A family through the eyes of a piano, a father’s love, and the perks of not being a turkey on Thanksgiving were among the stories local authors read from their new collection, “Occasional Writers,” Sunday at the Charleston Carnegie Public Library. 

“Occasional Writers” is a collection of autobiographical short stories and poems from 16 Charleston writers who make up the three-year-old Past-Forward Memoir Writing Group.

Phyllis Bayles, one of the book’s authors, adapted parts of “Occasional Writers” into the form of a radio play performed by members of the community and the book’s other writers.

Bayles said the writing group thought the unconventional choice to read excerpts from the book in the form of an old time radio show would increase its appeal and be more entertaining.

“We thought a radio show would be interesting,” Bayles said. “We wanted it to be down home.”

Janet Messenger, chair of Past-Forward and one of the book’s authors, said when the group began planning “Occasional Writers” at the beginning of the year, they arranged it to accommodate different style of autobiographical stories to reflect the book’s varied writers.

“There are many different types of memoirs,” Messenger said. “And many different types of people.”

Helen Krehbiel-Reed, one of the book’s authors, said she decided to experiment with style in her segment of the book after her son recommended she wrote her memoirs from the point of view of her dog.

“At first I thought it was too weird,” Krehbiel-Reed said. “The thing I realized was I can tell a lot of stories from his point of view that I wouldn’t tell from my own.”

Duke Bagger, director of the book’s radio-style adaptation and chair on the board of directors of the Charleston Alley Theater, said the CAT was more than happy to provide props from their past radio shows for the book’s reading.

Bagger also provided special effects for the play, implementing a cap gun, a hammer and voice talents to embellish the stories.

Bayles said the book’s roots are in the day-to-day lives of ordinary people.

“This book was truly a community project,” Bayles said. “Most of the authors’ inspiration was found in their backyards.”

Messenger said ultimately, “Occasional Writers” is a book made for the residents of the city.

“Don’t let it be said there is nothing to do in Charleston,” Messenger said. “You can always sit down and read a good book.”

Andrew Crivilare can be reached at 581-2812 or ajcrivilare@eiu.edu.