In January 2018, I had the pleasure of speaking with Donna Carol Voss, in her own words, “a Berkeley grad, a former pagan, a Mormon on purpose, and an original thinker on twenty-first-century living.” She hosts “Nothing to Apologize For,” a show where she makes no apologies for talking about…
At the MCC library in Akron, PA This week I met my parents — for the third time. Like most of you, I met them for the first time as a child, and then as we grew older together. I came to know them for the second time…
My brand new publisher! This week I received a signed contract for my memoir Love is Complicated: A Memoir of Healing from Mango Publishing, the fastest growing independent publisher in the United States. It’s taken years of hard work to get here, so I’m bubbling over…
How often have I heard, “My grandmother was my hero. The impact that she had on my life will stay with me forever.” And when I Google “grandparent influence on grandchildren,” I am shocked by the huge number of adults claiming that their grandparents deeply influenced their beliefs and values….
I have my old stories. You have yours. We all have them. It’s how we learned to make sense of the world around us, and sometimes still do. These old stories about what’s happened to me in the past often continue to rule how…
My parents in 1951 In 1951, my parents Dr. John and Clara Schmidt founded and ran a leprosy station in Paraguay, South America. After 20 years of devoted service to ease the suffering of cast out untouchables, they were asked to leave. They’re gone now….