My appearance on KPTZ Radio’s show Cats in Our Laps with host Phil Andrus. We discuss my memoir, The Last Sandstorm, which includes a reading and conversation.

Crystal McDonald grew up in Hawthorne, CA a suburb of Los Angeles. Attending Catholic School in Elementary and Middle School, she converted to the Catholic faith practice when she was 10 years old. Crystal found the support and love in her Catholic School that she didn’t feel in her childhood home. After moving to Olympia in the Summer of 2000 she met and Married her husband and together are raising three beautiful children. The recent COVID-19 pandemic and civil unrest of our nation has Crystal facing conflict between her personal faith in Jesus and the teachings of the Catholic Church. This conflict paired with old cultural beliefs, brought Crystal to a reckoning, and today she faces these traumas and dysfunctions by shedding light on a system of shame and taboo that has failed and continues to fail so many on all sides of the conversation.

Mary Boissel Corcoran is an educator and more! She grew up in Ireland in a liberal family and her college education in Dublin led to a BA in Psychology /English and a BA in French Language, completing her academic goals with a with a Masters in Pastoral Care. Throughout her educational and professional career, Mary received diplomas in Community Development, Marketing, and Setting up Businesses. Mary’s international life led her to live and work in many places, including Austria, Switzerland, France, Germany, Cote D’Ivoire, Gabon, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Russia and Croatia. She returned to Ireland in 1996 and worked as a French/Latin teacher for almost 20 years teaching bright 13 year old boys.

Mary has also worked as a chambermaid, bar maid, apple tree pruner, cashier, English language teacher, in Sales, marketing , as a sales manager and as head of PR for a 5 star Intercontinental hotel in Gabon. Mary’s incredible accomplishments continue with work as an Account executive for L’Union newspaper in Gabon and a volunteer at a children’s hospital in Zagreb as well as President of International Women’s Association in Zagreb. Mary has loved all of her many jobs and careers, and everywhere she worked she was an inspiration, a teacher, and a learner. Mary is a mother of 3 and in post-retirement has founded “Getting There” in 2016, an organization which assists retirees look for part time, temporary jobs., a gratifying service that she is passionate about.

Mary is a powerful character featured in “The Last Sandstorm: A Memoir” by Jasmin Faulk-Dickerson. In this podcast episode, discuss the book, the relationship between student and teacher, and the challenges of teaching and learning in the midst of cultural differences.

Website: www.gettingthere.ie

Book: The Last Sandstorm

Hailing from Norway, Kent Olaf is one of the top Michael Jackson impersonators around today. He became a fan of Michael Jackson in 1987, practicing the dance moves and mastering the art since 1994. Studying and observing the choreography of the King of Pop, Kent Olaf transformed himself into a top level dancer. In 2005 fans of Michael Jackson got a first glimpse of Kent Olaf when he performed at the 2005 European Jackson Event. Soon after, he became known in the fan community for his perfected dancing skills.

Kent Olaf has performed on national TV, toured Norway with big production tribute shows, and thrilled thousands of people with his MJ tribute show.

Follow Kent Olaf on:

Chenoa Murphy was born and raised in Memphis, TN. At the age of two, Chenoa attended her first classical music concert given by the Japanese violin students of Dr. Shinichi Suzuki. This sparked her interest in music and she was enrolled in the Suzuki Violin Method a year later.

Demonstrating her love and enthusiasm for music, Chenoa continued to develop her natural ability and trained gift in violin and vocal studies throughout her childhood and teenage years. She attended the Overton High School of Performing Arts, summer music camps such as Aspen Music Festival, Interlochen Summer Arts Camp, Sewanee Music Center, and the Governor’s School of Performing Arts and the Colour of Music Festival. She has achieved both Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees in Violin Performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music as well as 4 years of Doctoral studies at the University of Iowa. Her principal teachers during these earlier and formal years of study were Yuko Honda, Pak-Chung Cheng, Katherine Wolfe, Kurt Sassmannshaus, Dorothy Delay, and Dr. Won-Bin Yim.

Besides being a former violin and viola private teacher, Chenoa is also a highly sought-after educator, guest lecturer and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion facilitator for various music organizations and college campuses. Her online courses: Introduction to Black Classical Composers and Musicians and Black Classical Musicians: The Journey Onward highlight the contributions and achievements of classical music composers of African descent. Her article “Black Representation in Classical Music Matters” was featured in the Summer 2020 edition of the American Suzuki Journal.

Currently, Chenoa Murphy resides in Springfield, IL where she is a member of the Illinois Symphony Orchestra and is a mother of two beautiful children, Victoria, and Jonathan. Chenoa is married to the love of her life, Victor who resides in Glasgow, Scotland. Chenoa has been interviewed by CNN, NPR Illinois, and Huffington Post. Her podcast, “Black, White & In Color,” can be heard on all platforms.

Website: www.blackclassicalmusicians.com

Yasser Al-Ghaslan is a Saudi journalist, and media personality. A graduate of King Saud University, in Riyadh with a major in journalism and media. In 1990, Yasser began his journalistic career as a press correspondent with the RAI (the national public broadcasting company of Italy) covering the second Gulf War. Early in his career, he joined several of the most prominent Saudi and Arab newspapers, including Riyadh Newspaper, where he worked as a reporter in the local news department with many contributions in the departments of culture and social investigations. He later joined the editorial staff of the newspaper’s economic section as one of its first journalists. He also worked in Okaz newspaper as a reporter in local affairs in the Riyadh office before transferring  to work in “Al-Hayat” newspaper as an economic journalist in the newspaper’s regional office in Riyadh.

In 2006, he was appointed managing editor of the London-based newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat and director of its offices in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He interviewed the founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates, and Saudi billionaire Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal.

Since 2011, he has become a weekly opinion writer in a number of Saudi newspapers such as Al-Bilad, Al-Iqtisadiah and Al-Watan, in which he has been writing since 2013, in addition to his participation as a writer in a number of specialized news sites such as CNN in Arabic. His articles appear on well-known websites Such as Al Arabiya Net and Elaf website and several other websites.

Yasser’s work includes time as a media advisor and member of several important committees and events, including the saudi Ministry of Labor and Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, the Media Committee in the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce, the advisory committee for the “Our Home is a Trust” campaign, the Committee for the Kingdom’s Participation in the Venice Biennale, and currently a member At the National American Press Club in Washington DC.

Yasser is a published author. His books include “Information.com": An Attempt to Reveal the True Color of the Red Line by Dar Al-Rayes in Lebanon, "Back to the Front" The Search for so called Saudi uniqueness by the Arab Science House publishers in Lebanon, and his most recent book, Pillars of the Triangle .. Saudi Arabia, America and the War on Terror published by Dar Difaf in Lebanon in 2018.

Founder and President of the Arab Center for American Studies based in Washington, DC, where he has lived for the past five years.

Website: http://alghaslan.me/

Arab Center for American Studies: https://usaarabic.com/contact/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/alghaslan?lang=en

You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/alghaslan

*Season Finale*

Monica Peabody grew up singing in family hootenanies and square dancing at granges in the sandhills of Nebraska. She plays and teaches clawhammer banjo and loves to travel, especially touring with her old time band, Yodelady. She works at the Olympia Food Co-op and loves collectives, food justice and community building. She's on the Board of Directors at POWER (Parents Organizing for Welfare and Economic Rights). She commutes mostly by bicycle.

More information on Monica’s music: Yodelady 

More on the Olympia Food Co-op 

More about POWER

Pastor Amy began her ministry at First Christian, Olympia July 1, 2010. Amy moved to Olympia from Indianapolis, In. where she served as an associate at Allisonville Christian Church and First Congregational United Church of Christ. She earned her Master of Divinity degree from Christian Theological Seminary and is currently working on her Doctor of Ministry degree at Claremont School of Theology. Her undergrad work, in theatre, was at Texas Christian University and Indiana University Purdue University in Indianapolis, IN. Prior to accepting her call into ministry she owned a used bookstore, was a massage therapist, and was co‐founder of the Indianapolis Children's Theatre. She is passionate about creating an open, affirming and welcoming faith community that truly seeks to do justice and be a sign of God's all inclusive love in the world.