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Outlook: I was 71 when I first heard my father’s voice

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Margaret Ann Harris with her father Sergeant Cody Wolf

26/12/2022 GMT

I was 71 when I first heard my father’s voice

BBC World Service - Outlook, I was 71 when I first heard my father’s voice

Margaret Ann Harris got a life-changing Christmas gift when she heard a wartime radio show

In 2012, a newspaper librarian discovered tapes of a radio show which had aired during World War Two. When it was re-broadcast, listener Margaret Ann Harris’ life was transformed.

Margaret Ann Harris’ father died when she was only 17 months old. She had lots of photographs of him, but no memories of her dad or the sound of his voice. Decades later, when Margaret Ann had become a parent and grandparent herself, the Baltimore Sun's librarian Paul McCardell found a couple of dusty tapes featuring a festive World War Two radio show. The programme was a compilation of music, song and messages to loved ones listening back home, made by American soldiers stationed in England for Christmas of 1943. When Paul managed to get it to air again some 70 years later, Margaret Ann Harris received an unexpected Christmas gift: she heard her father's voice for the first time.

When someone you love dies we often cling their memory and keep them alive through their photos. Visual artist Lebohang Kganye went one step further after the death of her mother. After flicking through some old photo albums of her mum as a young woman, she created a beautiful way to be close to her again.  Lebohang decided to recreate the scenes, and superimpose images of herself dressed in her mum’s clothes onto the old photos. (This interview was first broadcast in 2019)

Nicole Paris and Ed Cage are a beatboxing father and daughter duo. Ed remembers beatboxing to his wife's belly when she was pregnant with Nicole. From there, their shared love for the sound has only grown, even embarking on a tour together. (This interview was first broadcast in 2016.)

Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com

Presenter: Emily Webb

(Photo: Margaret Ann Harris with her father Sergeant Cody Wolf. Credit: Courtesy of Margaret Ann Harris)

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