Oral History Interview with Virginia Brooks

“Stories From the Balcony”

Interviews about the Grand Theatre in Frankfort, Kentucky

Interview on Video with Virginia Brooks

On Location at The Grand Theatre

Tape 1 - 0018JTH_DV

And

Tape 2 - 0019JTH_DV

Conducted by Joanna Hay

December 2nd, 2006

This project has been supported by the Kentucky Oral History Commission

And Save The Grand Theatre, Inc.

Interview with Virginia Brooks begins with her seated, and a blue wall with wooden details behind her.

HAY: My name is Joanna Hay and I’m interviewing Mrs. Virginia Brooks. We are inside the old Grand Theatre. This is 2006, so this was closed in the 1960’s, and it’s pretty much like it…it’s still like it was the last time it was closed. There is expected renovation in the future, so it may not look like this in the future.

BROOKS: [Chuckle]

HAY: So today is December 2nd, 2006. Those are just my little introductory…[Technical interruption]

BROOKS: …but I do remember coming up here and I remember where I would sit. I would sit in about the third row of the balcony. [Laughter] And I would always have some popcorn and some candy or something, you know, and sometimes I would have some ice cream with me. [Laughter] And I enjoyed the uh…most of the time when I would come it would be on the Saturday movie…on a Saturday…Western movies…because I loved Westerns. [Chuckle] Because I like to see three things. I liked to see the movie and the serial…I liked to keep up with the serial because it would keep you coming back [Laughter] And then there was always a comedy too, you know. I don’t remember too many movies. I remember seeing […] but that’s been years ago, and I remember “St. Louis Blues” and I’m trying to think. There were several of them. But as I said, that was years past and I had a family that I quit coming to the movies, you know. Then I started going to Lexington…other places…I had friends that would invite me to other places to the movies, then I kind of lost track of everything. I’d go to two or three at The Capitol once in a while, you know. If you’d wait awhile, you’d see the movies on TV and you would see them for free. [Laughter] So that’s the way it was. Yeah. It’s great being back in here. It brings back a lot of memories, I’m telling you. I can see myself coming here, always turned, because I’d always sit on this side all the time, you know. I remember the people that would take up the tickets. There was Miss Roberta Wilson and there was Miss Cally Weathers and there was Mrs. Berta Telman. Those were the three people…Miss Roberta was the main one and she kept order too. You didn’t make any noise because she walked…she patrolled the place. She would come and stand and just look around, and then if there were any noise. And she would walk all the way to the end of the balcony, then she would turn around and go back, you know. Yeah, she was a good patrolman, I’m telling you. She meant business. [Laughter] She kept order. It was enjoyable. [ ] keep up so much noise that you can’t hear the movies and things, you know, I’m telling you. It was enjoyable because you had a lot of memories of places like this, you know. Yeah, I’m telling you. Your mind wanders and it brings back memories that have been repressed. That you’d forgotten about when you come into these places, you know. My memory is getting bad, but it brought back a lot of memories coming up here, you know. [Laughter] So anyway, why it’s been an enjoyable situation, I’m telling you.

HAY: When you look around, do you have any specific memories of who you were sitting with, or who you came with? Who was here?

BROOKS: A friend of mine would come with me sometimes, but lots of times I’d be by myself. Then when my kids got old enough I would bring them. I had two kids only eleven months apart, and so I would bring them with me lots of times. Yeah. So anyway. Then as I said, as the time past by why I started going other places and then when TV came along, I started watching movies on TV [Chuckle] so that way I forgot about the theatres mostly. [Chuckle] They were closing too, that was another thing.

HAY: I’m just going to interrupt you very quickly. I just wanted to bring your attention to the microphone that was on your lapel so that if you can try to not touch the microphone.

BROOKS: OK

HAY: It’s hard to do because you’re like me. You talk with your hands.

BROOKS: I do. [Laughter]

HAY: So tell me where were you born?

BROOKS: I was born in Gary County. Lancaster, Kentucky. That’s where I was born. Then I moved after…my parents…there were five of us. I had three brothers and one sister. [Chuckle] And so anyway, why uh, we were poor but we were happy. [Chuckle] And it wasn’t bad because there was no competition because everybody was poor. [Chuckle] And so going to the movies…it was the same name…The Grand Theatre…same name as this…you could go there for ten cents during those days. And then during the holidays, they’d have free shows and as you’d come out they’d give you a little brown paper bag that would have an orange and apple…candy and something else…or something like that in it. Oh, we thought that was big time, you know. We enjoyed it though, I’m telling you, because it was something to look forward to, you know. So anyway, why uh…And I used to…people…sometimes I was working around, and they would give me dimes to go to the movies, you know, because during that time why you know…a dime was something. [Chuckle] Because, as I said, you had to work to get anything during those days, you know. My father died when we were all young. Lets see. I hadn’t turned quite seventeen. I had one brother that was eighteen. He had joined the standing army. And then I had one brother that was eight, and the other that was eleven, and a sister that was three. And see my mother…actually…we were a one parent family because she had to keep us all together, you know. And then two of my brothers would work and help her with food and things like that. And so that was the way we made it, you know.

HAY: What year did your father die?

BROOKS: 1942

HAY: And that was when you all lived in Lancaster still?

BROOKS: Uh huh. Yeah. He would have been sixty-four years in August. And so you can imagine what it was like. [Chuckle]

HAY: It was a big loss.

BROOKS: Yeah, I’m telling you. And I look at kids today because during those days, when like holiday time, we didn’t know what toys and things were. We had shoeboxes we would sit on the foot of our beds for Christmas…we were just as happy. Next morning, we would have some fruit, and candy, in that shoebox. We would be just as happy, you know. Yeah, I’m telling you.

HAY: Big difference from today.

BROOKS: Oh, yeah, uh huh. And then, when the weather was bad, like during the winter. I remember the year of 1939 when my sister was born, and…[Technical interruption]…some weeks where he couldn’t work and all we had was something to eat, I’m telling you. But, you know what? It didn’t bother me. My life never bothered me, because in the first place I look around, and today the kids are not as appreciative as they used to be…uh uh…you just almost have to buy children this day and time. But we had fun. We’d get together, a lot of kids in the neighborhood, we’d get out there and play at night. One family had about nine or ten. Lived across the street from us, and there was no fighting or nothing like that. We played hide and seek and all that type of stuff, and just have a good time, you know. But, not this day and time. [Chuckle] I’m telling you. I tell my kids all the time, “You don’t know what life is all about. You just don’t know.” Parents give the kids too much this day and time for one thing. That’s why they are so unappreciative, I think. [Chuckle] I’m telling you. But that was my life back then. [Laughter] I came to Frankfort in 1947 and I’ve been here ever since. Of course I make trips back home often. And this was the first year that I missed a Thanksgiving in about thirty…close to forty years. We always got together on Thanksgiving…all of us came together…even when family would pass, you know, we would still keep it going, you know. But this year I had…my brother was sick and some were out of town, and so my sister decided not to have Thanksgiving dinner. But it was strange that we stayed at home this Thanksgiving after all these years, you know. My job is to always fix the pumpkin pies and a huge dish of scalloped oysters. That was my job every Thanksgiving, you know. And my sister would bring all the desserts, and my sister would have the main dish…the main foods…and everything, so we all got…it was just like a reunion every Thanksgiving, you see. We always go home for Memorial Day and we take care of the graves. My parents…my mother and father are buried in Lancaster. My brother is buried in Camp Nelson, so we haven’t missed a Memorial Day since they’ve been dead…since they passed. [Chuckle]

HAY: So all the special days are in Lancaster for you.

BROOKS: uh huh Yeah

0: 1:00 -0: 2:00BROOKS: Time brings about change. That’s the way things are. Nothing remains the same. It would be a funny world where everything remains the same. [Chuckle]

HAY: It would be boring wouldn’t it?

BROOKS: Yeah, wouldn’t it? [Laughter]

HAY: It’s those unexpected snow storms that bring the excitement.

BROOKS: It used to be that you had seasons. You had Spring. You had Summer. You had Fall and you had Winter. It’s not like that anymore. And I used to love to see in the Springtime like I loved to see the flowers and things and everything like that. And then when Summer would come it was Summer. And then Fall when the leaves would turn and fall and all like that. But it’s not like that anymore. You can’t count on one day to the other. Look what happened a couple days ago. All the snow storms and the ice and everything. Because we just got the wind here. [Chuckle] It didn’t change in temperature, but not anymore.

HAY: And the day before it was sixty degrees.

BROOKS: That’s what I know. Uh huh.

HAY: Its crazy. Do you often think about the seasons to do with activities also, like different things one does during the Spring as far as planting verses…did you do much gardening in your life?

BROOKS: Oh, I grew up working the garden. Yeah, I’m telling you. I can relate back to my parents and when they would plant gardens, and I would see her…you probably don’t know anything about this…take potatoes and cut them up and potatoes had an eye in them, or something. [Chuckle] You might know something about it, I don’t know. But anyway, and things like that. I know my father used to plant the beans and they would grow up around the corn, you know. And all that type of stuff. [Laughter] And he even tried with watermelons and stuff like that, but he wasn’t successful with those things. But, see since I’ve been here, I had a couple years ago where I was working at the church…a couple days a week. I just work one or two days now. This lady came in and her little girl had planted some tomato seeds. And she had six plants, and she gave six of us at work each person a plant. I guess I’m the only one that had success with mine because the rest of them let them die. I put this plant up there where I live now. But, the porch…I had no place to put it. And that one plant, I bet you, I got over twenty large tomatoes. Some of them weighed almost two pounds. [Chuckle] The neighbors…and I would give them to the neighbors around me, and they couldn’t believe it! I guess where I had fertilized the flowers and things…and I had to prop it up. And one time I had got tired of propping it up, and they were painting around there, and so the plant fell over…they knocked it over, and I said, “Well, it’s dead now.” And so the people painting propped it back up for me, you know. [Chuckle]

HAY: They wanted their tomatoes.

0: 3:00 -0: 4:00BROOKS: And the flowers. You’ve got to plant flowers. I was telling Sheila…the kids beside me, they always…they can’t keep their hands off of things. And they walk on my flowers and things, so anyway I had a lot of Marigolds and things…it was just covered, you know…so I pulled them all up and made a pathway so they couldn’t cross. And then yesterday morning I went out and the wind had blown them all up on my porch up on my door, and I told Sheila that I got beat at my own game this time. I was trying to keep them...I had to wash the porch off after I cleaned up the mess. [Chuckle] Oh me! I’m telling you.

HAY: So tell me what brought you to Frankfort? Why did you move to Frankfort?

BROOKS: Oh well, you want to hear that story? [Chuckle] Well, I moved to…I was in love and wanted to get married. That’s why I moved to Frankfort. Somebody asked me…my mother asked me, “You know what you’re doing?” and I said, “Yes, I know what I’m doing.” Just like that, you know. That’s what she asked me before I left home. And so anyway, I told somebody not too long ago “Yeah, I knew what I was doing, but I didn’t know what I was getting.” That was the bad thing. [Chuckle] My marriage didn’t work out though, but see I never married after that. I had two boyfriends after that, and that was back in the fifties. And I said it just kind of burnt me, you know. I had no desire to ever get married. They were nice men. Both of them are deceased now. But I just had no desire…I just didn’t trust them. And somebody said, “You don’t…you don’t hold everybody responsible for one person.” Which is true, you know. But I just didn’t trust anybody. I didn’t need somebody. Why now? I’m struggling out here anyway so keep on struggling by yourself. [Chuckle] Yeah, I’m telling you.

HAY: So you met your husband…

BROOKS: He was from Frankfort.

HAY: He was from Frankfort and you met him in Lancaster?

BROOKS: I used to come down here like football games and things with some cousins [Technical interruption] I would come down here with games and things, and then I’d go somewhere…maybe I’d be up in Ohio or somewhere, and come back and visit and come through here and visit, and stop with his cousins and things like that. That’s how we got together, you know. Yes. And then come matrimony.

HAY: And then came matrimony. How old were you when you got married, or when you came here?

BROOKS: Oh, twenty-one. I was twenty-one. Uh huh Going on…I would have been twenty-two, but I was twenty-one when I was married. Yeah. I’m telling you. Yeah. I’m this type of a person though. I think if you do your part, I’ll do mine. You do your part. But see when you’ve got to do both parts…uh uh. You’re asking me…are you married? [Laughter]

HAY: I got married young too, but so far so good. We’ve been married a good long time.

BROOKS: Be like a lady that I knew real well, ‘course she’s been deceased. This was back in the sixties, and she used to sew for my daughter a lot. She’d make these dresses and things for her, and she used to say, “What God puts together, stays together. But most of these people, God don’t put them together.” [Chuckle] That’s what she used to tell me all the time. [Chuckle] What God don’t make, put asunder, you know. But, I’m telling you. But, sometimes, some things make you bitter in life, but I try not to be like that, you know. Yeah, I’m telling you. But, so far, so good. So I said, well, you could always look around and see somebody else who’s worse off than you are. And you never know about people until you walk in their shoes. Sheila grew up with my kids. [Chuckle] Yeah, we lived across the street from each other, and she was at my house. And then when I’d go on picnics like back then with my kids, I’d take Sheila with me, you know. We laugh about it sometimes now. We’d go out to Juniper Hill and places. She was one of my kids. ‘Cause she is in between the ages…my son is fifty-seven and my daughter is fifty-six, and Sheila is in between that, you see. [Technical interruption]

0: 5:00 -0: 6:00HAY: So do you remember you said you would bring your kids to The Grand?

BROOKS: Yeah, I would bring them to The Grand. And as I said, I don’t even remember what we had to pay to get in. That’s just funny. I’ve been racking my brains, but I can’t remember what we had to pay to get in back in those days, I’m telling you.

HAY: That would have been during the fifties.

BROOKS: The later part of the fifties and early sixties. It would have been that time. Yeah. I used to bring them. Yeah, uh huh.

HAY: So that would have been when you were in your thirties.

BROOKS: Yes, uh mmm.

HAY: Who else would be here? Would a lot of other families be here? Mothers and children?

BROOKS: Some of the people would be here, and some of them I didn’t even know would be here, you know. ‘Cause most of the time I was mostly by myself, because I wouldn’t come with anyone. I don’t think I ever came in with any friends like that, you know, because I was always with my family or boyfriends. I’ll put it like that, you know. I saw people that I knew up here, that I knew, but as far as being with them, I wasn’t, you see. And most of the time I was sitting by myself with the kids. Sitting along in there, by myself.

HAY: But you knew you’d see friends from the neighborhood or…

BROOKS: Yeah, uh huh Yes, indeed.

HAY: What street did you live on?

BROOKS: During that time, I was living on Dixie Avenue. That’s the first street I lived on. Then I moved on Second Street. After Dixie Avenue, I moved on East Second Street. And then from East Second Street to St. John’s Court. And then after the ’78 flood, that’s when they started…because there were so many floods down there…they started cleaning out and the city took all that. So everybody that lived on St. John’s Court, they had to find some other place to go, you see. Then, I moved up on East Fourth Street in Sam’s Square Apartments. That’s where I’m living at today. Uh huh Because we all had to relocate, you know. And then the neighborhood just broke up, you see, and some of them have passed on. There’s nobody hardly in the neighborhood. Sheila picks me up every Sunday to go to church, you know, because I cannot walk in heels anymore. I use them all the time, but not to walk in. She used to live on Briar Cliff and then she moved out after she left…see that makes her come down and get me, you know. And so she comes by, and if she’s going to be out of town, she makes arrangements with one of her brothers to pick me up. [Chuckle] So that’s the way we live.

HAY: Nice friend. Is the church…What church do you go to?

BROOKS: St. Johns […] Church. That’s where I belong.

HAY: Have you known people there…are they your friends for how long?

BROOKS: I’ve known some of them for years…for several years. But, see the ones that I really knew, most of them have passed on. It’s a younger generation now. But there are still a few older ones there, but I know the majority…I would say maybe about a third of them now. They come and I don’t even know their names. I know their faces, but I don’t know their names. That’s my church. I go to all…I attend the churches as far as that goes, because I’m not just a one church person. That organization that I attend ever since I had the chance was Church Women United. Have you heard of that? It meets about three times a year. I’ve been attending that for about the past fifteen years, I guess. I enjoy that because there’s not many young people there, because I’m not young either. [Chuckle] I can’t talk because I’m old too. I enjoy it because it’s a Christian Organization, kind of fellowship like thing and it only meets three times a year.

HAY: Where do you meet?

BROOKS: They meet at different churches. Now the last time we met in November at the Episcopalian down here across from Harrods Funeral all the way down there. And they meet in different churches, you know. And sometimes they meet at the Christian Church, and sometimes at The Good Shepherd. They go around to different churches. Who ever belong…the church that’s involved in while somebody will take it the next month. This way they have a place to meet at. Different churches. And I never miss Good Fridays if I’m in town. I always go to Good Friday service. I don’t care where it’s at, I’ll go. If it’s where I can walk. [Chuckle]

HAY: Tell me the name of the church that meets three times a year. What did you call it?

BROOKS: It’s Church Women United. It’s called Church Women United. It’s not a church. It’s called Church Women United. It used to be another name, but that was before I started going. It’s about Christian women getting together and doing things, something like that, you know. It’s a nice organization, but so many people now, they’ve gotten older, and some of them have passed on. And some of them now can hardly get around, because I can hardly get around. I’m an aging woman too. [Chuckle]

HAY: So that’s women from all the different churches and they all come together.

0: 7:00 -0: 8:00BROOKS: All come together. Uh huh You’d have a program and they have refreshments and things like that before time, you know. It’s something to look forward to. [Chuckle]

HAY: Do you have different programs or different things you talk about during these sessions?

BROOKS: Whoever hosts it, that’s the church that gets to make up the program. My church is not in it. They used to be a long time ago they were, but nobody would take it. Your church has to be joined for them to participate in it, you see. So nobody would take it. And I knew I wasn’t going to be responsible, for food and all. You have to think when you are doing something like that, you know. [Chuckle] You might bite off more than you can chew.

HAY: You might end up making a lot of chili and a lot of food.

BROOKS: They’d usually have like a big fruit tray and sandwiches and things like that. Danish and all kinds of Danish, and coffee and juice and whatever you want to drink and all that. It’s a really nice affair, but just three times a year, you know. But some other churches won’t get involved as I was saying. Like somebody asked me, “Why don’t you get your church involved?” At one time they were several years ago, but both of those ladies are dead now, so nobody else would do it, you know. Because you are responsible for the program. Putting the program together and everything, you know.

HAY: That’s a shame that younger women aren’t joining.

BROOKS: You can hardly get them to come.

HAY: Why do you think that?

BROOKS: I don’t know. They’ve come a few times. There were several that have been attending here recently because they hold office, but the majority of them are older people. Older people. That’s the way it is. It’s hard to get young people to stick to things, you know that? [Chuckle] No reflection. [Laughter] It’s kind of hard to get them to stick to things. Yeah, I’m telling you.

HAY: Younger people aren’t going to regular churches much either are they?

BROOKS: You know, that’s what gets me. Churches…the ministers say that the young people are the generation to be tomorrow’s church, and I think to myself, especially if the church is operating in the red because young people don’t have the money to put into it and see when the old [technical interruption]. They aren’t going to come up with it. No. But most of them are the church of tomorrow. They are the church of tomorrow because somebody has to carry on, but they don’t care when it comes to the money because they don’t have it, you see. And they put in what their parents do, but the parents don’t put in too much, so that’s the way it goes. [Chuckle]

HAY: It’s a catch twenty-two. The young people can’t support it because…

BROOKS: Yes indeed. Yes, I’m telling you.

HAY: When you think of the community of Frankfort, do you think of any specific favorite places in Frankfort that you used to go to or used to see friends, or stores?

BROOKS: Oh, you know, I can remember on Saturdays Frankfort all down St. Clair Street. I remember when Browns Clothing Store was down there. I remember when the market house, and I remember when at one time when Garshman was still in business, and JCPenny’s was downtown. Lermans was downtown. Cy’s Hardware. I remember all those places were downtown, you see. But they all moved out, you see. And Saturdays now…let me see…let me think…I don’t know…at one time…think about all the downtown stores and the restaurants and everything. And Broadway…something historical in the paper the other day. There are pictures in the paper quite often, you know. And I was thinking about all those things that used to be downtown. And people would dress up and stand on the corners on Saturday when you’d go into town. And you couldn’t get to the street. But now, it’s like a ghost town. It’s just like a ghost town. And everything is closed up. Most of them are closed up, you know. There’s nothing to come downtown…everything has gone to the shopping centers because the parking and all like that, you see. And I think, not only in Frankfort. It’s happening in most places. So that’s the way it goes. Yeah. I’m telling you.

HAY: You know, when I’m in Walmart on a Saturday. You know, when there are so many people in the Walmart on Saturday, and I often think, “Is that what downtown used to feel like?” Everybody’s in there all at once. But it’s all inside Walmart now.

BROOKS: Yeah. I know it. Yes, that’s the way it is now. I’m telling you. I think about some of these stores. I remember when my kids were little and I used to bring them down to […], near Christmas they would have one room of toys and things, and you know, Santa would be there. They would enjoy it and all like that, but then I remember when they were little I used to take them on the Greyhound bus to Lexington because Sears had a room up there called…Toyland? Anyway, it was nothing but one whole room with all the toys and things. We didn’t have a dime to buy anything. All I had was bus fare, but I just wanted them to see it, you know. I would take them both to Lexington on the bus to go to Toyland at Sears. That’s when it was in Lexington, you know, because I haven’t been…I would go in Sears every once in a while, but it’s been some time ago. But anyway, those things…you enjoyed those things, I’m telling you. Yeah. Oh gracious. When I think about those days, you know. I’m telling you.

HAY: And your children probably thought it was a fairyland.

BROOKS: Oh, they did. They enjoyed it. Yes. And I can remember one day I was talking about one Christmas. I needed a Christmas tree and there was somebody…do you remember [ ] grocery that used to be down there? Anyway, across there somebody was selling Christmas trees, and giving them away and stuff. And I drug a Christmas tree up home from down there on Second Street to down on St. John’s Court. I think it was St. John’s Court. Yeah, it was on St. John’s Court. The tree wouldn’t fit, so I told my son, Frank, I told my son I said we’re going to have to cut it. And when he got done sawing on the tree, I had nothing but a bush. [Laughter] Then I had to go and find another tree, you know. I’m telling you. There have been a lot of funny things happen. As I said, I look back over it and I laugh about it. I don’t cry about things. [Chuckle]

HAY: You might have felt like crying at the time, but then you realized that you just had to laugh.

BROOKS: Oh yeah. I’m telling you. People ask, “How do you feel?” I say, “I’m fine. As long as I can get out of bed and put one foot in front of the other, I’m ok.” Because in the first place, nobody wants to hear your problems. They don’t. Everybody has problems, you see. Yeah. Are you a native of Frankfort?

HAY: No. I came here in 1991 because of my husband’s family. Kind of like you. [Laughter]

BROOKS: Oh, I see. I see.

HAY: His family was from here, so we came from Louisville and moved back to Frankfort.

BROOKS: Oh I see.

HAY: I grew up in Louisville.

BROOKS: That’s where my older son is. He has lived there about…oh…because he is the Minister of Music at…do you know anything about…Do you know much about Louisville? Do you know where Plymouth Congregational Church is on the corner of Seventeenth and Chestnut? That’s where he plays at.

HAY: And he’s the Minister of Music?

BROOKS: Yes. Minister of Music. He’s been there round about twenty years. Yeah.

HAY: Tell me his full name.

0: 9:00 -0: 10:00BROOKS: James Leonard Garth. Uh huh, that’s where he’s at now.

HAY: And he’s an organist? And Choir Director?

BROOKS: Uh huh, yeah. [Chuckle] He has choir rehearsals on…uh, this is Saturday…on Saturday afternoons. Now they are getting ready for a Christmas program. For awhile they stopped the Christmas program because they had a minister that kind of divided the church, and when he left he kind of took some of the members with him, and all that type stuff. But, it’s starting back up again. He told me last week that he was…he works over in Indiana. There’s a lot to it. You’ve got to rehearse for it, and get all the people together for it, and all like that. But he told me they had set it for the seventeenth of this month, and that if I could, to come. I said it would depend on my sister. She comes. So anyway, why that’s the story. [Chuckle]

HAY: So did your son have music lessons when he was growing up or…?

BROOKS: Yeah, he was always musically inclined. And then he went to school. He was a graduate of Frankfort High. And then after he graduated from Frankfort High, he went to […] College in Maine for about a year and a half. That was too expensive, but he had to find that out for himself. You know how that is. And so he dropped out and then he ended up back in…he lived in Boston for about seven or eight years. Boston, Massachusetts. He played for a church over in Cambridge, Massachusetts. I visited up there, and church too while he was playing there. And then, anyway, he came back to Louisville. Went to the University of Louisville and got his Masters. It’s a funny music […], but he’s always been musically inclined. [Chuckle]

HAY: What are his children’s names?

BROOKS: He doesn’t have any children. He’s not married.

HAY: So it’s your other…It’s your daughter…?

BROOKS: Her name is Tony […]. Now, she has a [Technical interruption]…things. She’s come out of all that. It’s a small church she has now, you know. In Canton, Mississippi. That’s where she’s at. Yeah. Uh huh. Yeah.

HAY: And her kids. What are their names?

BROOKS: Brian…that’s her son…Brian Pippin. He’s the one I told you. He’s a detective in Jackson, Mississippi.

HAY: So she raised her kids in Mississippi?

BROOKS: Well, he was born in Frankfort. He was born here in Frankfort. Uh huh. And spent most of his life in Frankfort. When she first left Frankfort, she moved to Florida. Pensacola, Florida. But, then when she went into the ministry, she was transferred to Mississippi, you see, because she was in the Methodist Conference, you see, and they always send them around to different places. Then afterwards, she was in a small church. You’re a [ ] for all your memories and all like that, you know. So, she just came out of the Methodist Conference and went into a small church where she doesn’t have all the responsibility, you see. Yeah.

HAY: And then her son moved back to work down there?

BROOKS: After he finished Morehead, he went back…I told him, I said, “Well, it’s time for you to go where your mother is now.” So two days after he graduated from Morehead, in went on to Mississippi and he’s been there ever since, you see. He worked at Walmart there for…when he first went down there. Then he went and got a job as a policeman. Then he moved up to a detective, yeah. He’s married and has his own family now, you see. [Chuckle]

HAY: [coughing] Excuse me. Tell me a little bit more about Roberta Wilson.

BROOKS: Well, there’s not too much I can tell you about Miss Roberta. As I said, she was a very stern person and a businesslike lady. And she was a…she came right up the street from where I worked, because see, I worked in the store where Sheila…when I first started to work, why Patton’s owned the store and then Sheila’s father bought it. I’ve been connected with their family so long. And see, Miss Roberta lived right up the street. Lets see…one, two, three…about four doors up the street from the store. And I would see her quite often. And she would stop in every once in awhile, you know. Then her husband worked…it used to be an appliance store. I can’t think of the name of it. Right on the corner. I’m trying to get the street right. You know where the Good Shepherd School is right there on the corner before you get to the church? There used to be an appliance store right along in there. That’s where her husband worked. I can’t think of the name of the store. But anyway, his name was Brady Wilson, I believe. So anyway, with Miss Roberta, as I said, why I would see her all the time, but as far as being in a conversations with her and things like that, I don’t know where she was from or anything like that, you know. But, as I said, I would see her every time I would go down the street, she would pass. And she would stop in every once in awhile and buy something. But as far as knowing something about her past life or something like that, I couldn’t tell you anything about it. [Chuckle]

HAY: Did she have any kids?�BROOKS: Not to my knowledge. Not to my knowledge.

HAY: How old was she when she…How much older than you do you think she was? What age range?

BROOKS: I would say Miss Roberta, I would imagine, was in her, I would say, sixties or something like that. She wasn’t a young woman I’ll put it like that.

HAY: So when you were in your thirties, you think she was in her sixties?

BROOKS: No, I would say…I remember when she was over here…I’m trying to think. She may not have been that old. It’s hard to tell. With some people, it’s hard to tell what age, you know. Because she used to pass every day and I would see her, but just pinpointing her age and things, there’s not too much I can tell you about her. The only thing I can tell you was she was a good patrolman. [Chuckle]

HAY: Sounds like she took her job very seriously.

BROOKS: Yeah, she did. She sure did, because she didn’t take no monkey business, I’ll put it like that. [Chuckle] Yes, indeed. Because I can see her right now walking…boy, she would come in there, and she’d walk all the way down, and she’d turn around and she’d go back. And sometimes she’d walk to the edge there, and she’d just stand and look, you know. If she heard any noise and things, you know. And like kids would be running out or something like that. Oh, she kept order, I’m telling you.

HAY: Were there certain rules up here that she enforced?

BROOKS: No, it wasn’t all like that, you know. She didn’t have…well, yeah. That’s the way it was, I’m telling you. And then when she would be here when Miss Cally Weathers [Technical interruption]…because Miss Cally lived on Washington Street, I think. And Miss Tillman lived over on East Main. Mrs. Berta Telman lived over on East Main Street, you know. Because at one time, they used to have elevators at McClure Building there on the corner, you know. And Mrs. Telman used to run the elevators there. And Miss uh…who else was running the elevators…I’m trying to think…someone else ran the elevators…lady who lived over on Home Street, they both worked running the elevators down there at the McClure Building. That’s when McClure Building was doing a lot of business, you see. [Chuckle]

HAY: It’s quiet now, isn’t it?

BROOKS: Yeah, quiet now, yeah. Because I used to go there all the time to pay my insurance, you know. And so anyway, nobody has run the elevators there for years.

HAY: So would she be in the elevator the whole time, all day long, and she would punch the floors?

BROOKS: Yeah, I think she had kind of a split shift because somebody else sometimes would run it. Miss Beatty would run it sometimes too. The two people ran it most of the time. So, I’m telling you. That’s what they need though here. [Laughter] An elevator!

HAY: There is going to be one.

BROOKS: Is there?

HAY: An elevator over there. [Laughter] Was Roberta Wilson known most for her work here at The Grand?

BROOKS: I don’t know what church and everything like that, what else she did besides this. I really couldn’t say. I really don’t know, because if you don’t get into a conversation with people, you don’t know much about them. But I do know that she was a real nice woman and quiet like that, but she was businesslike and didn’t take no monkey business, so I’ll put it like that. [Chuckle]

HAY: Did everybody respect her?

BROOKS: Yes they did. Yes, they respected her. Yes, indeed. But the other two ladies, well, they would take up tickets, but they would just fill in when she wasn’t here. That’s the way that went, you know. Yeah.

0: 11:00 -0: 12:00HAY: So after The Grand closed in the mid sixties, do you remember anything about her again, or you would still see her at the store?

BROOKS: I would still see her pass, and she would come in once in a while and maybe get something, you know, one or two things. She didn’t do her major shopping there, but she would pass and come in every once in awhile. And to tell you the truth, I don’t remember what year she died to be honest with you. Because I worked other places and things like that, you kind of loose track of people, you know. Like those people that live in our house right now, I’ve known them for years. They live right back of the house. Yeah.

HAY: It will be interesting to dig into her history a little more.

BROOKS: Uh huh. I was trying to think of somebody that I…I don’t know, because most of the people in her age group are gone. That’s the thing. Most of them are gone. We take a survey sometimes, and just take streets for streets and talk about the people that have passed on, you know, and South Frankfort, you know how it has deteriorated so. And so many people have passed on, and the ones that haven’t, they are scattered around, you know. And the neighborhood, we’ve had what you’d call a close knit neighborhood. We would stand out on the…like I used to work with the Cancer Society. That’s where you’d go from door to door and collect, you know. And I hated to go asking people for money, but I would do that. And then I worked also with the Kidney Foundation. And then the March of Dimes. But see, they stopped the door to door collecting those things. So I would walk…there was a guy lived across the street named David Gaines, I don’t know whether you’d…he died probably before you came here though. So anyway, he would see me, and I’ve have my papers out, and he’d say, “Alright, Virginia, what are you begging for now?” [Laughter] But he would always contribute. He would always contribute. So I lived over off Herman T. Drive. You know anything about South Frankfort? You know where Herman T. Drive is? Well, anyway, I would go in there. I would always go late afternoons. And so, I went in one house down there one day, and this lady…ok was lying [Chuckle], it’s not funny, was lying on the couch. And so she said…I told her what I…I had to show her my papers and tell her what I was doing and everything, because you had to give everybody a slip, you know, that was signed, you know. She said, “I’m going upstairs and see if I can find some change. “I don’t know if my daughter…” [Technical interruption] She went upstairs, so about that time a cat came through from out of her dining room. So anyway, I thought she’d never come back from upstairs. I looked in the papers and she came down, and I sat there all that time and she still didn’t have any money when she came down. I guess her daughter had taken all the change. Well, I came out of there and I started scratching and going on, and I went to feeling my nose, and I didn’t know what had happened to me. And so I went next door and told the people there my name, what I was doing and everything. I showed them my papers and everything, and they told me, “You know what happened?” They said, “You were allergic to that cat. That’s what happened to you.” And I came home I washed my face and my nose, and I almost went into a fit. I’m telling you the truth. And so anyway, this one couple, I think their last name was Smith, elderly people, and this man told me…you know you put up with a lot when you are begging for money, you know that? This man told me…he said, “I’m busy now having supper. You come back some other time.” Something like that. And I thought, “I’m not coming back down here asking you for money again.” So anyway, but you know what? He donated I think it was fifteen dollars, I think. He told me he was going to send it in, but I didn’t believe him, you know. I thought he was just getting rid of me. He told whoever he gave the money to, I don’t remember now, he said, “Whatever you do, be sure to give her credit, because she was the one who asked me.” See you can’t judge a book by it’s cover all the time. [Chuckle]

HAY: That was very brave of you. You were saying what a close knit neighborhood it was.

BROOKS: Uh huh. Yes.

HAY: You really knew…

BROOKS: Everybody, yeah, uh huh. Yes, I didn’t mind. Some people were nice, and some promised you, you know. I went to one family. They used to live next door to me and I was collecting for the March of Dimes then. I was so glad when they stopped that, you know. And so, I think they forked up all of them together…they worked for the state…they forked up about forty cents and gave me. [Chuckle] [Technical interruption] Boy, I laughed. I could do better than that. [Laughter] But some of the experiences you’d have when you’re soliciting for things like that. When they had the Cancer Drive, they would end up with a banquet down at the VFW. And the VFW people would cook the food. It would be real nice. They’d have somebody there…oh what was her name? She’s on Channel 6 now. Barbara Bailey. I know she spoke one year down there. Uh huh. Yeah. And I started to ask her where was Sam Dick at, but I didn’t. [Chuckle] …Argue…because she came…Well, see they were together for a long time. She and Sam Dick were together. [Chuckle] But, see they stopped all that, you know. They started mailing out the letters, you know, and everything. For you to contribute, you know. One person can send your name to somebody else and they can mail. That’s what irks me. Mail on top of mail. Get calls for this, and calls for that. They called me one day for the Cancer Drive, and I said that I had already contributed. And I said, “I’m on a fixed income and I don’t have that kind of money.” I went and checked my little book where I write down things, and I had just given them money the month before. And for them to call me back again the next month, I said, “She better not call me no more.” But things like that, you know, you get letters from people that you’ve never heard of. Oh, I’m telling you, and I think what they do is they send your name to other people, you know. Yeah, I’m telling you. But, I was glad when they stopped that door to door stuff.

HAY: What years was that you were doing the door to door?

BROOKS: That was in the seventies and eighties. In the eighties, yeah. Mostly in the eighties when I was doing that. Yeah. I would be assigned a street, you know. And I had Hermington. One year I had Fourth Street. Back on Fourth Street. And then I think I had Hermington Drive for about three years, you know. Yeah, I’m telling you. They said, “Come in and we’ll see what we can find.” [Laughter] This woman came…[Laughter] and then she came back and couldn’t find any money, and I had sat there all that time. And the man that I told you about that had given to somebody else, why I had sat there and read the paper while I waited for him to make up his mind. [Chuckle] Ooo, I’m telling you.

HAY: That’s great that you did that though.

BROOKS: Yeah.

HAY: It’s very neighborly work.

BROOKS: As I said, different ones they would…and some people would look up and see you coming. Some people aren’t going to give you nothing anyway.

0: 13:00 -0: 14:00HAY: Tell me about the jobs you had and the work you did as you were raising your children.

BROOKS: Oh, I did domestic work for awhile…for several years. And then I worked at the cafeteria in Union. Well anyway, there was an old Union out on old Home Street right before you were there. You probably weren’t even born then. [Chuckle] I worked in the cafeteria out there for a number of years, you know. And then I started to work at the grocery store, and I worked there for twenty-six years. I’m still involved in something right now, one or two days. I was doing two days. Right now, just one. I work over at the Mother’s Day Out program at the First Baptist Church of the Singing Bridge. Now I’ve been over there for eighteen years. So anyway, I did work Tuesdays and Thursdays, but it got to the place where I couldn’t handle it. [Technical interruption] Then, the kids got to the place where they didn’t want to mind. Seems like there is no structure left over there, you know. I’m still over there. And see I told them, I said, “I just can’t handle it anymore.” I still fill in sometimes when somebody’s out or somebody’s sick or something and you need somebody, I’ll fill in. But, I just go one day a week now. Just like next week. They are having the Christmas program for the…Christmas party for the kids, you know. So I make a…decorate little sacks and things like that. And I’ve got that all ready. And all the workers there make candy and cookies. And so I’ve got all my stuff ready. I work two nights. I worked on the sacks. I take and I fold them down and I staple ribbons and make handles on them. Then I cut pictures off of Christmas paper and paste on them, you know, to decorate them for Christmas, you know. So I fixed about thirty-nine of those the other night, and got them ready to go, you know. And so I enjoy it awhile. But, you know, when you get to a place where the kids are going to tell you they’re not going to do this, or they’re not going to do that, uh huh. This day and time. If I was a young woman with a child, I wouldn’t want a child in this day and time. Uh huh. Because you don’t know what it’s like to be over there. Uh huh, I’m telling you. [Hand on microphone] There I go. [Chuckle] Why didn’t you say something?

HAY: You just started. You’ve been doing great.

0: 15:00 -0: 16:00BROOKS: [Laughter] I remember when I first started working over there, why they had…the children would mind…they would go in and work puzzles, and draw, and do things. Then you’d have song time and story time and all like that. But, now you can’t keep them still. You don’t get story time or song time. They won’t do anything you tell them to do. Some of them are too young in the first place. And some people bring them just to get rid of them, I think. It’s four hours from nine to one. That’s the hours. Tuesdays and Thursdays. So they told me if I wanted to switch days, don’t come in on Tuesdays, just to come in on Thursdays because it’s the day of the Christmas program. So I got all my stuff together. So instead of going in on Tuesday, I’ll be going in on Thursday this week, you know. I’m telling you. But, I enjoyed it at first. I still…you can get attached to the kids. Some of them now are in college that I knew when I first went there. And some of them I wouldn’t even know anymore. I ran into a lady out at Elder Beermans, and she stopped me for a conversation, you know. And then I ran into another one that same day, that was in there shopping. She had her daughter come there, and she’s in preschool now somewhere else, you know. And she just starts talking. I run into a lot of the mothers quite often, you know.

HAY: They remember you.

BROOKS: Yeah, you can get attached to the kids. Yeah, I’m telling you. But, some of them you don’t want to get attached to, I’m telling you. [Chuckle]

HAY: Now when your kids were growing up, where did they go to school?

BROOKS: They went to school here in Frankfort. They went…Frank and Tony went to Rosenwald. They started out at Rosenwald, and it went to eighth grade, and then after that they went to Frankfort High.

HAY: Where was Rosenwald?

BROOKS: It’s right up on East Main on the right there. They turned it into some kind of a child care thing. I don’t know what’s up there now. But it’s up there on the right across from the […]. You know it sits down like, low like, that’s where they went. I remember some of the teachers up there. Mrs. Hitch. She’s dead. She was the principal during that time. And Mrs. Roserine Black. She’s passed. And then, Miss Patty Simpson, and Miss AnnaMary Wolf were some of the teachers up there. And Mrs. Bowclare. Maisy Bowclare.

HAY: Was it a small school?

BROOKS: It was a branch of…actually it was a teacher’s training school, I think is what it really was, you know. A lot of them came to do their student teaching there. Some of them would go there, and some of them would go other places out of town, like Louisville, to other places, you know. That’s what it was, you see. But they closed Rosenwald down, oh, it’s been a number of years now. And they had some kind of a child care thing there for awhile. I don’t know what’s there right now, but somebody told me that they don’t have the child care thing right now. Sheila might know, but anyway, that’s where they went to school. That’s where…and then they went to Frankfort High. That’s where they finished there. And then Tony finished at Kentucky State, and Frank Jr. he’s been in any number of schools. [Laughter]

HAY: He went a long way away to get started in college.

BROOKS: So anyway, why uh…I’m trying to think because he went to…Tony finished at Kentucky State…Frank went to Kentucky State about a year and then he went to the University of Louisville three years, and then he married…’course he married twice. At Kentucky State why he married and he wasn’t able to…didn’t have money enough to get married…you know how that works out. So then he went to the University of Louisville and he lived on campus there I think for about three years. And then he left there and he went to…he took a course in Jackson State in Jackson, Mississippi. Then he took some courses at Mississippi College in Clinton, Mississippi. He was one of those kind. They say a rolling stone gathers no moss. [Laughter]

HAY: And that’s Frank Jr. right?

BROOKS: Yeah, uh huh.

HAY: And he’s the one in Louisville now right?

BROOKS: No, he’s in Mississippi now too. James is the one in Louisville. [Technical interruption] Only one close by on this end. Yeah.

HAY: Tell me the names of your parents.

BROOKS: My father was named George W. Withers. My mother’s name was Fanny Cunningham Withers. Cunningham Withers. Uh huh. Now see I don’t know anything about my grandparents because see they were all dead before I was born.

HAY: Were they all from Lancaster?

BROOKS: As far as I know all of them. Now, my father lived in what they called Lincoln County. It’s Stanford, you know. It wasn’t in Stanford but it was out […] but it was still in Lincoln County, you see. My mother was born and raised right there in Lancaster. I can barely remember my grandfather on my father’s side. I can barely remember him, you know. But the rest of them all passed on before I was born, you see.

HAY: Do you remember the birth dates or years your parents were born?

0: 17:00 -0: 18:00BROOKS: Uh…let me see now. Isn’t that funny I can’t…I’ve got it all written down at home. My father would have been, if he was living…because he was forty-two when he died. No, I take that back. He was forty-six when he died, I think. Uh huh. He died in 1942.

HAY: So the late 1800’s.

BROOKS: And my mother was 1894, I think. Something like that. About 1894. I’ve got it all written down in a Bible at home, you know, because you can’t remember all those things. I was talking to my sister-in-law one day, and I asked her […].

HAY: Tell me the names of your brothers and sisters again. In order. The oldest first.

BROOKS: I had one sister and her name is Lydia May Alcorn. She is in Lexington. She’s married to…her husband’s name is Cecil Alcorn. She has one son. His name is Christopher Todd Alcorn. I have one brother that lives here in Frankfort. That’s Joe E. Withers. His wife’s name is Bertha Withers. I have a brother who lives in Columbus, Ohio. His name is George Randolph Withers. His wife’s name is Barbara Withers. Because my older brother is deceased. So that’s the family. There were five of us. Now there’s four of us. Yeah.

HAY: That’s tremendous. Tell me when you first came back up here. I noticed that you started to remember different things about being up here at The Grand. Do you remember any specific feelings or emotions or memories that you want to talk anymore about?

0: 19:00 -0: 20:00BROOKS: Well, I just remember…the main thing I remember was coming here and looking for my special seat where I sit most of the time, you know. I would always be in the same place all the time. [Chuckle] I’d never sit on the other side. I’d never sit down here. I could see better, and just felt better sitting right up there, you know. I would look back up over my shoulder and I could see the light from the projectors, you know. Things like that, you know. Yeah. I’m telling you.

HAY: And then you really…when television came, you said you really quit going to the theatres.

BROOKS: Yeah, that’s right. Uh huh. It would be years sometimes in between when I would come and see a movie because I would wait and see it for free. [Chuckle] In the comfort of my home. [Chuckle]

HAY: In your comfy chair.

BROOKS: Yeah

HAY: You said those seats were really hard. Here.

BROOKS: Yeah they were just wood benches. Wood benches. And they would turn up.

HAY: I was going to just point to the wall there. Do you see along the wall where they painted around the old seats?

BROOKS: Yeah

HAY: You can see where the arms…

BROOKS: You can see where the arms were. Uh huh. Yeah

HAY: Isn’t that interesting?

BROOKS: Yes, I’m telling you. Boy, they’ve got a lot of work to do, I’m telling you. There’s a lot to be done.

HAY: It’s just been sitting here. It’s just been sitting here waiting.

BROOKS: They had in the paper the day that it closed but I don’t remember the date. Sixty something. It was in the paper not too long ago. I was reading it, but I don’t remember exactly what it said now. Yeah, I’m telling you.

HAY: It just closed, and it just went away. It’s like people…

BROOKS: Anything that’s not in use will deteriorate. It will deteriorate much faster than if its in use. All you have to do is close something, and it’s going to fall in on you. Something’s going to happen to it. Yes, indeed. The moisture and everything. No heat and everything. You can do a house the same way. Yes, your furniture will come unglued and everything. Yeah.

HAY: I was telling you earlier how when we came back up here a couple of years ago, we found Milk Duds wrappers.

BROOKS: Uh huh. Been here all those years.

HAY: Lying on the floor all those years.

BROOKS: When I would come in, I’d always watch the seats before I would sit in them because you never know what was sitting there. Sometimes it wasn’t too clean, you know. [Chuckle] And I thought, “When did they clean this place?” Yeah, I’m telling you.

HAY: Do you remember what kind of…did you used to buy candy or popcorn when you would come up?

BROOKS: I would buy popcorn sometimes because during that time I wasn’t wearing dentures. [Laughter]

HAY: No more popcorn for you.

BROOKS: No. I like popcorn, but I just don’t like…stuff gets up…everything gets up under my teeth, you know. But this is very familiar when you look down that way and all like that, you know.

HAY: One of the things that Sheila experienced when she came up here, and your children would probably remember this too, is…because since they were young when they were coming here…they said it’s so much smaller than they remember.

BROOKS: It does look smaller. It does look smaller. I kept looking, you know. It looks much smaller than it did. Yeah, I’m telling you. Because when you come from the [Technical interruption] all that way, it doesn’t look any smaller. But this part looks much smaller. Yeah, I’m telling you. Over there all the way over here, that looks like the same. But this part looks so much smaller. Yes.

HAY: It sounds like your children are musicians, or at least one of them is a musician, right?

BROOKS: Yeah

HAY: And so is the Arts something that you always…did you always love music, or…church music…?

BROOKS: I like a certain kind of music, Chopin, because I remember when James used to practice sometimes, he used to practice Chopin and Bach and all that, you know. Of course, I don’t know if he plays Chopin much anymore or not, but he doesn’t go for a lot for this honky-tonk, be-boppin’, and that type of stuff, you know. Because he plays church music mostly now, you know, because he deals with that all the time now. Yeah, I’m telling you. But, I remember when he went to Kentucky State U. they would have programs up there, and then he would have to rehearse for Chopin and all that type of stuff, you know. And sometimes he would just dry my ears out, because he rehearsed at home. [Laughter]

HAY: So you had a piano at home?

BROOKS: Oh yeah. He had a piano. His own piano. And he would rehearse at home. There was a neighbor who lived next door to me, Sheila knows it, told him, “You know, I have to get up at 5:00 a.m.” And he wanted him to tone it down, you know. Somebody was knocking on the door, he wouldn’t care. I’m telling you. He would just be carried away with it, you know. […] but I was young. I didn’t pay any attention to it. It didn’t bother me that much, you know.

HAY: Did he start piano at school? Did they teach him at school or did he get taught at church?

BROOKS: He started at school, but…he was in Langston…but he exhausted all the resources there so he came home. And then he took music lessons from Mr. Baker. Have you ever heard of Mr. Baker? No, that’s right. It’s before your day. That was before you came to Frankfort.

HAY: I want…but tell me about Mr. Baker.

BROOKS: Mr. Baker taught music on campus. He was a little short guy, quiet like, and he was the music teacher, and James was very fond of him. So anyway, he even went to his house lots of times and had some music lessons at his house, you know. And then after…who was it came and was President of Kentucky State? And then they changed the music department and that’s when he lost his job, you see. He retired. James was very fond of Mr. Baker. Yeah, so anyway, that’s who he studied under. He had had some lessons at Langston, but there wasn’t anybody there that could carry on, you see. That’s why…he came to Frankfort and stayed with my mother as a sophomore. He was a sophomore in High School when he came here, and so when he started taking music lessons on campus under Mr. Baker, after he left and went to college and came back, then that’s when he enrolled in the University of Louisville. And then he went on after that, graduated and got his Masters in music, you see. So that’s the way it started out.

HAY: That’s tremendous. So tell me…I probably wasn’t listening well enough, but your oldest child is…? Your oldest son is…what’s his name?

BROOKS: James Leonard Garth.

HAY: And that’s James, the one you were just…

BROOKS: uh huh

HAY: And then comes…?

BROOKS: And then there’s Frank.

HAY: And then there’s Frank.

BROOKS: uh huh. And then there’s Tony.

HAY: And then there’s Tony.

BROOKS: uh huh. [Chuckle]

HAY: And Tony’s full name is…?

BROOKS: Tony Letora Brooks. She doesn’t like Letora, but that’s her full name. [Chuckle]

HAY: That’s great. So let’s look at…to see what other questions…I wrote some questions. I never look at my questions because you’re so interesting. [Laughter] Isn’t it strange how a place can bring back memories when you haven’t thought about anything.

BROOKS: Uh huh, I’m telling you. Yes, yes, indeed.

HAY: So you hit the rewind button. Its like we hit the rewind button for you a little bit.

BROOKS: It’s a funny thing, because when you get older the first thing you think about are names. I can’t remember names. I can forget a name before I go out there, but see you can start something and allow your memory to come back to you, you know. But I have always been poor on names. Especially in the last few years. Like the moment you could tell me, and I forgot your name before I get out the door. That’s the truth. [Chuckle] Unless I’m around you everyday or something like that, it will stay with me, you know. But…

END OF INTERVIEW

1: 21:00 -0: