Virginia and Lee McAlester’s excellent book A Field guide to American Houses begins like this:
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“Domestic Buildings are of two principal sorts: folk houses and styled houses. Folk houses are designed without a conscious attempt to mimic current fashion. Many are built by their occupants or by non-professional builders, and all are meant to provide basic shelter, with little concern for presenting a stylish face to the world.”
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This passage brought to mind one such house I had the privilege to visit when I was an adolescent. My mother worked for an insurance company that sold debit insurance. This meant that part of her job was to collect premiums on a regular basis. I rode with her on one of her collection days when we pulled up to a three room tarpaper shack. Though the materials were not as substantial as in some houses this home was, as I remember it, powerfully civilized. The gentleman who lived there lived up to the title.
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I realized that talking to my mom, Joan, about that day would be a great run through of an interview. I went over to her addition, set up the recorder and we talked about it for a good ten minutes. I forgot to take record off pause so we ended up doing another take. The recording is below.
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Thanks mom for helping me to get my basics down and as always for being a great sport as I fumble through my first interview.
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