[bookshare-discuss] Re: NLS narrators

  • From: "EVAN REESE" <mentat3@xxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <bookshare-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Thu, 13 Mar 2008 15:41:52 -0400

A great message, but I have to make one correction: The original narrator of the Lord of the Rings was Livingston Gilbert. I have copies of that one, which was done in 1973. Norman Barrs did a rerecording about ten years later. And, they've been done yet again about five or six years ago I think. 


Evan
----- Original Message ----- From: "Curtis Delzer" <curtis@xxxxxxxxxx> 
To: <bookshare-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, March 12, 2008 8:24 PM
Subject: [bookshare-discuss] Re: NLS narrators



Hi Karen, you've amplified, beautifully, so very well, and, indeed, John
Straton, is a fantastic narrator. He read, "Jaws," by Peter Benchly, in
1974, is quite at home doing a Western like the third of the Callahan
trilogy, "Callahan Goes South," and read number 9, that I remember of the
Wagons West series, "Washington," and many others. The original reading of
the Ring books were done by Norman Barrs, a superlative British narrator,
who did all the parts so wonderfully, not too much and not too little. I
have a recording of him reading a book entitled "salt is leaving," about an 
English physician who finds leaving, not too easy an issue when one of his
patients winds up dead and the perpetrator is after him. :) It starts out as 
a fuss budget type of English narrative, and thank God I was bored one day
and got through that part to find that it was a treasure after all. I mean to meet characters like "buzzy," who buzzed about every time he talked, was 
worth the effort.
Airport, as read by Milton Metz, Karl Weber reading Rex Stout superlatively 
as Ralph Bell, Donald Madden reading Moby Dick, (which had to read in high
school), and who read Little Women, Terry Hayes, when she was just 15 years 
old? Mary Jane Higby, married to Guy Sorrelle, another superlative reader,
anything you wanted to read which had French words, Guy Sorrelle was your
man. Original reading of "Where are the Children," by Mary Higgins Clark,
her first book done superlatively and so much better than the re-issue, by
Susanne Torren, Robert Donley reading SF like "A Fall of Moon dust," by
Arthur C. Clark is a treat to behold.
Who can read as distinctively as Alexander Scourby? Authors reading their
own books, always makes me think of "Pearls Kitchen," read by Pearl herself, and the funniest thing was that the more she got into her book, the more she 
kind of short cut her way through the actual words, was like she was just
visiting your kitchen and imparting her wisdom, one to another, A priceless 
and never-to-be-gotten-again treasure, most definitely!
How many authors read the "foreword," of their books? One that comes to
mind, is read by Scourby, but the author of "The Secret of Santa Vittoria"
by Robert Crichton, read his own foreword, so is that available any more
except in my collection? No way, which is so sad to me that I can hardly
stand it! I wish I'd been even more busy than I was capturing these
priceless recordings, but, unfortunately, I was not.  How about "The
Yearling," as read by Neil Mullens? Another priceless recording!
I could go on and on, but Karen, I know you know what I mean, and so do many 
of you I am sure!


Curtis Delzer
----- Original Message ----- From: "Karen Lewellen" <klewellen@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> 
To: <bookshare-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, March 12, 2008 5:03 PM
Subject: [bookshare-discuss] Re: NLS narrators


This thread is making me cry...and laugh some too.
Frankly one could use a copy of someones personal recording to preserve
it to digital.  There is no technical reason for these treasures to be
gone.
I agree hands down on "to kill a mockingbird," I can still hear that one in 
my head.  same for the original recording of east of Edan,  John straton
I believe?  His recordings of everything were so rich.
The first recordings of the Lord of the rings series are far better than
the more recent re-recordings in my book.
And can you imagine that the first recording of the play "who's afraid of
Virgina Woolf was not a single reader, but the original live stage
production.  And the first recording of "I know why the caged bird sings,"
was read by MIA Angelou herself.

But what really makes me cry as that none of the folks we are talking of
can read this.
When the American Foundation for the Blind still threw a party as a part
of the Scorby narrator of the year awards, I met Two of the nls readers in
person.  Both expressed how much it meant to t  person and both expressed
how much it meant to them, connecting with  their listeners.  Reading is
such an isolated thing.
I think in part  one thing that holds me aloof from daisy at least as done
here is that I cannot curl up on my sofa wrap my arms around the player and 
enjoy.  or lie on the floor  in a patch of sunlight, or snuggle in bed
etc. etc.  Headphones are not the same, and  the speaker options are
hardly as comfortable.
I look forward to my nls Daisy player, which I understand will have a
speaker...and thankfully  our treasured readers too I believe.
Karen



On Wed, 12 Mar 2008, Curtis Delzer wrote:


He read "the call of the wild," House Jameson I mean, I happen to have
that
one. :) Sometimes he could sound a bit prissy, I suppose, <grin> or if you want prissy, how about Donald Hotaling? :) I have him reading "report from 
engine company 82," again, re-issued by nls read by someone else. Such a
shame when all it is, is the fact they did not preserve the original
master
tapes, so it's all wasted, or mostly so.
Now, there is a disaster, all that talent, gone, except preserved in
personal collections, as I have of Ralph Bell and the Rex Stout series
about
Nero Wolf, original recordings of Arthur Haileys books except for Wheels
which I want an audio recording of, and with NLS had recorded "Detective," 
his last major work before his death in 2004, etc. How about the original
recording of "To Kill a Mockingbird," as narrated by Helen Shields, which
is
without doubt, the best ever done, as far as I am concerned.
Too young to remember Helen Shields? See what I mean, out of mind, out of
sight or unresolved potential, since you have no idea what an absolute
treasure these narrators were, and are to those of us who, have heard and
appreciated and still appreciate them in memory. Newest is not better,
only
relief from not having. All these narrators, had acting and performing
experience before microphones, so they had to, "be there," in their
voices,
unlike the narrators of today who just narrate. There are many excellent
readers of today, but anyone who thinks Michelle Schafer is any kind of
professional compared to being on radio, is lacking in having heard much
radio when it was as big as TV and CDs are these days. Sorry Michelle, but you need to go back to school as far as presentation is concerned. She can 
read, but so many affected attributes, I couldn't even begin to mention
them
all.

Curtis Delzer

----- Original Message -----
From: "Rick Roderick" <rickrod@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <bookshare-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, March 12, 2008 6:48 AM
Subject: [bookshare-discuss] NLS narrators


Another narrator that was in old-time radio was House Jameson.  I believe
he
played the father of Henry Aldrich. He did a masterful job with both Gone with the Wind and All the King's Men. He was quite good at truly sounding 
Southern.  I suspect he was from the South, but when he did the Aldrich
character, he did not sound particularly Southern.
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