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: 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.
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.
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.
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: 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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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?
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


