Wake Forest was in 2011, but she was planning to teach another course in late 2014. Her final speaking engagement at the university was in late 2013. Beginning in the 1990s, Angelou actively participated in the lecture circuit in a customized tour bus, something she continued into her eighties.

In 1993, Angelou recited her poem "On the Pulse of Morning" at the presidential inauguration of Bill Clinton, becoming the first poet to make an inaugural recitation since Robert Frost at John F. Kennedy's inauguration in 1961. Her recitation resulted in more fame and recognition for her previous works, and broadened her appeal "across racial, economic, and educational boundaries". The recording of the poem won a Grammy Award. In June 1995, she delivered what Richard Long called her "second 'public' poem", titled "A Brave and Startling Truth", which commemorated the 50th anniversary of the United Nations.

Angelou achieved her goal of directing a feature film in 1996, Down in the Delta, which featured actors such as Alfre Woodard and Wesley Snipes. Also in 1996, she collaborated with R&B artists Ashford & Simpson on seven of the eleven tracks of their album Been Found. The album was responsible for three of Angelou's only Billboard chart appearances. In 2000, she created a successful collection of products for Hallmark, including greeting cards and decorative household items. She responded to critics who charged her with being too commercial by stating that "the enterprise was perfectly in keeping with her role as 'the people's poet'". More than thirty years after Angelou began writing her life story, she completed her sixth autobiography A Song Flung Up to Heaven, in 2002.

Angelou campaigned for the Democratic Party in the 2008 presidential primaries, giving her public support to Hillary Clinton. In the run-up to the January Democratic primary in South Carolina, the Clinton campaign ran ads featuring Angelou's endorsement. The ads were part of the campaign's efforts to rally support in the Black community; but Barack Obama won the South Carolina primary, finishing 29 points ahead of Clinton and taking 80% of the Black vote. When Clinton's campaign ended, Angelou put her support behind Obama, who went on to win the presidential election and became the first African-American president of the United States. After Obama's inauguration, she stated, "We are growing up beyond the idiocies of racism and sexism."

In late 2010, Angelou donated her personal papers and career memorabilia to the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem. They consisted of more than 340 boxes of documents that featured her handwritten notes on yellow legal pads for I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, a 1982 telegram from Coretta Scott King, fan mail, and personal and professional correspondence from colleagues such as her editor Robert Loomis. In 2011, Angelou served as a consultant for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in Washington, D.C. She spoke out in opposition to a paraphrase of a quotation by King that appeared on the memorial, saying, "The quote makes Dr. Martin Luther King look like an arrogant twit", and demanded that it be changed. Eventually, the paraphrase was removed.

In 2013, at the age of 85, Angelou published the seventh volume of autobiography in her series, titled Mom & Me & Mom, which focuses on her relationship with her mother.

Personal life

Evidence suggests that Angelou was partially descended from the Mende people of West Africa. In 2008, a DNA test revealed that among all of her African ancestors, 45 percent were from the Congo-Angola region and 55 percent were from West Africa. A 2008 PBS documentary found that Angelou's maternal great-grandmother Mary Lee, who had been emancipated after the Civil War, became pregnant by her white former owner, John Savin. Savin forced Lee to sign a false statement accusing another man of being the father of her child. After Savin was indicted for forcing Lee to commit perjury, and despite the discovery that Savin was the father, a jury found him not guilty. Lee was sent to the Clinton County poorhouse in Missouri with her daughter, Marguerite Baxter, who became Angelou's grandmother. Angelou described Lee as "that poor little Black girl, physically and mentally bruised".

The details of Angelou's life described in her seven autobiographies and in numerous interviews, speeches, and articles tended to be inconsistent. Critic Mary Jane Lupton has explained that when Angelou spoke about her life, she did so eloquently but informally and "with no time chart in front of her". For example, she was married at least twice, but never clarified the number of times she had been married, "for fear of sounding frivolous"; according to her autobiographies and to Gillespie, she married Tosh Angelos in 1951 and Paul du Feu in 1974, and began her relationship with Vusumzi Make in 1961, but never formally married him. Angelou held many jobs, including some in the sex trade, working as a prostitute and madame for lesbians, as she described in her second autobiography, Gather Together in My Name. In a 1995 interview, Angelou said,

"I wrote about my experiences because I thought too many people tell young folks, 'I never did anything wrong. Who, Moi? – never I. I have no skeletons in my closet. In fact, I have no closet.' They lie like that and then young people find themselves in situations and they think, 'Damn I must be a pretty bad guy. My mom or dad never did anything wrong.' They can't forgive themselves and go on with their lives."

Angelou had one son, Guy, whose birth she described in her first autobiography; one grandson, two great-grandchildren, and, according to Gillespie, a large group of friends and extended family. Angelou's mother Vivian Baxter died in 1991 and her brother Bailey Johnson Jr., died in 2000 after a series of strokes; both were important figures in her life and her books. In 1981, the mother of her grandson disappeared with him; finding him took four years.

In 2009, the gossip website TMZ erroneously reported that Angelou had been hospitalized in Los Angeles when she was alive and well in St. Louis, which resulted in rumors of her death and, according to Angelou, concern among her friends and family worldwide. In 2013, Angelou told her friend Oprah Winfrey that she had studied courses offered by the Unity Church, which were spiritually significant to her. She did not earn a university degree, but according to Gillespie it was Angelou's preference to be called "Dr. Angelou" by people outside of her family and close friends. She owned two homes in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and a "lordly brownstone" in Harlem, which was purchased in 2004 and was full of her "growing library" of books she collected throughout her life, artwork collected over the span of many decades, and well-stocked kitchens. Guardian writer Gary Younge reported that in Angelou's Harlem home were several African wall hangings and her collection of paintings, including ones of several jazz trumpeters, a watercolor of Rosa Parks, and a Faith Ringgold work titled "Maya's Quilt Of Life".

According to Gillespie, she hosted several celebrations per year at her main residence in Winston-Salem; "her skill in the kitchen is the stuff of legend—from haute cuisine to down-home comfort food". The Winston-Salem Journal stated: "Securing an invitation to one of Angelou's Thanksgiving dinners, Christmas tree decorating parties or birthday parties was among the most coveted invitations in town." The New York Times, describing Angelou's residence history in New York City, stated that she regularly hosted elaborate New Year's Day parties. She combined her cooking and writing skills in her 2004 book Hallelujah! The Welcome Table, which featured 73 recipes, many of which she learned from her grandmother and mother, accompanied by 28 vignettes. She followed up in 2010 with her second cookbook, Great Food, All Day Long: Cook Splendidly, Eat Smart, which focused on weight loss and portion control.

Beginning with I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Angelou used the same "writing ritual" for many years. She would wake early in the morning and check into a hotel room, where the staff was instructed to remove any pictures from the walls. She would write on legal pads while lying on the bed, with only a bottle of sherry, a deck of cards to play solitaire, Roget's Thesaurus, and the Bible, and would leave by the early afternoon. She would average 10–12 pages of written material a day, which she edited down to three or four pages in the evening. She went through this process to "enchant" herself, and as she said in a 1989 interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation, "relive the agony, the anguish, the Sturm und Drang". She placed herself back in the time she wrote about, even traumatic experiences such as her rape in Caged Bird, in order to "tell the human truth" about her life. Angelou stated that she played cards in order to get to that place of enchantment and in order to access her memories more effectively. She said, "It may take an hour to get into it, but once I'm in it—ha! It's so delicious!" She did not find the process cathartic; rather, she found relief in "telling the truth".

Death

Angelou died on the morning of May 28, 2014 at the age 86. She was found by her nurse. Although Angelou had reportedly been in poor health and had canceled recent scheduled appearances, she was working on another book, an autobiography about her experiences with national and world leaders. During her memorial service at Wake Forest University, her son Guy Johnson stated that despite being in constant pain due to her dancing career and respiratory failure, she wrote four books during the last ten years of her life. He said, "She left this mortal plane with no loss of acuity and no loss in comprehension."

Tributes to Angelou and condolences were paid by artists, entertainers, and world leaders, including Obama, whose sister was named after Angelou, and Bill Clinton. Harold Augenbraum, from the National Book Foundation, said that Angelou's "legacy is one that all writers and readers across the world can admire and aspire to." The week after Angelou's death, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings rose to number 1 on Amazon.com's bestseller list.

On May 29, 2014, Mount Zion Baptist Church in Winston-Salem, of which Angelou was a member for 30 years, held a public memorial service to honor her. On June 7, a private memorial service was held at Wait Chapel on the campus of Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem. The memorial was shown live on local stations in the Winston-Salem/Triad area and streamed live on the university web site with speeches from her son, Oprah Winfrey, Michelle Obama, and Bill Clinton. On June 15, a memorial was held at Glide Memorial Church in San Francisco, where Angelou was a member for many years. Rev. Cecil Williams, Mayor Ed Lee, and former mayor Willie Brown spoke.

Works

Angelou wrote a total of seven autobiographies. According to scholar Mary Jane Lupton, Angelou's third autobiography Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas marked the first time a well-known African-American autobiographer had written a third volume about her life. Her books "stretch over time and place", from Arkansas to Africa and back to the U.S., and take place from the beginnings of World War II to the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. In her fifth autobiography “All God’s Children Need Travelling Shoes” (1986) Angelou tells about her return to Ghana searching for the past of her tribe. She published her seventh autobiography Mom & Me & Mom in 2013, at the age of 85. Critics have tended to judge Angelou's subsequent autobiographies "in light of the first", with Caged Bird receiving the highest praise. Angelou wrote five collections of essays, which writer Hilton Als called her "wisdom books" and "homilies strung together with autobiographical texts". Angelou used the same editor throughout her writing career, Robert Loomis, an executive editor at Random House; he retired in 2011 and has been called "one of publishing's hall of fame editors." Angelou said regarding Loomis: "We have a relationship that's kind of famous among publishers."

Angelou's long and extensive career also included poetry, plays, screenplays for television and film, directing, acting, and public speaking. She was a prolific writer of poetry; her volume Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'fore I Diiie (1971) was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, and she was chosen by US President Bill Clinton to recite her poem "On the Pulse of Morning" during his inauguration in 1993.

Angelou's successful acting career included roles in numerous plays, films, and television programs, including her appearance in the television mini-series Roots in 1977. Her screenplay, Georgia, Georgia (1972), was the first original script by a black woman to be produced, and she was the first African-American woman to direct a major motion picture, Down in the Delta, in 1998.

Chronology of autobiographies

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969): Up to 1944 (age 17)

Gather Together in My Name (1974): 1944–48

Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas (1976): 1949–55

The Heart of a Woman (1981): 1957–62

All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes (1986): 1962–65

A Song Flung Up to Heaven (2002): 1965–68

Mom & Me & Mom (2013): overview

#04/04 #05/28

[lilyjcollins-news]

Five Facts To Know About Lily Collins.

After breaking our hearts as the tragic, ever hopeful Fantine in Les Misérables, get to know the actress who brought the character to life. Check out our list of surprising and fun facts about Lily Collins, and learn all about the actress’ family (hint: you may have heard of them), the career path she almost took instead of acting, and what projects she’s working on next.

You may have heard of her father… 

 She’s the daughter of famous rock star Phil Collins, lead singer and drummer of Genesis. Her mother, Jill Tavelman, and the award-winning musician were married until 1994. While her famous father (and last name) may have, admittedly, helped open doors for her, she worked hard to make her own way. “I never wanted to give anyone the opportunity to say: ‘Well, she only got X or Y because of that,’” she told The Guardian in a recent interview. “I knew it would take longer to do it on my own, but it would be so much more worth it.”

She’s dominating the big screen this year.

She’s starring in multiple other big roles this year, including the new Netflix film Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile alongside Zac Efron (The Greatest Showman, High School Musical), chronicling the crimes of notorious serial killer Ted Bundy from the perspective of his longtime girlfriend, played by Collins. She’s also starring as Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien’s wife and muse Edith Bratt in Tolkien,alongside Nicholas Hoult (Warm Bodies, About a Boy).

…and television screens!

On top of just breaking our hearts in the MASTERPIECE series Les Misérables, Collins just recently announced her newest starring role in a new series called Emily In Paris from legendary creator Darren Star (Sex And The City, Younger, Beverly Hills 90210). Not only will Collins star in the upcoming series, but for the first time ever, she’ll be producing, as well. According to Collins’ announcement on Instagram, the show is set to begin production in Paris this summer, and slated to premiere next year on Paramount Network.

She’s not just an actress.

Her talents extend far beyond the screen. In 2017, at the age of 27, Collins published her first book, a collection of personal essays titled Unfiltered: No Shame, No Regrets, Just Me. The Golden Globe nominated actress tackled everything from her struggles with eating disorders, boyfriend problems, and the once strained relationship with her father in the international bestseller.

She originally studied to be a journalist.

Before she landed her first major film role in 2009’s The Blind Side as Sandra Bullock’s daughter, Collins attended the University of Southern California (USC) and studied broadcast journalism, with a dream of becoming “the youngest-ever talk show host.” She began writing for Teen Vogue and Elle Girl, and covered the 2008 presidential election and Obama’s first inauguration for Nickelodeon. All the while, however, she’d been auditioning, and once she was cast in The Blind Sidealongside Sandra Bullock, she dropped out of USC. From there on, she scored starring roles in more films Mirror, Mirror and Love, Rosie. (The rest, as they say, was history.)

vía MasterpiecePBS.