Several years ago, a friend gave me a copy of a book she said changed her life. The book so affected her, that she bought seven copies to give to people she thought might be likewise moved. I was one of those people. And she was right. I’ve often said that book is one of...
Tag: music
Did Bob Dylan Deserve the Nobel Prize in Literature?
Someone recently asked what I thought about Bob Dylan winning the Nobel Prize in Literature. Opinions among writers on the internet is certainly divided. Some feel there are plenty of accolades and awards for songwriters, and that Dylan has achieved more than his fair share of fame and fortune from the music industry, and that...
Life Can Only Be What You Make It To Be
When I was growing up in Boise, Idaho, there was a local singer named Steve Harmon. He sang at our church, and he also recorded a record called Stand By Him back in 1974. I grew up listening to that album. My mom played it often. You’ve never heard of it? I’m not surprised. I’m...
Sam I Am
Sam Smith was the big winner at the Grammy Awards this year. “Before I made this record,” he said, “I was doing everything to try and get my music heard. I tried to lose weight and I was making awful music. It was only until I started to be myself that the music started to...
Are Gatekeepers Still Relevant?
Several times over the past few years, I’ve listened to colleagues tell me that an editor who loved his/her work had called, sometimes in tears, to say they could not make an offer on their book project. Why? Because the marketing and sales departments at the publishing house decided that the book, though good, was...
Can One Encounter with Art Change a Life?
When I was twelve, my mother took my brother and me to see a performance of Jesus Christ Superstar. She’d escorted us to children’s theater productions before, but this was my first time seeing a truly “grown-up” play, and I was utterly transformed. I was a church-going kid, but until that night, I had never...