In Memoriam On Radio

NPR did a nice job of reporting on Coretta Scott King’s memorial service in Atlanta today. A description, excerpts that were short but not too short, both of speeches and music, and a spot of commentary. Vastly superior to sound-bite radio news. I listened to it as I was driving along this evening. Lilly was in the back seat, quiet, and I had to wonder what she made of the whole thing, but I have a feeling if I’d asked her, she wouldn’t have been able to tell me.

Or maybe she would have. The only thing she said was to ask if a voice she had just heard – of one of Mrs. King’s old friends, eulogizing her – was old or sad. “Both,” I said.

Mrs. King gave a speech at the Vanderbilt Divinity School sometime in the early 1980s (I can’t remember if I’d finished school yet) and I went to see her, mostly out of curiosity, to hear an historical figure in person. Unfortunately I don’t remember much about it now, however, just that she spoke from the pulpit of the D School’s chapel.