Remembering Keith Tingman Jr.
It’s with deep sadness I’m writing this post. Radio Rookies has lost a valued member of our community. Former Rookie Reporter Keith Tingman died on February 12, 2015.
When Keith began working with us six years ago, he was 14-years-old, playful, sweet, small, and initially unsure of exactly what he wanted to report on. After several hours of discussion over the course of many weeks we weren’t any closer to figuring out what his story should be about. It turned out that he was having a difficult time opening up to us, the Rookies staff. Then he had a long conversation with fellow Rookie Miguelina Diaz and he disclosed that on his 10th birthday he saw both his parents get arrested. The day had been traumatic for Keith and the subsequent year-long separation from his dad had stayed with him as a painful memory. Very quickly, it became clear that it was an important story to Keith and one he felt needed to be told. Even though reporting on it meant talking publicly about a difficult moment in his family’s history, his lovely mother Amanda opened up right away and offered every kind of support a mom could give. After a few months, I began working with Keith at their home after school, with Amanda nearby, often preparing dinner, occasionally piping up to help clarify facts or simply encourage Keith to stay focused during the many tedious hours of logging tape and writing narration.
Keith’s love for his mother was profound and beautiful. He was the middle child, with an older sister finishing up high school and a younger brother, who is severely autistic, who needed a great deal of care and attention. In addition to taking care of her kids, Amanda was looking for work and trying to keep the household running. Despite very full (and I imagine) stressful life circumstances, Amanda and Keith were so present with each other, whether joking around or sorting through difficult memories for his story, that I often left their home feeling moved by their connection.
Like many Rookies, Keith was nervous about most of the interviews he had to do for his story, but he persevered and wound up producing an important piece about an all-too-common experience for children. In 2010, his story was one of a series that won the RFK Journalism Award. I have such fond memories of traveling to DC for the Awards ceremony with Keith, his mom, and the rest of the Bronx 2009 Radio Rookies Workshop. It was a special time, made even more special by a lovely boy named Keith Tingman.
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