We rely on the media a lot to inform us about a place but there is much the media doesn’t tell us. In John Burnett’s Uncivilized Beasts and Shameless Hellions: Travels with an NPR Correspondent, he shares never-before-told stories of his experiences reporting on major events from around the world. Burnett’s first hand accounts give the snippets we see through the tube more development and heart.
From his beginnings as a reporter for local newspapers in Texas to his present position with NPR, Burnett has travelled nationally and internationally to put names and faces to infamous incidents during our time. He has sat with a prison chaplain in Huntsville, Texas as he described his inner conflicts as he consoled death row inmates. He holed up in a hotel room in New Orleans and came out to talk with refugees and policeman in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
My favorite story is of Carlos Garcia, a leaf player musician Burnett discovered on the streets of Mexico City. With Burnett’s help, Garcia’s musical talent was publicized on NPR and picked up by a California-based string quartet who included his music in their recordings. Most importantly, donations poured in from around the country to help Garcia’s family with medical and living expenses. If more stories like these were published in the mainstream media who knows how much our society could contribute to improve the lives of others facing an injustice or some other unfortunate circumstance.
If you don’t know much about the bigger issues in our world, this book will not only make you aware but personalize the issues for you because Burnett introduces you to people you can relate to and will never forget. The stories are suddenly not out of sight and out of mind but hit very close to home and are stories that we should all be conscious of.
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