AuthorTopia

Short announcement that Authortopia is taking a time out now and will be back in November. Hope you will join me then. Thx, Frank

RICK SALUTIN is the author of Gideon's Bible: A Father and Son Discuss God, the Bible and Life. This is the final episode of Season 1. AuthorTopia will be back in the fall. Do the stories in the Bible push your buttons?  For Rick and his son Gideon, God and the characters in the Bible trigger a lot of questions… questions about how God behaves, how the characters behave and how the people they see everyday behave.  Rick and Gideon are not shy to call out bullshit as they search for wisdom.

ALEX MESSENGER is the author of THE TWENTY-NINTH DAY:  SURVIVING A GRIZZLY ATTACK IN THE CANADIAN TUNDRA.  It was the trip of a lifetime that Alex says: “Very nearly became the last trip of my lifetime!”   In the summer of his final year of high school, Alex and five buddies took a 600 mile canoe trip into the Arctic Circle.  During a short hike he accidentally crossed paths with a grizzly bear.  The bear attacked, Alex survived, and his story will get you thinking.

BRADLEY NATHANSON is the author of AMERICAN DEPARTURES:  THE CURIOUS PLIGHT OF A UNIQUELY PRIVILEGED QUIETLY DESPERATE BABY BOOMER. He recalls his days as a young man, when reality seemed far stranger than what he imagined, and what he did imagine never quite matched reality.  Brad talks to retired TV news producer Frank Silverstein about crawling into an igloo in the Arctic Circle, performing an amazing feat of strength while under hypnotic suggestion, and nightlife in Hollywood back in the 1980s.

MENACHEM KAISER is the author of PLUNDER: A MEMOIR ABOUT FAMILY PROPERTY AND NAZI TREASURE.  Family histories are never simple, and as he discovered, they can be a lot stranger than the cherished bedtime stories told by our elders.    Menachem tells retired news producer Frank Silverstein about how a light-hearted jaunt to his grandfather’s birthplace led him to the raging center of a national controversy in Poland. He explains how his efforts to reclaim a family legacy produced a treasure he never expected.

LAURIE ROSENWALD is the author of “HOW TO MAKE MISTAKES ON PURPOSE” and the forthcoming memoir: “MEMWAH.”  She explains how to make the best of lucky accidents and laugh at all the others.    Laurie talks to retired tv news producer Frank Silverstein about her remarkable great-grandfather Julius Rosenwald, founder of Sears, who built thousands of schools for African Americans in the Jim Crow South; her grandmother’s decision not to use her ticket for a voyage on the Titanic; and her own dramatic voyage through the colorful world of art and entertainment in New York City.These are vibrant tales from a brassy New York woman.

ALISHA FERNANDEZ MIRANDA is the author of “My What If Year”.  She took a year off from her family and her job to test-drive her dream for a different kind of life. Alisha talks to former news producer Frank Silverstein about how she reached the age of 40, seemed to have it all with a wonderful husband, two happy children, and a successful business she. Yet, she says, she was desperately unhappy.  She was afraid she’d somehow missed the boat on her biggest dreams and she decided to take a huge risk to explore the roads not taken, and maybe change the course of her life. Her ‘do-over’ adventure resulted in surprising stories and unexpected results.

STEVEN HELLER is the author of “GROWING UP UNDERGROUND: A Memoir of Counterculture New York”.   He recounts his escapades breaking the rules in the hippie world of writers, artists and underground porno publishers of the 1960s.   Steve talks to former news producer Frank Silverstein about how his pugnacious adventures irritating authorities led him to become one himself as one of the leading writers and educators in today’s graphics industry.  He also talks about how today’s ‘alt-right’ movement has adopted many the tricks pioneered by his lefty activists pals, decades ago. These are colorful tales from a classic New York character.

ERIKA KROUSE is the author of "Tell Me Everything".  She talks about becoming a private investigator in a college sports scandal and then discovering she cannot avoid investigating a dark secret of her own.

TESSA FONTAINE is the author of  “THE ELECTRIC WOMAN:  A Story in Death Defying Acts”.  She tells of her days spent on the road with a traveling carnival sideshow.   Tessa talks with former news producer Frank Silverstein about how she learned to eat fire, hypnotize snakes and charm the money from the pockets of total strangers.  She also explains how the carnival sideshow provides a haven to a community of social misfits. It’s a safe place where performers can earn a living throwing knives at each other among other spectacles, for 14 hours a day.   Tessa learned to conquer some of her own fears by working with people who face physical danger every single day. These are dramatic stories from an adventurous life.

DANIELLA MESTYANEK YOUNG is the author of “UNCULTURED: A Memoir”.   She tells a harrowing story about growing up among pedophiles in the notorious Children of God sex cult, escaping at the age of 15, and eventually joining the US Army.   Daniella talks to former news producer Frank Silverstein about being completely unprepared for life in an American public high school where she panicked over the simplest things, such as naming her favorite rock star.  On the other hand she tells about having no trouble with basic training where the physical endurance requirements hobbled many of the other recruits. These are remarkable stories from a resilient survivor.

If your ears perk up when you hear at a remarkable real-life story, AuthorTopia is for you.  Starting April 10, this podcast will bring first-person adventures and stories told by people who have written about the surprising twists and turns their lives have taken. AuthorTopia is hosted by Frank Silverstein, a former network TV news producer.