More from Rebecca Sheir
Remembering the Subtle Signs of Segregation
(00:07:41)
From: Rebecca Sheir
A well-meaning illustration in a children's book sparks controversy over segregation in the nation's capital in the 1930s.
An Extra-Chilly Successor To Hubble
(00:06:22)
From: Rebecca Sheir
Come winter, your neck of the woods may be cold. But guess how frigid the James Webb Space Telescope will be when it launches in 2018? 400 degrees Fahrenheit below zero. For real.
From Scott Joplin to Super Mario Bros.: Making Old-Time Piano New Again
(00:03:48)
From: Rebecca Sheir
A 20-something pianist is making old-time piano new again... with a little help from Darth Vader and Super Mario Bros.
A Beer'n'Burger Stock Exchange: The Big Board
(00:03:45)
From: Rebecca Sheir
A new restaurant is trying to corner the market on neighborhood pubs, with beer prices that fluctuate in real time, based on customer demand.
Keeping It Clean For Nearly 80 Years: The Talented Jim Dandy
(00:04:28)
From: Rebecca Sheir
Meet a man who's been dry cleaning for nearly 80 years, with a little bit of stain-removing savvy... and a whole lot of love.
Injera Bread & Shark Meat: Tasting Ethiopia & Jamaica
(00:04:46)
From: Rebecca Sheir
What happens when Africa and the Caribbean culinarily collide in the U.S. capital? Dig in and find out!
The House That Beer -- and Pyrophobia -- Built
(00:04:42)
From: Rebecca Sheir
After losing a home and two breweries to fire, one German beermaker vowed not to let history repeat itself... and built an extraordinary house that would never go up in smoke.
Keeping the Music Playing... After Losing Your Hearing
(00:06:10)
From: Rebecca Sheir
Finding out you have hearing loss might not be music to your ears... but it doesn't mean you have to change your tune.
Giving the House of Representatives a Human Face
(00:06:05)
From: Rebecca Sheir
Meet the very first curator of the U.S. House of Representatives collection... 4,000 artifacts strong.
Sound & Vision: Why Deaf People See Differently
(00:03:17)
From: Rebecca Sheir
Deaf people don't see better... they see differently.
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Piece Description
If there's one sound that holds special significance for Gary Caddell, it's the sound of a slamming door. And not just any slamming door, but the slamming door that sealed him off from the world as he knew it, when, at age 15, he was sent to McLaughlin Youth Center, a juvenile justice facility in Anchorage. Since 1978, however, Gary's been on the other side of that slamming door at McLaughlin -- as a youth counselor, probation officer and district supervisor. He was inspired to work there after his arrest, and since then, he's inspired numerous teens to get back on track -- sometimes employing some pretty creative methods to do so. After 30 years, Gary Caddell is finally retiring. In this piece, we meet Gary, as well as one of his success stories: a young woman who -- thanks to Gary's unconventional ways -- has managed to move to the other side of the slamming door as well.
Broadcast History
This piece originally aired on "AK," the weekly public affairs program on the Alaska Public Radio Network, on February 24, 2007.
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John Biewen
Posted on April 01, 2007 at 10:21 AM | Permalink
Review of Behind the Slamming Door
A skillfully-done feature about a retiring juvenile justice official--himself a one-time "delinquent." Rebecca Sheir has put evident energy into making the most of a simple assignment: profile Gary Caddell using just sit-down interviews with him and with a former client from his time as a probation officer. The piece is assembled with quick pacing and back-and-forthing between the narrator and the interviewees. It's marred a bit by occasionally cliche'd writing. The former delinquent girl had "fallen in with a bad crowd" that committed assault and other "extracurriculars." The piece opens with the inevitable slam of the prison door, but in what I suspect is a sly acknowledgment of that sonic cliche, Sheir lets us hear her asking Caddell to "do that again." And he does.