INTRODUCTIONS AND THEN THERE IS JAMES EARL
JONES MOVIES THEATER. YOU NAME IT. HE'S DONE IT. AND NOW HE HAS A BOOK OUT AS
WELL DOCUMENTING HIS, HIS RISE
TO, UH, TO STARDOM. IT'S CALLED VOICES AND SILENCES. IT'S WRITTEN WITH PENELOPE NIVEN
AND JAMES EARL JONES IS WITH US
THIS MORNING. GOOD TO HAVE YOU HERE. THANK
YOU. I'M VERY HAPPY TO BE HERE.
IT IS. UH, I, I, WE, WE WERE TALKING
BEFORE. IT IS, IT IS THE KIND
OF, UH, OF GET TOGETHER WHERE I
SUDDENLY MY VOICE DOESN'T SOUND
NEARLY AS STRONG AS I, I USUALLY THINK IT DOES. UH, I, I'VE BEEN OUT BASED EVEN A BIG
CABOT OUT BASED ME ONE DAY, BUT HE MUST HAVE BEEN HURT AFTER
THAT. LET ME ASK YOU, WHEN WERE YOU
AWARE? I MEAN, SO I'M TEMPTED TO SAY THAT YOU
HAD THIS GIFT BUT IT WAS IT
SOMETHING YOU HAD TO WORK AT. NO, UH, BEING A FARM KID. UH, WE
ALWAYS WERE ENCOURAGED TO USE
OUR VOICES. I MEAN, IT WAS, IT WAS AN
INSTRUMENT TO CALL THE COWS AND
CALL, CALL THE HOGS AND SO ON. AND THEN I I LOST MY VOICE
THROUGH, THROUGH BEING A
STUTTERER AND I BECAME MUTE. AND UH UH THE VOICE I HAVE NOW
CAME ON US BY SURPRISE. I MEAN, BY THE TIME I WAS 14, I
STARTED TALKING AGAIN AND IT WAS A DIFFERENT VOICE.
THAT'S AN AMAZING STORY. YOU
ACTUALLY DIDN'T SPEAK, EXPLAIN HOW THAT
HAPPENED. I DON'T KNOW. IT'S, IT'S VERY INTERESTING BUT
ALSO COMP COMPLICATED STORY. BY THE TIME WE MOVED FROM
MISSISSIPPI TO MICHIGAN, THE TRAUMA THAT MOVE, UH, REALLY
PUT ME IN SOME, SOME SORT OF A
FIX. AND, UM, AND I, I RESPONDED BY, YOU KNOW,
BEING, BECOMING A STUTTERER AND I DIDN'T SOLVE THAT UNTIL I
GOT TO HIGH SCHOOL. SO IT WAS A PROBLEM THAT, THAT
PLAGUED YOU FOR, FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS AND I
DIDN'T BLAME ME. I JUST BACKED OFF. I HAD SAID,
UH, IT'S TOO EMBARRASSING TO, UH, SO IT'S ALSO VERY FUNNY. KIDS WOULD LAUGH AT ME AND
BECAUSE STUTTERERS ARE, ARE
FUNNY. I MEAN, I KNOW IT'S NOT
POLITICALLY CORRECT TO SAY THAT, BUT IT WAS FUNNY PEOPLE WHEN
THEY STUTTER, IT DOESN'T FEEL FROM THE INSIDE
OUT, BUT IT DOESN'T FEEL THAT WAY. HOW
DID YOU FINALLY BEAT IT? UM, I, I HAD A TEACHER WHO DISCOVERED I
WROTE POETRY AND HE GOT ME TO READ MY POETRY IN
FRONT OF THE CLASS AND LO AND THE WHOLE, I DIDN'T
START IT WHEN I READ MY OWN
POETRY, NOR WHEN I READ ANYTHING
RHYTHMIC, UH, OR OR SANG, WHICH
I DON'T, I DON'T DO. BUT UH WHEN, WHEN THERE'S A RHYTHM
TO CARRY YOU, THEN YOU CAN GET PAST THE
TRIPPING. WHY, WHY DID YOU FEEL COMPELLED
TO, TO WANNA PUT THIS TO PAPER
THIS STORY? WELL, UH I, I HAVE AN AGENT AND, AND A DEAR FRIEND WHO UH SAID
THAT TO ALL OF OUR CLIENTS AND
ALL OF HER FRIENDS THAT WE, WE OWE IT TO UH TO, TO THE
PAGE, PUT YOUR JOURNAL DOWN AND THEN
HISTORY WILL DETERMINE WHETHER
IT'S RELEVANT OR NOT. AND I FAILED TO DO THAT. AND SO
UM I DECIDED ABOUT FOUR YEARS AGO
THAT I WOULD TRY TO, YOU KNOW, RECOVER WHAT I DIDN'T PUT DOWN ON PAPER AND YOU HAVE SOME UH UH
AN EXTRACT YOU'D LIKE TO READ
FOR US. I UNDERSTAND THIS MORNING. IF
YOU WOULD PLEASE, THERE'S A WARM, GOLDEN LIGHT. IT
SHINES FROM A COAL OIL LAMP SITTING ON A POT BELLIED STOVE. THE STOVE IS USED TO HEAT A FOUR
ROOM HOUSE FILLED WITH FAMILY 11
AND ALL IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT, MOST OF THE FAMILY IS ASLEEP. THE WOMAN, MAGGIE SENDS HER HUSBAND JOHN TO FETCH
A MIDWIFE WHO COMES AS DAWN APPROACHES. SHE HAS TAUGHT MAGGIE HER
BIRTHING SKILLS. SHE HAS LIFTED ALL THE CHILDREN
FROM MAGGIE'S WOMB, THREE SONS,
SEVEN DAUGHTERS. NOW, RUTH MAGGIE'S OLDEST
DAUGHTER IS LYING SWOLLEN AND
STILL THE WATER HAS LONG SINCE BROKEN. THERE'S ONLY SILENCE. RUTH ASKED FOR CASTOR OIL, CASTOR OIL. MAGGIE'S IMPATIENCE GROWS. GO
AHEAD. BETTER HAVE ANYTHING SHE WANTS.
THE MIDWIFE SAYS IT CAN'T HURT, IT WON'T COME. RUTH SAYS IT'S DEAD ALREADY. NO, IT'S NOT DEAD. MAGGIE VINCE OF FURY. HER, SHE SIGH, SHE QUIETLY KEEPS ABUSE ON RUTH AND THEN
LOUDER AND LOUDER MODULATES INTO
UNCHARACTERISTIC PROFANITY. RUTH IS RUTH LIES PAINED AND
FRIGHTENED, BEAR DOWN, WORK HARDER. THE MIDWIFE SAYS, SIMPLY
ENCOURAGING HER. THE MIDWIFE AND MAGGIE WORK EACH
IN HER OWN WAY. THE MID THE MIDWIFE URGING MAGGIE WILLING THE CHILD INTO
LIFE AT 605 IN THE MORNING, JANUARY 17TH, 1931. THE MIDWIFE LIFTS MAGGIE'S FIRST
GRANDCHILD FROM RUTH'S WO I REMEMBER THE WARMTH OF THE
LIGHT. MY MOTHER, RUTH TOLD ME THE OTHER DETAILS OF MY
BIRTH AS SHE REMEMBERED THEM. BUT THE LIGHT IN THE COAL OIL LAMP THAT NIGHT
FLOATS IN MY MEMORY. I HAD NO CONSCIOUS RECOLLECTION
OF ANYTHING ELSE EXCEPT THE
LIGHT, JAMES EARL JONES VOICES AND
SILENCES THE BEGINNING AND IT GOES ON AND ON FROM
THERE. AND WE'RE GLAD YOU COULD TAKE
THE TIME TO SHARE THAT WITH US
THIS MORNING AND WE WISH YOU ALL THE BEST AND
LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU
AGAIN. NEXT PROJECT. OH, PROBABLY UH TOM CLE NEXT NEXT THRILLER. OH, YEAH, I HOPE I'M IN THAT. WE HOPE SO TOO, JAMES J. GOOD TO HAVE YOU WITH US THIS
MORNING, SIR. THANK YOU VERY
MUCH.