"1941 Slam Poetry"
Fred Friendly at Quonset
Produced by Jay Allison
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Read excerpts of Fred Friendly's letter to David Gullette.
Read the transcribed text of Fred Friendly's speech at Quonset.
Fred Friendly delivers what David Gullette of Newton, Massachusetts calls
1941 slam poetry. And poetry it is. The way Friendly turns a phrase -
strong and with a punch - out of his mouth, through the air, over the
Quonset Point Naval Air Station,
1941. The base was disestablished in 1974.
Courtesy Library of Congress.
He draws in his listeners and paints a picture of how Americans contributed
to building the Quonset Naval Air Station at Quonset Point, Rhode Island.
It was a time when the country was on the verge of entering World War II,
and Friendly's spontaneous remarks on a local Providence radio station
communicate his pride in a powerful nation.
At the time, the future famous broadcaster was 25-years-old. NPR listener
Gullette found the 78 r.p.m. record of Friendly's speech at a flea market,
and called it in to our Quest for Sound. He also sent a copy to Friendly,
before he died in March 1998, who replied with a letter of thanks.
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Copyright © 1999 The Kitchen Sisters