Category: Interview

Author Annie Dawid’s Novel “Paradise Undone”

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Post date February 10, 2024
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A Novel of Jonestown

Enjoy this fascinating visit with Annie Dawid

Audio-only version of our visit

Show Notes with Links:

Annie introduces herself and discusses her fascination with the stories of Jonestown victims.
She explains her decisions to follow four characters: two nonfiction (Mother Marceline–Jones’ wife, and Ambassador Virgil Nascimento–not his real name, but a real person) and two composite characters (“Watts,” an African-American man who escaped on the day of the massacre, and “Truth,” a young, white devotee).
I ask Annie if the victims of Jonestown–@300 minors, 300 elderly, 300 adults, mostly poor, female, and African-American–were easy targets for a cult leader.
Journalist Kenyatta’s interview of Watts, which flows through the novel, is fascinating and reads like an actual transcription.
We discuss Jones’ quotations throughout the novel and how they demonstrate his slide into megalomania.

We discuss “Mother Marceline” and how she was able to turn the other cheek when it was clear Jones was sleeping with many women. “No one gets to have everything.” How she became a sort of martyr, and her complicity in the ultimate mass murders.
We talk about the Shakahola Forest Incident/Massacre (May of 2023) and I ask how we can educate people are ignorant of cults.
Annie talks about the warning signs of possible cult behavior.
Annie will speak at the Salida Regional Library on May 8th at 5:30 p.m.

Links to Annie Dawid’s social media and previous interviews:

www.anniedawid.com

https://www.instagram.com/anniedawidnovel/

Talk Radio Europe, 11/30 for recording, https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_vB2PxeqayWeZIp3qDPiXaUA_CiGAjPy/view

Podcast BOOKABLE SPACE, UK, 2/1/24 live https://shows.acast.com/bookable-space/episodes/bookable-space-with-annie-dawid

CookieBiscuit Q&A Blog November 18 https://cookiebiscuit.co.uk/2023/11/18/paradise-undone-by-annie-dawid-q-a/

Dec 27 youtube w/Peter O YouTube on the 31st Dec. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DP6o_fx-SLs

Essays:

1. The Jonestown Report: https://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=123974

2. Women Writers Website, UK, 11.18.23

On Writing Paradise Undone: A Novel of Jonestown

Laurel Stuff:

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Author Interview Books Interview Writing

Author Spirit Ricks Shares Lessons for Living a Virtuous Life

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Post date February 4, 2024
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Visit with us here!

Audio-only version of our visit!

Show Notes with Links:

Author Spirit Ricks talks about his life experiences and how he wrote A Woman’s Guide to a Virtuous Man and a Man’s Guide to Virtue
He talks about who he is, and how he raised his children to be shepherds, not sheep.
It takes courage to tell the truth! Parents should be a child’s relief, not a punisher.
“Put the mirror in front of ourselves” to see the truth. Bad choices do not define us.

He talks about why our children might talk to others rather than ourselves.
(we’ve all made mistakes and we turned out okay!)
Spirit Ricks discusses witnessing a difficult childbirth and how it affected him. A woman’s labor…and how God labors for us.
I ask if we can learn humility, and he tells us how, and why it’s more challenging today.
The beginning of any journey requires a person ready for it.
Spirit talks about his mother and how she will have eternal life through him! I ask about his mother’s sayings.
“Don’t get caught up in what you see” in terms of other people.
I ask if we can find good in bad examples. “Without a doubt”!
Spirit talks about his first 25 years, before he learned how to live a virtuous life.

Spirit wants to leave people better than when he found them.
He talks about his vision, and the book of his life.
Spirit talks about how to forgive…and try to forget!
Follow Spirit Ricks at spiritricks.com

Laurel Stuff:

Find my other work here!

Interview Podcast

“Bring Them Home!”

Israeli Author Miriam Green Discusses the Hamas Terrorist Attack on 7 October 2023

CONTENT WARNING: Graphic language of attack may disturb listeners.

Watch our visit on November 19, 2023.

Photo of Miriam and her mom from her webpage thelostkitchen.org

Audio-only version of our interview

SHOW NOTES with Links:

Miriam Green’s book The Lost Kitchen: Reflections and Recipes from a Alzheimer’s Caregiver
Miriam’s website The Lost Kitchen
I introduce Miriam Green, born in London, raised in Bethesda, MD, Oberlin College in Ohio, met husband in Washington, D.C., and has been living in Israel for 32 years.
I interviewed Miriam in July of 2019 when her book came out. Here’s the link. Please watch if you’re interested in learning more about Alzheimer’s Disease.
She talks about what she did today, and how in her poetry group members pay tribute to one of their own (Judy Weinstein Hagai) who is presumed to be captured or worse. Miriam is one of the founders of the group Voices Israel
Miriam sets the scene for what happened on October 7^th as her family prepared for Shabbat.
She discusses the phone call from her daughter and the subsequent horrors she discovered.
She discusses a day in which three unique events became linked in her memory: Leaving her youngest son at the bus to deploy, paying a condolence call to a family that had lost their daughter and son-in-law horribly, and visiting her mother in the Alzheimer’s Care home.
She talks about her mom and how music still allows her to connect.
Both men and women in Israel are called into service.
I ask how her children, their children, and her father (who is 85) are coping with living in a war zone.
Miriam and a friend volunteer at a new local zoo as a way to make a difference and as a way to help them cope with the daily uncertainty.
In the midst of war, Miriam Green and others like her have made the decision they must move forward.
I mention Thanksgiving week in the United States and how I feel both thankful and guilty for the circumstances of my birth and how I’m able to live in safety.
How can we help? Here are two links:
The first is JGive which highlights different organizations that are helping in the war effort: https://www.jgive.com/new/en/usd?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAgeeqBhBAEiwAoDDhn70Thd0cjQ2obzFHJ7cbTXHRfp6p_NbVLNWqDQN6WKCEmqYQSw0E8BoCqGgQAvD_BwE
The second is my friend’s kibbutz, Kibbutz Ketura: Want to help on a personal level through Kibbutz Ketura? Donate to Merkaz Hasachar on Israel Gives, and Ketura will use the money to care for the over 250 extra people we have on kibbutz now. We are making food and donating toys and clothing, sending young people to play, read, and do activities with kids evacuated from the fighting to Eilat as well as the families staying with us. Also taking treats to soldiers, finding ways to send necessities to people who were called up to serve without time to prepare. The money will be used to get what they need. However we can help. https://www.israelgives.org/amuta/580032159
And a link to the poem: https://www.dailygood.org/story/2647/wislawa-szymborska-life-while-you-wait-maria-popova/

“BRING THEM HOME”