Featured in ForeWord's This Week: Foreplay
http://www.forewordmagazine.com/ftw/
Resa Steindel Brown's expertise is in building educational processes and
environments that enable children to find their passion and develop their individual
and innate brilliance. Educator for over 36 years and author, her new book The
Call to Brilliance (9780977836901) will be released January 2007 by fredric
press. The foreword is by William Glasser, M.D. author of Choice Theory,
the introduction by Joseph Chilton Pearce, author of The Crack in
the Cosmic Egg and Magical Child.
The Call to Brilliance is endorsed by John Gatto, author of The
Underground History of Education, Jack Canfield, co-author of Chicken
Soup for the Parent's Soul© and co-author of Chicken Soup for the Teacher's
Soul©, Tobin Hart, author of The Secret Spiritual World of Children,
and Victoria Kindle Hodson, co-author of Respectful Parents, Respectful Kids
and Discover Your Child's Learning Style.
Dossier
Occupation: Author/educator
Residence: Thousand Oaks, Calif.
Why you know the name: Author of The Call to Brilliance. Her work
as an educator has been featured on CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, The Wall Street Journal,
The Washington Post, The New York Times and the Los Angeles
Times.
In her free time: I haven't had any free time since 1978, when our first
child was born. But when I do have free time, I write. And when I work, I write.
And when I rest, I write. And when I daydream about having free time, I write.
But in the summer, I kayak.
What book are you currently reading, and where is your favorite place to read?
"The Biology of Transcendence": in bed, in the living room, in the kitchen,
on the couch, at the beach, in my office, in someone else's office, at the train
station, at the bus station, at the subway station, at the airport, in line
at the market, in line at the post office, in line at the DMV, at the counter
of the DMV, at the counter of the dry cleaners, at the check out-line at the
library and in the car waiting for my kids. My next book will be on time management.
What qualities do you value most professionally?
Honesty, punctuality and short emails.
What are you still determined to learn to do?
Parler le Francais and understand French phone operators. My youngest son went
to school in Monaco for a while. I lived there with him and spoke what I thought
was 'not-too-horrific' French. I did notice that every time I started a conversation
in French, the locals switched to English. I won my daughter's admiration when
I actually understood the bus directions to the college. The phone operators,
however, left me in the dust. I never understood whether I was supposed to leave
a message or put another Euro in at the sound of the bong.
If you were a member of a tribe, what would be your special role in it, and
why?
I would be a Shaman, because a Shaman is an elder, a survivor and a healer.
Shamans work with the elements, archaic symbols and the ancient feelings and
primitive subconscious of humankind. Also, people bring them food.
What is your favorite hometown library and/or bookstore?
I love the Thousand Oaks Public Library, the Newport Beach Public Library,
and Martha's Bookstore on Balboa Island. Both libraries are flooded with light
and filled with friendly, helpful staff and happy people. But Martha's Bookstore
has my heart. The converted seaport cottage is on the one main street of the
island. It greets visitors through a white wrought iron trellis blooming with
pink bougainvilleas, a brick front patio and an Adirondack or two for sitting.
Browse as long as you want, or spend the morning chatting. The store's owners
Kathy and Stephanie will offer you their latest snack, herbal ice tea or champagne.
They named the store after their mother, Martha, who loved to read.
What kind of music do you enjoy while you are reading?
Baroque and the sound of someone else cooking dinner.
What would you save from your home if it were burning?
Our four dogs, our horse and our daughter's paintings. When our daughter turned
seventeen, it became her BIG year for paintings…nothing under 4 feet by 6 feet,
the biggest canvas we could buy and transport home in the van. It was also her
'Joan of Arc' period. We live in southern California. Lots of glass to bring
in the sunshine…little walls. SO…Joan of Arc hangs in the hallway, in the dining
room and from the rafters of the living room. Our resident artist is now away
at college. She took the horse with her, but left the dogs and the paintings.
We have fire season once a year, as the surrounding mountains flame in the heat
and we once again pack to evacuate. Recently our family van died, 12 years and
350,000 miles after its birth. In a panic, I thought we'd have to spend $30,000
to buy a new van just to save those paintings. "Take them off the frames, roll
them and don't let the dogs sit on them," she explained dryly on the phone,
chewing on a fruit roll-up. Never occurred to me. Maybe I should go back to
college.
What question has never been answered for you?
"Why?" The question of "why" has ultimately never been answered. Why is there
suffering? Why is there cruelty? Why is there war, famine, poverty and disease?
Why? Why? Why? Why?
What would surprise most people to learn about you?
I have a sense of humor.
If you could have any five people over for dinner, who would they be?
The Pope, Madonna, Osama Ben Ladin, Rush Limbaugh and Michael Moore. Although
I think the seating arrangement might be problematic.
What book influenced you the most, and why?
Schools Without Failure, by William Glasser, M.D. It reinforced what
I already suspected, that all children can find their strengths given the right
situation and enough time and energy.
What is your prediction for independent publishing in 2007?
I think independent publishing will blossom. More people will find their voices,
realize they have interesting things to say and find ways of getting their messages
out. I think it will be more about passion then profit, but I think profit might
do very well as a by-product.
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