Reaching the Masses

By Fernando Del Valle, Valley Star

From his small studio near the banks of the Laguna Madre, William Everett fused his loves for literature and classical music to create a radio program that's broadcast across the United States.

With charming wit, Everett's rich deep voice lifts the words out of the classics of literature amid a backdrop of concertos on Theme and Variations.

"I had no radio experience at all, but I was a book lover and a former oboist," Everett said, surrounded by recording equipment. "This comes from reading a lot and listening to a lot of music. I am an aficionado. I love this stuff and I want to communicate this joy to others."
In 1998, Everett launched the program that National Public Radio picked up more than a year later.

Today, 72 National Public Radio stations carry the show, the only radio program that melds literature with classical music, he said. In the Rio Grande Valley, the program airs noon Sundays and at 7 p.m. Mondays on KMBH.

"Classical literature had always been the place where musicians went to find their themes," Everett said. "A lot of the themes and stories of classical music come straight out of the world of literature."

For Everett, who holds an English degree from Harding University in Searcy, Ark., the program anchored him to the South Texas coast after years of world travel.

In 1989, Everett helped an international health group build a radio station in Honduras to reach out to the poor.

Later that year, he became the principal oboist with the Dublin Symphony Orchestra before settling in France for five years.

Now, he's ready for the biggest project of his life, he said.

On his studio wall, he marks a strings of cities that stretches from Asia to the Middle East.
Later this year, Everett plans to trek the region from Iran and Iraq to Afghanistan to gather folk tales to trace their evolution through thousands of years. With audiotaped interviews of folklorists, he plans to produce a series of radio programs whose backdrop will feature Middle Eastern music.

"I'm going to talk to people to find out how the folklore of ancient Persia has come down to contemporary stories," he said. "Folk music is part of it, so you'll hear folk music in the background."

At a time of conflict between Western and Eastern cultures, Everett hopes the series will help build a bridge.

"This comes out of my love for the spoken word and a deep concern over what's going on in the Mid East," he said. "It's a way to bring Americans closer to the people of these countries through appreciation of their folklore."