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READING
ON RADIO IN RETIREMENT
CARL NIELSEN FINDS READING BOOKS ON RADIO TO
THE HOMEBOUND REWARDING
By
K.J. Fields
Northwest Senior News
May, 2002
PORTLAND
- Carl Nielsen was in the position to retire early, but he
knew he wasn't about to sit around. He embarked on a serious
research project to learn about organizations and volunteer
opportunities within them. That was 10 years ago, and he's
been a volunteer at Oregon Public Broadcasting ever since.
Nielsen
reads on the program "Golden Hours" for OPB, and
he assists with on-air television and radio pledge drives.
The Golden Hours program has volunteers read books, daily
news and even the grocery advertisements over the air. The
radio service is designed for the elderly, homebound and sight-impaired
and airs 24 hours a day on the secondary audio program through
a stereo television or VCR.
Nielsen
reads books on the program and often selects his own. Because
he likes to travel, Nielsen's book choices gravitate toward
books on travel and adventure. He recently finished reading
"Godforsaken Sea," a story about a yacht race around
the world, and was reading "Down the Great Unknown,"
a book about John Wesley Powell's first trip down the Colorado
River to the Grand Canyon in 1869.
According
to Nielsen, taking a personal interest in the reading material
makes a difference in the listener's experience.
"If
you're reading a book and it's something you like yourself,
the audience can tell," says Nielsen.
Aware
of the needs of his listener, Nielsen adheres to certain customs.
For example, if a book has a foreign name in it, Nielsen is
much less concerned about whether he's pronouncing it correctly
than pronouncing it consistently. If he changes the name during
the reading, listeners may become confused.
Nielsen
also believes it's important to remember that you're not addressing
a multitude. He said that within the listener's home, there
are rarely more than one or two people tuned in, so Nielsen
keeps his reading at a conversational pace.
The
overall number of people who listen to his broadcast is not
an issue for Nielsen. He figures that if there's only one
person tuned into his reading, that's important enough use
of his time.
"It's
the same as if I did the reading one on one for someone,"
says Nielsen." "This is a useful service. I'm doing
something for someone who couldn't get it otherwise."
Because
Nielsen likes to maintain a flexible schedule, he reserves
studio time and records 50 minutes of reading onto a disk
whenever it works within his week. He tried reading the books
aloud before recording them, but found that it wasn't really
helpful. Now he just skims the chapters and then reads them
fresh onto a disk. If he makes a big mistake, he can always
back up the disk and record over it.
During
the pledge drives, Nielsen doesn't answer the phone but serves
as a team leader for those who do. He helps train volunteers,
tally results and answer questions.
Volunteering
at OPB hasn't lost interest for Nielsen, even after 10 years.
He says he enjoys the people, and they appreciate his efforts.
Although
he started volunteering at multiple organizations, Nielsen
did not stay at many of them. He knew his time was valuable
and wanted his volunteer efforts to be productive.
"Some
organizations don't utilize volunteers very well. I didn't
last long at those that don't," says Nielsen. "OPB
is very conscious of effective utilization of volunteers.
I really appreciate that.
Nielsen
also has remained a volunteer at the Nature Conservancy and
is the secretary of the Rotary Club.
For
those interested in volunteer opportunities at OPB, Nielsen's
advice is simple: "Come on down."
To
find out more about volunteer opportunities, e-mail volunteer@opb.org
or call 503-977-7787.
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