Ashley Marriott & Dr. Marc Paulsen Transcript
March 15, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Kent Gustavson: Welcome back to Sound Authors. My third guest on the show is Marc Paulsen with his co-author Ashley Marriott. Their book is called “Dump Your Trainer”. Welcome to the show.
Ashley Marriott: Hi, thanks for having us.
Kent: I happen to have a personal trainer myself. Why should I dump him?
Ashley: Are you getting great results? Are you seeing what you want to see in the mirror?
Kent: Sometimes.
Ashley: Yeah, I think that’s the big question to ask. You are accountable to yourself first, and a personal trainer should be able to set up a program for you. If you’re not getting the results that you absolutely want to see, then you need to question whether it’s time to dump that trainer, or dump the whole concept of personal training.
Kent: So tell me a little bit about your backgrounds. Are one or both of you trainers yourselves?
Ashley: I am. This is Ashley Marriott, I am a personal trainer.
Kent: And Marc Paulsen, you are a doctor, correct?
Marc Paulsen: Yeah, I’m a doctor.
Kent: And you’ve teamed up to create this book “Dump Your Trainer”. Have you seen some results in your clientele and your readers?
Marc: Well Ashley, I can make a comment first and Ashley can obviously add to that. Ashley’s seen hundreds, if not thousands, of successful stories but my personal example is that I saw some incredible results.
Kent: And your personal story of weight loss started when?
Marc: It started in ‘99, late ‘99. I achieved my results, probably by around March 2000.
Kent: I know that there’s a lot surrounding weight loss. There’s the addiction properties. It’s really hot in the media, whether it’s the fast food companies. Everyone’s trying some diet, whether it’s the Krispy Kreme diet or the Not Krispy Kreme diet. Tell me a little bit about all of these fads and about the personal trainer fad and all of that.
Ashley: I think what you just brought up is the real core issue. These ideas of a “one fix”, hiring a personal trainer or this new fad diet. The big flaw is that you’re not getting to the route problem of what in your lifestyle you need to address and change to really make a lasting, life-long, sustainable, healthy lifestyle.So if you’re looking at something like hiring a personal trainer, and you don’t change any of your eating habits; you don’t modify your behavior or your emotional crutches, then you’re not going to have results, you’re going to have paid for sessions. At best you won’t get injured or hurt, but at worst you’re losing money.
Kent: Is it that easy? Your book costs $20.99, if people spring for that book is that all they need?
Marc: Well, that’s obviously a simplified form of what you really have to do. Buying the book only gives you the program that you should probably implement. In terms of seeing results, that really comes from within. That comes with consistency and staying with the program, staying with the diet and doing things that are right.
Kent: Tell me about your personal story. You helped Ashley to write this book. Tell me, what is it like, the battle of weight loss?
Marc: Well it’s tough, but it’s not as tough as you might think. OK, I was up about 60 pounds. I was up to 220, just getting to a divorce. I took a look in the mirror and I said “Oh my God. What have I got here?” So basically I said “All right. Well, you’ve got a tough schedule you have to deal with. Everybody does. OK, what are you going to do about it?”So I outlined, basically, a program, realized what my constraints were and my time limitations and all those things. Working long hours. And I said “OK, well this is what you have to work with. Do something.” That’s what it came down to. Then it came down to implementing that program and being consistent. Being consistent, staying with it.
Kent: And staying with it, is it difficult to implement?
Marc: You know it’s really not, people make it difficult. You see people go to the gym or whatever and they come in and they’re going to get it all done in a day. They’re going to lose forty pounds in a night or something like that. What they end up doing is hurting themselves or becoming discouraged.The reason is they just simply try and do too much too soon. Ashley can give you her experience, she’s seen hundreds and hundreds of people like this.
Kent: So as a personal trainer Ashley, I know from my trainer it’s a big process of working on muscle groups and doing this and that but there’s only a certain amount that you can do with someone if they don’t go home and work on the concepts themselves.
Ashley: Absolutely. And as a trainer I think there are a lot of really excellent trainers who want the best for the people they are working for, their clients. But you have to realize there is accountability on the person themselves. You have to empower, as a trainer, you have to empower that person that they only need you for a short time to give them the template and the road map.And they have to take it on themselves. And what is discouraging in the industry, that I am in, is I see that a lot of personal trainers want to keep this allure of “I am the only way, I am the only way you will achieve the results” and hold it over someone. Where really we all have to be our own lifestyle coach for the long haul. And exactly, like go home, you have to maintain your healthy lifestyle, it can’t be an hour at the gym and that’s it.
Kent: Let’s say I go into the store or I go to your website dumptyourtrainer.com, I buy your book. What happens?
Ashley: Well everything in the book it is basically a template of how to make the changes you need to make. To create a lifestyle that is healthy and really moderately. It’s not for an extreme athlete. It’s not for someone who is wanting to be the next bodybuilder.But it’s a healthy lifestyle to follow. You have to do the work. You have to count calories. You have to exercise. You have to move. And those are things that always take time and energy. But if you get the leverage from reading the book and you get the feeling that it is time for me to make this change. It gives you the template to do it.And there is a lot of tools in the book that help give that extra push. Motivational tools and also self-fitness tracking which is so important. I’m sure your trainer when you started with them, they did a fitness assessment. It gives you good motivation to go “OK day one, I’m here. Where do I want to be day thirty, day sixty, day ninety.”
Kent: Here’s a question for you, I have a great trainer, but the thing about it is that when I started training he built me up so much that I felt I was on the path to becoming a body builder. As opposed to what I wanted to be, which was a healthy human being.
Marc: Absolutely.
Kent: What extent do you look at that as a trainer or as a trainee?Marc. : This is really important. Because you need to prepare yourself for the lifestyle you are going to lead. If you are going to be a furniture mover. Or you are going to do something like that, then sure you need to bulk up and get all those muscles on there.But if you are not going to maintain that throughout life then that is only going to come back on you. You need to say to yourself, “What is it that I really want to be?” And not, “What is it that they want me to be?” Once you’ve decided that then you can set your own course. You can set your own pace and you can set your own goal.
Kent: Has it worked for you, how long have you kept this weight off?
Marc: Nine years now. I went from 220 down to 160 and I’m that today. In fact people can verify that we were on ABC TV on the 18th of February. We’ll be on CBS and NBC coming up on the 24th and the 26th and I’ll be there in plain sight.[laughter]
Marc: In addition, I have some before and after photos on the website as well.
Kent: Exactly, if we’re listening to the radio, we can check you out at dumpyourtrainer.com. Well this has been a real pleasure, I definitely need to read this book. I haven’t had the benefit of doing that yet. You should send me a copy. But it sounds like a wonderful concept, I hope that “Dump Your Trainer” does really well in the future. Thank you so much for being on the show.
Ashley: It’s a pleasure, thank you so much.
Marc: Thank you.
Kent: And we’ll go to dumpyourtrainer.com to find out much more. Come on back in one second we’re going to be chatting with Mike Marshall. A guru of the mandolin, guitar, anything with strings. We’ll chat with him about his newest album which has some roots in Sweden.
Ashley Marriott & Dr. Marc Paulsen | Dump Your Trainer
March 14, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Ashley Marriott and Dr. Marc Paulsen have some very convincing arguments why we should all dump our trainers and read their brand new book, Dump Your Trainer! We had a great conversation about personal training, motivation, and much more.More information from their website: www.dumpyourtrainer.com
“Ashley is the quintessential people person… She understands why you fail and gives you what you need to succeed.” - Marc L. Paulsen, M.D.
“Nobody, absolutely nobody inspires like Ashley.” - Joe Salazar, clientAshley helped me to reach my goals by always being encouraging and making the workouts varied, fun and interesting.” - Noel Olken, Cliet“Ashley’s the best! She’s helped hundreds of people transform their lives, motivating them to get healthy and fit.” - Kerri Kasem, Radio/TV Host“You’re gonna’ see celebrities and their trainers in a whole new light.”
Dr. Paul Mullen Transcript
January 26, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Announcer: You’ve been listening to Sound Authors, where authors sound off. If you’d like more information about Sound Authors and Dr. Kent’s guests, visit SoundAuthors.com. Now, back to Dr. Kent and friends.[music]
Dr. Kent Gustavson: Welcome back to Sound Authors. Today is a beautiful day in New York, and because I’ve been sick and supine on my back the last week, I’ve been thinking a lot about children’s books. My next guest, Dr. Paul Mullen, is a great advocate for children and for illiteracy, which is quite a problem in this country, and something that doesn’t get talked about enough. His book is called “The Day I Hit a Home Run at Great American Ballpark”. Welcome to the show.
Dr. Paul Mullen: Thank you, Dr. Kent. I appreciate you having me on.
Dr. Kent: Absolutely. Talk a little bit first about your book, and then we’ll get into illiteracy.
Dr. Mullen: Well, the theme is that every child dreams of greatness. Certainly the main character in this story, whose nickname is Fuji, his dream is hitting a home run at Great American Ballpark, which is the ballpark the Cincinnati Reds play at.
Dr. Kent: What does that say about all children? What’s your message to all children?
Dr. Mullen: Well, all children have a dream they desire, or a goal or aspiration. It’s up to us as educators, and especially parents, to help them to hone in on that dream.
Dr. Kent: Right. Your goal in writing this book, and in the whole crusade that you’re on right now, is to educate us about the illiteracy problem in Ohio and in the United States, as well as in the entire world. So could you tell us a little bit about that, and the reason for writing this book?
Dr. Mullen: Certainly. The key about this book, which kind of separates it from some of the elementary-type books… We have got to establish a couple of things here. First off, that in elementary school, teachers spend a lot of time on deciphering words, helping students with phonics and what we call decoding of words, and your basic grammar structure.But where we’ve been lacking — and I think is equally important — in the middle school years, is this thing I call a healthy inner voice. It’s that self. If we don’t start channeling and helping middle school students with that inner voice, we’re going to continue to see what we’ve been seeing. Children turn off. Especially young adults turn off from reading.
Dr. Kent: Right. And what is the importance of reading?
Dr. Mullen: You’re talking to a writer, of course, but reading is a gift. It really is. Unfortunately, with television and video games, we know that it only works on the left-hemisphere of the brain. With reading, you can gain this inner… It’s basically like the inner conscious. It’s like the author’s saying, “Come with me, I’m going to help guide you through this story.” There’s just nothing else out there, from an entertainment perspective, that’s going to give a student that same value.
Dr. Kent: Right, so how about the Harry Potter phenomenon? They say that books are coming back to schools because of Harry Potter.
Dr. Mullen: Certainly that has a lot to do with it. My thoughts are, and the reason for this is, I wanted to create a real world self-quest, and that’s the reason why Fuji is such a believable character in this book.It’s just been phenomenal, the number of people who have written to me, especially adults, and have said, “You know, I tried reading this book.” Because they realized it wasn’t a fictional character. A lot of Fuji is within me. And when they identified with Fuji, they said they really felt his hardships and triumphs in the book.
Dr. Kent: Tell me a little bit about the story. Can you reveal some of the plot without telling us all of it?
Dr. Mullen: Well, I can say this, and it’s very important. My father was a strict disciplinarian. He was as Catholic as Catholic can be. Of course, I came from a large family with three older brothers and two sisters. It was always my brother’s dream and it was my dream — and even my father’s dream — for us to be able to play at this Major League ballpark, back when I was a child. Growing up in the Cincinnati area, that’s what we all aspired to, was the one team from two different divisions that got to play on this Major League field.Well, Fuji was the last of the boys to have this opportunity. So his father pushed him harder than any of the other boys, because he knew this would be his last moment for his one son to play on a Major League field.
Dr. Kent: Wow. And it is a huge part of all of our lives growing up. I grew up in the Midwest as well, and I played baseball. I played T-ball. I looked up to - my person was Kirby Pucket - at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. We all had all our ballparks and we all had our favorite heroes.Maybe it’s a special problem also for boys that we don’t necessarily grow up thinking reading is the coolest thing.
Paul: Yeah. I was fortunate that my father was a very verbal person. He’d sit down and he would talk to us and reading was always important to him and I’ll tell you why, because he was pretty much an introvert and reading always gave him delight. He always instilled that in us as well, and that’s one of the fortunate things.But you are right. What happens today is too much is centered on the act, which is playing the game. And not enough on the other part of the game which is what is that drive that’s going to get them to that next level?
Kent: Right. And talking about, in sort of the game of life, literacy is a very under talked about thing in this country. Our literacy rates are far lower than Europe’s, they’re lower than even some third world countries. Do you want to talk about that a little bit?
Paul: Yeah, and that’s more of a recent phenomena. It’s only been within like 10, 15 years that that shift was. We were like number 3, now we’re down in the lower 12, with Russia now being ahead of us as far as literacy rates.My contention is this. What’s happening is we focus so much on the mechanics of reading, the decoding of words, and giving students reading tests, that we’re failing to realize the most important thing about reading which is what I talked about, that inner voice, being able to ride along with the story with the author.One thing we all have to realize, that a writer, that is a gift, that’s not something taught. So as a reader, you have to be able to follow along with that. And my thought is this, if a student lacks that inner voice, then how are they going to follow along with that story if they’ve really never been taught or been given that capability of knowing what an inner voice is?
Kent: Right, and so you’re talking about these books can give a window back to our kids. Now, I know when I was a kid, I definitely would have preferred sitting in front of the TV all day long if I’d have had the choice. Are our schools doing it the right way? Do you think they’re still able to teach kids how to read and not over stimulate them and all of that?
Paul: I really, because I actually taught reading, I’m one of those rare kind of writers. I actually got the chance to teach junior high students, and they were in an intensive reading program, and I will say that the United States is really launching an intensive effort to try to bring up the standards of reading literacy in America. And I will say that in elementary school, we’re starting to see improvement in that.But my point is this, we need then those bridge books. Like this book, it’s what I call a bridge book, which helps take students from reading and decoding and deciphering words, to actually learning how to read an entire story. So what Fuji does is he kind of waves them in and says come on with me and I’ll show you what inner voice is. I’ll show you how to go about self discovering yourself.
Kent: Cool. So where can we find out more about all of this?
Paul: As far as the book, you mean?
Kent: Your book and about you and your project. I know you also go out and speak at schools and do all of that. Where can we find out more?
Paul: Right. I will be in February 6th, I’ll be in Colorado at the International Reading Convention there. And I’ll actually be speaking about this phenomena that I call inner voice syndrome, which I think is what we’re seeing with some of the prisoners in the United States, as far as that lack of self-conscious.But as far as getting the book, you can either go to my website. You can read up on some of the statistics I have there. Plus I have a little baseball on my website that says “top 10″ and that top 10 gives you what I’ve created as the top 10 ways of getting kids excited about reading. Because it does come down to that, we have to get our students interested in reading.
Kent: So people can come visit www.thedayihitahomerun.com is that correct?
Paul: Yes, that’s correct.
Kent: It’s been a great pleasure speaking with Dr. Paul Mullen about his book, “The Day I Hit a Home Run at Great American Ballpark” and his concepts about inner voice, fascinating stuff? I wish you well at the conference coming up and I in your work.
Paul: Well, thank you Dr. Kent, and I appreciate you having me on your show.
Kent: My next guest is Reed Burgess of the wonderful bluegrass performing group “King Wilkie.” You’re not going to want to miss that. Come on back.[music]
Dr. Paul Mullen | Baseball and Literacy
January 25, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Dr. Paul Mullen spoke to us about his crusade for America start to understand more about illiteracy in this country. His book is specially written to address the middle age group, between children and young adults.
The author’s biography from his website www.thedayihitahomerun.com
Paul Michael Mullen was born in 1960 and is the youngest boy in a family of six. He was heavily influenced by his father to begin his career in engineering. After receiving his bachelor’s degree in Industrial Technology, he left the United States Air Force as an E-5 and worked at Rockwell as an engineer on the B-1B Bomber in Palmdale, California.He continued working in industry and continued attending evening school receiving his MBA from Indiana Wesleyan in 1984. After receipt of his master’s degree, he accepted his first management position at The Miller Group in Schuylkill Haven, Pennsylvania, manufacturer of T-shirts and sweatshirts.While on sabbatical at Indiana University and attending his summer internship for his doctorate’s degree n business management, he received a vision believing God had a more important mission for him, and so he wrote SOME THINGS I HAVE LEARNED ALONG THE WAY – a self-help guide still available for sale on the used book market.In 1993 a synopsis of his doctoral thesis on the effectiveness of employee monetary systems used in industry as an employee motivator was published in Industrial Management and his research on motivational theory serves as a model and still used in industry and in management research today.Dr. Mullen continued working in industry rising to an executive staff position as operation’s manager for United Air Specialists and Armor Metal. And yet within himself, he knew his chosen career path wasn’t manufacturing.After resigning his post at United Air Specialist, he took the opportunity to teach struggling eighth-grade readers at Hardee Junior High School in Wauchula, Florida where he discovered his true calling as a writer/educator. In 2007, THE DAY I HIT A HOME RUN AT GREAT AMERICAN BALL PARK was published and the author is currently touring the Midwest promoting health and family literacy and teaching students how to become more effective readers.Dr. Mullen and his wife, Sharlene, have two college-educated children, and live on a small organic farm in Oxford, Ohio where they raise steer, chickens, and horses.
To live without hope is to die a little more each day
Susan Smith Jones Transcript
January 19, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Announcer: You have been listening to “Sound Authors: Where Authors Sound Off.” If you would like more information about “Sound Authors” and Dr. Kent’s guests, visit SoundAuthors.com. Now, back to Dr. Kent and friends.
Dr. Kent Gustavson: Welcome back to “Sound Authors” on this beautiful, sunny Friday. My next guest is an internationally renowned health expert, she has, she won the Healthy American Fitness Leaders, awarded by the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. And, the previous winners of that include: Lance Armstrong, Ronald Reagan, and others, including Richard Simmons. It is my pleasure to speak with Susan Smith Jones about her new book and her new website online. Welcome.
Susan Smith Jones: Kent, how are you doing today?
Kent: Very good. I am a little bit sick, but, otherwise, I feel great.
Susan: Oh no. I will send you some healing energy.
Kent: There you go. Now, you have a whole bunch of experience working with college kids and professors, at a university, right?
Susan: Well, I did teach everyone, at UCLA, how to be healthy and fit for 30 years. Lecture all around the world, have written 17 books, and I am totally committed to educating as many people as possible on how to be vibrantly healthy. I have never taken medication in my life and I look to nature, on the things we will talk about today, on how to heal your body. I can take anyone listening and if they give me 90 days, just one season, or three months, I can make anyone look ten years younger, disease-proof their body, give them energy to spare.
Kent: Wow, that is quite a claim. And, you have worked with many, many clients, I know.
Susan: Thousands of clients over the years.
Kent: Your new website is called PagingSusan.com.
Susan: Well, of course, I have got my name SusanSmithJones.com. But, I have just launched PagingSusan.com. Anyone that goes there will get a free gift, a wonderful special gift, in addition to, they will be able to sign up a live, upcoming, free seminar I am giving on living a holistic lifestyle.
Kent: So, what is the first step? I know, you know, this time of year, people over-satiate themselves with wonderful, wonderful goodies and things like that, and don’t exercise and sit inside and look out at the snow and what happens when January comes around and everyone wants to repent.
Susan: And, remember, you are talking to someone who is in sunny Southern California right now.
Kent: Oh my.
Susan: I think, first of all, people think that you have to make major changes in your life, Kent, but that is not the truth. It is the simple lifestyle choices, from what you eat, how you deal with stress, how often you exercise, how much sleep that you get and water you drink, and even what you think. These have an enormous impact on longevity and quality of life.And, if you think about it, there are really three things over which we all have control. What we eat, how we move, and what we think. And, we have the ability to change all three of those. And, the body reflects the mind and the mind reflects the spirit. So, a good place to start is the physical body.I just got back from a major media tour and everywhere I go, Kent, people are saying that they are feeling physically, mentally, and spiritually off kilter. Or, they have lost joy of living, or they are overwhelmed by life. But, the way I see it is it is really about getting back to the basics.
Kent: Wow, and what are the basics?
Susan: Well, I would say, number one is, and I know this sounds like a simplistic answer, but it is so true, exercise is a great place to start. Everyone should be developing, if they don’t have it, a well-rounded fitness program that includes three things: strength training, aerobics, and stretching. And, you need to make that a top priority in your life and keep your commitment to it.Being fit is, without a doubt, the key to enjoying life. It unlocks mental power and physical stamina, and it even gives you a positive outlook that makes each day more of a pleasure. So, keep these three key points in mind, move, lengthen, and strengthen. You need to make sure you work out on a regular basis.
Kent: What is your advice for a fellow, yeah me, who, we had a…
Susan: Are we speaking personally here?
Kent: Yeah, we had a very strenuous move, we actually moved to a new place this week. And, we over did it, it was a 20 hour day, and now we are both sick. What is a good way to get back into gear? And, for other people, people who have been, let us say they just slid for a year, backsliding. What is the first step?
Susan: Well, first of all, you make a commitment. You have got to keep your word, and if we have more time at the end, I am going to talk about that. But, in addition to working out, for you and everyone listening, there is nothing more restorative for the body than getting a good night’s sleep, night after night after night. Think about this, last year, doctors wrote a record number of prescriptions for sleeping pills, over 43 million.
Kent: Wow.
Susan: And, over the past four decades, Americans have cut their snooze time by one to two hours per night. But, people don’t realize how important sleep is. Getting only six hours, Kent, a night, that is just two hours less than eight hours, here is what it does to your body, it makes you irritable, it makes people stupid. Because their words don’t come easily and they become forgetful. It increases blood pressure, it makes you hungry for unhealthy foods…[Kent laughs]
Susan: It makes you gain weight, makes you depressed, makes you stressed out. And, if that were not enough, people that get only six hours of sleep a night is equivalent to driving on four alcoholic drinks.
Kent: Oh my.
Susan: And weight seems to be a big thing. Everywhere I go, people want to know how to loose weight. And, when I talk to people about that, the first things I say is, “Make sure you get enough sleep.” Because, you could eat good foods, you could work out, but you could sabotage your health and weight program if you don’t get enough sleep. In a nutshell here’s why: research shows that when you skimp on sleep, it interferes with your body’s ability to process carbohydrates and that leads to elevated blood sugar levels and an increased tendency to store calories as fat. It happens because when you sleep-deprived, Kent, your body produces more of a stress hormone, which you probably have a lot of these days when you move, called cortisol that seems to set the chain reaction in motion.So loss of sleep, in other words, can be just as bad for your health and weight as no exercise or a poor diet. You know how when you have lots of stress but you get a good night sleep and things always look a little bit more positive the next morning that it’s just paramount to being vibrantly healthy is getting good sleep night after night after night.
Kent: You talk on your website and with your whole series not just about fitness, not just about health, but about being peaceful and being joyful. Is that related to fitness?
Susan: Oh, without a doubt. It’s hard to feel peaceful and joyful if you’re always stressed out. So you want to really work on dealing with stress that that should be close to the top of the list. You want to get enough sleep, you want to drink enough water because if you don’t you’re going to stress out your body. The healthier your diet, the more peaceful you’re going to be; get your weight and check if that will make you more peaceful.I also recommend that you stay disciplined. You make your word count. Follow through on always what you said you’re going to do because that’s a great self-esteem boaster. Kent, the thing that people wrestle with the most universally in this world is that most people deal with low self-esteem. The better you feel about yourself, the more good positive things you’re going to attract.There’s this unwritten law in the universe that says that you attract them to yourself the equivalency of what you think, feel, believe. If you don’t feel about yourself, you’ll attract more situations, more difficult times, more challenges that duplicate how you feel. Then paramount to that and also germane to that is the first 40 minutes of each day sets the tone for the day.So make sure in the morning that you’re not rushed and stressed out. Give yourself a little extra time, maybe set the table the night before, get your clothes laid out, get a good workout in the morning because those first 40 minutes will determine basically how the rest to your day is.
Kent: Wow! Now, how did you get started on this, [inaudible]?
Susan: Well, you can say I started by accident. Over 25 years ago, I was in a major automobile accident. My car was totaled, my back was severely fractured, and if we had more time I’d give you the story. It’s amazing, but in a nutshell, my team of doctors at UCLA said that I’d never be able to carry anything heavier than a small purse. But I choose not to accept the verdict. Within six months they claimed it was a miracle, I was healed. But I attribute my healing to eating a healthy diet, the power of spirit, faith, determination, and a deep commitment to living my highest potential.I write about this in my brand new two book Hay House series. One book is called “Health Bliss” the other book is called “The Healing Power of Nature Foods” and are both available through the Hay House’s tollfree number.
Kent: What is that?
Susan: That’s 1-800-654-5126. You can also order my two latest books on my website PagingSusan.com and you’ll also get a special gift there as well.
Kent: Wonderful. I also have a quick story to share. I was also in a terrible car accident and my father–that was about five or six years ago now–he has the same kind of courage and I really believe that human beings have an amazing potential. The doctor said he wouldn’t move his arm about three inches down, his elbow was rebuilt and all of that. He’s almost straight out now and they said he would never walk and he’s walking.
Susan: What an inspiration. So you two were together in the car?
Kent: We were indeed. I was pretty much unhurt, but he’s a real inspiration to all of us and it’s amazing to see what real strength–you know, honestly family helps, friends help, like that.
Susan: Oh, my goodness, yes. You know, [inaudible] said 99% of who you are is invisible, untouchable, and unsmellable. Yet, I believe that the remaining 1%, the body is absolutely exquisite. But you’re right, we have amazing energy and power within us. It’s just most of us live such stressed out lives that we don’t take time to go with them and tap in to that fountain of power and strength and healing and divinity that’s within each of us. We can create whatever we want and everyday can be a brand new fresh start. Anyone listening can choose to start fresh today.
Kent: It sure has been a pleasure speaking with Dr. Susan Smith Jones. Visit her online at SusanSmithJones.comor on her brandnew website, PagingSusan.com for a free gift and also check out her new books on HayHouse.com.Thank you so much for being on the show.
Susan: Thank you. Have a great day. Feel better, Kent.
Kent: I will. Our next guest is a wonderful musician from up in Vermont–a place I love very much–Anais Mitchell. Come on back.
Alan Tripp Transcript
January 5, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Dr. Kent Gustavson: Welcome to “Sound Authors.” The whole country is poised at the edge of their seats this week–it’s January 4th–in anticipation of this election’s first primaries, both Democratic and Republican. In honor of that, we’ve got some interesting guests on the show today.Our first guest is Alan Tripp, he’ll tell us all about golf and the White House, and how the newest candidates meet the golf test. Paul Davis will speak to us about politics and religion. Maureen Webb will speak to us about the post-9/11 security debate, and musical guest Joe Crookston will be on the show at the end. Of course, all of them will hopefully weigh in a little bit on the upcoming primaries.My first guest is Alan Tripp, welcome to the show.
Alan Tripp: Thank you very much. It’s good to be with you.
Dr. Kent: Your book is called “In the Hole! Poetic Justice for Golf Fanatics”–a correction: it’s a book and a CD-ROM, is that correct?
Alan: Yes, it’s both, because it turns out with both prose and poetry, it sounded better than just reading it on a white old page.
Dr. Kent: So tell me about “Poetic Justice.” How do golf fanatics get their justice?
Alan: Well, you see, I love the game of golf, as many people do, but I also realize that it’s a game that reveals your character, that reveals how you feel emotionally. Naturally in writing about it I took in all the things that happened to people, including presidents. Just to give you a clue about what’s in this book and CD, let me give you one of the straight things that starts up front. This is called “The Hole in One Blues.” Listen to this.Of all the things I’ve never done,And wanted most, a hole in one.One day up on a long par three.I hit it far as I could see.My partner yelled, “Go, go ball. Roll.You’re on the green, you’re in the hole.”Then, down the fairway we did run.To see what my three iron had done.There it lay, to my chagrin,My ball, three inches from the pin.”Oh, well.” I thought. “Be of good cheer.If it went in I’d buy the beer.”And after all the fuss is done,No one recalls your hole in one.So now I want an ace no more.Although I know t’would help my score.I just describe with pure delight.My hole in one that wasn’t quite.So you see that, that’s the kind of thing that I felt about golf as an emotional game.
Dr. Kent: Bravo! This is a collection filled with all of this?
Alan: Yes, it filled with that. It’s filled with stories about people, stories about the two Babes who played golf: Babe Ruth and Babe Didrikson. You know, those are old names, but Babe Ruth, of course, was a home run king, and Babe Didrikson was probably the best female athlete that ever lived.
Dr. Kent: What is your personal background in golf? Are you a good athlete?
Alan: My personal background is just love the game. My life’s work is writing and occasionally doing some business in order to make a living, and make a few bucks here and there, and to have the pleasure of being able to do this kind of book and CD. [laughs]
Dr. Kent: So let’s cut to the chase, I’m really excited to hear what your take is on the candidates here.
Alan: Right.
Dr. Kent: You say that you know their golfing ability?
Alan: Yes, I can tell you a lot. First of all I want to tell you, if you want to get elected president, you better play golf. Fourteen out of the 17 presidents, up to and including George W. Bush there, played golf. That tells you that 14 out of the 17 presidents–from William Howard Taft on down to Bush–if they all played golf, if you want to get elected it’s not too bad a thing to have in your bag as a talent.But looking at some of them, you see another very interesting thing, and you can judge those guys that are running now–I’ll tell you some details about what they do in golf–if you see that those presidents played politics and played the job of president very much like they behaved on the golf course. Isn’t that interesting?
Dr. Kent: It certainly is.
Alan: Guys who played it straight, who were good gentlemen on the golf course, I assure you they were the same way in the White House, and if they hedged it a little bit, well maybe they fudged in the Whitehouse, too. Let me give you some evidence, all right Doc?
Dr. Kent: Sounds good.
Alan: Here we go, here’s a little rhyme on Bill Clinton.The man was renowned for moving his balls.When tree or bush stood in his way.And he was quite skilled at improving his lies,And charming his nay Sayers away.Kind of sums up the man, doesn’t it?
Dr. Kent: [laughs] Yes.
Alan: But let’s go to George W. Bush. By the way, I’ll tell you an interesting thing about George W. The man has a terrible slice, and he won’t take advice from anybody on how to cure it.
Dr. Kent: [laughs]
Alan: Now does that suggest to you that maybe that’s a parallelism to how he behaves as president?
Dr. Kent: It could be.
Alan: All right, here’s George W’s rhyme.George Bush plays the game.Not as good as his dad,And the reason for this is quite clear and quite sad.The bunkers are scary, you quite understand?Elsewhere in the world he bogged down in the sand.[laughter]
Dr. Kent: In the sand indeed.