HOST:
Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC – VOA’s radio magazine in SpecialEnglish. (THEME)
This is Doug Johnson. On our program today we:
play songs nominated for an Academy Award …
answer a question about a famous building in New York City …
and remember a VOA announcer who died recently.
Maurice Joyce
HOST:
The Voice of America lost one of its best-loved announcers lastmonth. Maurice (pronounced Morris) Joyce died at a hospital inLewes, Delaware. He was ninety-four years old. People who listen toVOA Special English programs have heard Maurice Joyce for manyyears. Shep O’Neal remembers him.
ANNCR:
Maurice Joyce was known to us at VOA as Mo. He had a long andinteresting life. Mo Joyce grew up in the Washington, D.C. area.After high school, he attended Wesleyan University in Middletown,Connecticut.
Mo loved being an announcer. As a young man, he worked inHollywood, California. He later returned to Washington and becameactive in the broadcasting industry. Mo was too old for activemilitary service during World War Two. Yet he joined the Army as acivilian worker and moved to New York City. He made militarytraining films during the war.
After the war, Mo worked as anannouncer. He described major world events for short newsreel films.Later, he returned to Washington and began working at the Voice ofAmerica.
Mo was a wonderful Special English announcer. His reading soundedeffortless. He read several programs, including American Stories,Science in the News, and Words and Their Stories.
((TAPE: CUT ONE – “WORDS AND THEIR STORIES”))
“Now, the Special English program, WORDS AND THEIR STORIES. Everyweek at this time, the Voice of America tells about popular wordsand expressions used in the United States … “
Those of us who knew Maurice Joyce remember that he was seriousabout his work. He always arrived at the office in plenty of time tostudy his parts before it was his time to read. He also helped thosearound him improve their work. Mo never seemed to get angry. He letother, less experienced broadcasters make mistakes. This helped themto trust in their abilities.
Before retiring, Mo worked at VOA headquarters once a week. Afterhe finished his work, he invited others to join him for something toeat. He enjoyed telling stories. And, he always paid for everybody’smeals. Maurice Joyce left VOA in the early Nineteen-Nineties. Yetyou will continue to hear his voice in some programs that we repeat.
((TAPE: CUT TWO – “WORDS AND THEIR STORIES” MUSIC))
Grand Central
HOST:
Our VOA listener question this week comes from China. Song binasks about the history of Grand Central Terminal in New York City.
Grand Central Terminal is one of the most famous buildings in NewYork. But most people call it Grand Central Station. The word”station” means a stopping place along a transportation line. A”terminal” describes either end of the line. Grand Central Terminalis a huge train station where train lines begin and end.
American railroad developerCornelius Vanderbilt was responsible for building the first GrandCentral Terminal in Eighteen-Seventy-One. Thirty years later, steamtrains were being replaced by electric ones. So officials decided todestroy the existing station and create a new electric trainterminal.
Their plan called for hiding the rail tracks under four cityblocks and permitting developers to place buildings over the trackarea. The terminal took ten years to build, and it changed the cityof New York.
The new Grand Central Terminalopened in Nineteen-Thirteen. It was a huge and beautiful buildingwith statues of Greek and Roman gods and a large metal clock. Itspresence led to the building of large hotels, office and apartmentbuildings nearby.
Grand Central also changed during the years. At different times,the huge building included an art gallery, an art school, a movietheater, and a rail history museum. At one point, it was the busiesttrain station in the country, serving nearby areas and those faraway. In the Nineteen-Fifties, other transportation methods becamemore popular than trains. The railroads were losing money. Theybegan destroying old stations.
In Nineteen-Sixty-Seven, New York City established anorganization to save such historic buildings. Railroad officialstested the law in court in an effort to destroy Grand Central. Butcity leaders were able to save it. In Nineteen-Seventy-Six, thefederal government protected Grand Central Terminal by naming it aNational Historic Landmark.
Grand Central Terminal has been restored and improved. Today, itincludes many stores, eating places and food markets.Five-hundred-thousand people visit the famous building every day.And it continues to be one of the busiest train stations in theworld. More than one-hundred-fifty-thousand people use it every dayto travel to towns in New York State and Connecticut.
Oscar Nominated Songs
HOST:
People who make movies will be honored Sunday in Los Angeles,California. That is when the American Academy of Motion Picture Artsand Sciences presents its yearly awards, the Oscars. The movieindustry will honor the best work of directors, actors, technicalexperts and songwriters. Mary Tillotson tells us about thenominations for best song.
ANNCR:
Five songs written for movies have been nominated for the bestoriginal song Academy Award. One song is from the movie “Lord of theRings: The Fellowship of the Ring.” Enya sings “May It Be.”
((CUT 1: MAY IT BE))
Another song nominated for an Oscar is the song “Vanilla Sky”from the movie of the same name. A third nominated song is from themovie “Pearl Harbor.” Faith Hill sings “There You’ll Be.”
((CUT 2: THERE YOU’LL BE))
The fourth nominated song is “Until” from the movie “Kate andLeopold.”
We leave you with the final song nominated as best orginal songfrom a movie. It is from the animated movie, “Monsters, Inc.” JohnGoodman and Billy Crystal sing “If I Didn’t Have You.”
((CUT 3: IF I DIDN’T HAVE YOU))
HOST:
This is Doug Johnson . I hope you enjoyed our program today. AndI hope you will join us again next week for AMERICAN MOSAIC – VOA’sradio magazine in Special English.
This AMERICAN MOSAIC program was written by George Grow and NancySteinbach. Our studio engineer was Kwase Smith. And our producer wasPaul Thompson.