by Betsy Fasbinder | Mar 2, 2022 | Podcasts
When enjoying lunch with a dear friend, Elizabeth Appell began to feel peculiar. The next thing she knew she was waking up in the hospital after surgery, following a sudden stroke. To her great good fortune, Elizabeth’s friend had been in the audience at a one-woman show of another Morning Glory Project guest, Dr. Diane Barns, who wrote and performed Stroke of Luck in which she shares her own story of suffering a stroke, along with tips for identifying and helping others having a stroke. She instantly called 911 and because of speedy help, Elizabeth’s recovery has been nearly miraculous.
Elizabeth is a playwright, screenwriter, novelist, and filmmaker. Her play Confessions of a Catholic Child has won several competitions. The play was produced in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Her plays Chalk Lines and Moon Walkers both were semi-finalists at the O’Neill. Squawk the Musical! was tapped by Apples and Oranges, New York for development sessions and had its first reading late in 2019. More recently, she’s working on Elements of Betrayal, a limited series, and The Family Trick, a play about a woman who slips into the Nether looking for the truth about her family. The play was just shortlisted by the London Playwrights.
by Betsy Fasbinder | Feb 16, 2022 | Podcasts
After a long career as a psychologist, organizational consultant, and sports education specialist, George Selleck has had a lot of experience at trying to understand people, groups, and relationships in work, sport, and life. But in is in his twilight years, while suffering life-threatening illness that George’s greatest teacher has arrived in the form of a prematurely born grandson. In his heartwarming book, Kian and Me: Gifts from a Grandson, George shares insightful lessons about how to live in a happier, healthier, and more fulfilling way. But the lessons in this inspiring book are not from grandfather to grandson. Rather, it is Kian teaching his granddad about connection, curiosity, positivity, and so many more simple practices for living beautifully.
by Betsy Fasbinder | Feb 2, 2022 | Podcasts
Sallie Weissinger felt ready to date again after the passing of her beloved husband. She tried the updated version of the newspaper personal ads through which she’d found her husband in the first place and signed on to dating websites. When she made a list of the qualities she wanted in a new love she noticed that the first letters of those qualities spelled out “PASTRAMI,” which appealed to her sense of humor and her sense of purpose. Dating sites offered mixed results, so Sallie decided to employ other skills as well as her community of friends and family to help her find a romantic partner. She built a website and offered a reward of $5,000 to a non-profit chosen by a “Love Liaison” who successfully matched her up with someone special who fit her PASTRAMI qualifications and who proved to be a partner for at least one year. Her system worked and she was introduced to the second true love of her life.
Sallie’s unique search reminded her to appreciate the abiding friendships, the meaningful volunteer work, and her garden and dogs. New love, she realized, would be only one of many blessings. Her story is about more than a search for romance, it’s about life lived fully, the importance of deep connections, and one woman’s search for meaning.
by Betsy Fasbinder | Jan 19, 2022 | Podcasts
As a dual citizen of New Zealand and the United States, Angela Muir Van Etten served as national president of both Little People organizations and qualified as a lawyer in both countries. She was admitted to the bar in New Zealand, Ohio, and New York.
As a dwarf of three-feet-four-inches, LPA has twice awarded Angela its highest honor—the Kitchens Meritorious Service Award—for her work as a leader in banning dwarf tossing in licensed establishments in New York and Florida and in breaking the six-inch reach barrier in buildings and facilities open to the public throughout America.
Angela has been a legal writer and editor of disability civil rights law books for Thomson Reuter, a staff writer for the Christian Law Association, and an advocate and coordinator for the Coalition for Independent Living Options. Her articles on dwarfism and disability advocacy have been published in LPA Today, and online in the HuffPost blog.
by Betsy Fasbinder | Jan 5, 2022 | Podcasts
Lucky-number-seven of nine children, Margot McMahon discovered their front acre of woods, ravines and the Lake Michigan shoreline before riding horses in prairies, hiking mountains and sailing while her social justice journalist parents wrote and painted their history. Natural materials like wood, sand, bronze and stone inspired her to sculpt while being locally, nationally and internationally awarded. Margot was compelled to find and tell their untold story to better understand herself as she emerged from a flock of artistic siblings. Growing up in this hectic and artistic family, young Margot was unaware of her parents’ history: Who knew her father was captive and force-marched between three POW Luftwaffe camps? That her mother flew across the nation in first generation Boeing planes, later finding ways to be an award-winning travel writer and teacher while raising a large family?
Margot has preserved the history of her parents’ dramatic lives beyond what she observed in her own lifetime. Fasten your seat belts, hold on tight and enjoy the ride through A WWII Saga and If Trees Could Talk!
by Betsy Fasbinder | Dec 15, 2021 | Podcasts
Judy Lipson is the Founder and Chair of Celebration of Sisters, established in 2011 to commemorate the lives and memories of her beloved sisters to benefit Massachusetts General Hospital. Judy has published articles, given speeches and been interviewed by the Open to Hope Organization, the Centering Organization, SKATING Magazine, and in literature published by Massachusetts General Hospital, where she has maintained a close philanthropic relationship for more than twenty years. Her passion for figure skating secured her the United States Figure Skating Association 2020 Get Up Champion Award.
