I found this portrait of Charles Goodin compelling. Perhaps because of my maternal, Kentucky, side of the family; perhaps because of Goodin's accent, or the unexpected rhythms, energy and humor in his voice--or perhaps because people often shine when they talk about their work: I just wanted to hear more and more from this individual.

Still, this piece would have been better at about three-quarters of its actual broadcast length. Structurally, some of the end parts should have been at the beginning: I would have enjoyed hearing more from "Turkey" Goodin's acquaintances earlier on in the feature. Also, the producer could have included more interludes of ambience: the swish of cornstalks, or rain falling on a muddy field, or a tractor, or tomatoes squishing underfoot--anything to create little moments or "scenes" for the farmer's voice to float in on top of, and thus help the listener to imagine the locale. As it was, except for a telephone at the beginning, and some crickets later on, this piece boiled down to a string of comments from the protagonist with only incidental background sound. However, the producer made a good choice by keeping narration to an absolute minimum and letting the farmer tell the story.