'And Just Imagine If I'd Never Thought To Ask...'

The Unbreakable Child, by Kim Michele Richardson

MP3 File

Length-21 minutes, 7 seconds

    Growing up devout and observant has served many people very well.  Even beyond developing a faith that soothes and strengthens them, the discipline of religious studies, and the bonds that form between the religious scholars who pass on their knowledge, can serve as touchstones of security throughout a person's life.
    But what to do when that contract of trust is breached?  How many have the fortitude to separate an action, a single perpetrator, from deeply instilled respect and authority for the Church itself?  How difficult is it to stand up and speak out against a wrong while it cowers behind what so many consider their foundation of right?
    Author Kim Michele Richardson is The Unbreakable Child and in her memoir reveals the two-strand narrative twining the story of a ground-breaking lawsuit against the Catholic Church with the recollections of an orphan’s journey through a maze of abuse and abandonment in a place commissioned by vows to be a safe haven.
    As I read and reflected on it, the book set a match to the fuse of so many questions. How can this happen? Why were these women (and men) so cruel? How can children, orphaned children, spark wrath and brutality over compassion and simple caring, all within a building full of nuns and priests?
    And how do some of these children survive to grow so bold and strong?
    Kim Michele Richardson took the time to speak with me about her book, The Unbreakable Child, and of the path that led her to writing it and becoming an advocate for the survivors of child abuse.

Life in Rewind - Part 2, Ed Zine

MP3 File

length-37 minutes, 26 seconds

Sometimes we get a second chance at things.  On a pleasant opportunity, I’ve been granted a second chance to help spread the word about the memoir, Life in Rewind, by getting to speak to its protagonist, Mr. Ed Zine, on his second chance at life.

In a follow up of my interview with author, Terry Weible Murphy, Ed Zine discusses the mindset and insights he’s developed in gaining distance from one of the most profound cases of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder ever documented.

Fully functional and happy today, Ed Zine’s experience calls to others who suffer: the victims of OCD, and the people who love them.

Mr. Zine has laid his mind bare, both in the book and in this interview, in the hopes that his thought processes and mental disciplines might help others understand this affliction and launch their own escape from the prison of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

Life in Rewind is in bookstores now, and of course available for order and online download at Amazon.com. For more information on OCD, please visit www.ocfoundation.org.

Life in Rewind - Interview with Terry Weible Murphy

MP3 File

Length-22 minutes, 6 seconds

In our culture, we often throw around superlatives in situations that hardly call for them.  We may have had a ‘horrible’ day, when in fact, what we had was an annoying phone call from a complaining friend while stuck in a traffic jam. Could be maybe even that there was ink tracked over the cuff of a favorite shirt.  The 'biggest jerk’ is likely only sporadically obnoxious, and in most cases, the ‘worst’ headache, if we’re honest, is often just unpleasant.

And then sometimes, there are things that are truly ‘unimaginable’.

Life in Rewind recounts the struggle and eventual triumph of Ed Zine over one of the most profound cases of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder ever documented.  Author, Terry Weible Murphy approached Ed’s story from a unique perspective and with great compassion.  Along with Dr. Michael Jenike and Mr. Zine himself, the complete account of Ed’s progress-to-date is a story that broadcasts hope and insight for people bound in OCD shackles, who’ve lost their ability to function, and for the friends and family who care for them.

Ms. Murphy was kind enough to sit down with me and elaborate on some of the behind-the-scenes efforts that went into the writing of Life in Rewind, and why she was particularly qualified to take on this project.

 

Life in Rewind is in bookstores now, and of course available for order and online download at Amazon.com. For more information on OCD, please visit www.ocfoundation.org.