Ed Lynskey's Blog: Cracked Rearview Mirror - Posts Tagged "nostalgia"

WKCW, better known as "Big K Radio" at 1420 AM, once sat headquartered on a grassy knoll about 45 minutes southeast of Washington, D.C. Their programming was traditional C&W.

A 1987 Washington Post feature article proclaimed Big K, even if it lay in the path of suburbia's bulldozer, intended to retain its proud identity. So, Big K went on playing the marvelous Charlie Pride, Johnny Cash, Conway Twitty...well, you get the idea.

Then on January 18, 2004, Big K switched to a Spanish broadcast. Just like that. The reason? Simple: money. The old programming wasn't generating enough revenue to run a radio station.

I grew up listening to Big K. The temptation is to cry over how things don't remain the same. But I don't like to cling to nostalgia. What's happening today is what counts unless my novel is set in a previous time (for instance, Lake Charles occurs in 1979).

Plus which, I can enjoy all of the old timey C&W tunes as MP3 audio files.

By Ed Lynskey
@edlynskey
Author of Lake Charles
"Satisfying."
The Rap Sheet/Kirkus Reviews

We all harbor our memories--good and bad ones--of the neighborhood where we grew up. Sometimes curiosity takes us back to our old stomping grounds just to see what it's like today.

What is your reaction? Do you get choked up with emotion? Are you filled with relief you got out? Are the old memories dim or jumbled together? Do you even recognize the spot? Do you just shrug, indifferent to another place where you once lived?

We lived in a brown shingle rambler on a street in the 1950s suburbs outside of Washington, D.C. I can recall the civil defense sirens wailing away. I can also recall the sunny sidewalks. But now I stand in front of the same house, and it seems a lot smaller to me. The shade trees towering over me blot out the sun.

But that's not all. I feel no real connection. The neighborhood is well-kept, what you'd call "nice," but I don't register any pangs of nostalgia. It's like a different person than me lived in the rambler. Pity. I wanted to feel something more profound, but it's not to be.

So, I depart for my present home.

By Ed Lynskey
Twitter: @edlynskey
Author of Lake Charles
"Nice addition to anyone’s summer beach reading schedule."
Florida Times-Union