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September was National Suicide Prevention Month. To bring awareness to suicide, WNCW featured Jeff Spiteri, a former victim of homelessness, who had lost all hope. Today, Jeff is an international speaker and author on suicide. We also spoke with Linda Schaffer, a psychiatric therapist, who provided insight into what her patients often go through. Both guests have ties to Western NC.

A shorter broadcast version of the full hour episode available on podcast platforms everywhere

Actor, salesman, entrepreneur, radio show host, author, minister, workshop facilitator, public speaker, trainer, Peace Corps Volunteer, storyteller, and pet-sitter. Larry has been all of these and found that the thing that ties them all together (yep – even petsitting!) is the importance of stories. Humor is a key ingredient, whether the story is for entertainment or a deeper purpose.

Nancy Basket helped form the first modern basketry guild in Seattle in 1980, and moved to South Carolina ten years later. She makes pine needle and kudzu baskets — large and miniature, lamp shades, paper designs, kudzu cloth, and large 8-foot sculptures depicting Cherokee stories. In 2005 she received the prestigious South Carolina Jean Laney Harris Folk Heritage Award. Her work has received raving national reviews. She is a popular feature at powwows and Earthskills events.

A native of West Virginia, Donna Marie Todd trained in classical vocal performance at the renowned Peabody Conservatory of Music with Metropolitan opera soprano Marilyn Cotlow and now writes and performs a unique combination of original stories woven with artful songs. The combination of storytelling and singing has earned her the description of “The Singer of Stories.”

Amy Ammons Garza is a storyteller who tells tales of growing up in the North Carolina Mountains. As a child, she sat at the foot of her grandfather and listened to tales of how her ancestors, seven generations past, were a part of those who traveled to Western NC and settled in the isolated mountains. His stories intrigued her, and so she stored them away until she grew up and began to write about them.

WUNC Education Reporter, Liz Schlemmer was our guest on the program to share her story, "More N.C. Students Are Taking High School Classes for College Credit Than Ever Before." AP (Advanced Placement) courses broke attendance records this past year and included an increase in participation by Hispanic and African American students.

Minton Sparks is a wildly original poet, performance artist, novelist, teacher, and essayist born in a Tennessee college town and raised among her Southern family in and around Arkansas. She earned degrees from the University of the South and Vanderbilt University. Her appearances range from the prestigious Jonesborough National Storytelling Festival to the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville and the American Songbook Series at Lincoln Center in New York City.

Kyle Perrotti of Smoky Mountain News joined the broadcast to talk about his story on how various fire departments in the North Carolina Mountains are using drones to fight fires. This technology is making a difference. Haywood County was one of the first to implement it.