Sunday Storytellers: Episode Archive

Original Air Date: Sunday, October 6, 2019, 12 PM

• Voichikov's Malady, written and read by Dr. Robert McParland, Professor of English and Author of 12 non-fiction books. 

  • Voishikov’s Malady appeared in Haunted Magazine (published in Britain) in 2006. 

  • According to Dr. McParland, this story, reminiscent of the mystery-horror writer Sheridan Le Fanu's Carmilla, “emerged through an experiment.” While reading Tolstoy and suffering with a head cold, Dr. McParland was inspired to turn out the lights, sit in a dark room and record a narrative of character voices into a tape recorder. This story took first form orally and then was shaped through writing.   

• Part 1 of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, by American author, F. Scott Fitzgerald, read by Kerri Scott, Director of Professional Studies and Instructional Design at Felician University. 

  • Professor Scott and the father of this story have something in common – each have a son named Benjamin! 

  • The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was first published in Collier's Magazine in 1922, anthologized in his book Tales of the Jazz Age, adapted for the screen in 2008 and has most recently adapted as a musical stage production.  

  • In part 1, we find Mr. Button dashing off to the hospital in happy anticipation of greeting his new bundle of joy into the world, and encountering an indignant doctor, a fearful hospital staff and a big surprise in the nursery.

Original Air Date: Sunday, October 13, 2019, 12 PM

• Journey Home, the opening chapter of the novel Daddy Sir!, written and read by Christine McAteer, senior at Felician University and author of the book Daddy Sir!

• Casey at the Bat, by Ernest Lawrence Thayer, read by Michael Szarek, Assistant Vice President for Community Relations and Conference and Event Services at Felician University.

  • First published in The San Francisco Examiner on June 3, 1888, it was later popularized by DeWolf Hopper in many vaudeville performances.

  • Michael chose this poem because he still remembers the reaction he had the first time he heard DeWolf Hopper’s rendition. Michael is proud to have twice won the St. Francis Prep Annual Poetry Contest many years ago.

• Streets of New York, the opening of a play called Movin’, read by Terry McAteer, Associate Professor of Communications.

  • This is a duet for two voices transposed to a monologue for one.

  • The piece is presented by a Greek Chorus, which represents the people of NYC who pass through the cabs. The chorus represents The Cab Driver. 

• Part 2 of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, by American author, F. Scott Fitzgerald, read by Kerri Scott, Director of Professional Studies and Instructional Design.

  • In part 1 we found Mr. Button dashing off to the hospital in happy anticipation of greeting his new bundle of joy into the world, and encountering an indignant doctor, a fearful hospital staff and a big surprise in the nursery

  • In part 2, Mr. Button attempts to buy clothing that might mask the condition of his 70-year-old newborn, but trying to explain it to the clerk proves difficult.

• Ask Yourself, an original work from Christina Lilian Turczyn, an adjunct professor and a former Fulbright Scholar.

  • Professor Turczyn received her B. A. in English from Cornell, and her Ph.D. in English/Creative Writing from Binghamton University. She has taught critical and creative writing at Fairleigh Dickinson, William Paterson University, and SUNY–New Paltz, among other institutions.

  • Reading with her is Alison Cole, Felician University Librarian. 

Original Air Date: Sunday, October 20, 2019, 12 PM

• Part 3 of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, by American author, F. Scott Fitzgerald, read by Kerri Scott, Felician University’s Director of Professional Studies and Instructional Design. 

  • The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was first published in Collier's Magazine in 1922, anthologized in his book Tales of the Jazz Age, adapted for the screen in 2008 and has most recently adapted as a musical stage production. 

• Jodi Shelly, Director of University Libraries and Assistant Professor, reads a short story by Mark Twain, published in 1899, entitled Dick Baker’s Cat.

  • She earned her M.L.I.S. from Rutgers University and has just completed the requirements for an M.B.A.  from Felician University.

• Three original poems written and read by Christina Lilian Turczyn, an adjunct professor and a former Fulbright Scholar

  • She received her B. A. in English from Cornell, and her Ph.D. in English/Creative Writing from Binghamton University.

  • She has taught critical and creative writing at Fairleigh Dickinson, William Paterson University, and SUNY–New Paltz, among other institutions. 

• Michael Szarek, Assistant Vice President for Community Relations and Conference and Event Services at Felician University, readsThe Road not Taken by Robert Frost, first published in 1916

  • When Michael won the St. Francis Prep Annual Poetry Contest in 1981, his prize was “The Poetry of Robert Frost”.

Original Air Date: Sunday, October 27, 2019, 12 PM

Sunday Storytellers' Halloween Special includes True Spooky Tales from New Jersey Folklore read by Radio Felician students between each reading.

• The Tell-tale Heart, by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, read by Dr. Robert McParland, Professor of English at Felician University and author of 12 non-fiction books.

  • The story was first published in James Russell Lowell's The Pioneer in January 1843. The Tell-Tale Heart is often considered a classic of the Gothic fiction genre and is one of Poe's best-known short stories.

• Spooky Tale: The Parkway Phantom, read by Ash Listermann

• Jeff Shelly, Radio Felician’s Station Manager, reads Edgar Allan Poe’s, The Raven.

  • A narrative poem first published in 1845, noted for its musicality, stylized language, and supernatural atmosphere.

• Spooky Tale: Sybil's Cave, read by Gabby Geranio

• Terry McAteer, Associate Professor of Communications reading from The Blood is the Life, a vampire novel set in modern America.  It is a selection from the opening chapter of this original novel currently in progress called “Night Falls”. 

• Spooky Tale: Buckeye Billy, read by Brendan McKenney

• Robert Clougherty, Vice President for Technology, Design, and Innovation at Felician University, reads Do Ma Gra, an original series of poems he wrote based on Bram Stoker’s novel, Dracula.

  • As Dracula is never given the opportunity to speak in the novel, the sequence of poems represents Dracula’s voice. The sequence confronts the issue of voicelessness and being an outsider. It considers the earthy ancient traditions of Dracula in opposition to the Victorian middle class which seeks to, and eventually does, destroy him, as well as the confrontation of a passionate poetic view of the universe versus the view of a market-based world functioning on desire.

• Spooky Tale: 100 Steps Of Death, read by Melanie Hill

• Alison Cole, Librarian and Professor at Felician University, reading The Misfit Ghost.

  • This short ghost tale was discovered in a collection of ghost stories from 1904, Twenty-Five Ghost Stories, compiled and edited by W. Bob Holland. 

• Spooky Tale: The Seabrook Wilson House, read by Nicole Cacciatore

Original Air Date: Sunday, November 3, 2019, 12 PM

• Part 4, the final installment, of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, by American author, F. Scott Fitzgerald, read by Kerri Scott, Felician University’s Director of Professional Studies and Instructional Design. 

• Michael Szarek, Assistant Vice President for Community Relations and Conference and Event Services at Felician University reads Robert Frost's 1915 poem, Blueberries.

  • Pulitzer Prize-winner Robert Frost makes the ordinary experience of picking wild blueberries into an extraordinary endeavor, where you can smell the morning damp and feel the sun on your head and take delight in being the first to discover a blueberry patch ripe for picking. 

• Jeffrey Shelly, Radio Felician’s Station Manager, reads Edgar Allen Poe by HL Mencken.

  • In doing some research on Poe for the last episode, Jeff found an interesting short essay about Poe by HL Mencken. Mencken was an American Journalist, satirist and social critic. 

  • In this piece, Mencken laments the shoddy way Poe was treated after his death.  This essay originally appeared exactly 100 years ago in Mencken’s anthology book Prejudices: First Series. 

Original Air Date: Sunday, November 10, 2019, 12 PM

• Felician University student Jessica Titterington reads an original short story, The Bread Runner.

  • Jessica transferred to Felician after graduating from Bergen Community College. While attending Bergen, she wrote The Bread Runner for a creative writing class. The story was published in the school's literary magazine, The Labyrinth, and won an award for Best Fiction.

  • The Bread Runner's themes include religious oppression and martyrdom, while also touching on some historical content.

• Felician University Communications Specialist, Joanne Santiglia reads two Robert Frost poems - A Time to Talk and After Apple Picking.

  • Joanne says that asking her to choose her favorite American Poet is like asking a parent to pick a favorite child. But she does admit to having soft spots for both Walt Whitman and Robert Frost. She asks, “How can we know how to think without poetry?”

Original Air Date: Sunday, November 17, 2019, 12 PM

• Dennis Graham, English Instructor at Felician University reads George Washington’s Farewell Address, translated into modern English by Joshua Frazier.

  • Originally written by President George Washington as a valedictory to "friends and fellow-citizens" after 20 years of public service to the United States. 

  • The letter was first published as “The Address of Gen. Washington to the People of America on His Declining the Presidency of the United States” in the American Daily Advertiser on September 19, 1796.

• Felician University Student, Cynthia Contin, reads The Little Boy in the Balcony by Henry W. Grady.

  • This story was published in The Literary World Seventh Reader in 1919. 

Original Air Date: Sunday, November 24, 2019, 12 PM

Sunday Storytellers' Thanksgiving Holiday Special 

• Radio Felician’s Station manager, Jeff Shelly reads Mrs. November’s Dinner Party by Agnes Carr, from The Topaz Story Book, compiled by Adam and Eleanor Skinner in 1917 (linked below). 

  • This story was first published in the November 1883 issues of Harper’s Young People, an American children's magazine between 1879 and 1899.

• Jeff Shelly reads O. Henry’s Two Thanksgiving Day Gentlemen, a short story that appears in his 1907 collection, The Trimmed Lamp and Other Stories of the Four Million.

  • The story, which features a classic O. Henry twist at the end, raises questions about the importance of tradition, particularly in a relatively new country like the United States.

• Two poems from The Topaz Story Book read by Maria Spina, Library Manager of Felician University Libraries.

  • Maria reads the poems Johnny Appleseed by Josephine Scribner Gates and Thanksgiving by Amelia E. Barr.

• Kaitlyn Clohosey reads another selection from the Topaz Story Book, A Turkey for the Stuffing written by Katherine Grace Hulbert in 1921, originally published in the Youth’s Companion.

• Felician University Student, Cynthia Contin, reads the poem Pumpkin Pie by Mary Mapes Dodge, also found in the 1928 edition of theTopaz Story Book.

Original Air Date: Sunday, December 22, 2019, 12 PM

Sunday Storytellers' Christmas Holiday Special 

• Jeff Shelly, Radio Felician Station Manager, reads "A Visit from St. Nicholas", more commonly known as "The Night Before Christmas" or "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" from its first line.

  • First published anonymously in 1823 and later attributed to Clement Clarke Moore, who claimed authorship in 1837.

  • One of the best-known verses ever written by an American and is largely responsible for some of our conceptions of Santa Claus from the mid-nineteenth century to today.

• Dr. Tara Brugnoni, Doctor of Letters, Director of Community Rights and Responsibilities and Adjunct Assistant Professor at Felician University reads an editorial called "Is There a Santa Claus?".

  • On September 21, 1897, Eight-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon wrote a letter to the editor of New York’s Sun, and the quick response was printed as an unsigned editorial.

  • The work of veteran newsman Francis Pharcellus Church has since become history’s most reprinted newspaper editorial, appearing in part or whole in dozens of languages in books, movies, and other editorials, and on posters and stamps.

• Andy Fellows, Director of Campus Ministry, reading two Holiday selections.

  • "The Gift of the Magi”, a short story by O. Henry first published in 1905 in The New York Sunday World and the following year in book form in O. Henry’s Anthology The Four Million.

  • Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem, The Three Kings. Longfellow, one of the most famous American poets of all time, wrote the poem to tell the story of the wise men traveling to meet Jesus at his birth.

• Dr. Ronald Gray, Vice President of Student Affairs and Dean of Students at Felician University, reads a poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson called "Ring Out, Wild Bells".

  • Published in 1850, the same year that he was appointed Poet Laureate.

  • According to a story widely held in Waltham Abbey, the 'wild bells' in question were the bells of the Abbey Church. According to the local story, Tennyson was staying at High Beach in the vicinity and heard the bells being rung on New Year's Eve.

• Rebecca Driscoll reads "Desiderata" by Max Ehrmann.

  • Ehrmann was a twentieth-century American writer, poet, and lawyer who often wrote on spiritual themes.  "Desiderata," published in 1927, is his best-known work. 

  • The Latin title may be loosely translated as "things desired." 

Original Air Date: Sunday, March 15, 2020, 12 PM

Sunday Storytellers' St. Patrick's Day Special 

St. Paddy’s Day started as a religious celebration in the 17th century to commemorate the life of Saint Patrick and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland. This “Feast Day” always took place on the anniversary of Patrick’s death, which was believed to be March 17, 461 AD.   

During the Irish Rebellion of 1798, Irish soldiers wore green as they fought off the British in their trademark red. Before then, the color associated with St. Patrick and Feast Day was actually BLUE!

• Dr. Robert McParland, Professor of English at Felician University, and author of 12 non-fiction book, reads an original short story called "The Lady's Curse" - a ghost story that makes reference to Irish history.  
  • Ireland has more than a few ghost stories and writing this was an attempt to join in that tradition. There is also an element of English colonization of Ireland suggested in the story.   
  • The story is set at the turn of the twentieth century, some time before the Irish Rebellion of 1916. The English lord of the estate is not at all disposed toward the idea of spirits or the supernatural, although his intuitive wife has an inkling that there might be something to these hauntings.  
• Dr. Bob Clougherty, Vice President for Technology, Design, and Innovation at Felician University, reads a selection of Irish poems.  
  • Dr. Bob has been published in many disciplines including literature, engineering, chemistry, web design, and online learning; and has a PhD in Modern Letters from the University of Tulsa.   

Allan, P. (2017, March 17). The real history of St. Patrick’s Day. LifeHacker. https://lifehacker.com/the-real-history-of-st-patrick-s-day-1793354674