Braiding Self into Social: Remembering Bob McGrath

Abstract

In this autoethnographic reflection, I examine the process of braiding self into social, through an exploration of learning about the death of Sesame Street cast member Bob McGrath while scrolling morning news headlines. I hope this reflection encourages others to think about media in everyday life.

Keywords:

• Autoethnography
• Sesame Street
• Bob McGrath
• media in everyday life

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Peter Joseph Gloviczki

Peter Joseph Gloviczki (Ph.D. Mass Communication, University of Minnesota, 2012) is the author of two scholarly books: Mediated Narration in the Digital Age: Storying the Media World (Nebraska, 2021) and Journalism and Memorialization in the Age of Social Media (Palgrave Macmillan, 2015). He is also the author of more than three dozen journal articles, many employing autoethnographic brevity to explore the changing communication environment, in Health Communication, Journal of Loss & Trauma, Qualitative Inquiry, Journal of Autoethnography, Humanity & Society and elsewhere. With Dr. Katie Foss he co-edited a special issue of Journal of Communication Inquiry focused on the COVID-19 public health pandemic. He is Past President of the Carolinas Communication Association and Past Head of the Cultural and Critical Studies Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. He works as professor and chairperson in the Department of Broadcasting and Journalism at Western Illinois University.