美国国家公共电台 NPR Flipbooks Help Prisoners Stay Connected To Their Loved Ones

 

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

Many of us now rely on smartphone videos and video chats to share special moments - a baby's first steps, a graduation - with family and friends who are far away. People in prison usually can't take part in that because of rules limiting access to the Internet and cameras. From Colorado Springs, reporter Noel Black has the story of an artist with a solution.

NOEL BLACK, BYLINE¹: Like many proud parents, Nicole Garrens captured her son, Zander's, first steps on her cellphone. She wanted to share the video with her husband, Roy, but Roy recently went to prison in Texas.

NICOLE GARRENS: The last time he saw him, he was between 5 and 6 months. And, you know, he was crawling and kind of standing² up, holding on to things. But, you know, when a baby starts to walk, it's one of their biggest milestones³, and it breaks my heart to know what he's missing.

BLACK: Nicole moved to Florida after Roy was incarcerated⁴ so she could be near her family, but she wanted to figure out a way for her husband to see the video.

GARRENS: You know, pictures can only say so much. They're still pictures.

BLACK: While almost anyone with a smartphone can send or receive short videos these days, prisoners still have little access to technology. So Nicole went looking online for a creative solution. She found flipbooked.com, a small company that turns short videos into flip⁵ books. The company's founder⁶ is Colorado Springs artist Liza Tudor. For her, this 19th-century technology was the perfect solution to a 21st-century problem. Tudor's ex-boyfriend had gone to prison, and she wanted to send him a video.

LIZA TUDOR: We had a dog that we'd gotten together, and she was getting really old. Her name was Nala, and she was, like, almost 13, and I was worried she was going to die soon, which she did. So I took a video of her giving me some kisses.

BLACK: Before long, Liza had written her own software to turn short videos into flip books.

TUDOR: I've programmed to break it into frames and essentially⁷ lay it out in a contact sheet.

BLACK: Think of a sheet of stamps.

TUDOR: This stuff is really great.

BLACK: She prints the images out, tears the paper along the perforations, stacks them by number and...

TUDOR: There we go. So here's the whole book.

BLACK: When Tudor sends flip books to prisoners, she just sends the printout in an envelope. The prisoners assemble the books themselves.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

COMPUTER-GENERATED VOICE: I have a prepaid call from...

NICK WELLS: Nick.

COMPUTER-GENERATED VOICE: ...An inmate⁸ at the Colorado Correctional Facility.

BLACK: Tudor's ex-boyfriend, Nick Wells, has been at the Limon Correctional Facility in eastern Colorado since 2011. He remembers when he got that first flip book three years ago.

WELLS: You know, the next thing you know, I'm in my cell. I get mail. And I saw my dog running around, acting⁹ crazy, and it just - it made me laugh. It brought the biggest smile to my face.

BLACK: Tudor also sent him a flip book of his young nephew.

WELLS: Being able to see him walk for the first time was just heartbreaking, at the same time, like, overwhelming sense of joy. And so I get to be a part of that. When you look back at your life, those are the moments, these little, tiny things, you know.

BLACK: And those tiny moments aren't just about toddlers. Lori Kuhn lives in Los Angeles. She turned to Flip Booked with a video of her godson tying his tie for the first time.

LORI KUHN: There are many milestones, and learning to tie your first tie is something typically that your father teaches you.

BLACK: Her godson's dad, Wayne Boatwright, is currently serving a seven-year sentence in San Quentin. He was blown away.

KUHN: It's beautiful. It's heartbreaking. I can't even put in words. I'm glad I was there to capture it and share it with Wayne.

BLACK: Even if it becomes easier to send personal videos directly to prisoners, Flip Booked users say there's something magic about being able to hold a little bit of time in your hands. For NPR News, I'm Noel Black in Colorado Springs.

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

3 milestones   

n.重要事件( milestone的名词复数 )；重要阶段；转折点；里程碑

参考例句：

• Several important milestones in foreign policy have been passed by this Congress and they can be chalked up as major accomplishments. 这次代表大会通过了对外政策中几起划时代的事件，并且它们可作为主要成就记录下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Dale: I really envy your milestones over the last few years, Don. 我真的很羡慕你在过去几年中所建立的丰功伟绩。 来自互联网

4 incarcerated   

钳闭的

参考例句：

• They were incarcerated for the duration of the war. 战争期间，他们被关在狱中。 来自辞典例句
• I don't want to worry them by being incarcerated. 我不想让他们知道我被拘禁的事情。 来自电影对白

5 flip   

vt.快速翻动；轻抛；轻拍；n.轻抛；adj.轻浮的

参考例句：

• I had a quick flip through the book and it looked very interesting.我很快翻阅了一下那本书，看来似乎很有趣。
• Let's flip a coin to see who pays the bill.咱们来抛硬币决定谁付钱。

6 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

7 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

8 inmate   

n.被收容者；(房屋等的)居住人；住院人

参考例句：

• I am an inmate of that hospital.我住在那家医院。
• The prisoner is his inmate.那个囚犯和他同住一起。

9 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。