So I’ve got a few other projects on my plate for the next couple weeks, which will probably end up on here. The first one I start tomorrow and ought to be pretty interesting. The second one I’m still in the process of figuring out. But I thought I’d give a little preview:

• Food For Thought — Steve Dupuis is a stone mason who lives in Evan’s Notch on the border of Maine and New Hampshire. This past Spring, as he geared up to start a $50,000 job, the client called up and canceled. The job that was supposed to last Mr. Dupuis the summer didn’t last a day. Not one to get pinned down by circumstances, Mr. Dupuis cleared some land, expanded his garden, bought some chickens and some pigs and started raising his own food. He was looking for high yield on small money as an alternative method to feed his family. He said he’s not some back to the Earth hippy; this is just what he had to do. And, he said, it’s been a wonderful experience.

I’m trying to pitch it to NHPR for their Working It Out series, but because Steve actually lives on the Maine side of the border I’m not sure they’ll go for it. I might try MPBN, or for This American Life, but that’s aiming high. I’m going to mix the audio, and I’m also going to shoot a bunch of photos to create a multimedia presentation. I’m hoping it comes out well; I meet with Steve tomorrow morning for the first interview.

• Beyond Brown Paper — The photograph archives of the Brown Paper Company are at Plymouth State University. I want to partner with them to interview people from around Berlin about the mill and life in the city before it closed. I want to take the photos and lay them over the audio, again creating a multimedia project that will tell the history of the city.

I’m not really pitching that to anyone; I just think it could be a pretty amazing compilation. I’ve talked with dozens of Berliners about the city’s past. That is a record that shouldn’t be lost forever. StoryCorps captured some of this history, but there is so much more waiting up there.
Those are my latest ideas for side projects. I’d love to hear any ideas people have for interesting stories and interviews in Northern New Hampshire, and I promise to post them here when (if?) I finish them.