No One Can Make You Feel Inferior Without Your Consent


This was in 1992. In the foreground is CNN anchor Bernard Shaw, who at the time was one of the most famous journalists in the world after narrating most of the Gulf War to us. 

 That’s me right above his head. At the time I was editor of my college newspaper and our wonderful faculty advisor, Susie Bullock, took us to see Shaw when he came to the University of Kentucky to give the Creason Lecture. That night when I spoke to Shaw he said “With a voice and accent like that you have a future in journalism.” 

 Only a couple months before a judge at a journalism conference had told me I’d never get anywhere with my accent despite my perfect grammar. “That hillbilly talk makes you sound like an idiot,” the judge said. 

 Less than ten years after this picture was taken I became a contributor to NPR’s “All Things Considered”. Since then I’ve published seven books and been on a lot of TV and radio, appeared in and narrated documentaries, done commercial narration, and narrated an audio book that won the highest award an audio book can win. 

 Obviously, I still remember what both the judge and Shaw said. The judge’s small-minded rudeness made me more determined. Shaw’s encouragement was always a whisper in my ear. Nowadays I am thankful for both.



---

Notes:  

 The title of this flash essay is from a quote by Eleanor Roosevelt. 

 The judge was encountered at the Kentucky Intercollegiate Press Association Conference and also served as a journalism professor for a prominent Kentucky university.

 One of my NPR "ATC" pieces can be found here.   

 Among the documentaries I've appeared in are Hillbilly, Class of 27, and Deep Down.  The most recent film I've narrated is Calling It Quits.  

 The Audie is the highest award for audio books.  In 2013 the winner for Children's/YA Audio Narration of the Year was Silas House and Neela Vaswani for Same Sun Here.  

Comments

Glenda Beall said…
Good for you! I love it when a southerner rises above his critics.
April 15, 2019 at 10:46 PM
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