Jan. 5 show

Sharing memories in captivating ways

Around 1915, the Warsaw Band was formed. During its seven-year history, the group received acclaim when, during a parade in Anderson, Ind., the street lights went out and all of the bands were forced to stop playing except the "lively" Warsaw Band. Unlike all the others, the Warsaw Band could not read a note and played only from memory. Image courtesy remember.com. It's the dawn of a new year, and you have history - personal history - to share. But how do you package your memories and reflections in ways that will interest other people?

This is the show for you, whether your memories are about Labor Day on Lake Monroe, the Pan Am Games of 1987, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway or the crowd sensations inside Lucas Oil Stadium during the Super Bowl last February. Click for more!

Memories about several of these places, milestones and events have been posted on remember.com, a website founded by two native Hoosiers that's intended to be a "global memory bank" for people to share common experiences.

One of the co-founders of remember.com, Indianapolis entrepreneur Jason Becker, will join Nelson in studio to offer tips and advice about how to spark interest among other people (particularly total strangers) in verbal snapshots of your experiences.

Jason Becker. Another expert in studio on the topic of sharing memories will be Lyn Jones, an assistant professor of English at Ball State University who has taught a wide range of Hoosiers - from at-risk youth to war veterans, mothers of children with disabilities and senior citizens - how to write memoirs. Lyn helped launch the Memoir Project at the Writers' Center of Indiana.

A sampling of Lyn's tips: Talk to someone who can help you cue a memory. And hunt up photos, objects and mementos that will help you remember.

Jason, a 2004 economics graduate of DePauw University, advises: "Re-immerse yourself totally in the experience, in what it felt like - what you saw, heard, smelled and felt."

Lyn Jones. He plans to share some of the most compelling memories that have been posted on remember.com since its debut in 2010. If the collaborative memory website develops as planned, noted an article in the Indianapolis Business Journal, it could become "the one-stop kind of site (for memories) that Wikipedia is for knowledge or Facebook is for friends."

Sitting at the Feet of Our Elders book cover. Jason founded remember.com with DePauw classmate Brandon Sokol, who grew up in Anderson, Ind., and now lives in New York City. The two co-founders are assisted on remember.com by about half a dozen friends and colleagues.

For the Writers' Center, our guest Lyn has been the co-editor of two anthologies of memoirs. They are Flanner House Speaks: Sitting at the Feet of our Elders and I Remember: Creative Writing by Indianapolis Youth. She also is the author of two editions of Painless Reading Comprehension.

"Memoir is the best search mechanism we are given," she notes. "Memoir is how we try to make sense of who we are, who we once were, and what values and heritage shaped us."

Jason, who has "day jobs" with two Indy-area software companies, says he has been surprised to notice that collaborative memorials - memories about people who have died - have become among the most popular entries on remember.com.

Whether writing a memorial or another type of short memory, he offers this suggestion: "Don't try to mimic someone else's voice. Do it in a way that's authentic to you."

Roadtrip: Cross-country skiing and sledding in Indy

Friends and dog cavort with a sled in the snow in a park. Image courtesy Indy Parks. Chris Gahl of Visit Indy suggests that we take advantage of snow on the ground (though will it last?) to explore cross-country skiing and sledding opportunities in Indy. The Indy Parks website tells us that there is great skiing at Eagle Creek Park, Northwestway Park, Southeastway Park Trails, and of course on the Indy Park Greenways if conditions permit. Provide your own equipment.

And remember, if you'd like to leave the Circle City and escape for a couple of snuggly winter nights, you can get “two nights for the price of one” at many of the state park lodges around the state through Feb. 28.

Winter is the perfect time for quietrelaxation! And if you do like snow, you can always look at the e-newsletter for last February's "Snow history with weatherman Chris Wright" show from the Hoosier History Live! archives.

History Mystery

A memoir by an Indiana-born entertainer begins with this quote: "Please, can I go home?"

She made the request to return to the Hoosier state for her father's funeral on the eve of her big break. As an 18-year-old in the early 1950s, she had been cast in the leading role in a national touring company of a popular musical. Question mark. The show was scheduled to open the next night, there was no understudy, and she had endured a complex relationship with her deceased father, an impoverished alcoholic.

Although the native Hoosier opens her memoir with the dilemma about her father's funeral - and despite other challenges that she recounts - she went on to achieve early success on Broadway, followed by a leading role in a TV series that has been seen in reruns almost continuously ever since its premiere more than 40 years ago.

Question: Name the entertainer from Indiana.

To win the prize, you must call in with the correct answer during the live show and be willing to be placed on the air. Please do not call if you have won a prize from any WICR show during the last two months. The call-in number is (317) 788-3314, and please do not call until you hear Nelson pose the question on the air.

This week's prize is a gift certificate to MacNiven's Restaurant and Bar on Massachusetts Avenue in Indy, and two tickets to Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site, courtesy of Visit Indy.

By the way, you'll notice that our questions are getting a little more difficult. Why? Because the number of listeners and fans is steadily increasing, and there's a larger pool of listeners out there who are well-versed in Indiana history. When we started the show five years ago, we had to make the questions a lot easier so we wouldn't eat up a lot of air time with wrong answers!

Your Hoosier History Live! team,

Nelson Price, host and creative director
Molly Head, producer, (317) 927-9101
Chris Gahl, Roadtripper
Richard Sullivan, webmaster and tech director

Pam Fraizer, graphic designer
Garry Chilluffo, creative consultant
Michele Goodrich, Jed Duvall, grant consultants
Joan Hostetler, photo historian
Dana Waddell, volunteer-at-large

www.hoosierhistorylive.org

Please tell our sponsors that you appreciate their support: Aesop's Tables | Conner Prairie | Indiana Historical Society | Lucas Oil | Story Inn.

Acknowledgments to Print Resources, Monomedia, Indiana Humanities, Visit Indy, WICR-FM, Fraizer Designs, Heritage Photo & Research Services, Derrick Lowhorn and many other individuals and organizations. We are an independently produced program and are self-supporting through organizational sponsorships, grants and through individual tax-deductible contributions through Indiana Humanities. We do not receive any government funding. Visit our website to learn how you can support us financially.

Save the date!

Fifth-anniversary party is set for Feb. 21

Friends and fans, please mark your calendars now for the Hoosier History Live! Fifth Anniversary Party, to be held Thursday, Feb. 21, from 5 to 8 p.m. at Indiana Landmarks Center at 1201 Central Ave. in Indianapolis. Watch our website and e-newsletter for details!

Jan. 12 show

A Hoosier amid the British royals

How did a slice of Queen Elizabeth II's childhood birthday cake from the 1920s end up in the home of a Hoosier? How did he witness the post-wedding kiss on the balcony between Prince William and Duchess Kate?

And how has Andrew Lannerd, general manager of the Indianapolis Symphonic Choir, been able to mingle with the royals at Buckingham Palace garden parties, present the queen with bouquets of flowers seven times and speak to her on about 40 occasions?

Andrew Lannerd is pictured with Queen Elizabeth at her 80th birthday party at Buckingham Palace in 2006. Image courtesy Andrew Lannerd. Fresh from spending the holiday season in England - where he stays near Sandringham Estate, the country retreat where the royal family is in residence for Christmas - Andrew will join Nelson in studio to share insights, anecdotes and the links between this young, energetic Hoosier and the world-famous Brits.

An avid collector of all things royal, Andrew estimates he owns about 500 books about British monarchs, plus countless artifacts and curiosities such as the birthday cake, a marble bust from 1860 of Queen Victoria and a chair from Queen Elizabeth's coronation in 1952.

A couple of years ago, Andrew even lived in London and did commentary on royal-themed tours.

He's been the general manager of the 150-voice Indianapolis Symphonic Choir since 2010. Andrew, a native of Anderson, Ind., also enjoyed a five-year stint as house manager for the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra.

As a fund-raiser for the symphonic choir, he will lead a group of Hoosiers on a "Britten in Britain Tour" to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of English composer Benjamin Britten; the travelers from Indiana also will enjoy special visits to sites associated with the royals. (For more details about the tour, visit indychoir.org).

Even though well-known protocol is involved when interacting with the royals - "you never extend your hand to the queen," Andrew notes - he emphasizes the royals are far from stuffy.

"Queen Elizabeth has a great sense of humor," he says. "She has a wonderful way of putting people at ease."

Tune in for details about how the Indy arts organizer has immersed himself (if not quite rubbed elbows with) the nobles across the ocean.