Jim Lange, Author at West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Eclectopia Ghost Story: The Playful Prankster

Soon we were aboard the Hobby III. To my utter surprise, we learned the Hobby III was being visited by the ghost of its former owner, Harry Wilson.

This past July, my friend and I were walking around during Charleston’s newly returned Sternwheel Regatta. After making the rounds that hot day, we needed some refreshment and shade. Seated riverside, cold water in hand, she looked over and saw a sternwheeler that friends of hers owned. Soon we were aboard the Hobby III.

My old pal, and WVPB News Director Eric Douglas, was there and we all started chatting amiably about all sorts of things. Then I was introduced to the owner, JD Pauley, and his friend Brian Carr.

JD has a laid-back, engaging personality with a very funny dry wit. Sensing that my question would not be perceived as odd or crazy, I asked JD whether he had any personal experiences with ghosts. After all, boats and water seem to be a frequent paranormal setting.

To my utter surprise, he said that the Hobby III was being visited by the former owner, Harry Wilson.

Well, knock me over with a feather.

Close-up of the boat log, in Louise Wilson’s handwriting, with a newspaper clipping of Harry’s passing. *Photo credit: Jim Lange/WVPB*

Hello June: Arti — ‘facts’ Of Life

Hello June’s new album Artifacts drops Oct. 6. Songwriter and singer Sarah Rudy says the title refers to “people, places and stories” that “are part of me and are the artifacts of my life.”

West Virginia indie rock band Hello June has released their second album called Artifacts.

It’s a delightfully eclectic collection of straight-ahead rockers mixed with slower, balladesque songs as well. This engaging release is filled with thoughtful lyrics, heartfelt hooks, full out rocking and the right balance of instrumentation.

In short, it’s as good as any release I’ve heard in the genre.

Sarah Rudy, the group’s songwriter and vocalist, spoke freely and honestly about the album’s themes of love, loss and the ups and downs of living.

“The people, places and personal stories are a part of me,” Rudy said, “and they are the artifacts of my life.”

For more Eclectopia, listen Fridays and Saturdays at 9 p.m. on WVPB Radio.

Dan Kehde: A Tale of Haunting

Dan Kehde, Charleston author and playwright, offers this excellent tale of a childhood haunting.

Every Halloween season, I out roll classic films such as Night of the Living Dead, The Fog, Halloween III: Season of the Witch and others.

The newest tradition is now the third annual collection of ghostly tales from my fellow West Virginians.

Author, playwright and director of CYAC, Dan Kehde.

Dan Kehde, Charleston author and playwright, submits his third ghostly tale of his childhood haunting. His work is superb.

Note: this is the original submitted story. It is slightly longer than what aired in West Virginia Morning.

Jess Baldwin: With All of Her Wildness

West Virginia native Jess Baldwin’s new EP Anima explores themes of finding her own original inner voice after years of self-repression.

“Home is where one starts from.” ~TS Eliot

Anima, from the Latin meaning “spirit,” is an apt title for the journey Jess Baldwin has taken to find her personal musical expression.

It may seem odd in this age of social media sharing saturation that a musician would struggle with personal expression and yet this is exactly what happened to the Bluefield native.

Growing up in a family where religious observance was taught and strictly practiced (the family was in church four times a week), as a child she felt that her own feelings or thoughts were not as important as “the word of God, God’s will” and therefore were not expressed, but suppressed for fear that she was being “selfish.”

To compound this feeling, mental illness in the family made her feel a personal responsibility to “help the family be OK as much as possible.” She says that there was not an overt “you’re not allowed to have something to say,” but this was her interpretation within the family dynamic.

In her twenties, her inner voice began to emerge. First by joining bands, playing covers and then taking interest in arranging (a re-harmonization of Somewhere Over the Rainbow can be found here) and eventually songwriting.

Anima is her new EP where six original tracks highlight her jazzy, soulful with a touch of pop songwriting style. The moods vary from quiet and reflective to joyous bursts of anthem-like choruses, but it is her tender, warm and expressive voice that draws us in. (Mountain Stage’s Ryan Kennedy is the guitarist on this album.)

To be sure, Jess Baldwin has made a journey of self-discovery and has come out confident, in full color with all of her wildness intact.

We spoke April 4, 2022.

Bonus outtake:

https://wvpublic.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/jess-baldwin-outtake.mp3?_=1

For more information, go to jessbaldwin.com.

Eclectopia celebrates its twentieth anniversary. Friday and Saturday nights at 9 on WVPB.

Absurdities Observed: An Interview With Author Richard Hartman

I met Richard Hartman, West Virginia native and author of “A Night in the Woods — And Other Absurdities of Life,” through a mutual friend of ours. He was teaching history then at West Virginia State University, and we started talking about the follies of trying to get — and keep — the attention of college students.

He said he felt as if teaching were a performance art and in order to keep the kids awake, you had to entertain as much as teach them. I couldn’t agree more.

Hartman has such an engaging, self-effacing, dry wit that makes those around him burst into laughter. He’s been many things in his life — forest ranger, paramedic, administrative law judge, community grants manager, legislative analyst and professor. As a storyteller, he shares stories that get straight-to-the-point. As much as absurdity and humor play a large role in his stories, there’s a depth of kindness and humanity that comes through as well.

We discussed writing, being a lost forest ranger, his beloved first dog, adolescent dinosaur hunters, a mishap while a paramedic and the non-dating of online dating.

“A Night in the Woods — And Other Absurdities of Life” is now available at Taylor Books in Charleston. He will be there on Dec. 4 at 2 p.m. to read selections and sign his book.

Listen to this interview — along with a great mix of music — on Eclectopia this Friday and Saturday at 9 p.m. on WVPB radio.

Three Eclectic Ghostly Tales For Halloween

“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” ~ Hamlet

The ghost story.

We’ve all heard them, but do we believe?

Skeptics, like myself, find ourselves on the side of incredulity when we hear the old chestnut about the lady in white (archetypal to countless stories) who goes or glows by candlelight and haunts in historical places. Years ago, the Elk Hotel in Sutton had such an ethereal guest.

Yet, like Fox Mulder of The X-Files, I want to believe.

Seeing a ghost is actually on my bucket list. Also on that list was seeing a UFO – now past-tense because in the late 90’s, in Charleston, I saw something one winter evening hovering silently in the sky – for which I have no logical explanation. That’s a tale for another time.

Earlier this year, I was visiting friends who have a summer home along the Elk River in Clay County. One clear night, under an immense spread of stars and planets, I heard myself asking:

“Have you ever seen a ghost?”

That question let me to ask for ghost tales from our West Virginia audience. Here are three of those tales for your enjoyment:

Dennis Hedrick, a friend of forty-five years, recounts the strange, inexplicable things had consistently happened while remodeling an office.

Courtney Buterbaugh shared this story, not of specter, but of a time slip.

Charleston playwright, Dan Kehde, submitted this tale of dark unrest.

WV Ghosts and Paranormal 10282020.mp3

Listen to three ghostly tales collected by Eclectopia host Jim Lange from his fellow West Virginians.

As for me, I believe, but await my own experience.

You can hear Eclectopia Fridays at 10 and Saturdays at 11 on WVPB.