Piece image

StoryCorps: Mike Kilgore

Series: StoryCorps
From: StoryCorps
Length: 00:02:22

Mike Kilgore remembers his grandmother and an incident involving a wild flower called Rabbit Tobacco. Read the full description.
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Piece Description

Mike Kilgore's grandmother, born Sara Louisa Matilda Elizabeth Nowles, played a large role in his life. From helping Kilgore stay out of trouble with his father to teaching him how to approach life's problems, her lessons have stayed with him long after her death...

Broadcast History

NPR's Morning Edition 11.21.08

Transcript

MK: Her full name was Sarah Louisa Matilda Elizabeth Nowles. I think she was named after all her grandmothers and probably a few other people. She was a small woman, had long hair, and, uh, she was very protective of me. I remember one night, I went to my grandmother's, and cousin Jimmy was staying with me. And, uh, we were doing the things that boys would do. And we decide we were going to smoke rabbit tobacco. And we rolled it up in newspaper, and we sat right there. And we were, you know, not inhaling it, but we thought we were big shots. But anyway, I saw the pickup lights coming up the hill, and I knew it was daddy coming to check on us. And, my granny, she had an old potbelly heater. And we grabbed up that big old pile of rabbit tobacco, and instead of shoving it under the bed, we put it in that old potbelly stove. And, of course, smoke just went everywhere. We were opening up wind...
Read the full transcript

Intro and Outro

INTRO:

Time now for StoryCorps ...

... the project that records the stories of everyday Americans.

Today, we hear from Mike Kilgore [Kill-Gorr] ...

... who wanted to talk about his grandmother.

Mike Kilgore says he was always welcome in his grandmother's Alabama home ...

... even when he took certain liberties there ...

... smoking the leaves of a wildflower called RABBIT TOBACCO.

OUTRO:

Mike Kilgore remembering his grandmother at StoryCorps in Indianapolis.

Read more stories like this in the StoryCorps book, "Listening Is An Act
of Love."

The book is now in paperback.

StoryCorps interviews are also kept at the Library of Congress and at
NPR-dot-ORG.

Related Website

http://www.storycorps.net/listen