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- Winter Caretaker (Summer Mix)
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- Jesse Dukes
Peter Mattox is a caretaker for the Appalachian Mountain Club in New Hampshire. He takes care of Carter Notch Hut, a guest house for backpackers located high in the craggy White Mountains. He keeps the place clean, registers guests, and keeps an eye on trail conditions. On Saturdays, he is busy, taking care of up to thirty guests. On most other days, he is alone. Spending that much time alone can leave you "slighly unhinged" and he spends his time reading and thinking. Often, he thinks about the inherent irony of his job: Wilderness Caretaker, managing something that is valued for it's wildness.
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Piece Description
Peter Mattox is a caretaker for the Appalachian Mountain Club in New Hampshire. He takes care of Carter Notch Hut, a guest house for backpackers located high in the craggy White Mountains. He keeps the place clean, registers guests, and keeps an eye on trail conditions. On Saturdays, he is busy, taking care of up to thirty guests. On most other days, he is alone. Spending that much time alone can leave you "slighly unhinged" and he spends his time reading and thinking. Often, he thinks about the inherent irony of his job: Wilderness Caretaker, managing something that is valued for it's wildness.
2 Comments
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Review of Winter Caretaker (Summer Mix)This is a simple essay about the working life of this caretaker, Peter. It's nice to hear a first person essay with good use of ambience. I found it interesting, although I feel it could have been a bit tighter. This could be done by making the piece 30-45 seconds shorter. The reason being is this is a piece that really requires the listener to pay attention. I do like this type of piece. Well-produced, first-person essays play to the strength of radio and it's nice to hear directly from the subject of the story, rather than as a profile piece done by a reporter. This would work great as a drop-in to Day to Day, Weekend America or a local magazine show. |
Broadcast History
A different version of this story was aired on Weekend America in February of 2006.
Timing and Cues
5 second tail at end of piece.
Arvid Hokanson
Posted on July 19, 2006 at 01:36 PM | Permalink
Review of Winter Caretaker (Summer Mix)
This is a simple essay about the working life of this caretaker, Peter. It's nice to hear a first person essay with good use of ambience.
I found it interesting, although I feel it could have been a bit tighter. This could be done by making the piece 30-45 seconds shorter. The reason being is this is a piece that really requires the listener to pay attention.
I do like this type of piece. Well-produced, first-person essays play to the strength of radio and it's nice to hear directly from the subject of the story, rather than as a profile piece done by a reporter.
This would work great as a drop-in to Day to Day, Weekend America or a local magazine show.