The Valley\u2019s Legends and Legacies, redux<\/p>\n
The series is actually a refresh of a segment that ran on KMJ for the better part of 30 years beginning in the late 1980s.<\/p>\n
The original \u201cValley\u2019s Legends and Legacies\u201d was created by then-general manager Al Smith<\/a>, who came to Fresno from Louisiana and saw an opportunity to inform listeners like him on the region\u2019s rich history.<\/p>\n He enlisted the help of Cathy Rehart, a native Fresnan and notable historian, and together they produced some 2,000 radio spots over the next three decades. Rehart wrote the scripts, which Smith narrated in what would become the series\u2019 signature voice.<\/p>\n The series spawned its own five-volume book set<\/a> and Rehart was still writing scripts in the months before her death in 2013.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s started out for people who were not from here,\u201d Laval says. It turned into something important for the entire region.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was, basically, sometimes the only history lesson people ever got.\u201d<\/p>\n The legacies continue<\/p>\n The new series is much like the old series, in that it plays off a dynamic pairing of author and narrator.<\/p>\n While Laval takes over for Rehart\u2019s research and writing, Mark Standriff replaces Smith as the voice of the series. KMJ ran auditions for the part before landing on Standriff, an actor and a figure in city\u2019s theater scene.<\/a> He\u2019s directing \u201cthe Buddy Holly Story<\/a>,\u201d at Roger Rocka\u2019s Dinner Theater through May 23.<\/p>\n In his day job, Standriff is the director of Beautify Fresno.<\/p>\n Like Smith, Standriff\u2019s narration has become part of the storytelling, Laval says.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m writing with his voice in my head.\u201d<\/p>\n The 90-second segments air twice daily (at 8:30 a.m. and 5:55 p.m) on KMJ\u2019s AM and FM stations, with three new stories each week. They will also be shared and archived online in a digital format that will allow listeners to interact with the content in ways that weren\u2019t possible when the series started in 1989.<\/p>\n Laval has access to the entirety of the Historical Society\u2019s archives, which includes not only a full collection of The Fresno Bee newspapers but also the Pop Laval photo collection. That in itself has some 35,000 digitized images, some of which aren\u2019t open to public view.<\/p>\n When it happens, Laval\u2019s story on Boyden Cavern<\/a> in the Sequoia National Forest will include photos that never been seen before, at least not by anyone still alive, Laval says.<\/p>\n And while Rehart\u2019s stories were driven by historical narrative, Laval uses first-person narratives, often pulled from newspaper reporting from the time. \u201cI\u2019m loving this idea of bringing the words of the day to life,\u201d Laval says.<\/p>\n Though it won\u2019t be just past legacies getting featured.<\/p>\n Laval just finished a story on Tom Flores, who was born in Sanger and went to Fresno City College before becoming an NFL quarterback and Raiders head coach (who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame<\/a> in 2021). She could also see stories on people like Audra McDonald,<\/a> the Fresno native who happens to hold the most Tony Awards for acting. \u201cIt\u2019s important to capture what\u2019s happening now as well,\u201d Laval says.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s where we pull the threads of history forward.\u201d<\/p>\n Friends and fans of Fresno historian Catherine Morison Rehart, gather outside the historic Warnors Theater after her memorial service Monday, Oct. 14, 2013. Her research was turned into \u201cLegends and Legacies\u201d books about the Valley and more than 2,000 spots on KMJ radio. Rehart died in Oregon on Sept. 6 of cancer. She was 73. JOHN WALKER The Fresno Bee <\/p>\n
Beautify Fresno director Mark Standriff gives direction to volunteers before the start of a \u201cneighborhood blitz\u201d cleanup event around Nelson Elementary in north Fresno on Saturday, Dec. 9, 2023. CRAIG KOHLRUSS ckohlruss@fresnobee.com <\/p>\n