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Richard A. Singer | Million Dollar Run

October 31, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Richard Singer, author, is planning a million dollar run for charity. We spoke with him about his books, and about his upcoming run. From his website:

Author and therapist Richard Singer has signed an agreement with the Guiness Book of World Records to attempt breaking the current 27 year old record by crossing the United States in 46 days on foot. He will be benefiting several charities representing different aspects of life. In addition, 50% of his book sales profit will also be donated to charity. Rick hopes to raise $1 million dollars and show the world what one person can do to make lasting changes.

Join Rick as he sets out on February 20, 2009 to run from Los Angeles to NYC to raise a money for charity which includesElton John’s Aids Foundation, American Cancer Society, Damon and Stella Foundation for Mental Health, Indra Loka Animal Sanctuary, and the Choice Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation Center.  

Interview with Olof Eriksen | Sound Authors Radio

October 31, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Dr. Kent:  Welcome back to Sound Authors.  Today is June 6, 2008 and we’re talking all about books.  My next guest is the author of Memoirs of an Immigrant.  It’s a hard cover book.  His name is Olof A. Ericksen.  Welcome to the show.

 Olof Ericksen:  Thank you very much; it’s nice to be here.

 Dr. Kent:  Tell me a little bit about your book Memoirs of an Immigrant.

 Olof Ericksen:  Well, this book is about my life going all the way back to 1740 and there’s a reason for its going back there because of trouble with my mom and dad when they had a very ugly divorce and had you read part of my book you will find out that my dad is a bastard.  And in order to prove that wrong I researched my dad all the way back to the Norwegian mountains in 1740.  At that time I’m asking my mom well, where’s that bastard part?  That’s the reason why I’m going back that far.  Apparently of course I was born in Norway in 1936 and the book is just about from then until now.

 Dr. Kent:  What happened to you around the world war and all of that?  What did it look like to you?

 Olof Ericksen:  I was terribly hurt in 1942 during the war but what really bashed my life up where it became a total mystery was that with the heavy bombing in Bergen, Norway at the time and we were evacuated to Oslo and meanwhile my mother had gotten special permission from Gestapo to go free with my little baby brother.  When we came back three months later from Oslo to Bergen my dad was standing there on the platform and no mom.  Of course I wanted her to forget that I asked him, “where’s mommy?”  Mommies gone. 

 In fact, my mother abandoned me in 1944.  My dad was an alcoholic and when the war was over I was what you call unspeakably poor.  The Norwegian government paid for school or whoever did it, I do not know but one day two people came to the house where we lived and before you know it we were forced away from my drunken father and we were forced into a boy’s home and that’s where I grew up.  7-1/2 years in Norway and it was very unpleasant, very brutal what they did to me and it goes on and on from there.

 Dr. Kent:  Now you grew up in that home; how did you end up here?

 Olof Ericksen:  My mom came to Norway in 1952 and invited me and my little brother Erik.  I was in college at the time; my little brother was still in the boy’s home and that poor boy went into the fire when he went to Sweden.  It was terrible for him in Sweden because my dad was a drunkard and her new husband, my stepfather, was a drunkard also and was extremely unpleasant.  Anyway, a beautiful thing happened to me when my brother who was in the American army in Frankfurt Germany was allowed in Christmas 1944 to come to Sweden and one of my Christmas presents was the invitation to come to this country. 

 Well, here I am.  In 1956 I immigrated to the United States.  It was tough, extremely tough.  I could not speak English, I had no money, I had a trade as an engineer from Sweden that was given back to me by the United States government in 1960 just about.  When I was drafted into the American army they saw the papers I had in Norway and Sweden and said, “Mr. Ericksen, you are in fact by our standards and our schooling an engineer.”  So they bestowed me that degree in the United States. 

 I was lucky, very fortunate to hold some nice, responsible jobs but I felt that I was always short changed in what I was doing.  I ventured out on my own in 1973.  Yeah I struggled but I was lucky and yes today I own a worldwide company and I’m comfortable thanks to this country.  I assume you saw my book.

 Dr. Kent:  One of the great impetuses for you to write this book was not just to tell your own story but to show people that pretty much people can overcome any kind of odds.  Tell us a little bit about what is your message to people that are poor and abused and left behind?

 Olof Ericksen:  Well let me say this.  Some of the professional reviewers out there, you probably know who they are, many of them anyway like Mr. Sam Hutchinson.  He is in fact saying this book is about hope, that you can make anything of yourself if you give it a whack.  That’s a gratifying thing now; beautiful words are coming from everywhere and like he said overcoming an obstacle is perhaps the theme of the book.  And that’s what he says. 

 Yesterday somebody logged in on the Barnes & Noble and quite honestly I can’t recite it because it was beautiful.  So I recognize, yes I did my thing.  Where I came from you have to read what happened to me in the boys home, all of the brutality, and in fact I made it, and of course I made it because of this country.  The opportunities are here and if you take advantage of it, be fair and square and work and learn, you’ll make it.  In my opinion, there’s no reason for anyone in this country to walk around with their hands out.  I’m sorry, I do not agree with that.

 Dr. Kent:  How about in this economic situation right now, it’s interesting, it’s certainly nothing like the situation you were in where you lost both parents and you’re in this horrible situation and you fought your way out.  In the economy right now there’s a lot of people losing their homes, there’s people that can’t drive to work because of the gas prices.  What do you think is in store for us here in this country?

 Olof Ericksen:  I don’t quite understand.  Let me ask you a question.  I assume you saw my book.

 Dr. Kent:  Yes.

 Olof Ericksen:  I drive a Rolls Royce.  You must understand what this car stands for in my opinion.  I’m not driving the Rolls Royce to flaunt it, to show off; it’s not that.  If you read my book you will see right after World War II you see this car in 1950 on the highway in Norway.  I just never forgot that sight and I realized if you want something like this, you just have to earn it.  In this country, it’s a beautiful country to do anything you want. 

 Like I said in my paper to you, in my opinion, because I see the kids today and I try to help the kids around.  I’m a certified teacher for machining tool and die making at my company and I taught a lot of people how to become something.  But people dropping out of school is not going to help and walking around crying about what’s bad is not going to help because the opportunities are there.

 Dr. Kent:  How did all of that come about for you?  I know you found the United States and you found your success, but back at the very beginning you read Robinson Crusoe and that’s of course a favorite book of many of ours, mine as well.  The way that he could build things out of nothing; how did that encourage you?

 Olof Ericksen:  You have to go back a step or two.  Take me 10, 11, 12 years old and the brutality of the boy’s home.  You try to hide away from it but you can’t.  So I was lucky.  One day I found a book, its name was Robinson Crusoe.  And I read it and I said, “Ay-ay-ay, if I could only get out of the boys home, get on a ship some place and let it sail away and jump overboard when it comes to anywhere to get away from the boys home.” 

 That was the thing that I wanted but if you go beyond that I also read the book The Count of Monte Cristo.  If you can live with it and understand what I’ve done what happened to me, when you are in dire need that I was in as a boy you cannot but help dreaming.  Reading a book like this, and that’s where there’s nothing there to put your hand on until Christmas when my brother invited me to this country.  That’s why I’m a realist, what will be will be; providence.  That’s when in effect, if you read the book The Count of Monte Cristo, he was in a dungeon for 14 years.  I was in a dungeon too for 7-1/2 years; in the boy’s home. 

 My brother handed me a map to the treasure; a map to the island of America.  Some place in America there is a treasure to be found.  I found it by having the skills, my engineering degree from Europe.  And there’s one thing if you look into my book when I graduated engineering I did not go into engineering.  I wanted to learn what engineering was all about and became a tool and die maker if you read my book.  So I learned my skill so that when I started my company I was very fortunate.  I worked with jet engines and in flying hardware up above and the critical nature of these things. 

 I was terribly fortunate to meet this buyer, his name was Jim Albright.  He was a rear gunner in World War II and flew over my head.  I saw him up there fighting the Germans and everything else. I don’t know his name but after the war I found him by chance.  I think you read about that.  Okay?  So there’s lots of luck also but I found a treasure in means of working and doing the work for this company called the ### Company, then buying a division of theirs.  You saw how they stole it away from me and how I fought them back and I lost everything. 

 And how on an Easter day, true story, we went to dinner, my wife and my boy, and here in these plastic bags of garbage is the plans of a company that shut down and this is what I need.  There is everything there.  If you understand a machine shop there’s all the drawings, customer names, everything is right in front of me.  The treasure of the world is right there in these plastic bags in forms of written documents and catalogs telling me what I have to do to recover.  And that’s what I did.  If you read my book I signed someplace there towards the end that due to what people did to me I am not afraid to having brought them out because there is no lies, there is only fact there. 

 It’s all the truth.  I am saying that for as long as my company and this company exists they shall forever pay me back and they admitted in the courtroom that they stole $14 million from me.  I got it back.  Its an unbelievable story, a lot of people are reading it now and the reviewers professional and otherwise, the readers, that’s coming in now is awesome.  There’s five star reviews, you can look it up on Barnes & Noble.  Anybody who reads this and sees this book; Memoirs of an Immigrant can see this for themselves.

 Dr. Kent:  It’s been a real pleasure speaking with Olof Ericksen, author of Memoirs of an Immigrant.  It is clearly a book that we all have to pick up and read about overcoming suffering, overcoming all odds.  It’s been a real honor and I wish you the best success.

 Olof Ericksen:  It is very kind of you sir, thank you very much.

Interview with Nikki Grimes | Sound Authors Radio

October 30, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Dr. Kent:  Welcome back to Sound Authors.  It’s my great pleasure to welcome Nikki Grimes to the show.  She’s authored many, many children’s books.  Her latest book is Barack Obama: Son of Promise, Child of Hope.  She is the winner of the Corretta Scott King Literary Award; she’s been on the New York Times Bestseller List with this book.  Welcome to the show.

Nikki Grimes:  Thank you so much.

Dr. Kent:  Tell me about what this book means to you.

Nikki Grimes:  Well I was happy to have the opportunity to write it.  As often happens when writing a book and researching it, I made lots of discoveries in the process.  I knew very little about Senator Obama when I began but I got very excited about his candidacy the more I learned about him so that was a great thing.

Dr. Kent:  The book itself is so beautiful.  Illustrated by Brian Collier and the two of you are both award winning children’s author and illustrators.  What does it mean to write a book about a political character in political season?

Nikki Grimes:  Well that’s been a bit of a challenge.  I hadn’t realized it never having done this before, chosen a political person to write a biography of and certainly not during the political season.  It’s been really crazy because the book has been positive as some sort of primer on the electoral process for the young set, which it is not and dealt with as a political football which has been a bit disheartening and I can say, “No, no, no, this is a biography.”  Because that’s what it is, it’s a biography and so yeah it’s been a bit crazy actually.

Dr. Kent:  He’s such a fascinating character.  His life story and then lets talk about you focus on his name, which has been such again like under scrutiny, it’s been in focus in the media.  His name was Barry growing up.  Talk about his change of name from Barry to Barack.

Nikki Grimes:  It was a very personal decision.  I mean, Barry was sort of just a nickname and when he went through a long period of time really of asking himself who he was and trying to deal with his own personal identity and realized he needed to just stake a claim for himself.  He took that name as part of that process of becoming his own person of stepping away from anybody’s expectations or ideas of who he was and just claiming, well this is who I am, Barack is my name and I’m going to make it mean what I want it to.  I think that was a big part of that.  This is his way of naming himself and claiming who he was.

Dr. Kent:  What I love about this book is at the bottom there’s this little dialogue going on about the book itself and this is not a very frequent thing used in children’s book.  You’ve framed his story with a character who’s reading the story, a character who’s following along with you; David, right?

Nikki Grimes:  Yes.  It’s a story within a story and I chose that format because we’re writing about someone who is an adult and usually in children’s books the main character is a child.  I wanted to make sure the young readers would be able to resonate with his story.  So in addition to pulling out those aspects of his own childhood.  I wanted to have that young perspective throughout the book.  What this all must look like from a child’s eye view.  That is my job as a children’s author, to always be thinking about the child’s eye view and this allowed me to do that.

Dr. Kent:  So tell me the book itself is gorgeous of course and really stunning but now politically as a children’s author you are as my first guest on the show talked about, you’re a member of this national children’s book and literacy alliance.  You are an African American woman; what does it feel like to be writing a book that is in the middle of this political fray and honestly its beautiful and does have impact on children in that way.

Nikki Grimes:  Well thank you.  I was honored just from the point of view of this is history making.  I grew up at a time prior to the voting rights act and so the very possibility of an African American running for presidency on a major party ticket was not even thinkable in my generation.  So to not only witness it but to be even in a small way attached to it is pretty phenomenal.  I feel definitely graced to be involved with that whole process.

Dr. Kent:  You’ve written so many books.  What books are you working on now?

Nikki Grimes:  I have a new young adult novel which I just completed, I have a new chapter book series which will launch next year and I have some work with historical novels which I’m going to research on Harriett Tubbman and Susan B. Anthony so lots of irons in the fire.

Dr. Kent:  At the beginning of writing; it’s really a gift to write for children.  When people pick up the book they think oh, there’s not many words here but it’s a real gift to be able to speak to children especially about a topic that’s not easy to read about, like politics.  What started you out as a writer?  What kind of advice did you get?

Nikki Grimes:  Oh lots of advice.  From my father just to develop a writer’s eye and ear at a very early age to just really take in everything that goes on around me.  I’m just constantly editing; I don’t even think about it anymore.  From picking up dialogue heard at a restaurant at another table to really just honing in on conversations when I have them so I can be truly in the moment and just filing those things away; dialects and dialogues in the environment in which I stand sort of things so that when I come to the page those things come forward as I need them to when I’m creating a scene or creating dialogue or fleshing out characters.

And it’s a question of practice.  I mean the two things I say to young people who want to know what it takes to be a writer and you have to read, read, read and write, write, write.  You can’t be a writer without first of all being a good reader and taking from all of the beautiful works of literature of the past in terms of lessons.  And of course in order to write you have to practice because writing is a muscle that has to be exercised and there’s no way to just suddenly be there you have to work to get to that place and that takes a lot of practice.  So read, read, read and write, write, write.

Dr. Kent:  It’s been a wonderful show today because my last guest David Mendell is a biographer of Obama; he’s got a great biography.  He said when he spoke with Barack Obama about his speaking ability he said practice, practice, practice.  So I guess its read, read, read, write, write, write and practice, practice, practice.

Nikki Grimes:  That’s right.

Dr. Kent:  I’m running out of time here so I want to go back to Barack Obama.  What do you feel like in this silly season?  This back and forth bordering on hysterics in some of the campaign meetings.  What do you feel like the American people are going through right now?

Nikki Grimes:  It’s difficult and I think we’re all just one out from the campaign, the length of it and we’re on so much turmoil in terms of our financial situation.  It’s not the best place in America on the whole.  The drama just sort of adds to it.  I think we all just want to focus on the important issues, the issues that are going to touch our lives, that are touching our lives now and will be the issues after Election Day.  If we can just stay focused on that we’ll be okay.

Dr. Kent:  It’s been a real honor speaking with Nikki Grimes.  Her website is nikkigrimes.com.  There’s some great stuff on there and if I had children I’d certainly buy all 50 books that you’ve written.  The latest book is called Barack Obama:  Son of Promise, Child of Hope.  Its gorgeous and the story inside will surprise children and adults.   When I read the book I was surprised how personal and how wonderfully soulful the story itself is.  It’s not just a political posturing book, this is a book about the story of a person and it’s beautiful.

Nikki Grimes:  Thank you so much.

Dr. Kent:  It’s been an honor speaking with Nikki Grimes and on the show earlier today, the biographer David Mendell and of course Mary Brigid Barrett talking to us about Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out.  Have a safe week; we’ll see you the next time.

Old School Freight Train | New Sound

October 30, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Jesse Harper from Old School Freight Train was on the show today. About Old School Freight Train:Old School Freight Train, from Charlottesville, VA combines thought provoking lyrics with captivating melodies, soulful vocals, virtuosic instrumentals and imaginative arrangements. Blending folk, jazz, soul, pop, bluegrass, latin and celtic, OSFT offers a unique musical experience the BOSTON GLOBE claims is “the Next Big Thing” and the CHICAGO TRIBUNE claims is “accessible but uncompromising in creativity.” DAVID GRISMAN says, “After forty years of recording acoustic music, it’s not very often that a new band catches, and keeps, my attention. Old School Freight Train has done that and more.” “Shades of Jack Johnson, Ben Harper… even a kiss of Van Morrison… Old School Freight Train is off on a timeless new track blending roots and rock to create a sound that’s all their own.” - Tim Dickinson, National Affairs Correspondent, Rolling Stone 

Interview with Cindy Myers | Sound Authors Radio

October 30, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Dr. Kent:  Welcome to the show today.  It’s June 6, 2008 and it’s actually been 40 years since Senator Robert Kennedy died in Los Angeles.  The day after he was shot tragically.  A lot of us I are thinking about Robert Kennedy now that Barack Obama is the democratic candidate.  I sure hope that he stays safe because it was a real tragedy 40 years ago.  It’s also just starting to feel like summer out here in New York.  It’s rainy and cold today but it’s getting there.  I have four guests on the show today, actually I have three guests.  I’m doing something unprecedented here at sound authors and I’m going to be the fourth guest and talk about my other life as a musician and play some songs.  My three guests today are Cindy Myers, Olof Ericksen, and Steven Wax.  My first guest is a romance novelist.  She’s going to come and clarify what romance novels are and her newest book is called A Soldier Comes Home.  Welcome to the show Cindy Myers.

 Cindy Myers:  I’m very happy to be here today.

 Dr. Kent:  Tell me a little bit about A Soldier Comes Home. 

Cindy Myers:  A Soldier Comes Home is about a solder who gets a Dear John letter while serving in Iraq.  He comes home to an empty house and a two year old son he doesn’t really know.  He needs to get his life back together and he meets a young widow who’s husband was killed earlier in the war.  So we have two people who are sort of casualties of the war at home who are trying to overcome that and of course being romance they fall in love and do find a way to overcome it.

 Dr. Kent:  Well it’s good to get into right away.  Romance novels often carry the stigma of oh, you’re reading a romance novel, it’s a bit of trash; clarify that for me. 

Cindy Myers:  I think the people that say that haven’t really read romance novels.  Romance writers tend to explore the relationships.  Writers as a whole I think explore the things that interest them.  So maybe a thriller writer will want to explore the mind of a killer or the psychology of fear; and maybe a mystery writer is interested in solving puzzles.  So romance writers, the thing we want to delve into relationships. 

 Love is one of the most powerful emotions.  What is it that’s so compelling about love and the experience of falling in love?  Romance novels just look at that and all the different types of people fall in love and the different obstacles that might come to people who fall in love.  So I think that’s the attraction of romance novels and maybe its why some people don’t understand it, maybe they’re leery of delving into that or it’s too touchy feely for them.  Obviously they’re not for everyone but for me the big attraction is what is it that makes people fall in love and why is it so strong and compelling?

 Dr. Kent:  What was your first romance novel that you read?

 Cindy Myers:  My first romance that I read was A Knight in Shining Armour by Jude Deveraux.  I had never read one before and a friend gave it to me to read and I was just blown away.  I was intrigued by the story, I couldn’t put it down and I thought wow, I want to read more stories like that.  I found it very satisfying.

 Dr. Kent:  Were you immediately in love with that genre?

 Cindy Myers:  I was.  I really was. Like I said it was brand new to me, I wanted to go out and find more books that gave me that same feeling.

 Dr. Kent:  So how about you grew up in was it really a town called Cut and Shoot?

 Cindy Myers:  Yes it is; Cut and Shoot Texas.

 Dr. Kent:  Can you tell us more about that?

 Cindy Myers:  Well it’s a little small town in east Texas.  It has a fire station, a post office, six churches and about six bars.  It’s a real wide spot in the road but it’s a neat little town.  It claims to be the same as the hometown of Roy Harris who was a doctor, who was a former Miss America. 

 Dr. Kent:  What do folks down there in cut n shoot think about your romance novels?

 Cindy Myers:  Well my brother still lives there and I went to school there so I still know a lot of people there and they seem really pleased.  I had a book signing there very early in my career and had a really good turn out.  I think I wrote one novella that was actually set in Cut and Shoot and they seemed to get a kick out of that.

 Dr. Kent:  So tell me a little bit about now specifically you’ve now written a romance novel that’s not I guess its not what I’m expecting when I’m going to pick up a romance novel.  Not that I actually to pick up romance novels but were I to read them and there’s many, many people that read them, why A Soldier Comes Home?

 Cindy Myers:  Well, the idea came to me when the Rocky Mountain News did a series of articles about soldiers in Iraq and one of the articles was about soldiers who get Dear John letters while they’re over there and I thought it was just so sad and one of the guarantees of the romance novel is a happy ending.  I can’t give happy endings to all those soldiers in real life but I could do it in the pages of a book so it was sort of cathartic I guess to make things come out better than they perhaps do in real life.  So that’s what really attracted me to the story.

 Dr. Kent:  What in the story, how do you develop a character as opposed to I guess a non-romance novel.  How do you develop a character, build conflict and then of course like you said romance novels always end well because that’s something that your readers actually entrust in you to do.  Tell me a little about the form.

 Cindy Myers:  The focus of the romance novel is on relationships.  So you look at the characters as how the relationship affects them.  You develop a character just like you would in any other genre.  They have problems that they need to overcome, but the focus is on how is love or their love interest helping them to overcome those problems.  You have to avoid having someone fix them or an outside character come in and fix the problem. 

 The character still has to resolve their conflict themselves but the love interest helps them to see the conflict in a different way or gives them a different perspective or having this other person love them, giving them the confidence to say something.  So it’s all about how the romantic relationship impacts them as a person.

 Dr. Kent:  Also in your biography you said you met your husband on a blind date and you were engaged after six weeks.

 Cindy Myers:  Yes.

 Dr. Kent:  Do you live a romance novel?

 Cindy Myers:  That’s very true; yes I have my own romance novel.  I can say that I believe in love at first sight because it was pretty much that way for us.  We have been married 29 years in December so it definitely took.

 Dr. Kent:  Through those 29 years of marriage was there ever a point when you said no, this isn’t really exactly like a romance novel?

 Cindy Myers:  Well of course real life isn’t like a romance novel in that it’s much longer and so you have lots of ups and downs but the basic love is there I mean, we’ve been very lucky.  And I do think luck plays a certain point in it.  I can say that my own relationship has inspired me to write about love.

 Dr. Kent:  So when you connect to your readers, there’s a lot of different readers that pick these books up because we’re talking about books that are in CVS Pharmacy, they’re in Wal-Mart, they’re in anywhere anyone goes.  People pick them up and read them on vacation or they read them after a breakup or when they’re in a good relationship, so what kind of responses do you get from your readers?

 Cindy Myers:  It’s really interesting.  I get lots of responses from readers and its amazing how many people will write and say oh this story is just like my relationship with my husband. Or, we had the same kind of problem and it’s really good to see people overcoming them.  I’m really surprised by that and I love to get letters from people who aren’t in a romantic relationship who say I really enjoy reading this because I’m hoping to find that kind of relationship one day.  I get people who are in relationships and people who aren’t.

 Dr. Kent:  What I find fascinating is your books have been translated into gosh, how many languages?  Ten languages?  Let’s say there’s someone in Japan or Korea or Holland who has a relationship and they read this book.  How do they connect to the story?

 Cindy Myers:  I’m not sure.  I don’t get very many foreign reader letters possibly because of the language barrier but they must be very popular because the books sell overseas in all kinds of countries.  So I’m thinking that love is one of those universal emotions.

 Dr. Kent:  Have you ever thought of writing a Greek or Japanese romance? 

 Cindy Myers:  I did write a series that had Greek characters in it.  It was actually set on a cruise ship so it was very international and the two main characters were Greek.  I haven’t written any Japanese characters but I might one day.

 Dr. Kent:  What projects are you working on?  You’ve obviously been well published; you can do many different things if you want.  What are you working on?

 Cindy Myers:  I have another three more books coming out this year and I’m writing books for next year.  More romances; I’m working on one right now; actually I just finished it up.  Sarah is a 40 year old single mom who’s pregnant for the first time and the dad is a single dad who’s trying to get custody of his daughter.  He lost it and is trying to get it back so they’re dealing with those issues and that was really interesting to explore.

 Dr. Kent:  Very interesting.  And you have a background in not just novel writing but you’ve also done all sorts of freelance work, correct?  Newspapers?

 Cindy Myers:  Right, I wrote for a newspaper and magazine for a number of years.  I did a lot of medical articles, travel articles, history articles.

 Dr. Kent:  Do you like romance the best?

 Cindy Myers:  I do, because you get to create your own world and I think that’s a real attraction of fiction.  You have control over the characters, creating that world and going where it interests you whereas a freelancer you’re really bound by what topics your magazine is looking for and also it’s a constantly looking for work.  At least a book lasts a little bit longer.

 Dr. Kent:  Tell us where we can find all of your books.  I know your website cindymyers.com and in stores.  But give us some more information.

 Cindy Myers:  You can also go to e-harlequin.com.  They’re actually running a free novella that’s connected to A Soldier Comes Home and you can download that and read it for free to kind of get a taste of what the book is like.  I have a MySpace page, so I’m all over the web.

 Dr. Kent:  We’ll keep in touch with you and we’ll see what your next project is.  Three books this year; keep up the work and I wish you all the best.

 Cindy Myers:  Thank you for having me on the show today.

Interview with David Mendell | Sound Authors Radio

October 29, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Dr. Kent:  Welcome back to Sound Authors.  Today is Friday October 24th, just a couple weeks until a huge election here in the history of the country and the whole world is watching after a ridiculously long period of vetting all of the candidates here.  It’s my honor to welcome my next guest David Mendell.  He’s the author of Obama:  From Promise to Power.  It’s a wonderfully written book; good looking and well written.  He’s a native of Cincinnati, Ohio and began writing about urban issues in politics for the Chicago Tribune ten years ago.  Welcome to the show David Mendell.

David Mendell:  Well thanks for having me, I appreciate it.

Dr. Kent:  Tell me about your experience I guess over the last year, having written this book and sort of being thrust into the spotlight that Obama has here.

David Mendell:  Yes, it’s been quite a ride.  It’s sort of like I hopped onto a rocket ship a few years ago and you’re just not sure when it’s going to land or where it’s going.  You’re just trying to sort of hold on for dear life.  I was with the Chicago Tribune in 2002-2004 when Obama ran for the US Senate and I was at the time to cover his US Senate campaign on the democratic side of the ticket.

So that’s where I entered the picture and I didn’t get too far into that race when I realized that perhaps there was a very important subject and I need to explore it with greater depth.  So I went off after that election, after that year and spent the next couple of years researching his life and trying to keep up with his current methods at the time and his political trajectory and produced what I hope is a pretty objective biography of him.

Dr. Kent:  What’s fascinating to me about Obama is that in a sense the people around him and you of course detail them very well in this book.  The one that fascinates me the most is Michelle Obama and I just heard her speak via You Tube clip a couple of weeks ago and was just astounded at the depth of her intelligence and poise.  Talk a little bit about her role in this book.

David Mendell:  Oh yes, she is exceptionally important to Senator Obama’s career even though she wasn’t centrally involved in his political career until his movement for president.  She provided numerous interview clearances and some counsel along the way actually as to places I should go and people I should talk to, to get at the essence of her husband.  She told me I needed to get to Hawaii to interview relatives there and to just see how Hawaii added so much to his character.  She is poised, charismatic and all those things.

What she brings to his character I think is sort of a skeptical nature that he found in his grandmother who he is now visiting in Hawaii who is gravely ill.  Obama’s mother was a real dreamer, a romantic type of person.  She really saw the good in people but his grandmother was very skeptical of people and Michelle fits in both categories.  She can size people up pretty quickly and she has been a very good counsel to him in that regard.  He seeks out her advice when he asks should I trust this person.  What’s your feeling?  And she’s also connected to the American community in a way that he hasn’t been historically in his growing up so she has a good radar when it comes to appealing to that community.  So she has been exceptionally influential with him in his personal life and his professional life.

Dr. Kent:  As one of just a tiny group of biographers of Obama, and this book of course is a Washington Post Bestseller, how have you seen this character Obama change?  Of course, I myself over the last couple of years have been amazed to see Obama grow and change as have many of us that have watched but you’ve watched him much further and you’ve delved into his past and you talk about how his grandmother thinks about his political career and his wife.  How have you seen him change and how has he changed to become this character?

David Mendell:  Well I don’t think the core of him has changed; he’s really grown as a candidate from when I saw him.  Of course he’s much more scripted and he sticks to his lines better now than he used to.  He would, the voice I covered deeply as the senate race was a much more organic thing.  He was pulling his ear at times and was very effective in that way because he could come across as authentic to reporters and to the general public, which they really enjoyed.  He didn’t give any scripted speeches, it was something that was never written down, he just memorized it and would deliver it in different ways to different groups of people.

But I don’t think he really acted like a political candidate and I’m sure that he’s mentioned that he isn’t an extraordinarily skeptical person.  I would imagine that he’s a little naïve primarily.  He could be a little naïve about politics.  There were a couple of debates in which some of his opponents kind of attacked him and he didn’t quite understand why but I think he’s got a much better conception of the politics than he did a few years ago.

So he’s a little less naïve and a little more polished; he’s much more polished as a political candidate because he’s grown in public debates very well.  He wasn’t a very good debater.  When I first started covering him he is a very talented orator meaning he can deliver a speech from beginning to end and have a theme throughout.

Dr. Kent:  That’s one thing that fascinates the world about him, whether conservative or liberal is his oration ability.  I remember distinctly sitting with my folks actually I believe it was during the holidays and watching his Iowa acceptance speech on the TV live and we had just watched John Edwards and were moved by John Edwards and I remember evoking responses to Obama.  I remember he would say things and I would speak back to the television.  At the end of that speech my mother said, “He’s the next president of the united states.”  I’ve never heard her say anything like that in my life, but that’s how powerful his oration is.  What does it mean to be an orator today?

David Mendell:  I think he’s the most inspiring political speaker we’ve seen in a long time.  I saw flashes of that when I started covering him.  There were some speeches where he would just really nail it and to see the audience reaction to him I would say I’ve never seen a speaker connect with an audience like this.  But there were also speeches that were very flat and very dull.  If he was not channeled in, it used to be that he could speak a little above people, he could be a little professorial but David Axelrod, his chief consultant, really instilled in him that you have to speak in terms of people in your speeches and their concerns and their lives.

Once Obama mastered that type of speech where he was talking more about people and less about policy, that’s when he became the speaker that you see today I think.  He’s exceptionally gifted and something he’s obviously worked on endlessly.  He told me that to be a good public speaker its just practice, practice, practice.  He would go every Sunday to African American churches; three, four or five in a row and deliver a political speech.  Those speeches and his talking to crowds one after another has really helped him in this campaign.  He evolved into this masterful speaker where he doesn’t have the flat, dull moments like he used to.

Dr. Kent:  Talk about David Axelrod; see this is something we don’t hear much about.  I was a junkie for the television show with Martin Sheen and all of that about the White House; it sort of talked about behind the scenes and all of that.  You rarely hear about David Axelrod’s role and the huge cadres that Barack Obama has built around himself to propel himself to this point.  What kind of insight did you get into that sort of entourage?

David Mendell:  He has 2,700 people working for his campaign now, it’s a huge operation and his advisors have expanded to some very polished, professionals from Washington and beyond.  But there’s nobody who’s been more influential than David Axelrod.  He is the premier political consultant here in Illinois who had worked on various national campaigns, senate campaigns and he is very adept at, he has a skill for (Axelrod does) selling a candidate in broader communities.  That’s been some talent of his for sometime now.

He helped elect Michael White to be mayor of Cleveland and obviously Obama as a senator here in Illinois and perhaps now as president with this huge talent of his.  He really understands racial dynamics especially when it comes to politics.  What can sell in each community, what part of a candidate can sell in each demographic group?  The counsel that he provided to Obama, he is the coach who really nurtured this young prime athlete into the professional who we see today.

They would spend hours on the phone each day when Obama would go over this kind of strategy or that kind of strategy and what he should say in the speeches, what he should deliver to the press, what messages he should deliver to the press, and David Axelrod was that guy of political ruler and he still plays that role although there are a lot more of them now.  Another one who is key is Robert Gibbs, a communications director who came along a few years ago.  He’s a tough guy who isn’t shy about beating up on the press and lobbying hard for his candidate.  As Obama put it, if he’s over in a foxhole this is the guy he wants beside him.

These are people who you know, if you watch the Sunday talk shows and cable news you see David Axelrod but I cant mention enough how important these guys are to the development of Obama as a very skilled and practical politician.

Dr. Kent:  I love at the very beginning of the book; it’s a shocking quote from Barack Obama, a kind of a neat one that frames his character.  He’s a basketball player of course, we all know that and he says, “I’m LeBron Baby.”  Talk about that.

David Mendell:  That was sort of an unguarded moment.  I spent a lot of time around his campaign and around him in that year in 2003, 2004 and got to know him very well and he really got quite comfortable with my presence.  Occasionally something would slip out that he didn’t want to slip out but we were walking around outside of the Som Center in Boston after the 2004 democratic convention and he had about ten reporters following him.  He and I had slipped through security before the rest and it was about three to four hours before he made his address to the convention.

I was trying to gauge whether he was, how he was going to do.  I thought is this guy going to be a big star or is he going to be a big failure because he’s never had to deliver a speech like this so I was kind of trying to take his temperature and I said to him you do pretty well with the interviews this week, you’re really impressing a lot of people.  And he just kept on walking in this sort of cocky stride that he has and that’s when it popped out, “Well, I’m LeBron baby!  I got some game; I can play at this level.”

I just thought the quote was so apt to have this young talented politician rise into the national ranks and it really reflected how many skills he had himself and he uses them the best.  LeBron James has become arguably the best player in the NBA and Obama has become arguably the best politician in the country.  So I thought that quote really encapsulized who Obama is.

Dr. Kent:  Let’s talk about the election coming up.  Its silly season as Obama said and as one of my twitter friends says in NASCAR all the time.  Obama is so far ahead in so many polls, but his side, including me, I support Obama and I’m terrified that he’s going to lose this thing because I think he’s such a fresh voice and amazing soul.  What’s your take on this whole election and where it’s going?

David Mendell:  If you look at the polls in the key states he looks to have a pretty safe advantage but you never know in an election.  I never try to call an election, especially a national election this far in advance.  There’s still many days here and things can happen in that period but all signs certainly point to him winning the key battleground states, pushing him ahead.  But historically the democrats have elected in the last 30 years one president.  So we have to wonder about that and I also have to think that race is a factor.

You probably can shave off a few points in a lot of these state polls in some of these states where race will play a factor.  One in 20 people or one in 15 people who now say they’re supporting Obama may get in there and say gee, I’m not sure about electing a black man.  I think we’ve come a long way on this issue in this country, but there’s still a strain on racism and so that’s a little bit of a wild card.  He has put together a massive political operation with so much money and with the get out the vote effort is going to be very strong.

His grassroots work is very strong and I suspect in some of these states we’re going to see a massive turnout for Obama, especially by African Americans, something that’s probably unprecedented.  And I think he’s going to have a lot of young people turn out in unprecedented numbers.  The McCain campaign has all the looks of a failing operation at this point.  So all things point his way but having said that, you never know in politics until the votes are counted.

Dr. Kent:  One thing that amazes me is that the Chicago Tribune endorsed Obama; for the first time they’ve endorsed a democrat in their history.  Is that right?

David Mendell:  Yes it is.  It’s a very republican paper but in the last generation or so its generation has gone mainstream; the reporting and news coverage has become very balanced.  Its editorial pages have remained conservative or tilted towards the center-right, but even that’s balancing out.  Chicago is a mostly democratic town, we’re a blue state here and I think the newspaper just has to start realizing what its audience is and not alienate its audience.  I have always loved Barack Obama.  I write in my book how he has met news editorial writers at the Chicago Tribune and David Axelrod was key to that.

Axelrod is a former Chicago Tribune writer who had a lot of influence with some key editors.  They knew him very well so he was always lobbying for his guy and pitching his guy.  The truth is Obama in his races a democrat was going to win in his legislative district and he seemed to be the most knowledgeable and best candidate in his democratic primary US Senate race.  So the Tribune has been a fairly ardent supporter editorially of Obama over the course of his career and he’s their native son aspect to this for Chicago and Illinois to have him in the White House.

Dr. Kent:  Let me ask you one last kind of tricky question here about the very first sentence on the back of the book on the copy on the cover.  It’s published by Amistad Harper Collins but Barack Obama is arguably the most dynamic political figure to grace the American stage since John F. Kennedy and then of course the second sentence talks about your subtitle him rising from promise to power.  How would you compare him to John Kennedy?  The interesting thing is Obama is really poised to be a huge figure in the history of the country and the world.  So how would you compare him to John Kennedy?

David Mendell:  I don’t think we’ve seen a charismatic figure in the presidency since Kennedy.  Clinton was charismatic but we know his presidency kind of had its difficulties.  But Obama has an aura about him and his family has an aura; he has a very attractive family.  As an African American voters are telling us that he’s our JFK.  The first time I heard that was here in Illinois before it really sunk in that he probably would run for president one day.  So he has that ability to inspire people with his speeches.

I think he actually, having studied John F. Kennedy for researching this book, he perhaps has more political skills than Kennedy did.  Kennedy hadn’t learned the business because his older brother Joe was really supposed to be the politician.  Kennedy was somewhat of a shy guy; initially he would go into a function and sort of melt away.  He didn’t glad hand people and he had to learn to give a good speech and with Obama it comes much more naturally to him.  In a lot of ways he’s the head of John.  I think his development as a politician is ahead of Kennedy.  I think he may be even more intelligent man than Kennedy; Kennedy was smart but Obama is exceptionally bright.

He can absorb things around him faster than anybody; it’s like a quarterback studying the field.  He picks up on things, he can remember things, little insignificant things that I would forget and they would still be lodged in there.  He’s a very smart man so we’ll have to see how a potential Obama presidency would enfold.  But I think there’s definitely a mystique and he’s a man who inspires people like Jack Kennedy in some small ways like Bobby Kennedy.

Dr. Kent:  It’s been a real honor speaking with David Mendell.  He’s a biographer of Barack Obama.  His book is called Obama:  From Promise to Power.  Extraordinary writing; it’s a Washington Post Bestseller and it’s the winner of the NAACP Image Award for outstanding literary work.  Thank you so much for being on the show.

David Mendell:  Thanks for having me Dr. Kent; I appreciate it.

Dr. Kent:  My next guest is another author who has written a biography of Barack Obama.  It’s for children and it’s called Barack Obama: Son of Promise, Child of Hope.  Nikki Grimes will be with me after this short break.

Nuala Gardner | Autism & Dogs

October 29, 2008 | Leave a Comment

We spoke with Nuala Gardner about her international bestseller “A Friend Like Henry.” More about the book from the Sourcebooks website: “The incredible story of a family with an autistic son, Dale, who conquers his disability thanks to the special bond he forms with Henry, a golden retriever puppy … This is a fascinating and inspiring real-life account.”

- Woman & Home

a friend like henryThe remarkable true story of an autistic boy and the dog that unlocked his worldWhen Jamie and Nuala Gardner chose a puppy for their son, Dale, they weren’t an ordinary family choosing an ordinary pet. Dale’s autism was so severe that the smallest deviation from his routine could provoke a terrifying tantrum. Family life was almost destroyed by his condition, and his parents spent most of their waking hours trying to break into their son’s autistic world and give him the help he so desperately needed. But after years of constant effort and slow progress, the Gardners’ lives were transformed when they welcomed a new member into the family, Henry, a gorgeous golden retriever puppy. The bond between Dale and his dog would change their lives …

“This touching story is an emotional rollercoaster.”- Book Review

“Emotionally charged, this is a story that raises powerful issues in a deeply personal and insightful manner.”- Irish Examiner

Kelly Adair | Body for Life

October 28, 2008 | Leave a Comment

From the bodyforlife.com website:Kelly Adair’s problem was the same one many adults experience: procrastination. She knew she would one day make the effort to get back in shape—that day just never seemed to be today. Then, one day when she realized she was tipping the scales at 170 pounds, she decided today had arrived. She knew there was a body she could be proud of beneath the layers of baggy t-shirts and fat she had covered herself up with for so many years. In an effort to put a stop to her downward spiral of weight gain, Kelly joined a gym and accepted the Challenge. By the end, she lost 25 pounds of fat and went from a size 14 to a size 6. Her approach was simple: exercise consistently and eat three small, balanced meals and three snacks per day. ”I never knew what the word `focus’ meant until I made the decision to change my body and change my life,” Kelly says. “I knew I would achieve my goals … failing was not an option.” Now, five years after being named a 1998 Champion, Kelly’s plan is still going strong and she continues to be successful in her weight management. ”I’m proud of my initial success, but even more proud of the fact that I have continued to live a healthy lifestyle for the last five years since winning the Challenge,” Kelly says. “My biggest reward is how I feel. The program improved my physical condition, but more importantly it changed my attitude about myself. I feel empowered and confident. I’ll never go back to the way I was.” “I am proof that any carpooling, kid-totin’ `soccer mom’ in her 30s who has lost that twenty-something body can get it back!” 

Erica Ferencik | Real Estate Comedy

October 27, 2008 | Leave a Comment

We spoke with Erica Ferencik about her hilarious novel “Cracks in the Foundation.” More about Erica from her website:Erica Ferencik is a Boston-based novelist and screenwriter with an MA in Creative Writing from Boston University. She ghosted a novel in Katherine Applegate’s best selling young adult sci-fi series “Animorphs” called The Mutation (written under her maiden name, Erica Bobone.) Her thriller screenplay MAMA’S GIRL placed in four national screenwriting competitions; her feature comedy MOB DOT COM, co-written with Rick D’Elia, placed in two. She’s written sketch comedy and performed standup for over ten years at major venues in Boston and throughout New England. Most recently she wrote and performed several radio performances for WGBH on a program called Morning Stories, a popular podcast available via a recent Itunes acquisition. These pieces, among other recent ezine publications including Common Ties, are archived at her website: www.wakeupandsmelltheblog.com. 

Interview with Matt MacIsaac | Sound Authors Radio

October 27, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Dr. Kent:  That was a little bit of a song by Matt MacIsaac from his latest album.  He’s putting out a new album soon but this album is called Matt MacIsaac, The Piping Album.  That song was called Dr. McInnis’ Family, Lynne Sutherland and the Drunken Landlady all put together.  Welcome to the show Matt MacIsaac.

 Matt MacIsaac:  Hi there.

 Dr. Kent:  I heard you play with Natalie McMaster.  How is that experience versus just sitting in front of the stage and playing a solo song like that?

 Matt MacIsaac:  Oh, well of course it’s different but it’s been fantastic playing with her you know.  It’s a great bunch of musicians and lots of energy and stuff, it’s a great time.  Where did you see us play?

 Dr. Kent:  I saw you play in Stonybrook New York out on Long Island.

 Matt MacIsaac:  Oh, cool.

 Dr. Kent:  It was a beautiful show.  It could be a small stage and it felt as if we were in a room with you, which is I guess the place this kind of music is supposed to be done.

 Matt MacIsaac:  Yeah.  The audience is almost sitting on the floor kind of thing?  It went right down to the stage. Yeah, that was a fun show I had a great time there.

 Dr. Kent:  What is it you like most about this music?

 Matt MacIsaac:  I think it’s just the energy that comes out of it.  I mean I grew up playing pipes and I sort of was born into it so I’ve always loved it I guess.  It was something that was always around so I didn’t really have a choice.  I don’t know, there’s just something about it.  I appreciate the heritage of it and it speaks to my roots kind of thing.

 Dr. Kent:  You also play tons of other instruments, right?  The banjo, guitar and things like that.  Why do you like the pipes the best?

 Matt MacIsaac:  I guess because it was my first instrument.  I enjoyed playing the other things too of course.  The banjo is a lot of fun and I love playing the whistle.  I’ve been playing that a lot more recently.  I love playing the guitar too; I’ve been playing that lately too.  But yeah, the pipes were always my thing, the thing that I guess I aspire to and competed with and that kind of thing.  Again, it’s something that’s been in my family for generations so it’s been part of me since I was born.

 Dr. Kent:  Now are you from Cape Breton?

 Matt MacIsaac:  Yes, I’m from a little place called St. Peters in Cape Breton, which is on the east side of the island.  I was born in Sydney which is the largest city in cape Breton but my family still lives there.  My mother and father live there, my grandmother and most of my moms family are there too.

 Dr. Kent:  Do your parents like that you go on the road and play these big concerts or do they say you should come on home and do the small venues near home?

 Matt MacIsaac:  No I mean they’re proud of what I’m doing I guess and they love seeing me go onto different states and different countries and try and do as much music I can, just like any parent would I guess.  But yeah, we don’t play that much at home so I sort of miss it.  It’s a couple of years between gigs at home so they don’t see me that much, but no I think they’re pretty proud of what we’re doing.

 Dr. Kent:  How about the world has really embraced this music.  It’s often put in the Celtic category; it is of course but it is such a unique brand of music coming from Cape Breton. Talk a little bit about your hometown.

 Matt MacIsaac:  Cape Breton music basically when the Scots came over during the Highland clashes they brought with them of course their fiddles and they brought pipes and stuff but now it seems almost that since Cape Breton is so isolated at the tip of Nova Scotia that its almost more Scottish than Scottish music is now because in Scotland I mean there’s lots of English and Irish influences in the music, a lot of jazz too. 

 When my friends and I talk about Scottish music it’s always sort of the same kind of style, like a lot of jazz chords and different arrangements and it’s really cool but I think Cape Breton has really stuck to what it’s always been and it is different from Irish music.  It’s different from Croatian, it’s different from Scottish, from Appalachian and I’m not sure exactly why.  It might be the style of the piano, the accompaniment that goes along with the music.  I wouldn’t call it refined, although there are a lot of great players that come out of Cape Breton.  It’s sort of a grittier sort of music I guess you could say. 

Dr. Kent:  What do you plan to do?  It says that various places on the web that you want to put out a new album.  Are you planning for that still?

 Matt MacIsaac:  Yeah I’m working on it now.  It’s going to be a lot different.  The piping you just heard of course is just piping, that’s why it’s called the Piping Album.  I wanted to do something that was really stripped down and bare and traditional because a lot of the piping albums that come out now and you wouldn’t think there were a lot but there are quite a few, at least in the piping world.  And it seems like everyone is trying to do something different, which is great for music but there were so many things coming out with different instruments and different styles.

 I thought well I’m just going to go back and do something that no one has done for awhile which is just put out an album of straight pipe music.  So the next album I’m going to do I’m going to sort of keep all that bottled up energy and creativity that I think I might have and put out an album with a bunch of different instruments.  So I’ll play guitar, banjo, whistle and piano, and I’ll put pipes on it too obviously.  I’d like to have cello and there’ll be some drums.  I’m not playing those so there’ll be some guests on it, but yeah it’s something I’m working out and its going to come together I think.

 Dr. Kent:  So I have one question for you.  My fiancé, her parents said that when she played the violin as a child she should keep the windows closed.  What did your parents say when you were a kid practicing the pipes?

 Matt MacIsaac:  Well yeah bagpipes were sort of a different beast too but everyone loved it at home and I was really keen on practicing.  I actually had been asking my parents since I was five to start playing the pipes so for five years they had to say no just because I was too small and not ready for them or whatever.  When I finally picked them up everyone was sort of excited that there was going to be another piper in the family because at that point there was my three uncles and my two cousins in moms family that played so this was going to be six and everyone was excited, so they liked it when I was practicing and would invite people over and that kind of thing.  I would be shy and shy away to my room but they were really cool and supportive and helped me get to where I am right now. 

 Dr. Kent:  Well it sure has been a pleasure speaking with you.  The album is called The Piping Album by Matt MacIsaac.  You can see him on tour with Natalie McMaster.  Are you going on tour anytime soon?

 Matt MacIsaac:  Well we just finished a really busy spring.  We’ve been all over the states and we’re going to be a little quieter this summer so we get to spend some time at home and do some different things that we want to pursue.  Then I think we go back to the states in October and then some stuff in November or December.  Look for us on the west coast is where I think we’ll be playing mostly.

 Dr. Kent:  Where can we find your website online?

 Matt MacIsaac:  That’s a good question because I don’t have one at the moment.  It’s basically if you want to look for the album you can get it at my parent’s website.  They are kilt makers actually from Cape Breton in St. Peters.  Great, beautiful garments but the website is called mackilts.com.  You can get the album through there.

 Dr. Kent:  Well I’m looking forward to the new album, looking forward to seeing you play again with Natalie McMaster and the piping album is certainly very beautiful.

 Matt MacIsaac:  Thank you very much.

 Dr. Kent:  Thanks for being on the show and lets listen to just a little bit more of Rocking the Baby, Victoria Rode on Masons Apron from the piping album, thank you Matt.

 [Music]

James M. Tabor | Mountain Disaster

October 26, 2008 | Leave a Comment

About author James M. Tabor:

James M. Tabor is a former Contributing Editor to Outside magazine and SKImagazine. His work has also appeared in TIME, U.S. News, The Wall Street Journal, Smithsonian, Reader’s Digest, American Heritage, Barron’s, The Washington Post, UltraSport, and other national publications.

 

Tabor was the writer and on-camera host of the popular national PBS seriesThe Great Outdoors. He is co-creator, writer, and executive producer for the upcoming television series, Journeys To The Center of the World, about caves worldwide.

 

In Alaska, Tabor attempted Mt. McKinley and summitted Mt. Sanford. A certified Master Diver, he has dived in the Atlantic, Pacific, Caribbean, U.S., and Canada.

Tabor graduated with honors from the University of Vermont and earned an MFA from the Johns Hopkins University. He lives in Vermont with his wife Liz. 

Interview with Bea Fields | Sound Authors Radio

October 26, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Dr. Kent:  Welcome back to Sound Authors.  We had a little hiccup there with my last guest R.T. Jordan.  It was a pleasure speaking with him about his Polly Pepper mysteries.  My next guest is the author of Millennial Leaders, Success Stories from Today’s Most Brilliant Generation-Y Leaders.  The authors are Bea Fields, Scott Wilder, Jim Bunch, and Rob Newbold.  I have Bea Fields on the show with me.  Welcome to the show.

 Bea Fields:  Hello Dr. Kent, it’s great to be here.

 Dr. Kent:  Tell me a little about Millennial Leaders.

 Bea Fields:  It is a book that is actually a collection of stories from some the top generation-y leaders of today and we basically cut the book and combined it along with some of the research scientists that have studied the generation and then we interviewed 13 to 15 generation y business leaders, entrepreneurs and political leaders and published their stories in this book.

 Dr. Kent:  What is Gen-Y?  Of course I know, but the listeners, we talk about the millennials, the nexters, and the I-generation.  Why do you call it Gen-Y and what is it?

 Bea Fields:  Generation-Y does not like being called Gen-Y.  They were originally carbon Y because Gen-X is the generation that came before Gen-Y so the monikers clumped them in and said the next generation is generation Y.  Generation-Y is very individualistic, they like their own name so they link their name to millennials.  And that includes the group of men and women who were born between 1977 and 1991 but more importantly they are a group of individuals who have a very unique perspective.  They see the world differently; they have been born and raised during some very significant world events and their bringing a very new outlook into work, community, family and the political system.

 Dr. Kent:  In the workplace I know has many generations, all the way back to before the World War II.  Those folks are still in the industries.  You’ve got that, the baby boomers, the X-Generation, how do they all work together?

 Bea Fields:  Well, the moment you have four different generations your certainly going to have four different mindsets so there is little bit of clashing with ideas, belief systems and perspectives.  I know this wasn’t about all four generations, today we’re talking about Gen-Y but the biggest concern that we’re hearing right now is that Gen-Y has a very open view about how work should be done and I think accessibility to senior leaders and the dress code should be much more casual and there should be a very relaxed approach to work. 

 Of course, that is not really the belief system of some of your more senior leaders, especially those from the great generation and the baby boomers.  They’re much more formal in their interactions and so what we’re finding is in those clashes there are also opportunities to find common ground.  So that’s what we’re really working on right now is to help the four generations find that common ground around why they’re all there together, what they have in common, and what vision they share so that they can work together to create strategies for companies that will pull them forward.

 Dr. Kent:  Let’s take a great story of a leader of this generation, the millennials.  Tell me a couple of examples.

 Bea Fields:  Well I can tell you a couple from the book because I think that there are hundreds of stories with Gen-Y that are very impressive but one is about a young man named Ben Casnocha and his career actually started in grade school.  He started selling pens to his classmates and selling gum balls and he recognized early on that he was an entrepreneur. then at the age of 12 he started a class assignment that had him develop a website and get the constituents with government officials who could answer questions about common complaints in the san Francisco California area. 

 He opened a complaint website and within about a month, he had over 10,000 complaints coming into this website.  What he realized in the process of trying to manage all of this, going to the government entities, a lot of governments didn’t have the software that could handle this number of complaints.  So with his own entrepreneurial savvy and his own technology ability he developed a software platform that he then started selling to governments and he is now age 19, has built a very thriving company and he sits at the head of the board of directors of his own company, which is now called Comcate.  And he’s only 19. 

Dr. Kent:  I have a random question.  I had a guest a few weeks ago who talked about the dress code for Gen-Y.  And she said that she often times sees kids come in flip-flops and things like that.  How does this 19 year old dress?  Does he wear a full suit?

 Bea Fields:  I met with him at a conference and he was very well dressed.  He had on slacks and a jacked and a button down collar shirt and loafers.  He looked like he just walked out of a corporate setting so I didn’t see that about him.  Most of the Gen-Ys that we interviewed; they seem to despise those dress issue situation.  They say there’s a time and a place to wear flip flops, shorts and t=shirts, and then there’s a time when you need to suit up and show up in a way that will help you build credibility, with a more senior leader.  So I think that as Gen-Ys get into the workplace if they don’t know it they will know it that there is a time and a place to be able to dress very casually and there is also a time and place to dress up.

 Dr. Kent:  So your book itself is written for the millennial generation, I guess born after what, 1980?

 Bea Fields:  Yes.  We usually used the cutoff date of about 1977.  I used those dates because they’re published by rainmaker thinking and that’s what Carla Martin who is of rainmaker thinking in our book.  But there are a lot of different dates floating around but in that 1977-1980 category, a newborn after that date is considered to be a Gen-Y.

 Dr. Kent:  And this book was written for them for what purpose?

 Bea Fields:  Well, the book was written, we really felt like when we wrote the book we wanted to reach Gen-Y because this is the largest demographic of consumers that are coming into our adult world in the next couple of world, about 72 million.  And we thought we could reach them that would be our first audience.  The purpose of the book, if the Gen-Y reads book, of the Gen-Ys that have read this book I can tell you what they’re saying. 

 They are saying that they are getting very inspired by reading the stories of these Generation-Y young adults because at the end of each chapter you actually get strategies that those Gen-Ys are suggesting you use to be successful in business.  And most Gen-Ys say they really want to be successful in business, in career, and in interaction with senior leaders.  But there’s a secondary market that’s buying the book and is actually buying it in volumes and that is the parents and teachers and the leaders and the employers of Gen-Y. 

 So their reading the book and getting insight into how to best communicate with them and to also learn about their entrepreneurial strategies that they can then turn around and apply to their own companies and communities.

 Dr. Kent:  Talk a little bit about you have a radio show, you have some bonuses on the website, you have a newsletter.  We can find you at millenialleaders.com.  Talk about that a bit.

 Bea Fields:  You can go to millenialeaders.com or I tell most people if you go to learnaboutGen-Y.com, you’re going to hit our blog and that’s where most of our activity happens.  We have a blog and a podcast link.  We have shows on Wednesday evenings called Y-Talk Radio.  If you go to ytalkradio.com you can learn more about that.  But the blog is really where most of the action is happening.  We have daily blogs, a lot of commenters, hundreds of people that are members of our community on the blog so I think that probably is the best way for people to get lots and lots of information about Gen-Y. 

 We have I don’t know, 20 or so categories of information and I think if we posted our 400^th blog post and we’ve just been blogging since the first of December.  We have a lot of research articles and you can sign up for the newsletter there, but if you want instant access to the latest greatest information about Gen-Y, the blog is the place to go.  And that is learnaboutgeny.com.

 Dr. Kent:  Tell us a little bit about yourself.  What kind of work are you involved in outside of this?

 Bea Fields:  I’m an executive coach and a consultant in the area of leadership and key development for high companies and my target market or the group that I most work with are men and women between the ages of 40 and 55 who are leading a team inside a hikers company or a business that is in stages of some kind of transition.  I write more because of the Gen-Y expansion so that is where I spend a lot of my time working with organizations on group initiatives that include getting Gen-Y assimilated into that growth process.

 Dr. Kent:  Well this has been a real pleasure.  Bea Fields is the author of Millennial Leaders.  Success stories from today’s most brilliant Generation Y Leaders.  It’s been a real pleasure.

 Bea Fields:  Thank you Dr. Kent it’s great to be here.

 Dr. Kent:  My next guest is a legendary piper in the band that Natalie McMaster uses and for many other projects.  It will be my pleasure to welcome him after this break and we’re going to listen to a little bit of one of the songs from his album in that break.  Come on back.

Blind Boys of Alabama | Gospel Music

October 25, 2008 | Leave a Comment

It was a great honor to speak to Jimmy Carter of the Blind Boys of Alabama, and his 7 decade career in the music industry. More information about the Blind Boys of Alabama from Wikipedia:

The Blind Boys of Alabama are a gospel group from Alabama that first formed at the Alabama Institute for the Negro Blind in 1939. The three main vocalists of the group and their drummer/percussionist are all blind. As of 2008, they continue to tour nationally and internationally, led by the soulful Jimmy Lee Carter singing lead vocals. Mr. Carter is one of the original members from the Alabama Institute for Negro Blind and the Happyland Jubilee Singers (the precursor to the Blind Boys of Alabama). In 2006, Clarence Fountain, the group’s former long-time lead vocalist and founding member limited his touring for health reasons. A third founding member, George Scott, died on March 9, 2005 at the age of 75.

Releases by the group in recent years have been favorites at the Grammy Awards—they won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album every year between 2002 to 2005. The Blind Boys of Alabama were inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2007.

Their rendition of Tom W