IN 

Join us for a great visit down on the Gulf Coast with Sundog Books. Bob and Linda White the founders and owners spin tales of the past and recommend novels and stories that are must reads. Then author Cathie Beck steps into the studio to visit. And that’s just what it is.  No interview. No book pitch. It’s a visit that includes book talk, funny stories, Russian literature, stolen stories, wine, and road trips.

It’s always about the Power of Story, the way it connects us and grounds us, centers us and helps us find common ground. Come join us and celebrate the written word in all its glory.

What People Are Saying About Cheap Cabernet

What They’re Saying About Cheap Cabernet

Cathie Beck’s “Cheap Cabernet” is a vintage tale, a female buddy story chock full of the stuff of life: tears, laughter and love in the darkest of times. You won’t put it down until the final page — at which time a box of Kleenex and a glass of cabernet, cheap or otherwise, would be wise to have on hand: the first to deal with the story’s denouement, the second to toast Beck’s triumph.

Cheap Cabernet is simply awesome, such a poignant story, and so very well-written.

—  Patti Thorn, books editor,
Rocky Mountain News

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Some friendships survive beyond the final gruesome fight. Some last beyond the grave. Cathie Beck had that kind of friendship and she relates the roller coaster ride of that relationship in her memoir with a heavy dose of wit and a wine glass full of poignant reflection.

Beck’s writing is breezy, polished, and fun to read. Her vivacious personality comes alive on the page and draws readers into her world.

— ForeWord Reviews

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Cathie Beck’s wonderfully told and achingly poignant memoir will remind every woman to call her best friend right away to tell her how important their relationship is, and how she couldn’t survive without it  And, by the way, to run out and buy the heartbreaking book, “Cheap Cabernet.”

— Iris Rainer Dart, author of Beaches

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

All [of the chapters describing Cathie’s life and friendship with Denise] are sharply focused and grip the reader’s attention. . . . Compelling as both an account of a special friendship and, more generally, of the dynamics of women’s lives and relationships.

— The Washington Times

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The book is beautifully written and I could not put it down … what an adventure … this book will be read by many people. … and will make the rounds and stimulate some wonderful conversation about friendship, surviving the rough times and enjoying the hell out of the good times.

— Susan Gatschet-Reese, host, “Mid-Morning Jazz”,
KUVO Radio

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Beyond wonderful — wickedly funny, poignant, and smart.

Anyone who’s a fan of Mary Karr or Annie Lamott will find Cathie Beck’s “Cheap Cabernet” both laugh-out-loud hysterical — and heartbreaking.”

— Best selling author, Elle Newmark,
The Book of Unholy Mischief

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Cheap Cabernet is utterly seductive … a page-turner … impossible to put down.

Not since “Thelma & Louise” have women and friendship been so beautifully and powerfully painted. This hilarious, heartbreaking memoir is a joyful and exhilarating ride for the reader.”

— Sandi Gelles-Cole, host “Ask the Book Doctor”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Cathie Beck’s Cheap Cabernet is a bracing story of a woman who took the crappy hand life had dealt her and turned it into a big win. With an awe-inspiring stamina, she kept going long past the point other people — like me — would’ve quit. I devoured this empowering and very funny memoir from the first page.

— Julie Klam, author of Please Excuse My Daughter

Wednesday at 12:00pm and Sunday at 6:00pm on 107.1lpfm Nashville and Streaming Live at http://www.clearstoryradio.com

We have a great show for you this week as Julie Cantrell shares her story as a new novelist with a story to inspire others. It’s getting rave reviews and she’s just as down to Earth and humble about all that as a soul can be.  We visit with that Bookseller Around the Corner and this week the corner is down Memphis way with Burkes Books. Check out their site and the fact that they have over 12,000 of their used books on line that you can browse and order in addition to brand new selections and signed copies of John Grisham’s latest. You can also ‘like’ their facebook page and visit the neighborhood before you make it to Graceland.

About Into the Free

Millie Reynolds knows firsthand the shame of family secrets. With an abusive father and a “nothing mama,” she craves a place of true belonging. Over time, the gypsies that travel through town each spring offer acceptance. Then tragedy strikes and Millie leaves her world of poverty to join a prominent family on the other side of town. There, with the help of unlikely sources, Millie uncovers painful truths about her family’s past as she struggles to face a God she believes has abandoned her. When unconditional love is offered, Millie learns the power of forgiveness and finally discovers where she belongs.

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT from David C Cook: February 13-19 pick up a FREE COPY of Into the Free by Julie Cantrell for your Kindle, Nook, or other reading device! This offer is available for ONE WEEK only through most e-book distributors including Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Great Musical Interludes

Jack Johnson
David Byrne
Sting
Mumford and Sons
Bent Fabric
Jesse Cook

It’s always about the Power of Story, the way it connects us and grounds us, centers us and helps us find common ground. Come join us and celebrate the written word in all its glory.

But in the middle of a few bumps in the road, a parking ticket and a little hot spot med, I was able to have lunch with a funny, talented friend, take in the musical Crowns with another at Christs Church Cathedral (And if you miss out on one of the performances – you missed out on a great evening of music, laughter, and storytelling,) hang out in the front of the fire with husband and friends and big dog, meet a lot of beautiful, new people, and yes, pray for a few strangers.

A new week is now dawning. I have the pleasure of recapturing those interviews which means I get to speak to those great authors at length – again. To see Larry Wood’s movie debut at Green Hills, to speak at the Christian Women in the Media conference Thursday, and to plan that great trip next week to the East Coast to see the ADORABLES and speak at Wrightsville United Methodist Church. It’s a busy life but a grand one.

All parking tickets aside, blessings abound in the midst of it all.

The journey continues. What a wild ride! May all your encounters this week be Divine.

0

UPCOMING SHOW – AIR DATE TO BE ANNOUNCED

Tune in to Clearstory Radio Wednesday at 12:00pm or Sunday at 6:00pm (CST) at 107.1 Nashville or streaming at Clearstory Radio for  a great visit with author, playwright, screenwriter and a very, spiritual man, Jeffrey Stepakoff. Raised near the Television to such wonderful influences as Happy Days, Welcome Back Kotter, and China Beach – Jeffrey decided that at ten or eleven years old the best thing he might become was a screenwriter so he began banging out some ideas on an old typewriter in the basement. We must tell you, the world is all the better for the fact that he was captured by story at an early age and never walked away from it.

We’ll also visit with a That Bookseller Around the Corner, feature a New Book Review, Best Hideaway Getaway, and talk a little bit about Writer’s Notebooks and Where They Write. All mixed in of course with those great Musical Interludes.

A Little More About Jeffrey

Jeffrey Stepakoff was raised in Atlanta, Georgia. He attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he received a BA in Journalism. In 1988, the day after getting his MFA in Playwriting

from Carnegie Mellon, he drove to Hollywood where he began writing for film and television.

Jeffrey has “written by” or “story by” credits on thirty-six television episodes, has written for fourteen different series and has worked on seven primetime staffs, producing hundreds of hours of internationally-recognized television, including the Emmy-winning THE WONDER YEARS, SISTERS, WILD CARD, HYPERION BAY, THE MAGIC SCHOOL, C16: FBI, ROBIN’S HOODS, LAND’S END, FLIPPER, SONS & DAUGHTERS, MAJOR DAD, THE YAKOV SMIRNOFF SHOW, BEAUTY & THE BEAST, HAVE FAITH, SIMON& SIMON, and DAWSON’S CREEK where he was Co-Executive Producer.

Stepakoff has also created and developed pilots for many of the major studios and networks, including 20th Century, Paramount, MTM, Fox and ABC. And he has developed and written major motion pictures, including Disney’s TARZAN and BROTHER BEAR, and EM Entertainment’s LAPITCH, THE LITTLE SHOEMAKER, Croatia’s selection for the 1998 Academy Awards.

A few years ago, Stepakoff returned to Atlanta, where he lives with his wife and three young children, and began writing fiction. FIREWORKS OVER TOCCOA, first published by St. Martin’s Press in 2010, is his debut novel. A Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance “Okra” Pick and an ABA Indie Next List Notable, FIREWORKS is available in hardback, trade paperback, large print, audio and digital forms. The novel was also an Avant Premiere (featured pick) for France Loisirs (the French Book club). Stepakoff’s second novel, THE ORCHARD, also a SIBA Pick, was released in North America in July 2011. READER’S DIGEST will release their version in October 2011′s SELECT EDITIONS. Stepakoff’s fiction is available in eleven languages, as well as in editions for all the major bookclubs, including The Literary Guild, Doubleday and Book-of-the-Month Club.

Presently, he speaks around the country, teaches dramatic writing at Kennesaw State University, and is hard at work on his third novel for St. Martin’s Press. In his spare time, he builds forts in living room with sofa cushions.

Tune In to Clearstory Wednesday at 12:00pm Central or Sunday nights at 6:00pm in the Nashville area on 107.1lpfm or streaming through Clearstoryradio.com world-wide. (You can also subscribe to Clearstory Radio via Itunes and download for your Ipad/Iphone/ipod)

FAVORITE QUOTE FROM THIS WEEK’S SHOW
“ God’s Grace comes to you sometimes not in spite of tragedy but through tragedy.” Robert Leleux
(But don’t take it out of contexts – you need to tune in to the show to get the full impact of that conversation.) 

This week in the joy of Celebrating Story we visit with author Robert Leleux as he shares a story very close to his heart about his Grandmother, a wild and larger than life, movie star persona, her eventual journey into Alztiemers and his continuing relationship with her during that time. Heartwarming, funny, poignant and meaningful, The Living End showcases the love of relationships and how they may change in character but never in passion.

Author Pat Conroy had this to say about the memoir. “The Living End is Robert Leleux’s exceptionally moving memoir about his beloved grandmother and his heroic caring for her as she slipped into the grip of Alzheimer’s. The book is at times hilarious, tender, and heartbreaking–further proof that Mr. Leleux is ripening into one of the best prose stylists in America.” 

Check out more great BUZZ on The Living END!

Tune in and listen to Robert share his story that you can be inspired and perhaps remember some of the many reasons we should treasure the simple moments we have in life with those we love.

And for more information the epidemic on Alzheimer’s, Caregiving, and General INFO please follow links to the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America.

On Book Tour Now! Robert Visits Nashville’s new Parnassus Books – Monday, January 30th, 6pm! See you there!

JUST FOR FUN! VISIT THE INCREDIBLE SPREAD OF ROBERT’S APARTMENT IN NEW YORK VIA LONNY MAGAZINE

We also visit with That Bookseller Around The Corner and feature Blue Willow Books down Texas way recommending great books that should be, could be, on your reading list. They have 14 FOURTEEN! book loving booksellers reading from every genre of all types and have the special talent of matching a reader with a book they will be certain to love.

All Mixed in with a great line-up of musical interludes . . . This weeks program features -

CLEARSTORY MUSICAL INTERLUDE PLAYLIST

A little Bit of Jazz – Show Opening
The Best Is Yet To Come – Frank Sinatra
Toot, Toot, Tootsie – Al Jolson
You Mean The World To Me – David Gray
And the Wind Cries Mary – Jimi Hendrix
Russian Lullaby – The Blue Healers
He’s  A Son of The South – Louie Armstrong
Red Wine, Mistakes, Mythology – Jack Johnson

The Pulpwood Queens

Most of you know I’ve just returned from the fabulous Pulpwood Queens Girlfriend Getaway Weekend. I had to arrive many road miles tired but there is something so special about Jefferson, Texas in January! Maybe because there are hundreds of women converging who are avid book readers, and some of the most creative people I’ve ever known. I’ll try to lead you to some of the websites of the incredible authors in attendance but there were too many for me to grab them all. I also wish I could fill this page with photos of the book clubs and their costumes. But I can’t. Not enough time till I find HELP! (And thanks to all those who have offered your talented services. As soon as I find time to describe the help I need, I’ll get right back with you. Seriously.)

Last weeks Clearstory Radio program was a montage of some of those writers and their comments about the event. The most important thing I think I heard was that it was a special gathering of a book event where the walls were truly broken down between the reader and the writer. There are no magic curtains, no dividing lines. Somehow founder Kathy Patrick has formed a family of sorts and the book club event is in many ways an annual reunion of the great family you never had or wished yours was . Year after year readers pour into the charming town and fill up the historic hotels like the Jefferson and the Excelsior, all of the b&b’s in town so that there isn’t a room to be found – and celebrate the power of story and the gift of reading. Tickets are already being sold (and bought!) for 2013 so if you have a desire to discover this wild and wonderful even for yourself you might want to purchase early and make reservations soon. This year’s theme was The Greatest Show on Earth so the costumes varied from this shot with two of my favorite queens, Andrea and Mary Yetta (daughter and mother) dressed as a white tiger and a lion. All those pink pictures are from the Pink prom night but that too is another story. Follow the blogs, find it on facebook. It’s called Pulpwood Queens Girlfriend Getaway Weekend and it has happened once again. The Greatest show on Earth for certain. I attended this year and spoke primarily on the latest book, Praying for Strangers to a warm, receptive crowd of women (and some men) who were a great blessing to me. Praying for Strangers was a sell out at the event and I thank you all for buying and sharing with friends! This year’s event featured the author of In the Garden of Good and Evil,
Robert Hicks, Shellie Rushing Tomlinson, Karen Harrington, Carolyn Turgeon, Michael Morris, Nicole Sietz, Robert Leleux and so many more that I’ll try to backtrack and get them posted for you.

Baseball?

Yes. Baseball. With the Superbowl upon us and temps in the high 50′s my attention turns to – baseball. Spring Training. Buying tickets to the Sounds games in Nashville or sneaking off to South Florida to watch the Phillie’s in  Spring Training. Look – warm, sunshine, baseball. What’s not to like? I have a thing for baseball. Maybe it was those old nights at the neighborhood ballpark, the sound of the bats to the ball, the announcers, the smell of popcorn and hot dogs, the actual families and kids that were out in this safe environment full of life and fun. My sister and I both have really fond memories of the place, the season, the smell, and sounds. We were allowed to walk there alone! And hang out for hours. And we were good kids. We went right there. We watched the games. We loved it so much it wouldn’t have occurred to us to go elsewhere.  And yes, I have a passion for the poetry of baseball movies. I decided this year I’d like to have a collection of my favorites on dvd just so I could watch them on days of drear and we all get them. The Natural, The Sandlot, Bull Durham (yes, I know it’s what it is but . . . c’mon it’s baseball), Angel in the Outfield, Field of Dreams, For the Love of the Game, and even the recent Moneyball. Wait, wait, and A League of Their Own and you can just email me the list of all the great ones I’m missing or not remembering. (Oh, yes, that other one but I’m just not that into Charlie Sheen) – and the NPT total collection of the series on the history of baseball. And, you guessed it, right at the top of my reading list. The Fielders Handbook. Spring it cometh  - which leads me to . . .

The Golden Hoe

This is an old story but it’s a repeated one in my life and bears remembering because – I’ve been looking at seed catalogues – again. Wanting to order something to plant. Now, never mind that I’m challenged to keep my one aloe plant alive which I NEED because I burn myself so frequently, I am possessed with a desire to PLANT this time of year like some sort of through back to my rural farmer family genes. You think I’d be able to keep things alive but no, it’s just the urge to plant that gets me. I kept telling the husband that we need to plan our garden. He asks – “What garden? “Exactly! I tell him. That’s the problem we don’t have a garden and the farmers almanac says it’s time to plan what you are going to plant NOW. He sighs. “Whose going to work the garden considering we both work 14 hour days now and you are on the road speaking and touring?” I tell him not to bog me down with the details. When a woman has to plant, she has to plant. (And at this point I’m going to try to go dig up an old blog that illustrates this better than anything I can say here.  – Oh, look. I FOUND it buried in an old blog no longer published. For all you hopeful planters out there, I offer you -

The Seeds of Change!

It was a wintry, grey day in the city. (Which may sound something like a kick-off line from an old Sam Spade novel or maybe an opening from a Calvin and Hobbs cartoon – the Tracer Bullet -phase.) But that day has passed. It seems only a week ago I landed in Nashville with a snow and ice encrusted car and now, 70-something beautiful degrees today and what to my wondering ears appear but the sound of crickets. The sun has past and the windows are open as I relish every second of this early Spring night and yes, I hear them. This may pass with a last cold snap or two. Even a freaky, late snow but it won’t matter. Not a bit. Spring is here. It arrived a few weeks ago when I dashed in from a biting wind, stuck my hand in the mailbox and pulled out the days mail. It was filled with seed catalogues filled with pictures of blooming flowers, plump vegetables, ripe fruit.

I order them every year like a farmer. As if I’m going to get really serious now about planting.

I am looking at trees, at blossoms, at berries. I read names like Desertgold Peach and Kadota Fig and Purple Passion Asparagus. I study trees like the Bonfire Ornamental Peach. I tasteEmperor Francis Sweet Cherry’s and smell Frangrant Purple Lilac and Variegated Weigela and I run my fingers over the colored map, find the planting zone I live in which promises to help me select the best varieties for my area. (I’m in the lowest part of the blue zone just above the pink zone.) I search out the Farmers Almanac which I know within a reasonable doubt can tell me the exact day that I’m supposed plant – anything – anywhere. And I thumb back through the gourmet greens section tasting names like Arugula Sylvetta and Bellesque Endive and Persion Garden Cress. Huazontle. Komatsuma. Magenta Spreen. I’m imagining eating from the good earth and my skin just glowing, pumped twenty-four/seven full of natural minerals and vitamins. Why, I would be able to look down at my veins and see the healthy blood flowing freely which on some days (particularly after family reunions) feels a little greasy and clogged.

“Why do you order these?” Husband asks. “You’re not going to plant anything.”
“Well, I am.” I turn the page and study germination stations. “I think I really am.”
“Honey, face it. You don’t have a green thumb, you have the opposite. You have a brown thumb.”

He’s making a joke. Kinda. And because I love him a lot I don’t hit him with a shovel when his back is turned. (Well, he’s kinda big.) I drop the subject and put the catalogues to the side and go to sleep. But I am dreaming of flowers. Big Yellow ones. Furry Purple ones. Large pick antique ones. And I wake up with the brown-thumb blues which is what I have still when the husband finds me moping, sitting on the steps and staring out the window at the grey day.

“What’s wrong?” he asks like he doesn’t know because he really doesn’t.
Tears well up in my eyes and I say, “I really wanted flowers.”
And he laughs, but it’s not a mean laugh, it’s more of a chuckle and he says, “I was only kidding, honey.” And he was. Kinda.

My mother has a green thumb. My Mother-in-law Nancy has a green thumb. My sister’s thumb is showing some serious promise. (I should realise my situation when I visit her and say with surprise – “Your flowers are still alive.”

The only thing that I had that was THRIVING was a fern I named George of the Jungle and I had to leave it in Florida. Ferns are easy. They need a) lots of water and b) lots of water and c) shade and D) more water.

Other plants seem so temperamental to me. They thrive by the window and then one day I look at them and they seem . . . distressed or maybe . . . depressed so I move them. Or water them. Shade them. Or sun them. I bring them in if they are out. I put them out if they are in. But in the long run we both know there are signs that it is the beginning of the end of our relationship. One dropped or droopy leaf and I might as well give them to Goodwill where they will have at least a chance for survival.

(The truth is – maybe I watered them a lot for a week and then I started writing a story and in the story all the plants are flourishing so that is that and there is my focus. If a flower in a story wilts a character shows up and waters it. They always know exactly the right thing to do at the right time. Or they know a friend who does – and then I have another character in the story which is very warm and wonderful as my plants lose another leaf around me.)

Later in the day Mr. Wonderful walks in the door with a present. A peace offering. It’s a hoe, painted gold and wearing a large red bow. And I laugh. A lot. To which my husband is grateful – he says, “You know, that could have gone either way.” And he’s right.

But I’ve noticed something special about Nashville. People get serious about Spring. About planting and putting new things into the ground. I mean really, really serious. In Florida something is always in some stage of blooming or about to be – Camellias in the Winter that were planted by someones great-grandmother who had two green thumbs that are still winning awards all by themselves- just flourishing – and about the time they stop blooming, the azaleas come out that were planted by someones great-grandmother. But Nashville has what one might call a bit of dormant, sleeping stage – and OH the Glory that causes when it is time to reawaken. It’s a veritable feeding freezy at the garden department! Trucks and trunks loaded down with dark rich dirt and tiny heads of blooms that promise to multiply and bloom all summer long. Just come visit and see if what I’m saying isn’t the truth because it is. And it’s catchy. And even my brown thumb is getting twitchy.
So, I have the catalogues, I have the hoe, and a friend, a movie-buddy friend mind you, just called as I was writing this to invite me Saturday to a LAWN AND GARDEN SHOW (she doesn’t have a yard.) “We can look at seeds and flowers and herbs she tells me,” and the sound of that Spring planting fever has taken her, I can tell.

“I’m writing a novel,” I tell her. “I can’t leave home until it’s finished.” But my fingers are twitching. Herbs, I’m thinking, Maybe I could grow herbs. And I imagine fresh basil and endive and cilantro. “Call me back. Give me a last minute chance.”

The thing is – I believe in the power of renewal and transformation. In the ground and in people. Even in me.

Maybe this year, catnip. But someday soon, with the right amount of hope and joy and determination, York and Lancaster antique roses, bringing a little bit of story, a little bit of history forward in the process.

Join us for a fabulous show featuring a collection of authors sharing recent memories and impressions from the wild and wonderful Pulpwood Queen Girlfriend Getaway Weekend! Author views and musical interludes! Wednesday at 12:00 Central and Sunday night at 6PM 107.1lpfm Nashville and streaming world wide at Clearstory Radio.

The Pulpwood Queens Girlfriend Getaway Weekend – there is nothing like it. Nothing. It must be experienced to be even slightly understood. It is truly one of the greatest events on the planet for promoting The Power of Story. I will try to link a few sites for you to illustrate this.

Each year the founder of the Pulpwood Queens International Book Club, Kathy Patrick, hosts a gathering in Jefferson, Texas. Each year there are parties that go along hand in hand with the promotion of literacy and the written word. This past weekend featured a Pretty in Pink prom but it was all due to a BOOK. The Saturday night event was the Greatest Show on Earth – or under the Big Tent and Circus. Take your pick. This meant lots of costumes and this is me with two of the most dedicated, wondrous readers I’ve ever met.  A mother and daughter team – Mary Yetta and Andrea – who dressed as a lion and a tiger. They make me beam. The list of participating authors every year is long enough to cover the equator, the list of readers even longer. And it’s the one event where the curtain between author and reader is torn down and cast aside. No dividing lines. No pedestals. Just real people being real with each other and celebrating story. And while yours truly was life boggled and didn’t get planned costume to the party you can see by photos other authors had no problem coordinating and getting their circus on!

This weeks Clearstory program celebrates those authors and readers, those wonderful book clubs, and the amazing force that is Kathy Patrick. Long live the Queen.

107.1lpfm Nashville

http://www.clearstoryradio.com Listen Live

It’s the day we’ve all been waiting for. It’s Do Over day. We get to begin again and to do our best to get it right! And what better book to feature and kick the year off with than a book about New beginnings and chapters closing. New friends and a new way of looking at things. New Life! 107.1fm Nashville or http://www.clearstoryradio.com streaming

Please join us Sunday night, New Year’s night at 6:00pm Central as Neil White shares his experiences living in and writing about The Sanctuary of Outcasts. Literary News, Book Reviews, and Musical interludes. It’s a great way to start the year!

About the Book

“In the Sanctuary of Outcasts is a remarkable story.”

JOHN GRISHAM

Daddy is going to camp. That’s what I told my children. A child psychologist suggested it. “Words like prison and jail conjure up dangerous images for children,” she explained. 

But it wasn’t camp.

Neil White, a journalist and magazine publisher, wanted the best for those he loved—nice cars, beautiful homes, luxurious clothing. He loaned money to family and friends, gave generously to his church, and invested in his community—but his bank account couldn’t keep up. Soon Neil began moving money from one account to another to avoid bouncing checks. His world fell apart when the FBI discovered his scheme and a judge sentenced him to eighteen months in federal prison.
But it was no ordinary prison. The isolated, beautiful colony in Carville, Louisiana was also home to the last people in the continental United States disfigured by leprosy. Hidden away for decades, this small circle of outcasts forged a tenacious, clandestine community, a fortress to repel the cruelty of the outside world. It is here, in a place rich with history, where the Mississippi River briefly runs north, amidst an unlikely mix of leprosy patients, nuns, and criminals, that Neil’s strange and compelling journey begins. He finds a new best friend in Ella Bounds, an eighty-year-old, African-American, double-amputee who had contracted leprosy as a child. She and the other secret people, along with a wacky troop of inmates, help Neil re-discover the value of simplicity, friendship and gratitude.
Funny and poignant, In the Sanctuary of Outcasts is an uplifting memoir that reminds us all what matters most.