An angel from Hot Springs is in the spotlight again, thanks to the third episode of the Oxford American's Points South podcast.
Titled "A Cemetery Angel," the episode features Sara A. Lewis, associate editor, talking to Ruth Coker Burks about her past as a caregiver and undertaker for countless gay men who were among the first to contract AIDS in the state in the 1980s and early '90s. (The first Arkansas case reported was in 1983.)
She tells the story of how she became the Cemetery Angel, known worldwide for her compassion in a time when fear prevailed and families, friends and even clergy and medical personnel turned their backs on men stricken with the strange new illness, at first called "gay cancer" then "GRID, for Gay-Related Immune Disorder."
Coker Burks had discovered a young man named Jimmy in a Hot Springs hospital while she was there visiting a friend. Nurses wouldn't go in his room, he was fed from Styrofoam containers, and he had no visitors. With no fear, Coker Burks went to Jimmy's side. He was calling for his mother, and Coker Burks got her phone number and called. The mother said she no longer had a son because he was a sinner. When Coker Burks returned to Jimmy's side, he mistook her for his mother and later died thinking his mother had come.
Coker Burks can't explain why she went to Jimmy's side or why she stayed. As the victims kept piling up, she was the only person who would help and since her mother had bought up hundreds of burial plots in Hot Springs' Files Cemetery, she had a place to lay them to rest when they died, since even cemeteries and funeral homes rejected AIDS victims.
Coker Burks remembers thinking, "Surely somebody is coming. Little did I know that they were not."
The heartbreaking reality is that, to this day, Coker Burks has kept the same post office box in Hot Springs in case any family members came around to acceptance, but she says not a single one has contacted her in the decades since.
Coker Burks isn't sure how many men's remains ended up in the cemetery since she allowed people who would call her to scatter their loved one's ashes when there was no place else to go. Kudos to Points South for telling Coker Burks' story of compassion; it's the perfect podcast to listen to as we approach World AIDS Day on Dec. 1
SHE IS UNSTOPPABLE
Having already conquered television by creating hits including Grey's Anatomy and Scandal, Shonda Rhimes is turning her attention to podcasts.
She'll executive produce podcasts that iHeartMedia will distribute. Rhimes' company, Shondaland, will launch Shondaland Audio and has signed a three-year deal with iHeart.
In 2017, Rhimes signed on with Netflix to produce new shows for that streaming service. Is there anything she can't do?
GET IN THE SPIRIT
With Halloween about a week away, perhaps you should scare up some spooky podcasts. The following "Mystical and Magical" selections were curated by the updated Apple Podcasts app:
• Camp Monsters is a compilation of "stories of impossible encounters with impossible creatures in the wildest corner of North America." Expect a wolf with really big bat wings, a small-man-size frog, and "something terrible that howls in the Ozark night." Imagine sitting around a campfire telling stories. That's the feeling the podcast goes for.
• The Edge of Sleep, a scripted drama, follows a nightwatchman who, after completing his shift at work discovers that "everyone in the world who went to sleep the previous night has died." Can a small group of survivors stay awake long enough to figure this thing out?
• Ghost of a Podcast, from "astrologer, psychic medium and animal communicator with more than 20 years experience," offers practical and mystical guidance to those seeking it. This may not be spooky, but creepy counts too.
• The Creeping Hour is recommended for all ages but might best appeal to those 8-12 years old. It's a horror anthology as told by the Creeps, three friends who heard so many scary stories, they turned into monsters themselves. Does listening to the national news count?
• Here Be Monsters is "a podcast about fear, curiosity and the unknown." The show notes says it's made up of "unusual documentaries produced by Jeff Emtman, Bethany Denton and other independent producers since 2012." Is that vague enough to seem mystical?
• The NoSleep Podcast description is very brief: "A multi-award winning anthology series of original horror stories, with rich atmospheric music to enhance the frightening tales."
• Lore is a biweekly podcast, TV show and book series about dark historical tales. "Each episode explores the mysterious creatures, tragic events, and unusual places that fill the pages of history. Because sometimes the truth is more frightening than fiction."
• Haunted Places takes listeners to a different haunted place each week, with "spooky legends, weird histories, and tales of the supernatural." New episodes drop each Thursday, and the podcast has a 5-star rating.
Most intriguing podcast I haven't listened to yet: Wait, Whaaat? is described as "a comedy podcast about all things that make you say, Wait, Whaaat? Join Elaine and Paula every Friday for creepy stories about the paranormal, UFOs, conspiracy theories and more." The latest episode is No. 41: "Creepy Baby Monitors, Weird Cravings and Judgy Ghosts," and other episode titles of note include "Hot Norwegian Aliens and Circus Woes" and "Haunted Insane Asylums and Insane Dirt Eating Hikers."
Style on 10/22/2019