Episode 55: The Gunners by Rebecca Kauffman

The Gunners is the name that Mikey, Sally, Alice, Jimmy, Lynn, and Sam give themselves, the name spelled out in stickers on the mailbox of the abandoned building they claim as their clubhouse the summer they are six and seven. The six of them are each other’s friends, cheerleaders, fans, family. Inside that circle of friendship, each of them can be who they are, without question, without judgment. Until the year they turn 16, when Sally suddenly, inexplicably, turns her back on the group, and the rest of them, shattered by her abandonment, splinter, going off into adulthood alone. Years later, Sally kills herself, and the group comes back together for her funeral, seeking answers, reconnection, absolution.

Host Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Rebecca Kauffman about change and the passage of time, the infinite complexity of the human heart, and the importance of allowing ourselves to be seen and to be known.

Guest readers Annie Thoms and Jessica Sager join Oppenheimer to discuss wood frogs and grackles, quicksand and bridges, blindness and seeing.

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