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sailboats

Obligatory shot of where I am at the moment. Not bad, huh?

I am in San Diego again, working on a new podcast episode — or most likely, a series of episodes. It doesn’t fit at all what I had in mind when I started Passing Through just two episodes ago.

For one thing, the subject of this story doesn’t live on the road. Which is okay, because I live on the road, right? Think of it as an updated version of the old Route 66 TV series, in which Martin Milner and George Maharis drove a cool Corvette to a new town every week, got involved in someone’s life and, of course, made everything better.

This may take a bit longer, since there’s only one of me, and I can’t guarantee a better outcome. You can do that in fiction, but this is real. Also: no Corvette.

In my original vision for the podcast, had planned to interview full-time vandwellers, RVers, and other nomads about their lives on the move — but then, Ronnie Murphy’s story hit me like a palm to the face. I’ve known about it for several years. Why hadn’t I thought of it before?

I know why: because Ronnie’s story scares me

Ronnie is a Vietnam vet disabled by gunshots and shrapnel when he was 19. The Veterans Administration claims that he was wanted on a fugitive warrant in Texas for several years in the 90s. So the VA has been withholding $861/month from his benefits for what it calls overpayments during the time when it says he was ineligible. So far, he’s down over $67,000.

But Ronnie says they’ve got the wrong guy. He’s been fighting that decision for years now, and getting nowhere.

I want to find out why

Which requires actual digging — real journalism — and I am no reporter. During my 22 years in radio news I was assigned to report exactly three stories, and I failed at all three. Call it stage fright, call it social anxiety, I never could work up the nerve to stick a microphone in someone’s face and ask questions.

In the studio, I did plenty of interviews without a problem. The subjects came to me — authors, mostly, selling books or agendas of some kind. That was easy. I was on my home turf; I was in control. All I had to do was book the interviews, and the authors would show up on time, ready to regurgitate the same answers they had given a hundred times before. I tried to come up with new questions but to be honest, I was as much on autopilot as they were.

Out in the world, where anything could happen — and usually did — well, I’d rather not remember. Or try it again.

But Ronnie’s story needs telling, and I need to prove to myself that I can tell it.

First up, the documents of Ronnie’s case

Ronnie's records

Ronnie’s records

I need to read them all, and try to make sense of them, before my interview with Ronnie tomorrow morning.

Understanding boring government forms is not my strong suit — or anyone’s, for that matter. That’s why there are so few good investigative journalists. They have to dig through boring haystacks of information to find the needles that knit everything together.

I have an inkling there’s a reason government documents are so freaking dull: to scare people like me away.

But no more! I’m going in

And I have a real, honest-to-goodness reporter on my side: Jessica Bruder, who writes awesome magazine articles and books (and even teaches journalism at Columbia University!) She has agreed to hold my hand while I dive in.

But just in case, if you don’t hear from me in a week, call 911.

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Showing 3 comments
  • Shawna
    Reply

    You can do this LaVonne! And God Bless you for helping this man. You rock.

  • Lynn
    Reply

    What a nightmare for that poor man! I hope he gets it resolved. For a vet, that is just not right on so many levels.

    Right will prevail! Good luck!!

  • Birdy Diamond
    Reply

    I am so proud of you. For daring to do anyway. For standing up. For being willing to stand out. For continuing and changing and growing and making it happen.

    Best of Fortune with the diving deep! And yes, now that I know you’re writing again – I’ll be sure to follow along on the Journey. I wish you both the very best.

    May your Muse(s) be ever at your side,
    -Birdy :>O<:

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