RUcore: Rutgers University Community Repository
Audio interview of Ken Nerger
Descriptive
TitleInfo
Title
Audio interview of Ken Nerger
Language
LanguageTerm
(authority = ISO 639-3:2007);
(type = text)
English
Genre
(authority = AAT)
oral histories
Genre
(authority = AAT)
interviews
Subject
(authority = local)
Topic
You're U.S.
Subject
(authority = LCSH)
Topic
Arts--New Jersey
Subject
(authority = local)
Topic
Throat cancer
Subject
(authority = local)
Topic
Chemical plant
Abstract
(type = abstract)
An interview with Ken Nerger, former gallery manager and chemical disposal worker.
This interview is a part of the You're U.S. project (http://youreus.com/). Created by Emile Klein, You’re U.S. is a unique ethnographic project using arts and craftsmanship to display the distinctive character of people across America. Its goal is to create an engaging and accessible public archive of American people and their histories, an archive that provides diverse opinions and honest representations of those documented.
This interview is a part of the You're U.S. project (http://youreus.com/). Created by Emile Klein, You’re U.S. is a unique ethnographic project using arts and craftsmanship to display the distinctive character of people across America. Its goal is to create an engaging and accessible public archive of American people and their histories, an archive that provides diverse opinions and honest representations of those documented.
PhysicalDescription
InternetMediaType
audio/mpeg
Extent
1 sound file (9mn 26s): digital
Name
(type = personal)
NamePart
(type = family)
Nerger
NamePart
(type = given)
Ken
Role
RoleTerm
(authority = marcrelator);
(type = text)
Interviewee
Name
(type = personal)
NamePart
(type = family)
Klein
NamePart
(type = given)
Emile B.
Role
RoleTerm
(authority = marcrelator);
(type = text)
Interviewer
Name
(type = personal)
Role
RoleTerm
(authority = marcrelator);
(type = text)
Audio Producer
NamePart
(type = family)
Aviram
NamePart
(type = given)
Shani
OriginInfo
DateCreated
(encoding = w3cdtf);
(keyDate = yes);
(qualifier = exact)
2011-11-03T22:58:00Z
Place
PlaceTerm
(type = text)
Clinton Township, NJ
RelatedItem
(type = is associated with)
Identifier
(type = doi)
http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.7282/T3862DT4
TitleInfo
Title
Portrait of Ken Nerger
RelatedItem
(type = is associated with)
Identifier
(type = doi)
http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.7282/T34F1P3T
TitleInfo
Title
Biographical essay of Ken Nerger
RelatedItem
(type = host)
TitleInfo
Title
You're U.S.
Identifier
(type = local)
rucore00000002176
Extension
DescriptiveEvent
Type
Related publication
Detail
Each person, in the You're U.S. collection, is represented by a traditional portrait painting, a radio quality oral history interview, and a brief biography.
AssociatedObject
Type
Related biographical essay
Name
Biographical essay of Ken Nerger
Relationship
Is Associated with
Reference
(type = digital)
http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.7282/T34F1P3T
AssociatedObject
Type
Related portrait
Name
Portrait of Ken Nerger
Relationship
Is Associated with
Reference
(type = digital)
http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.7282/T3862DT4
Extension
DescriptiveEvent
Type
Digital exhibition
Label
You're US: New Jersey
DateTime
(encoding = w3cdtf);
(qualifier = exact)
2011
AssociatedEntity
Role
Curator
Name
Klein, Emile B.
AssociatedEntity
Role
Biographer
Name
Sirkin, Jessica
AssociatedEntity
Role
Audio Producer
Name
Shani, Aviram
AssociatedEntity
Role
Artist
Name
Klein, Emile B.
AssociatedObject
Type
Exhibition section
Relationship
Forms part of
Name
Ken Nerger
Detail
You could say Ken Nerger was born unlucky. The ups and downs of fortune have written themselves in his dark eyes, his soft, hoarse voice ravaged by throat cancer, and the calm, even the way he tells his story – unflinchingly and with humor.
Ken was born with fetal alcohol syndrome. It’s never easy growing up different and Ken remembers clearly the brutality of the other children toward someone weaker than themselves. The hardship in his early life gave him strength and taught him compassion. Growing up, he and his grandmother hand-raised orphaned baby raccoons.
As an adult, Ken’s two careers couldn’t be more different. He found a love for art and antiquities and began his adult life by moving to New York City to run a gallery that catered to the rich and famous. When that job turned sour, he quickly adapted to his second career at a chemical processing plant, working outside in dangerous conditions. But, in both worlds Ken found strength and humility and remained a man of compassion. The most important thing for him was always to be able to feed his family. Bad luck still waited for him.
Ken developed throat cancer and it nearly killed him. His voice chokes up when he describes being unable to eat and looking in the mirror to find a skeleton looking back. He survived because he could not bear to leave his wife and children. However, the chemotherapy left him with difficulty forming new memories and so after a lifetime defined by hard work, he can no longer keep a steady job to support his family. Now, his wife has two jobs to make ends meet, their house is about to be foreclosed on, and the family subsists on food-stamps. The hardest part for Ken is that now, after all this time, there is nothing he can do.
Ken can look back on the past, but, with his memory disorder, the present and future will always be uncertain for him and it’s hard to rebuild a life on uncertainty. “I dream and I know what I’d like,” he says, “But I don’t know how to get there.”
His voice is sad for a moment, but then he laughs. A life of mixed fortune has left him too strong to be beaten down for long.
Ken was born with fetal alcohol syndrome. It’s never easy growing up different and Ken remembers clearly the brutality of the other children toward someone weaker than themselves. The hardship in his early life gave him strength and taught him compassion. Growing up, he and his grandmother hand-raised orphaned baby raccoons.
As an adult, Ken’s two careers couldn’t be more different. He found a love for art and antiquities and began his adult life by moving to New York City to run a gallery that catered to the rich and famous. When that job turned sour, he quickly adapted to his second career at a chemical processing plant, working outside in dangerous conditions. But, in both worlds Ken found strength and humility and remained a man of compassion. The most important thing for him was always to be able to feed his family. Bad luck still waited for him.
Ken developed throat cancer and it nearly killed him. His voice chokes up when he describes being unable to eat and looking in the mirror to find a skeleton looking back. He survived because he could not bear to leave his wife and children. However, the chemotherapy left him with difficulty forming new memories and so after a lifetime defined by hard work, he can no longer keep a steady job to support his family. Now, his wife has two jobs to make ends meet, their house is about to be foreclosed on, and the family subsists on food-stamps. The hardest part for Ken is that now, after all this time, there is nothing he can do.
Ken can look back on the past, but, with his memory disorder, the present and future will always be uncertain for him and it’s hard to rebuild a life on uncertainty. “I dream and I know what I’d like,” he says, “But I don’t know how to get there.”
His voice is sad for a moment, but then he laughs. A life of mixed fortune has left him too strong to be beaten down for long.
AssociatedObject
Type
Exhibition caption
Relationship
Forms part of
Name
Audio interview of Ken Nerger
Detail
An interview with Ken Nerger, former gallery manager and chemical disposal worker.
AssociatedObject
Type
Placement in digital exhibition
Relationship
Forms part of
Name
4
TypeOfResource
Sound
Subject
Name
(authority = local)
NamePart
(type = personal)
Nerger, Ken
Subject
HierarchicalGeographic
Country
UNITED STATES
State
New Jersey
County
Hunterdon County
City
Clinton (Hunterdon County, N.J.)
Note
(type = background music)
The Saxophone samples by Joshua Marshall.
Note
(type = sponsor)
You're U.S. is fiscally sponsored by Artspire, a program of The New York Foundation for the Arts.
Identifier
(type = doi)
doi:10.7282/T3CZ35H3
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Rights
RightsDeclaration
(AUTHORITY = RULIB);
(ID = rulibRdec0003)
This resource is protected by copyright. You may make use of this resource, with proper attribution, for educational and other non-commercial uses only. Please contact You're U.S. to obtain permission for reproduction, publication, and commercial use.
RightsHolder
(type = personal)
Name
FamilyName
Klein
GivenName
Emile B.
Role
Copyright holder
RightsEvent
Type
Permission or license
AssociatedEntity
Role
Copyright holder
Name
Emile B. Klein
AssociatedObject
Type
License
Name
Permission/ Release form for Emile B. Klein
Copyright
Status
Copyright protected
Availability
Status
Open
Reason
Permission or license
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Source
SourceTechnical
SourceType
Audiotape
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Technical
RULTechMD
(ID = TECHNICAL1)
ContentModel
Audio
CreatingApplication
DateCreated
(encoding = w3cdtf);
(qualifier = exact)
2012-12-14
ApplicationName
Pro Tools
PreservationLevel
full
Duration
00:09:26
System
Linear PCM
SoundQualities
Channels
NumChannels
2 channels
SoundSampling
SamplingRate
44.1 kHz
BitsPerSample
24-bit
BitRateReduction
Compression
CompressionType
Uncompressed
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Statistical Profile