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Part 5: Keeper of the Flame

Series: Iran Journal
From: Vermont Public Radio
Length: 00:04:48

In an intimate meeting, the reporter comes face to face with the 95-year-old keeper of the family flame, himself a direct descendant of the 18th century king of Persia. (Last of Five Parts) Read the full description.
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Part 5: Keeper of the Flame
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Vermont Public Radio

Part5scroll_small An American journalist in search of his family roots provides an intimate look behind the scenes in Iran. In part 5 of a five-part series, Steve Zind meets with the 95-year-old keeper of the Zand family history, himself a direct descendant of an eighteenth century ruler king of Persia. This series is appropriate to air daily during an NPR news magazine (Morning Edition or All Things Considered); each part runs approx. 5 minutes and requires local host to read a live Intro and Outro. The series oringially ran on Vermont Public Radio as a daily feature July 19-23, 2004.

Part 5: Keeper of the Flame | 00:04:48

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Piece Description

An American journalist in search of his family roots provides an intimate look behind the scenes in Iran. In part 5 of a five-part series, Steve Zind meets with the 95-year-old keeper of the Zand family history, himself a direct descendant of an eighteenth century ruler king of Persia. This series is appropriate to air daily during an NPR news magazine (Morning Edition or All Things Considered); each part runs approx. 5 minutes and requires local host to read a live Intro and Outro. The series oringially ran on Vermont Public Radio as a daily feature July 19-23, 2004.

Broadcast History

Part 5 of a five-part series aired on July 23, 2004 on Vermont Public Radio. (Stories in the series aired daily for five days.)

Transcript

(Host) Today, in the conclusion of our series on Iran, Steve Zind of Vermont Public Radio visits a 95-year-old family patriarch and reflects on the country he got to know while keeping this "Iran Journal."

(Sound of prayer and swallows chirping in a mosque courtyard.)

(Zind) Near the end of our three-week stay in Iran, my brother and I travel to Shiraz. The city's main street is Zand Boulevard. Our distant ancestor, Karim Khan Zand, made Shiraz his capital during his reign in the 1700s. He oversaw the construction of the bazaar and the Vakil Mosque where swallows turn and dive over the courtyard. A patron of the arts, Karim Khan built a tomb in Shiraz for Iran's most beloved poet, Hafiz.

Iranians love their poets. They've built monuments to them as Americans have done for presidents. Many Iranians can recite Omar Khayyam, Rumi and Hafiz from memory.

At night the stone p...
Read the full transcript

Timing and Cues

Requires host to read a live Intro and Outro. Story ends with a music bed; host should read live Outro over the music bed. (Intro and Outro are provided in the transcript.)

Additional Files

Related Website

http://www.vpr.net/vt_news/iran.shtml

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