STEVE INSKEEP, host:
And it's time again to hear your comments.
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INSKEEP: Many of you wrote about our visit last week to Lancaster, South Carolina. It was part of our coverage of the economy in a state holding an important presidential primary. And we met people like Carolyn Summers. She's out of work at age 63 after a textile company shifted business to Brazil.
Ms. CAROLYN SUMMERS: That's probably the hardest thing I have ever gone through. I went through a marriage and a divorce. I lost my father at an early age. I lost my mother in '99. But nothing compares with losing a job and not knowing - especially at my age - not knowing what you're going to do.
RENEE MONTAGNE, host:
Our listener Shari Shelton(ph) writes: I'm about as far removed from the laid-off textile workers in South Carolina as you could imagine. She continues: I'm Jewish, I live in Southern California, and I'm a professional with multiple college degrees. However, the beautiful, respectful coverage of their stories made me feel like these people were my friends and neighbors.
INSKEEP: We got a different response from Joseph Bovey(ph) of North Attleborough, Massachusetts. He writes: while one has to feel sympathy for anyone who loses a job, I'm somewhat ashamed to admit that there was also a small feeling of payback as well. The textile city that I grew up in - New Bedford, Massachusetts - went through the same loss of textile jobs years ago. The only difference was that rather than losing textile jobs to Brazil, they were losing them to the Carolinas.
MONTAGNE: Now, a comment on one of our newscasts. In a report on Brazilian President Lula da Silva's visit to Cuba last week, NPR cited unnamed Latin American experts claiming a lack of U.S. interest in the region. That report caught the attention of Heidi Brunki(ph), spokesperson for the State Department's Office of Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs.
INSKEEP: And she fired off a letter reading: to contend that visits by other Latin American leaders to Cuba are an indication of lack of U.S. concern for the region is a subjective conclusion. She goes on: The president has traveled to the region eight times during his tenure in office. And with bipartisan support, assistance levels have doubled since the beginning of the Bush administration. Moreover, she adds, we have negotiated 10 free trade agreements in the region.
MONTAGNE: Finally, listener Susan Roden(ph), of Cocoa, Florida, e-mailed after hearing librarian Nancy Pearl's latest chat about recommended reading.
INSKEEP: I awoke this morning to the words of Aunt Ada Doom, and immediately knew someone was talking about one of my all-time favorite books, "Cold Comfort Farm."
Ms. NANCY PEARL (Librarian): Mostly, what Aunt Ada Doom says is I saw something nasty in the woodpile.
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INSKEEP: That's Nancy Pearl. And Susan Roden goes on: Even as a high school student, I found the dark humor, laugh-out-loud funny and spent several years searching for my own copy. "Cold Comfort Farm" became my travel book, helping me cope with Greyhound bus trips while a poor graduate student, and later, long flight delays.
MONTAGNE: Don't you delay dropping us a note here at npr.org. You can do it by clicking on Contact Us.