Arts & Culture

On this edition of Valley Writers Read, Oscar G. Williams tells his thrilling story of an office manager named Paul, who has a scheme to defraud the company by having his secretary file a harassment claim. Together, they plan to take the money and run away to Europe, but his wife has other ideas.

On this edition of Valley Writers Read, Joan Newcomb reads two stories, "Bad Things Do Happen to Good People" and "A Journey of Courage". Both stories are about a woman named Lida Mae who lives in a tough neighborhood.

This week on Valley Writers Read, we hear a story by local author Michael Bowler, titled "Dump Truck." Hal Bolen reads the story about an attorney who leaves the rat race and realizes his dream of becoming a public defender. 

In Charlotte Abrams' story "The Watcher", a woman named Maddie develops a relationship with her 90-year-old neighbor named Bernard, on this edition of Valley Writers Read.

This week on Valley Writers Read, Howard Hendrix brings us a science fiction story, "A Bridge Across the Lethe". The story is about a character who is cured from a concussion through the miracles of modern medicine.

This week, on Valley Writers Read, Janet Nichols Lynch brings us a story called "The Favorite", about a man named Ronnie who abandons his family after receiving an inheritance. 

There are three stories by Howell Hurst on this week's edition of Valley Writers Read. The first story, "I Can't Hear the Drums Anymore" is about a son's blocked love for his mother. "Beating Towards Monterey" is about a man's failed love for his wife. And the third story, "The Fog", is about a couple who had been football players in college.

For some, the closing of Borders bookstores seemed to signal another nail in the coffin for book lovers. Another reminder of the fragile state of an industry being taken over by technology, e-readers and Amazon.com. But in Fresno and other San Joaquin Valley towns, some independent bookstores are not only doing okay, some are actually thriving. Valley Public Radio's Juanita Stevenson reports.

There are two stories on this edition of Valley Writers Read. Our first story, by Marilyn Larson, is entitled "Getting Out" and it is about a woman named Marta, who's been dating a guy with a secret named Ben. Deborah Hamilton's story, "Section B, Page 5", is about a recluse who finds joy reading the obituary column.

Today on Valley Writers Read, Nelson Varon brings us a story called, "Fixing Things", about a writer who secures a book deal only to lose it when he loses his cool with his boss.

On this edition of Valley Writers Read, Barbara Link brings us a story called, "Leaving" about a woman named Mary Agnes Lone Hill who lives with her grandmother on the Crow Indian Reservation in Montana. When she is relocated to an Indian school in Nebraska, she has a hard time embracing the native culture.

Jean Ray Laury was one of Central California's most accomplished and acclaimed artists. She helped to revolutionize the world of quilting, taking it from the world of traditional arts and crafts and into the world of modern art. She died in March 2011, but shortly before her passing, she visited Valley Public Radio to record her story about life growing up in a small town in Iowa, Growing Up In Doon.