Radio drama in the United States is not dead

"It still occupies niches over the air and across the Internet. America's first great mass entertainment medium retains its capacity to develop characters and advance plot lines in a singular manner. Lit Between the Ears offers plays for this power."
-excerpted from "Playwright's Introduction" of Lit Between the Ears, Volume One: Chekhov, O. Henry, Spear and Tarkington On the Air by William E. Spear.

Classic literary adaptations and contemporary drama have been brought together in Lit Between the Ears, Volume One: Chekhov, O. Henry, Spear and Tarkington On the Air (ISBN 0-9778-4022-0). Written by William E. Spear and published by Wolfmont Publishing in Ranger, GA, Lit Between the Ears, Volume One celebrates radio's unique capacity to entertain.

The plays include a self-imposed 15-year prison sentence in "The Wager," a countdown to death in "When the Last Leaf Falls," a singing debut and attempted murder in "You Didn't Have To Go" and three families' diverging fortunes in script-in-progress "The Splendor in Midland." Geraldine Downes, Jonesy, Donna Herb, Georgie Amberson Minafer and other characters tell their stories set in a banker's mansion, art studio, nightclub and Midwest America.

Radio drama survives on compact discs, podcasts and Internet broadcasts. The medium's flexibility and adaptability to various genre are strengths. Its individualized impact on listeners is another. Lit Between the Ears, Volume One: Chekhov, O. Henry, Spear and Tarkington On the Air offers plays for the enduring power of radio.

William E. Spear has written for radio since 1994. He founded Hunterdon Radio Theatre in 1999 and has written over 15 plays since. Spear's work has been broadcast in New York and New Jersey and his plays have been published on web sites across the country. Lit Between the Ears, Volume One is his second appearance in print.

Lit Between the Ears, Volume One: Chekhov, O. Henry, Spear and Tarkington On the Air was released on July 31, 2006. It is in 6 x 9 perfect-bound format, 128 pages, and retails for $14.95 in the U.S. and for £7.99 in the UK. It is available from major distribution chains, and listed in both Ingram’s and Baker & Taylor’s catalogs. It is also available for order on the publisher’s website, at http://www.wolfmont.com.

William E. Spear
President
Two Plus Plus Productions LLC
PO Box 5126
Clinton, NJ 08809-0126
TwoPlusPlus@earthlink.net
http://www.twoplusplus.com/

# 30 #