The StoryCorps mobile recording booth is in Durham this month. The silver Airstream trailer-turned recording studio is in town to collect stories from North Carolina.
Week before last, two unlikely friends came to the booth. David Wright first met Eddie Lanier on the side of 15-501 between Durham and Chapel Hill. Eddie was broke, homeless and holding up a cardboard sign. They built a relationship over the years and told their story the last time the StoryCorps Mobile unit was in Durham. David and Eddie came back to the booth a few weeks ago to record what they're calling the final chapter.
“It’s been a trip. I’ve got some good people pulling for me. I’ve made some wonderful friends through hospice. And I’ve learned there’s two ways to use narcotics. You can use it as an entertainment tool, totally destructive. But the way it’s been administered to me, all it’s doing is killing pain, there’s no real high involved. The only way I get through a day is to say I’m going to make my life worth while by saying something of value. If I can get one person to give up cigarettes before it eats you alive”
- Eddie Lanier