StoryCorps Southwest Florida

First Generation Asian Americans, Nina Chen Langenmayr of Bryn Maur FL, and her sister, Stacey Cannington of Fort Myers, talk in this week’s StoryCorps of southwest Florida about their parents immigrating to the United States from China in the 1940s, assimilating to American culture, and moving to Kissimmee before Disney.

36-year-old James Pickett of Labelle interviews his friend, 30-year-old Stephanie Serrano of Fort Myers in this week’s StoryCorps of Fort Myers. They share their faith in God, their friendship, and their experiences with cerebral palsy.

In this week’s StoryCorps of southwest Florida, 70-year-old Anne McCrary Sullivan talks to her domestic partner, 64-year-old Lynn Webster, about the profound sense of emotions she experiences when visiting certain places. Sullivan was an artist-in-residence at Everglades National Park.

71-year-old Martha Bireda speaks with her son, 43-year-old Jaha Cummings, in this week’s StoryCorps of southwest Florida about their ancestry and their roots in what was then a segregated Punta Gorda.

71-year-old Martha Bireda speaks with her son, 43-year-old Ja-ha Cummings, in this week’s StoryCorps of southwest Florida about their ancestry and their roots in what was then a segregated Punta Gorda.

65-year-old Jim McCracken talks with his wife 60-year-old Karen Feldman about the death of his brother David McCracken from AIDS in 1992 at the age of 36. He remembers David's bright spirit and their complicated relationship in this week’s StoryCorps of southwest Florida.

Sixty-one-year-old Razak Dosani and his daughter, 28-year-old Farah Dosani, talk in this week’s StoryCorps of southwest Florida about him growing up in Bombay, moving to the United States to practice medicine, being a father, and his love and optimism for the United States as an Indian Muslim. Full disclosure – Farah worked for WGCU News for 3 years.

Sixty-year-old Lawrence Voytek and his friend, 57-year-old Mark Loren, talk about their friend and renowned artist, the late Robert Rauschenberg. Voytek worked as Rauschenberg's fabricator. They remember the great times they had together at his home on Captiva.

Alberita Johnson grew up in Queens, New York where she was bussed to white schools and says she experienced racial violence in the 1970’s. At the Story Corps mobile booth in Fort Myers, Johnson speaks with her friend Genelle Grant about that time, as well as what it was like moving to a still segregated Fort Myers in 2002.

Fifty-three-year-old Mark Riccio talks to his friend, Erica Lynne in this week’s StoryCorps of southwest Florida about having Williams Syndrome and his love for singing and sailing. Riccio says he knows his parents are scared of letting him go but he also fears being lonely.