KRCB-FM: Word By Word

Word By Word host, Gil Mansergh and associate producer and studio engineer Anthony Garcia welcome 3 guests from McCaa Publishing. Waights Taylor Jr., author of Our Southern Home and the Joe McGrath and Sam Tucker detective novel Kiss of Salvation. SSU professor emeritus Jonah Raskin shares an excerpt from his female detective novel Dark Day, Dark Night. Also, retired Santa Rosa Junior College English teacher Ida Rae Egli, reads from her latest book, Krisanthi’s War: In Hitler’s Greece. Word by Word Conversations with Writers is hosted by Gil Mansergh and can be heard on the second Sunday of the month at 10:00 am on KRCB-FM Radio 91 / streaming @ norcalpublicmedia.org / Listen on the go - download the FREE KRCB App for your favorite mobile device. (Photo: Waights Taylor Jr. – Courtesy of the author)

Our Word By Word conversation for august is the novelist, nonfiction author and podcaster, Patricia Volonakis Davis, Better known as Patricia V. Davis. Davis was invited to attend a women’s conference by California’s First Lady, Maria Shriver, and the only available hotel room in Long Beach, CA was on the RMS Queen Mary. Her experience aboard the ship was the inspiration for her first novel, Cooking for Ghosts; Book I of the Secret Spice Cafe Trilogy.[5][6] This book is the story of four diverse women that meet online and decide to open a restaurant together aboard the historic RMS Queen Mary.[7] It’s about food, ghosts, friends, “and long-ago losses that never quite go away.” (Photo: Courtesy of the author) https://feeds.feedblitz.com/-/633865220/0/krcbwordbyword.mp3 Podcast: Play in new window | Download Subscribe: Android | RSS

In the midst of the pandemic, you may not be aware that the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists re-set their so-called ‘Doomsday Clock’ to 100 seconds before midnight—the closest the clock has ever been to catastrophic nuclear annihilation. That recalibration is the focus of one of the episodes of Nuclear educator David Perry’s soon to launch podcast At The Brink.” Word By Word host Gil Mansergh welcomes David Perry to the show for an engaging chatt about what is involved in being the education director for the Former US Secretary of defense’s William J. Perry Project and coordinating the development of a brand new podcast series. Perry, the son of former US Secretary of Defense, William Perry, is the Education Director of the William J. Perry Project and former professor of Pharmacology and Physiology at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. His current project is the creation and evolution of a podcast entitled At the Brink. “It’s a show about the risk of nuclear disaster- how close we’ve come and how close we still are today.” (Photo: Courtesy of William J. Perry Project) https://feeds.feedblitz.com/-/621509298/0/krcbwordbyword.mp3 Podcast: Play in new window | Download Subscribe: Android | RSS

Eleven-year-old Josie Campbell is the youngest publishednovelist Gil Mansergh has hosted on Word by Word; Conversations With Writers,and she was only in second grade when she began writing the story thateventually grew into her book called The Thunderinions: Evil’s Rise. PronouncedThunder-in-Yons, these are the occasionally visible and often audible imaginaryfriends attached to Glory and her high school mates, Forest, Misty, Ray andPhoenix, as they grow up in Hawaii. Josie is reflective when she talks about these characters. “High school kids are usually moody and depressed—but these guys aren’t. They have childish personalities and will hold on to being a kid as long as they can. I love these guys and would take a bullet for them. Glory is a lot like me…sarcastic and humorous, but my favorite character is Ray because he recklessly jumps into everything.” (Photo: Josie Campbell, author – Courtesy of Catherine Campbell) https://feeds.feedblitz.com/-/618178432/0/krcbwordbyword.mp3 Podcast: Play in new window | Download Subscribe: Android | RSS

We have all probably seen or heard something in the newsthat made us say, “Someone should do something about it.” The difference withtoday’s Word By Word: Conversations With Writers guest, David Hightower, isthat he did do something. He wrote a book. Hightower explains,” I’m not a writer. I was a day trader inthe East Bay before my wife and I came to Petaluma. My wife was pregnant whenwe moved, and I’ve spent a great deal of my time since then being the Dad to myfour-year-old and 2-year-old boys.” “Part of that job,” Hightower continues, “is reading morethan my fair share of Dr. Seuss books, so, when I read a tweet the Presidenthad done in rhyme, I responded by jotting down my response in Seussian-stylepoetry. I guess I was frustrated—very, very, upset with no outlet. So I wrotemy book entitled The Sun Also Sets: A Seussical Indictment of Trump. Host Gil Mansergh chats with David about the steep learningcurve transitioning from a stay-at-home-Dad, to becoming a book author, publisher,distributor and marketer. Word by Word Conversations with Writers is hosted by GilMansergh and can be heard on the second Sunday of the month at 10:00 am onKRCB-FM Radio 91 / streaming @ norcalpublicmedia.org / Listen on the go –download the FREE KRCB App for your favorite mobile device. (Photo: David Hightower, author of The Sun Also Sets –Gil Mansergh/courtesy of Petaluma Argus Courier) https://feeds.feedblitz.com/-/609251170/0/krcbwordbyword.mp3 Podcast: Play in new window | Download Subscribe: Android | RSS

Leslie SbroccoGil Mansergh’s Word By Word timely conversation for October is the passionately multi-talented Leslie Sbrocco, host of Check Please Bay Area for 14 years, and executive producer, writer, and presenter of her brand new PBS series 100 Days, Drinks, Dishes & Destinations. The series will begin airing on public television stations across the country […]

Word by Word host, Gil Mansergh, welcomes a return visit withnovelist and particle physicist Ransom Stephens and his newest book Too Rich ToDie. A fifth generation Californian Ransom tells people “My family insists that“Ransom” is an Irish name, so I went to Ireland and asked around andno one had heard of it… So I don’t know where it came from.” Word By Word listeners best know Ransom as the Author of a nonfiction book about the neuroscience of innovation in art, science and life called The Left Brain Speaks but the Right Brain Laughs),and four novels including The God Patent, The Sensory Deception, and two others which are part of Ransom’s Times Weaver trilogy which began with the 99% Solution and continues with the book we will chat about today, Too Rich To Die. (Photo: Ransom Stephens – Courtesy of Author/via Twitter) https://feeds.feedblitz.com/-/606717266/0/krcbwordbyword.mp3 Podcast: Play in new window | Download Subscribe: Android | RSS

Word By Word host Gil Mansergh suggests that before listening to today’s show, you might like to pack your bags for both your honeymoon and an African Safari. You will soon find out why, because our guest is the New York Times multiple bestseller and winner of over 20 writing awards Rhys Bowen with her […]

Since many Word By Word listeners first encountered ScotlandYard’s dapper Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley and his down-to-earth partner,Sergeant Barbara Havers on PBS’ British produced Masterpiece Mystery TV shows,they may be surprised to learn that Elizabeth George is an American who liveson picturesque Whidbey Island in Washington state. In this show, George introduces us to her 19th book in the Inspector Lynley series, AMatter of Consequences. https://feeds.feedblitz.com/-/604739964/0/krcbwordbyword.mp3 Podcast: Play in new window | Download Subscribe: Android | RSS

Word by Word listeners (and mystery writers) will enjoy the conversation (and pick up a few writing tips), during Gil Mansergh’s informative conversation with Cara Black, the New York Times bestselling author of 19 Aimee Leduc murder mysteries. Each novel takes place in a different Parisian administrative district. Known as arrondissements, these 22 districts circle outward in a clockwise spiral from the center of Paris. Cara’s newest novel takes place in the 12th district, and we learn how this specific locale prompted her latest mystery, Murder in Bel Air. https://feeds.feedblitz.com/-/602924100/0/krcbwordbyword.mp3 Podcast: Play in new window | Download Subscribe: Android | RSS

Word By Word host Gil Mansergh welcomes the NYT bestselling historian Julia Flynn Siler with her newest work, The White Devil’s Daughter. Subtitled The Women Who Fought Slavery In San Francisco’s Chinatown, the book lays bare the corruption and complicity of the police, judges, landlords, and businessmen who aided and profited by keeping thousands of young Chinese and Japanese women as sexual slaves in San Francisco. https://feeds.feedblitz.com/-/602262326/0/krcbwordbyword.mp3 Podcast: Play in new window | Download Subscribe: Android | RSS

Word By Word: Conversations With Writers host, Gil Mansergh is pleased to welcome the return of bestselling novelist Lisa See with her newest tale of strong women surviving against seemingly impossible odds— The Island of Sea Women. Booklist has called the novel “Stupendous…Mesmerizing,” and this revealing Word-By-Word conversation delves into the complexities surrounding the creation of The Island of Sea Woman—a work which Lisa See proudly proclaims is the “most mature of all my books.” https://feeds.feedblitz.com/-/600849626/0/krcbwordbyword.mp3 Podcast: Play in new window | Download Subscribe: Android | RSS

Paintings, drawings, photographs, moving pictures, poetry, and letters infuse this episode of Word By Word: Conversations With Writers. This is because host Gil Mansergh’s and studio engineer Anthony Garcia’s guest is the respected biographer Carolyn Burke with her latest book Foursome. The four people who burst forth in this volume are photographer Alfred Stieglitz, painter Georgia O’Keefe, movie maker Paul Strand, and writer/painter Rebecca Salsbury. https://feeds.feedblitz.com/-/599396930/0/krcbwordbyword.mp3 Podcast: Play in new window | Download Subscribe: Android | RSS

Northern California Public Media’s Word By Word: Conversations With Writers host Gil Mansergh wanted to juggle things up a bit, so our first guest for 2019 is the internationally renowned juggler, clown, teacher, playwright and author Jeff Raz. https://feeds.feedblitz.com/-/592076406/0/krcbwordbyword.mp3 Podcast: Play in new window | Download Subscribe: Android | RSS

Word By Word Listeners are due for a special treat treat today, for Gil Mansergh’s guest is the celebrated local legend Gaye LeBaron in a conversation about her new book entitled: The Wonder Seekers of Fountaingrove which she co-wrote with Bart Casey. This amazing—-but-true—tale of Sonoma County’s premier mystical sexual cult, Fountaingrove, is the century-long saga of three men: New England prophet Thomas Lake Harris, British pilgrim Laurence Oliphant, and Japanese Samurai Kanaya Nagasawa. By the time LeBaron “semi-retired” in 2001, she had written more than 8,000 columns for the Santa Rosa Press Democrat and was considered “the most popular feature in the paper.” Her interview notes and research material are kept as the Gaye LeBaron Special Collection at the Sonoma State University Library. In addition to her new book, LeBaron co-authored two other books on local history: Santa Rosa: A Nineteenth Century Town, and Santa Rosa: A Twentieth Century Town. She also taught Sonoma County history at Santa Rosa Junior College and the Lifelong Learning Center at Sonoma State University, and appeared in two videos discussing Sonoma County history that aired on C-Span in 2015. LeBaron continues to share stories with Press Democrat readers in a column that appear two Sundays each month. https://feeds.feedblitz.com/-/596599874/0/krcbwordbyword.mp3 Podcast: Play in new window | Download Subscribe: Android | RSS

In what has become a Word By Word tradition, your white-bearded Santa, Gil Mansergh, is once again pleased to welcome the book buyers for nine the local Copperfield’s Bookstores, Sheryl Cotleur and Michele Bellah with their carefully considered suggestions for gift books. Book Buyers play a critical role in a bookstore—because they are the ones who decide what books will be carried on the shelves. As you can imagine, there is a fierce competition between publishers for shelf space, and Michelle and Bellah read hundreds of books each year in their specific areas of interest. Sheryl was a fiction judge for the 2014 National Book Awards and is the Adult Books Buyer for Copperfields, while Bellah selects the children’s books, cookbooks and art & craft books. https://feeds.feedblitz.com/-/584753190/0/krcbwordbyword.mp3 Podcast: Play in new window | Download Subscribe: Android | RSS

Gil Mansergh hosts a very tasty Word By Word conversation this month. Tasty, because it features an insider’s look at the newly released Mary’s Italian Family Cookbook. This book is testament to the talent and tenacity of the woman who started it all—Mary Fazio, who, in 1959 (at the age of 46), used her $700 life savings to open the original Mary’s Pizza Shack in Boyes Hot Springs, CA—a Sonoma County-based business that has 17 Mary’s Pizza restaurants today Gathered around the table with Gil are Mary’s son Toto Albano, granddaughter Terri Williamson and grandson-in-law Cully Williamson. The book’s marketing group manager (and former Mary’s Pizza Shack waitress), Laura DiPietro offers insights on how the book was put together. https://feeds.feedblitz.com/-/579874288/0/krcbwordbyword.mp3 Podcast: Play in new window | Download Subscribe: Android | RSS

It is just over a year since the night of Sunday, October 9th 2017, when nearly 111,000 acres and nearly 6,000 homes in the Napa/Sonoma wine country were incinerated by unstoppable flames. Word By Word host Gil Mansergh marks this occasion by reprising the “After the Fires Are Out” show originally broadcast of November 12, 2017. Gil has added a new ending to todays show by, providing updates on how our fire-impacted Word By Word writers are today. https://feeds.feedblitz.com/-/576667576/0/krcbwordbyword.mp3 Podcast: Play in new window | Download Subscribe: Android | RSS

Word By Word host Gil Mansergh has a spirited conversation with two multi-talented women who worked full time when they wrote their novels about women escaping abusive relationships. Electrical Engineer Suzanna Solomon’s book Montana Rhapsody features a pole-dancer who escapes an assault by three men by stabbing one with the stiletto heel of her shoe and blinding the other two with a can of hairspray. Former Labor and Delivery Nurse and current Psychotherapist Cathy Zane’s book Better Than This features a woman with an older, controlling husband and a past she’s tried to forget. https://feeds.feedblitz.com/-/568986546/0/krcbwordbyword.mp3 Podcast: Play in new window | Download Subscribe: Android | RSS

Gil Mansergh’s Word By Word guests for July are a pair of Marin County writers with books on decidedly different topics. Bonnie Monte’s The Sleeping Lady is a modern, cozy mystery novel set in the shadow of Mt. Tamalpais, and Francine Falk-Allen, who contracted polio when she was three, presents Not A Poster Child which is, as she writes, “a memoir of life as a handicapped person trying to be a normie.” https://feeds.feedblitz.com/-/557403312/0/krcbwordbyword.mp3 Podcast: Play in new window | Download Subscribe: Android | RSS