2/13/2013 Listening Lounge

BLIND DATE

Gayle and Frank Newby, Ben and Bernice Finn, and Sigmund Stahl from StoryCorps
It all started on a triple blind date that Gayle was absolutely dreading. Within days, however, they were married.
Ben and his wife Bernice met on a blind date over a half-century ago. Ben didn't own a suit so he bought one specifically for the occasion. It was money well spent... even if it meant they could only drink coffee for dinner.
A colleague at work decided Sigmund needed a date & that he was going to fix Sig up. Enter Bonnie. "Did you hear of a movie called Deep Throat?" Bonnie asked. Sig hadn't but "It must be great," he thought. "There's a line around the block!" Stahl was in for quite a shock.

The Penguin Goes A Courtin' by Jonathan Goldstein
Before The Penguin became a notorious villain in Gotham City, he was a boozing dandy who lived in London. The Penguin's friends all thought that if he just met the right woman, he might be inclined to settle down and avert the disastrous, alcoholic path his life appeared to be taking. His friends held a dinner party at which he was introduced to a woman they believed would make a perfect mate for him -- a singing nanny named Mary, who, like him, traveled about by umbrella. Everyone thought the two eccentrics would get on most splendidly. Everyone, of course, was wrong.

My First Blind Date by Jean Shepherd
On Saturday nights for several years, Shepherd broadcast his WOR radio program live from the Limelight Cafe in New York City's Greenwich Village. Eight record albums of live and studio performances of Shepherd were released between 1955 and 1975. We'll hear a cut from one of those albums: "Will Failure Spoil Jean Shepherd?" in which Jean is dragged out on a blind date.