Cairo Association of Teachers - Newsletter



CAT Tracks for November 24, 2005
STACE ENGLAND ON NPR

Well...the airing of Rachel Jones' story on Stace England and his "Greetings from Cairo, IL" music CD got "bumped" from its scheduled broadcast on NPR's Morning Edition. Probably too many Congressmen facing indictments...and President Bush gave a major speech defending the continued military presence by the United States in Irag. Funny how some managing editor at National Public Radio would think that such events were more important than a musical tribute to the history of Cairo. Go figure...

No word on when this story will now air...so stay tuned. Bottom line: If we don't get a "heads up", the story will be archived on the NPR website and you will be provided notice...and a link to the story.

And, speaking of the NPR website...a "background" story on Stace England and his GFCI CD was published yesterday. Click on the NPR link to read this story.

Also on the website, NPR's Rachel Jones shares her Reporter's Notebook about growing up Black in Cairo, Illinois, during the 1960s - not-so-fond memories...life-long lessons learned.

Sorry for the false alarm...and stay tuned for further announcements concerning the story.

REMINDER: You can purchase a copy of the "Greetings from Cairo, IL" CD by visiting StaceEngland.com, clicking on the "Listen/Buy" link, and following the directions. This reviewer gives the CD its highest - 4 CATs - rating! (You were expecting "3 blind mice"?)

The original announcment of the NPR story follows...

On a story close to home...

In a couple of previous editions of CAT Tracks, I have had the pleasure of reporting on a musical CD relating the history of Cairo - "Greetings from Cairo, IL" - by Stace England. Stace has been receiving great reviews, publicity, and play in Europe...more than he has received in the U.S.

However, Stace's U.S. exposure promises to increase dramatically in the near future.

Initial word received yesterday was that National Public Radio - NPR - was to air a story about Stace and his Cairo CD on its popular Morning Edition program on Thanksgiving Day. Shortly, thereafter, found out that the story was rescheduled for next Wednesday...November 30th.

Coincidentally, November 30th just happens to be the 32nd wedding anniversary of Julie and Ron Newell! (And they said it wouldn't last...)

I mention that item of personal history because there is a very personal connection to this news story. The person who wrote the story for NPR and who will be reporting it on air is none other than our very own Rachel Jones...sister of Julie Newell. When I first heard about this CD last summer, I was impressed...and gave a copy to Rachel. Well...as they say...the rest is history!

I know that some of you are regular NPR listeners. Well...be sure you don't miss next Wednesday's show. And...for those of you who aren't...mark your calendar and find your local NPR radio channel. You have a golden opportunity to hear the history of Cairo...past and present!

(If the time of the broadcast changes, you will be notified through the auspices of CNN...the CAT News Network!)


Below is the official announcement from StaceEngland.com - including directions on how to locate your local NPR station...

November 23, 2005

After some months of delay due to hurricanes, indictments and other huge national stories our National Public Radio Morning Edition piece is officially set to be broadcast on Wednesday, November 30.

We taped the story in late August with NPR reporter Rachel Jones, who grew up in Cairo. It is of course an honor to have a story about our CD on Morning Edition nationwide, more so to have gotten to know Rachel and her family in Cairo. She is a tenacious, disciplined and extremely talented journalist who wrote her way out of Cairo at a very young age into a national media position. We thank her for countless hours of work on this story and also the hospitality shown by her family in Cairo.

You can find your local NPR station here, and it will be archived if you miss the broadcast. We’re told the NPR will feature the CD on their website as well, so we have much to be thankful for and look forward to listening to Rachel’s work.

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