Host: Chloe Salmon
Chloe: [00:00:02] Welcome to The Moth Podcast. I'm your host for this episode, Chloe Salmon. This week, we're talking about friendship and the unexpected places we can sometimes find it. Up first is Sivad Johnson. Sivad told this at a StorySLAM in Detroit, where the theme of the night was Lessons. Here's Sivad, live at The Moth.
[cheers and applause]
Sivad: [00:00:31] When I regained consciousness, I recognized my mom, dad and a few friends standing over me, looking concerned. Someone asked, "Sivad, are you okay?" I didn't answer. I did, however, have one question on my mind. I was 12 years old, and my birthday had just passed and I received a new BMX bike. It was royal blue. It had gold decals, handbrakes and multi-spoke wheels. I pictured that with the right pilot aboard, that bike could probably jump over the school up the street. I'm sure that wild imagination is what caused me to challenge my friends to a jumping contest.
Now, the ante got up when one of them suggested jumping over a large bush that, for some odd reason, was planted in the middle of his front lawn. Okay. Challenge accepted. The following Saturday, five young daredevils assembled, ready to take flight. And the day was perfect. The ramp was constructed of the finest components. [audience laughter] We had two car ramps placed side by side with a couple of milk crates on top of that. [audience laughter] We had a slightly warped piece of plywood and a few bricks at the base to keep it all anchored. [audience laughter] I'm pretty sure Hollywood stuntmen were using the same materials back then. [audience laughter]
We rode up to the starting spot, and the first kid takes off for the ramp. He jumps, but goes off-center and lands at the right, just clipping the bush. When the second kid takes off, he decides to abort his mission before even reaching the ramp. The third contestant goes and actually clears the bush. But when he lands, both of his feet slip off the pedals. He nut-crunches on that middle bar [audience laughter] so hard, lets out a blood-curdling scream and instantly becomes a spectator for the rest of the event. [audience laughter] We laughed at him too. [audience laughter]
The fourth jumper goes, clears the bush easily and lands perfectly on the other side. But he can't stop fast enough and slams into a car in the driveway next door. [audience laughter] Amateurs. Last but not least, is moi. My parents are out front now, and the rest of the kids are parked and waiting. I'm in the zone. I picture a jump so epic that it should be on the front of a Wheaties cereal box. [audience laughter] I decide to build anticipation by going through a series of poses, [audience laughter] and I end it all with the double biceps. I rocket off from two houses away in the middle of the street.
Pedaling as fast as I can, I whip into the driveway, headed straight for the ramp. Perhaps a little too fast, because my right foot slips from the pedal and the bike wobbles. But I recover. I recover just in time to hit the ramp. And it shifts. I try to save it by pulling the front wheel up, but it clips something and, oh shit, here we go. My bike is leaving me. The grass is above me and the sky is beneath me. How can this be? But then, the grass and the sky switch back and I violently splat, and everything goes black. But I regain consciousness. My mom, dad, and friends are standing over me. I'm laid out flat, probably similar to a murder scene body sketch or something. They ask if I'm okay, and I don't answer. But I did have that one question on my mind. "Hey, [panting] how's my bike?" [audience laughter]
My dad nods and signals okay. My mom throws her arms up and walks away. My friends are all laughing at me. But I learned three lessons that day. Lesson number one. If you're going to jump some bush, [audience laughter] don't prematurely celebrate. [audience laughter] Save it for a perfect dismount. Lesson two. Speed is nothing without control. When you're riding, stay super focused and maintain your rhythm. [audience laughter] And three. If you're performing any physical feat, and happen to blackout and then wake up surrounded by your friends and parents, always, and I mean always check your equipment first. [audience laughter] Thank you.
[cheers and applause]
Chloe: [00:05:42] That was Sivad Johnson. Sivad sadly passed away in August of 2020 while rescuing three young girls from the Detroit River. He was a Detroit native, a husband, father, artist and second-generation firefighter. Sivad was a many-time Moth storyteller. He described himself as a student of life and was a friend to many.
While Sivad’s buddies took him to literal heights, our next storyteller is aiming even higher for a new friend, metaphorically speaking. Greg Audel told this at a StorySLAM in Houston, where the theme of the night was Delusions. Here’s Greg, live at The Moth.
[cheers and applause]
Greg: [00:06:27] Can you hear me?
Unison: [00:06:29] Yeah.
Greg: [00:06:30] All right. Wow, this is awesome. It's amazing to see so many people out here for The Moth. I think delusions get a really bum rap. I think sometimes delusions get us through some pretty hard times in life. When I was 12, my folks split up. And for a brief period of time, my mother and I shared a delusion that my father could be a competent father. But after many nights at strip clubs and driving home myself at 13, 14 years old, when he was drunk, I gave up that delusion. I started watching the news a lot. When we were at strip clubs, I didn't like what was going on behind me. I didn't like what was going on. So, I just focused on the TV, and I watched the news and I became obsessed with the news.
And then, I became obsessed with President Jimmy Carter. He just seemed like such a nice guy. He had sons, he had a daughter. He seemed like a good dad. And this idea started going in my mind. Many would call it a delusion. I wanted Jimmy Carter to be my friend. I wanted him to rescue me from the crazy world I was living in. So, I called the White House, [audience laughter] 202-456-1414. [audience applause]
They wouldn't put the president on the phone. And so, I realized I was going to have to get creative. And this was way before the internet. So, I used to call the reference librarians at the Houston Public Library constantly for every relative of Jimmy Carter, everyone that worked in the White House, every reporter, just anyone I could get. And I decided, he didn't understand. I knew he was busy, but come on, we needed to become friends.
So, after about a year of telling people that Jimmy Carter was going to be my friend, the White House was sending me boxes and boxes of materials, pictures of the Carter family, kids, tour of the White House, autographed pictures of the president. I didn't want any of that. One day, when they sent a picture of the Carter family, his son, Jeff Carter, there was a picture of his wife, Annette. She was this pretty older woman, probably 23, 24. [audience laughter] So, I called the White House, 202-456-1414. All the operators knew me by this time, and I asked for Annette. They wouldn't put her on the phone. But they did give me her office number. And so, I called, and she called me back immediately, surprisingly.
I explained to her that I was really needing to get to know the president. I thought he was a great dad and I asked what he was like as a dad and what he was like at the White House. And she said, "Greg, there's no way I can have the president call you, but I'll be happy to ask him for an autographed picture and have him send it to you if he comes to dinner tonight." I thought, wow. If Jimmy comes to dinner tonight, that's pretty cool. But I didn't want an autographed picture. So, I said, "Well, would you put my phone number on it also." She said, "If you promise to understand that he will not call you, I'll put your phone number on it also."
This was in November, I think. December, January, February, March passed. By this point, everyone I knew knew that I knew that Jimmy Carter was going to call me. And the only thing everyone knew was that I was delusional and the president was never going to call me. I was babysitting at my church one night. Phone rings, someone comes in. And keep in mind, I'd had a lot of prank calls. Everybody knew that I was trying to do it. [audience laughter] So, my friend came in and said, "Greg, the president's on the phone for you." I was like, "Shut up." "No, no, really, go pick up the phone." So, I go pick up the phone. "Mr. Greg Audel, please." "This is he." "Oh, in that case, this is the White House operator. Please hold for the President of the United States."
So, I'm 13, and I was still going out to clubs and single bars every night, [audience laughter] and I hadn't slept much. I was trying to get my wits about me and trying to figure out if someone was pulling my leg really well. And then, a voice comes on. He says, "Well, hello, Greg. This is President Carter. I understand from many people that you're trying to get in touch with me. [audience laughter] What can I help you with?" I, fortunately, because I was obsessed with the news, I didn't care about anything going on in my personal life and I had known I'd been delusional enough to know that we were going to be friends, so I started rambling about his administration and how he kept the hostages alive and the energy crisis.
He said, "Well, I think we need to meet next time I'm in Houston." I said, "Well, yes, sir." And so, the following September, he came through on a campaign stop, and we met, and we were fortunate to meet virtually every time he came to Houston thereafter. When I was in law school, I was about to ride in his car with him to a ceremony at the Menil, still marveling that this grand delusion had become real. We were leaving his hotel, and he says, "Greg, there's someone I want you to meet." I turn around, and I'm face to face with Nelson Mandela. And he says, "Nelson, Greg's a young man, but he's a very old friend of mine." [audience laughter] [audience cheers and applause]
That's how my delusion served me well. Thank you.
[cheers and applause]
Chloe: [00:12:25] That was Greg Audel. Greg says he spent the first half of his life creating the adventures he now tells stories about in the second half of his life. His favorite job is uncle, both actual and surrogate, and a close second is cohosting So What’s Your Story? a storytelling program on Houston’s 90.1 KPFT. Greg’s partner in crime, Floyd the Wonder Dog, is the show’s official mascot.
Greg’s call with President Carter was actually logged in the White House diary for that day in 1980. You can check it out on our website, themoth.org. Here's Greg, reading a follow-up he wrote about the beginnings of his presidential obsession.
Greg: [00:13:11] From the time I could read, I was obsessed with two subjects, Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy. When I was 10, I volunteered on Jimmy Carter's presidential campaign, making and hammering in yard signs with my mother. To my father's credit, when I was 11, he took me to Houston's Ellington Field to see President Carter arrive on Air Force One. That magical day was one of the rare positive moments I recall sharing with my father.
When President Carter began shaking hands, I shoved my way to the front of the crowd and I shook his hand. Then I ran ahead, pushed myself through the crowd again and I shook his hand again. Amazingly, he looked at me and asked, "Didn't I shake your hand back there? You must have liked it." So, I ran ahead again, pushed myself through the crowd, and just before he walked to his car, I reached out my hand, shook it for a third time. He looked at me, smiled, raised three fingers and said, "That makes three." I was stunned. The President of the United States had taken notice of me.
A few months later, my fifth-grade teacher, Linda Barrett, had our class send a letter to the president, and we got an autographed picture back. We all put our names in a bucket to see who would get to keep the photo, and Stacy Gilmore's name was pulled. I was not happy and thought, I can do better than an autographed picture. My quest had begun.
Chloe: [00:14:47] That was Greg Audel. After his phone call with President Carter, Greg said he made a promise to himself to cross off every name on the long list of people he wanted to meet. And so far, he's been pretty successful. Greg has met Presidents Reagan, Clinton and Bush Sr., and First Ladies Rosalynn Carter, Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush, Lady Bird Johnson and in what he calls an act of divine intervention, Jackie Onassis Kennedy.
We also met Greg in a pretty special way. Back in 2015, Greg was working as an Uber driver and was just about to head home when he got one last passenger request. His rider was headed to The Moth StorySLAM in Houston. Greg said he'd listened to The Moth Radio Hour before and thought he might be a pretty good storyteller. So, he logged off Uber and threw his name in the hat. Not only was his name pulled first, but he won the SLAM that night with the story you just heard.
As the world starts to open back up, it might feel intimidating or scary to start putting yourself out there again. And maybe you aren't ready to launch yourself into new friendships or ring up the president for a chat. And that's okay. Just remember, sometimes it's the small moments with new faces, like a conversation with an Uber driver, that can have the biggest impact.
That's all for this week. Thank you to the storytellers who shared with us and to you for listening. Until next time, from all of us here at The Moth, have a story-worthy week.
Julia: Chloe Salmon is a producer on The Moth's Mainstage and StorySLAM teams, a director on the Mainstage and a member of the Pitchline team. Her favorite Moth moments come on show days when the cardio is done, the house lights go down and the magic settles in.
This episode of The Moth Podcast was produced by me, Julia Purcell, with Sarah Austin Jenness and Sarah Jane Johnson.
The rest of The Moth’s leadership team includes Catherine Burns, Sarah Haberman, Jenifer Hixson, Meg Bowles, Kate Tellers, Jennifer Birmingham, Marina Klutse, Suzanne Rust, Brandon Grant, Inga Glodowski and Aldi Kaza.
Moth stories are true, as remembered and affirmed by storytellers. For more about our podcast, information on pitching your own story and everything else, go to our website, themoth.org. The Moth Podcast is presented by PRX, the Public Radio Exchange, helping make public radio more public at prx.org.