From our entertainment editor, Q. L. Dickinson:
Do you have any particular New Year’s tradition?
Many in Europe and across the globe attend concerts of the Viennese waltzes of Johann Strauss (info HERE). Others around the world – particularly in North America – wash loads of laundry, sort their socks, and then throw out any and all of the single socks they’ve accumulated throughout the year. People in Finland flock to National Parks to rake the forest floors, and others of Dutch heritage exchange dish towels and say, “We zullen dat varkentje wel even wassen” (“We will certainly get that piglet washed”), meaning they will take care of something, fix something or get the job done in the New Year!
Of course, the top tradition around the world at the start of any new year is to read and/or listen to the poetry of Emmett Lee Dickinson, Emily Dickinson’s third cousin, twice removed (at her request) – and that’s just what members of the Dickinson Organization of Poetry Enthusiasts did all over the globe!
This year was particularly special because Jim Asher, the world’s leading authority on Emmett Lee Dickinson, read some of Dickinson’s poetry on North Port, Florida's WKDW world-wide show “Writers on the Air."
“This was the biggest thing to happen in central west coast Florida,” said Rick Johnstone, Senior Intranet Communications Engineer and Marketing Functionality Planner for WKDW, “since Marylou Ward’s toilet exploded when lightning struck her septic tank.”
Below left: WKDW and the station's Common Grounds studio, site of the "Writers on the Air" program. Below right: Jim Asher reads the poetry of Emmett Lee Dickinson with "Writers on the Air" host, Emma Feix Albert. Asher is always quick to note, "I don't look like George Clooney. George Clooney looks like me."
Do you have any particular New Year’s tradition?
Many in Europe and across the globe attend concerts of the Viennese waltzes of Johann Strauss (info HERE). Others around the world – particularly in North America – wash loads of laundry, sort their socks, and then throw out any and all of the single socks they’ve accumulated throughout the year. People in Finland flock to National Parks to rake the forest floors, and others of Dutch heritage exchange dish towels and say, “We zullen dat varkentje wel even wassen” (“We will certainly get that piglet washed”), meaning they will take care of something, fix something or get the job done in the New Year!
Of course, the top tradition around the world at the start of any new year is to read and/or listen to the poetry of Emmett Lee Dickinson, Emily Dickinson’s third cousin, twice removed (at her request) – and that’s just what members of the Dickinson Organization of Poetry Enthusiasts did all over the globe!
This year was particularly special because Jim Asher, the world’s leading authority on Emmett Lee Dickinson, read some of Dickinson’s poetry on North Port, Florida's WKDW world-wide show “Writers on the Air."
“This was the biggest thing to happen in central west coast Florida,” said Rick Johnstone, Senior Intranet Communications Engineer and Marketing Functionality Planner for WKDW, “since Marylou Ward’s toilet exploded when lightning struck her septic tank.”
Below left: WKDW and the station's Common Grounds studio, site of the "Writers on the Air" program. Below right: Jim Asher reads the poetry of Emmett Lee Dickinson with "Writers on the Air" host, Emma Feix Albert. Asher is always quick to note, "I don't look like George Clooney. George Clooney looks like me."
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Below left and right: Interestingly enough, the WKDW studio -- which included lots of radio and music memorabilia on the walls -- had two now-classic quotes from Emmett Lee Dickinson hanging on the front desk and the front door: "I value your opinion, as long as you don't offier it" and "recording quiet please."
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Below left and right: A Dickinson fan in the audience who knew that Jim Asher would be reading on the program brought two old editions of poetry by Emily Dickinson. One, from 1960, was listed as costing 35 cents. The other, a collection of selected poems and letters, included a cover that depicted an angry looking Dickinson -- probably from a time when her third cousin, Emmett Lee, was visiting.
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Below left: Rick Johnstone, Senior Intranet Communications Engineer and Marketing Functionality Planner for WKDW. Johnstone said that Asher's appearance on "Writers on the Air" was the biggest thing to hit Florida "since Marylou Ward’s toilet exploded when lightning struck her septic tank" (below right).
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Below: Miscellaneous shots from in and around WKDW offices and studio.
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