Season Two Episodes

Podcast: Download (Duration: 24:03 — 22.2MB)

In this episode number 15, we hear stories about the life of Ham Wade, to whom Season 2 is dedicated, and we get a preview of the 12 authors who will give voice to their written words this season.

The first author episode of Season 2 will feature author Tommy Tomlinson, finalist for the 2005 Pulitzer prize in commentary, reading from and discussing his new book: The Elephant in the Room: One Fat Man’s Quest to Get Smaller in a Growing America.

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:02:43 — 57.6MB)

In this episode number 16, Author Tommy Tomlinson, finalist for the 2005 Pulitzer prize in commentary and longtime local columnist with the Charlotte Observer, reads from The Elephant in the Room: One Fat Man’s Quest to Get Smaller in a Growing America.

Tommy reads and talks about his lifetime struggle with his weight. It’s at times humorous and full of wit and at times its full of depth and tugs at your heart but always, always filled with that human touch that makes Tommy a writer worth reading.

Podcast: Download (Duration: 46:34 — 42.8MB)

In today’s episode number 17, we meet Linda Phillips, an author who writes poetry and novels in verse.

Linda is the author of Crazy,an award-winning Young Adult novel in verse about a young girl who truly believes that her mother belongs in a nut house. The story is inspired by Linda’s own life, when she struggled to come to terms with her own mother’s bipolar disorder.

Podcast: Download (Duration: 55:25 — 50.9MB)

In this episode number 18, author JD DuPuy reads from Poetic Justice: Legal Humor in Verse.

You guessed it. We poke a bit of fun at the legal profession, which is perfectly acceptable for J.D. and me to do since we are both lawyers.

With a sly grin and a few belly laughs, J.D. waxes poetic about the stages lawyer life, starting with law school and continuing through what he jokingly calls the final stage, disillusionment. Along the way, he rhymes about the brand-new attorney, the courtroom, the deposition table, ethics, and law firm life.

Podcast: Download (Duration: 54:52 — 50.4MB)

In this episode number 19, we run head-long into a family’s story of cocaine, race, and ambition in the New South. They say truth is often stranger than fiction and this true story of a drug dealer’s life in Charlotte is no exception.

The book is called Money Rock and in it, author Pam Kelley pulls back the curtain to reveal a Charlotte history that is little known and not discussed enough.

Podcast: Download (Duration: 48:05 — 44.2MB)

In this episode number 20, we meet author Gilda Morina Syverson, a poet, memorist, and as she says, a member of a larger Italian-American family from upstate New York that grows exponentially each year.

This large Italian-American family has its roots in Sicily, which led to Gilda’s quest to learn more about her past and to her award-winning memoir: My Father’s Daughter: From Rome to Sicily.  

Podcast: Download (Duration: 50:46 — 46.6MB)

In this episode number 21, we meet author Randell Jones, and explore his writing about the revolutionary war in the South and the adventures of Daniel Boone.

Randell reads from his script, The American Spirit, 1780, which takes us into the battle of Kings Mountain, a turning point in the fight for American’s freedom. He then reads from In The Footsteps of Daniel Boone, taking  us to the backcountry along the Kentucky river, where Boone is engaged in a harrowing encounter with a party of armed Shawnees.

Podcast: Download (Duration: 51:58 — 47.7MB)

In today’s episode number 22, we meet author Rosie Molinary, who takes us on a journey of what it means to be a woman growing up Latina in America and we explore her passion of teaching others the idea of self-acceptance, because we are who we are.

She reads from Hijas Americanas: Beauty, Body Image and Growing up Latina, and also from Beautiful You, A Daily Guide to Radical Self-Acceptance. There is inspiration in her story and in her advice, which she dispenses humbly, through her writing and our conversation.

Podcast: Download (Duration: 51:21 — 47.2MB)

In this episode number 23, we meet Bud Schill, co-author of Not Exactly Rocket Scientists and other Stories.The late Pat Conroy said it is a “great book about friendship, growing up in the fifties, and a lost America that will never come again.”

Bud reads several stories about “boys being boys” in the era of his youth. He describes the period in the lead story this way: “As a kid in the 1950s, I always figured the first person on the moon would be Alice Kramden.  Her TV husband, Ralph (Jackie Gleason), began threatening to send her there in 1956. Of course, he never did.  But 13 years later, on the day my first child was born, July 20, 1969, the United States put a man up there.  A lot of stuff happened in between.”

Podcast: Download (Duration: 53:46 — 49.4MB)

In this episode number 24, author Nora Gaskin reads from her true crime book about a murder in Chapel Hill in the 1960s and then jumps to readings from her novel, The Worst Thing.

With Nora’s help, and the characters from The Worst Thing, we dive headfirst into the realm of suspense, where there is no mystery about who is the deranged perpetrator, just plenty of angst about how things are going to turn out.

Podcast: Download (Duration: 50:15 — 46.2MB)

In this episode 25, author Bryn Chancellor takes us into the world of literary fiction. She reads a story called “All This History at Once” from her collection of short stories that won the Prairie Schooner Book Prize.

We then spend most of the show focused on Bryn’s award-winning book, “Sycamore.” She reads various selections from the book and talks about how growing up in the Southwest gave her the sense of the place she writes about in the book. The story is a literary mystery about a young girl who disappears, only to surface years later in the hearts and minds of the residents of her small town.

Podcast: Download (Duration: 48:25 — 44.5MB)

In this episode number 26, author Cathy Pickens,a mystery writer turned true crime aficionado, reads first from her book about ghostly haunts of Charleston, South Carolina and finishes with stories about sensational crimes committed over the years in Charlotte.

Cathy has won numerous awards for her mystery books, and that experience led her to research and write about the criminals in our backyard.

Podcast: Download (Duration: 51:52 — 47.6MB)

In this episode number 27, we spend time with author Ann Campanella, twice recipient of the Poet Laureate Award from the North Carolina Poet Society.

Ann reads a poem called “How to Grieve,” and then follows this poem with readings from and discussion about her award winning memoir: Motherhood: Lost and Found.