Thoughts since last time...

The discussion I posted February 21 about capturing the stories of our WWII Vets, drew the following comment from Michael Salogga. He posted this on the 23^rd.

Michael Salogga said...

I'm just now reading Tom Brokaw's book, "The Greatest Generation" and it is a great compilation of "libraries" of experiences of veterans and those stateside during WWII. Each story is a phenomenal snapshot into the lives of people that lived through the war and how it changed them forever. Good for you Steve, for taking the time to get those stories in writing. It is an honorable task and one that every family member should take on personally. The insight is invaluable when seeing who they are, what motivates them and how they look at life, family, community and country.

I am still hoping to hear from some of you who have a dad or grandfather still alive that is a Vet and whose stories you might like to have on a CD, in their own voice, to preserve and pass on to your loved ones. If you do, please post a comment and give me your contact information.

And, BTW, if you are interested in one of the finest vacation experiences you can imagine, check out Tracks and Trails blog. The link is right here beside this posting.

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Just yesterday, on KAFM Radio, 88.1 on your dial, I interviewed Deanna Strand. Many of you may know that Deanna, after 26 years of owning and running her own aviation company here in Grand Junction, is taking a slightly different track and is helping John Hendricks of the Discovery Channel develop a new adventure called Canyon Air Tours. This Company will offer air tours, both fixed wing and helicopter, of some very spectacular sights and scenery in Western Colorado and Eastern Utah.

I interviewed Deanna over a year ago for my book, Success…Swimming in a Sea of, and the discussion yesterday was a follow up, a part of a new radio show we’re calling  Priceless Conversations in the Grand Valley. I’ll be talking with some of the people whose interviews are featured in the book and some who aren’t.  We’ve had two shows so far and among the comments was one that thought we sounded like we should be on NPR. I don’t mind hearing that kind of feedback, for sure, for sure.

Our next show will be Tuesday, April 13th at noon, and my guest will be Jen Taylor. Jen wasn’t in the book—but probably should have been. I’m just making her acquaintance and am really looking forward to a Priceless Conversation in the Grand Valley with her.

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I hope you all took a long look at Don Pettygrove’s comment to my earlier posting about balance in our political and social lives. It helped me a lot to hear the reasoned philosophy that I have seemed recently to be somewhat withdrawing from. That sort of discussion is what I’ve been hoping would happen with this blog.

Just today, I began reading an article by Jim Manzi in National Affairs, the Winter, 2010 issue. It’s called Keeping America’s Edge and I urge us all to read it, to consider this much broader picture of who we are, where we are, and how we will or won’t maintain our world positions. It is clear to me that this is someone who’s thinking I need to adopt—as much as I can.

 He carefully and intelligently describes the competing forces, innovation and cohesion, their components, their necessity to each other for survival  and their propensity to destroy each other in spite of the survival needs.