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“If you fear making anyone mad, then you ultimately probe for the lowest common denominator of human achievement.” — Jimmy Carter

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A Full Life: Reflections at Ninety
By Jimmy Carter

“America did not invent human rights. In a very real way, human rights invented America.” That’s Jimmy Carter, born in Plains, Georgia (1924). He took over the family peanut farm after his father died in 1953, and he expanded the farm into a fertilizer business, a farm supply business, and a peanut-shelling plant. He got interested in politics after he refused to join a citizens’ group that opposed the integration of schools. He became the governor of Georgia and then, in 1977, the 39th president of the United States. Carter said he wanted to end what he called “the imperial presidency.” He walked down Pennsylvania Avenue for his inauguration, often wore informal clothes at official appearances, and sold the presidential yacht.

Jimmy Carter said: “A strong nation, like a strong person, can afford to be gentle, firm, thoughtful, and restrained. It can afford to extend a helping hand to others. It is a weak nation, like a weak person, that must behave with bluster and boasting and rashness and other signs of insecurity.”

The 39th president and Nobel Peace Prize winner reflects on his full and happy life with pride, humor, and a few second thoughts.

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From Pretty Good Goods

For some fans of public radio's beloved A Prairie Home Companion, it's all about the wild, unpredictable, "how does he do that?" artistry of sound effects specialist Fred Newman. Handpicked from nearly two decades of live broadcasts, Sounding Off! spotlights Fred's unique talents in performance with host Garrison Keillor, Richard Dworsky, and musical guests Chris Thile, Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks, and the hilarious radio acting cast of A Prairie Home Companion. Fred's vocal characterizations are boundless, and his sound arsenal features singing whales, stomping pterodactyls, lovesick loons, patriotic dolphins, rampaging dental equipment, and much more. Features a full-color booklet with a photo essay and notes by Fred Newman, offering a behind-the-scenes tour of his sound-effects artistry. Recorded from live broadcasts.

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Of Interest to Public Radio Fans

In the spirit of Halloween — the night when evil is parodied in order to loosen the grip of dread — here are weird people looming up out of the radio darkness, zombies wandering the hallways, macabre secretaries, psychopaths in the basement, ghosts of bad actors, bats, worms, flies, Poe’s raven, all from live broadcasts of A Prairie Home Companion. Listen to stories of Halloween in Lake Wobegon and Judy Ingqvist’s fear that her daughter is turning into a dumb blonde. With music by Butch Thompson and Richard Dworsky and the Guy’s All-Star Shoe Band. 2 scary hours on 2 CDs.

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dedin@mpr.org
Merchandise Manager

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