Writer's Voices

How does a young, idealistic man from a privileged background become the headmaster of a private school dedicated to providing opportunity to students from all backgrounds, and from there dedicate his entire life to progressive education?  In “Confessions of a Headmaster,” Dr. Paul F Cummins tells the story behind the founding of Crossroads in Los Angeles, New Roads School and many others.  Crossroads alumni Amy Pascal, former co-chair of Sony Pictures, calls Crossroads “the first school that understood that poetry, music and backpacking are as important as are mathematics and science…. Crossroads changed my life.”

Cummins’ previous books include “Two Americas, Two Educations,” and “Dachau Song: The Twentieth Century Odyssey of Herbert Zipper.

One more note – Paul Cummins is still opening schools, focusing on areas where kids’ educational opportunities are limited.  Check out his web site below for information about how you can help.

How do you start a school? Some of the “confessions” are some of the early challenges, problems and crises I encountered in launching my first school, Crossroads.

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.

Judy Batalion’s mother was a pathological hoarder. That’s not the most interesting thing to know about Judy, but it is at the heart of her memoir, “White Walls: A Memoir About Motherhood, Daugherhood, and the Mess In Between.”.

In our conversation with Judy we learn the root of this pathology, which extends back at least two generations to her grandmother, who escaped from Poland to Siberia just before the Nazi’s invaded. We follow Judy as she grows from overcompensating for her mother’s mess by her own militant minimalism, to acceptance and understanding when she herself becomes a mother. We also follow her career, from museum curator to stand-up comedian, to essayist and, finally, published author.

My mother was born into so much loss and chaos and family trauma that it is very understandable to me now that she held on to things as a way to create safety for herself, and comfort.

If you had a bad day, don’t worry. We all have a reset button. It’s called “tomorrow.”

Kristina McMorris started her career in the arts at the tender age of 9, hosting an Emmy-award winning TV show. She continued acting in film before opening an event planning company, which led to a stint hosting Weddings Portland Style on the WB network.  Other twists and turns in her career found Kristina becoming a professional emcee, a contributing writer for Portland Bride & Groom magazine, and a director of public relations.  Her first book was Grandma Jean’s Rainy Day Recipes, which Kristina self-published in 2001. In the process of writing her Grandma’s bio for the book, she ran across letters from her grandfather while serving in WWII.  These became the basis of her first novel, Letters from Home.

Kristina’4th novel, The Edge of Lost , is a wonderfully gripping story of a young Irish lad who immigrates to the US in 1919 and ends up in the famed Alcatraz prison.  The story was inspired by a documentary titled The Children of Alcatraz, about children who grew up on the island.  She really got into researching the history of Alcatraz, particularly the various escape attempts over the decades.

Marie Lu is a hot commodity in the world of Young Adult fantasy fiction. She published book 1 of the very successful Legend trilogy in 2013. Like all 5 of her books so far, it was a New York Times bestseller. Born in China, Lu didn’t really understand that books had authors as a child. But once she did, and that she could be an author, nothing could stop her.

“The Rose Society” is the second book of The Young Elite series, which has been described as “Game of Thrones Meets X-Men.” What really makes this book stand out, in a chilling way, is that the heroine is evil.  In our interview, Marie talks about what it’s like to write from such a dark and twisted perspective, and how long her “overnight” success really took.

The title came from an ancient Chinese proverb, “An invisible thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place or circumstance.”  Learn about Laura’s next project, compiling other people’s “invisible thread” stories, and hear Monica’s own inspiring “invisible thread” story.

Ellen Hopkins always wanted to be a writer. In her 30’s, she began her writing career as a freelance journalist. From there she branched out to children’s nonfiction., publishing 20 books such as “Orcas: High Seas Supermen.” As a teen and young adult, Ellen’s daughter struggled with drug addiction, and out of this sorrow came Ellen’s first novel, written in verse, “Crank,’ published in 2004. It was an immediate success, launching Ellen into the ranks of New York Times bestselling author.

“Traffick” is Ellen’s fifteenth published novel, and is a sequel to the #1 NYT bestseller “Tricks.” Written for young adults, it deals with the reality of sex trafficking in the United States today.

In this interview, Ellen discusses the challenges of writing in verse; how frequently her books have been banned and the importance of writing about difficult subjects for teens to open up the conversation. She also tells us about her non-profit organization, Ventana Sierra,  to help kids in need, such as former foster kids, with college.

“Let us put our minds together and see what life we can make for our children.”

Sitting Bull

What was it about the deaths, just weeks apart, of Iowa City mother and daughter Ellyn and Caroline (Line) Found that inspired unpublished writer Bill Hoeft to want to tell their story?

This is story of love, loss, inspiration and, perhaps most of all, community.  I doubt that anyone who knew Ellyn or Caroline will ever forget them.

“Live Like Line, Love Like Ellyn” was published by Ice Cube Press of North Liberty Iowa.

First-time novelist Julie Long was born and raised in Fairfield, Iowa. She was uprooted in her early teens, and when she next returned to Fairfield she found it had been partially taken over by…. Meditators! If you think the average small college town has a town-gown divide, you haven’t seen anything. But Julie herself had gotten into yoga, and Reiki, and energy work as she grew up, so she wasn’t appalled. Instead, she took this new Fairfield, changed its name to Martinville, and created a male character who tries to go home again. The end result – “Rooville: This book is a fun read, and this was a fun interview!

Rudy is best known for his novel, “The Red Truck”, and has an MFA in English/Fiction Writing, from the University of Iowa’s Writers’ Workshop, where he was a manuscript reader for admissions to the prestigious graduate writing program. Rudy received a James Michener Fellowship, a CCLM-GE Award for Fiction published in The Paris Review, and an NEA Fellowship for Fiction, in 1989.

If you only listen to one Writers’ Voices interview this month, this is the one. Michael Gruenbaum was born in Prague in 1930. At the age of 11 Michael was sent, with his mother and sister, to the Terezin concentration camp. Miraculously, they all survived, although his father, a lawyer, was killed by the Nazis.

In “Somewhere There is Still a Sun,”  Michael, with the help of experienced writer Todd Hasak-Lowy, tells the story of those Holocaust years from a child’s perspective, which is ideal for Young Adult and middle grade readers.

Second, we visit with Dennis Raimondi, host of Speaking Freely on KRUU 100.1 FM in Fairfield Iowa, about his series of interviews with Holocaust Survivors, which is now part of the archives of the National Holocaust Museum.

Our human compassion binds us the one to the other – not in pity or patronizingly, but as human beings who have learnt how to turn our common suffering into hope for the future.

We tried to be children as much as we could under the circumstances.