Great Gifts

I just received a couple of books from award-winning author, Joan Bauer, who I met at this year's Christopher Awards. The theme of the Christopher's is, "It's better to light one candle than to curse the darkness." Joan and filmmaker Ken Wales (far right in the photo) were both presenters at the awards ceremony: Joan for books and Ken for films.

Joan's book Hope Was Here was previously awarded the Christopher Award, along with the Newbery and other honors. Joan just learned that the State Department is translating the book into Russian. Her understanding is that it's the first time a novel has been translated for official public diplomacy.

The other book she gave us was Hudson Taylor on Spiritual Secrets, a 30-day devotional, which I'm looking forward to, since I'm reviving a monologue I created in which I portray Hudson Taylor.

Also in the photo are Joan's husband, Evan (far left), and Mac Nelson (between Evan and me), author of Waiting for My Fingers and Memoirs of a Hollywood Adventure.

You can see photos from the evening by clicking here.

One of the highlights of the evening was when Caroll Spinney shared a very touching story about how a father wrote to him to see if he would call his dying son as Big Bird, who he's played on Sesame Street for decades. Caroll did so, and after the call the boy said, "Big Bird called me! He’s my friend." And he closed his eyes. And he passed away. Caroll shared how the incident made him realize how important his words to children are.