National Guard Youth Challenge Builds Self-Worth

This week Adam Aaro, an anchor on the evening news at the NBC affiliate KDVZ in Bend ran a multi-part series The National Guard Youth Challenge. Yesterday I wrote about The Choir, a BBC program that builds self worth among youth in British Schools who do not have a choir singing program.

While the Youth Challenge takes a different approach by basically running troubled teens through a bootcamp type program. The end result is the same.

If you live out of the Bend area you can watch and read the series by following the link above. It is an inspiring story. As Aaro points out in the first installment "The next two weeks will greatly challenge these 150 plus cadets -- and some might not make it."


Respectfully,

Kenneth Fenter

Note: The following comment came in this morning (Aug. 2). Please note the date. Ken

August 9th Frank A. Strupith, Admissions Counselor
Oregon National Guard Youth Challenge Program
www.oycp.com
frank.a.strupith@mil.state.or.us
541-317-9623 ext. 223

Frank will be a guest on LATalkradio.com with Host Dore Frances of Bend, Oregon. The show airs live at 12 noon PST. Just go to LATalkradio.com to listen live.

Call in and ask questions live on the air.

The Choir: A BBC program that proves the power of music in self-esteem building

"Hallelujah" led by choirmaster Gareth Malone This link will take you to the BBC website of the program "The Choir". In the video clip the Community Choir of the London Symphony Orchestra sings my favorite song the Leonard Cohen version.  The choir is made up of people of all races, all ages, and from all walks of life.

In the week just past (July, 25-30) the BBC in the program "Choir" documents Northholt High School, a Baccalaureate with Technical College, as Gareth Malone recruits 25 students to be Britain's entry into the China World Choir Olympics. Northholt High School was described by Malone as a choir singing alien school.

When Malone addressed the students they were skeptical. If you watched the video clip and focused on the young man who did the opening solo, I am sure it was he, back in 2006 when the documentary was done, who said, "choir singing is for people in posh schools who played a lot of classical music and played violins and so forth.." A girl who in the beginning was very plain, timid, seemingly almost afraid of her shadow, said, "choir singing is for old, posh, or boring people."


The tryouts began and they were awkward to say the least. Maybe to us, but out of the 120 students who showed up to tryout, he was able to see the potential he was looking for in his starting 25.


Thus began the task of shaping a cohesive group of singers out of kids who had never had the chance to sing together, or it seemed to do anything together.
One of the first signs of trouble was absenteeism. The worst offender was Chloe. Malone locates her and questions her about her attendance and attitude and persuades her to rejoin the group.


At one point the young man who sang the solo in the video clip of Hallelujah broke, stormed out of rehearsal and slammed the door.


He takes them into the studio to record their CD. He admits they aren't ready, but the group does its best, the CD is cut and mailed along with the entry form. A three month wait ensues.
Of course they are selected to represent Great Britain.

The students are in awe when they arrive in China. But when they see and hear the competition they begin to wilt. It isn't until they are on the bus to their performance and one of the members takes the bus microphone and gives an impromptu speech ending with "formost of all we do for ourselves!" They sing and do well, but with virtually every nation on earth represented there can be four choirs advanced to the final level. They are not among the four.


A year later Gareth Malone and the BBC crew revisit Northholt High School to see what affect the experience has had on the 25 choir members.

Chloe, the shy, girl is shown applying a touch of makeup to her now radiant face and well groomed hair. She is on her way to present a Power Point presentation to a community group. The clip of her presentation shows a poised young woman, who speaks knowledgeably and without hesitation to an adult group. 


Several of the choir members have sought singing outlets of their own in community choirs, church choirs, and in one case his own band. Others expressed a new appreciation for music in general and including classical. Several students changed their course of study to advance on to the University system rather than enter the adjoining technical college.


The level of camaraderie and friendship was still high a year later. The choir met with Malone and for old time's sake they sang their signature Simon and Garfunkle song, "Bridge over Trouble Waters." During the singing, Malone picked on a couple of individuals to sing solo, including Cloe, who sounded like an angel.


I thought the hour long show was great. The concept is interesting. This week, (First week in August). Malone goes to a different school, forms a different choir to compete in a different competition.


His point is that every child should sing in a choir. I think that could be expanded to ...play in a band... be on a team. 


In my book The Ruin, the main character has to re-build his self-esteem on his own. It was a different time and a different place. Students now are attending schools which once had music, choirs, bands, teams. And now for various reasons those are the first things cut when there is a crunch.  Maybe in a world such as we have right now, those should be the last things to be cut.


Respectfully,
Kenneth Fenter

Stephan Zacharias, the old timer in The Ruin, full page in East Oregonian

I got my copy of the Pendleton, Oregon East Oregonian newspaper last night and the full page feature on my friend Stephan Zacharias. Stephan is on special assignment to the Denali National Park this summer through September playing the role of a Forest Ranger circa 1920's.

Many of you have followed his daily postings with wonderful photos of moose in the front yard, bear, and the spectacular scenery of the park. Stephan plays an important role in interpreting historical figures. I video taped several of his performances at the High Desert Museum (which you can view on his website. There is a link on this blog.) Stephan explains in the newspaper feature and told me at the time we did the videos that he spends a tremendous amount of time researching the historical figures that he portrays. From all that he can glean from the archives, he writes a monologue that runs from 15 to 30 minutes. Not only does he become the character, he makes himself up and wardrobes himself historically correctly to portray the character he is portraying.

When you get to Denali or to Colonial Williamsburg, be sure to seek out and  enjoy a performance by Stephan Zacharias.

I think I've mentioned before on this blog that Stephan, inadvertently, provided valuable research for my novel The Ruin. I watched Stephan tanning deer hides at the High Desert Museum and asked questions about the process he was going through and he and fellow historical interpreter Bill Armstrong, who now produces programs for the History Channel, talked about brain tanning.

When I needed an old timer to quote in a newspaper article that my character could later use to help understand what he needed to do to tan a deer hide, Stephan graciously consented to let his name be used.
Well the city of Pendleton may be proud of their son, but there are many more Oregonians and now people from all over the world who visit Denali and Colonial Williamsburg who are proud of this young man and the amazing job that he so enthusiastically does.

Respectfully,
Kenneth Fenter

Dr. Phil talks to Bullied Girl 20 Years Later

Like Clifton Kelley in The Ruin, a woman named Renee flashed back to her experience in grade school as an adult. In Renee's case she broke down when she saw a photo of her 7th grade tormentor on Face Book. Renee was a guest on the July 21 edition of the Dr. Phil syndicated television program. The quite attractive woman told Dr. Phil that when she saw the now adult woman on Face Book she suddenly broke down. She had never told her husband about being bullied in grade school. When he asked her why she had reacted the way she did, she told him it was nothing but then she began to sub uncontrollably. 


In 7th grade her bully had told Renee she was, "Too ugly to live." and called her, "butter teeth" because of a yellow tint that her teeth had, a genetic condition.

Even though Renee had not told others about the bullying in grade school, she admitted to Dr. Phil that it had affected her life and was controlling how she treated her two daughters. She home schools her daughters so that they are protected from bullying at school. They suffer from the same genetic condition causing a yellow tint to their teeth so she uses whitener on them, even though it is their baby teeth.


Renee also did modeling after she graduated from school to prove to herself that she was not "too ugly to live" but still can't look in the mirror and believe that she is attractive. Dr. Phil asked the audience what they thought. The obviously beautiful woman drew unanimous approval from both audience and her husband. "Why can't I let it go?" she asked Dr. Phil.


Dr. Phil explained that bullying sets up a "toxic dialog" within the victim. He said in effect that if Renee had been told that she was "too ugly to live" once it would set up an "internal dialog" that told herself "50,000 times" that she was "too ugly to live".


On the show this Wednesday he did not bring up the case of the high school girl Phoebe Prince (see my blog of April 16). Is this what happened to her? The girls of South Hadley told her that for three months. Multiply that by 5o,000 time of "internal dialog."


Dr. Phil also talked about the "Toxic legacy that spreads". The after affects such as the sheltering that Renee was exhibiting by home schooling and the teeth whitening. 


Dr. Phil put a graphic on the screen that he went over with Renee and the audience that I have seen variations on about the effects of bullying, whether it be in the workplace, at school, or at home: The Victim:


1. Experience doubts about self-worth/unclear identity.
2. Internalize the toxic message. Take over for the bully.
3. Unwillingness to test the message against reality. Unwillingness to generate alternative reality based internal dialog. 


Dr. Phil ended the segment with the admonition that it takes "one thousand 'atta' boys to erase one 'you idiot'. 

Updating Gaijin! Gaijin! for re-issue

We are waiting for that final piece to finish Jim Henson's book, Pee Up a Tree: A Mental Health Memoir, so that we can send it off to the printers. As a respected practitioner in his field, Jin has several fellows who are recognized for their work and who have offered to contribute to his book. We have saved a spot for the first one to respond. Now we play the waiting game as his friends read his book to see how they wish to respond.

In the meantime there is time here at my desk to re-visit an old friend and fond memories. I have begun the process of scanning and touching up my first book on my family's sojourn in Japan. The book Gaijin! Gaijin! which came out in 1985 went through two editions. The first was typeset on a Brother proportional space disk typewriter that used carbon ribbons. The page design program was Microsoft Word that could feed proportional spaced lines to it and recognized the font.

Unfortunately, for the preceding seven years my English had taken a beating with verbalizing in "Communication English" in Japan, both while we lived there and especially for the following three years while I criss-crossed the Pacific ocean with stained glass for my friends in the Nagasaki area.

The stained glass business came to an abrupt halt following a tumble from our roof when the ladder went out from under me,  During that long convalescence, the Japanese journals came out and two books were born: Gaijin! Gaijin! and MoIchi Do; Once More.

Back to the "Communication English". The reviews on the first edition of Gaijin! Gaijin! came back with some interesting feedback. Words like "judicious editing" were among the kindest. People loved the story, but some were appalled at the "Communication English". With some help I re-edited Gaijin! for the second edition, re-typset it and re-issued it. I sold it mostly by telephone to the Japanese bookstores in the United States and by attending language related workshops and by visiting libraries.

All three books are still out there and occasionally I still get a note about one or the other. They are still being traded on the used book market. I have begun the scanning and am editing I scan. I hope to have all three books ready again soon.

It is interesting to see what we were doing 33 years ago as I read about our experience. My children are now at the same age, just a couple of years older, than we were when we took them to Japan. They both have children who are the same age as they were when we went. I look at them and wonder how they would do under the same circumstances.

Knowing what we do now, would we do it? Wow, probably not. We were so naive. I just read the fourth chapter about the boat ride from Okinawa to Kagoshima. We did that rather than fly, which most people would have done. As I read the pages, the images come back as clearly as if we were still walking among the tatami mats on the boat. We were on that boat August 16, 1977, when we heard on the boat p.a. that Elvis was dead.

On the boat we met a priest who had lived in Japan for many years. He asked us what we were doing. Lora and I told him. He shook his head in pity and he said, "good thing you don't have children." I told him, "Well, we have two children." His pity turned to anger. We had not landed on the main Islands of Japan and he was planting the seeds of immense doubt about what we had gotten ourselves and our 9 year old daughter and 12 year old son into.

Coming soon from Arborwood Press: Pee Up a Tree by Jim Henson

Pee Up A Tree: A Mental Health Memoir

With an early 1970s setting in Oregon’s Umpqua River valley, this book shares the courage, wisdom, humor and folly of ordinary people through the extraordinary lens of a youthful mental health professional. Author Jim Henson draws upon 40 years of professional experience as a clinical social worker in the process of illuminating the lives of clinic employees and the individuals and families they served. The readers of this book will enjoy this unique opportunity to be observers inside the community, inside the clinic and inside the personal connections between client and clinician. Think Garrison Keillor’s Lake Wobegon or James Herriot’s Yorkshire countryside and you are almost there.

I'm excited to announce that we are in the final launching stage of a new non-fiction release of Jim Henson's first book, Pee Up a Tree: A Mental Health Memoir. The book is based on his start in Oregon three years out of graduate school. as a young mental health professional in Oregon's Umpqua River Valley. 

After that stint in the early 70's Jim has resided and practiced in Central Oregon first as Director of Mental Health Services for Deschutes County, and later in private practice. He retired last year and has devoted the past year to travel and finishing his manuscript.

Jim joined a group of us at the Bend Senior Center where he began sharing chapters of his story. We called ourselves a group who were "Writing for Fun". The group began in 2005 and continued until last fall when key members reached a point in their lives where it was very difficult to attend. The oldest member of the group by that time was 92. In the time she was able to attend the weekly sessions, she published three books! 

During the first year that Jim attended the group, while he was winding down his practice in 2006-2007, we put together an anthology called "Writing for Fun: featuring 12 of Bend's Senior Authors. Jim contributed "The Landing" the move from Chicago. It was to later became the first chapter of his book, Pee Up a Tree.

In the following three years, I finished my novel, The Ruin. Jim's insight into Dream Therapy, played a role in my novel as my character Cliff has a series of significant dreams. Jim and the senior group listened to the group offered valuable feedback on that aspect of the book. In Jim's book he delves into dream therapy among many other aspects of situations that arose in Douglas County from Roseburg to Drain. 

Our group was entertained each week by each other's stories and Jim was a cheerleader to each individual in the group. We are all now cheering Jim on in the result of his putting down on paper, much in the manner that he speaks in person his sometimes faltering steps as he ventured out on into his career and listened as patients sometimes seemed to find solutions to their own problems under Jim's guidance.

We will keep you advised as to the release date of this new offering by Arborwood Press.

Respectfully,

Kenneth Fenter

The Ruin Now on Amazon.com in Second Edition

Well The Ruin is now available on Amazon.com in Second Edition. This edition is available nationally and internationally through wholesale channels and expands the availability to libraries and bookstores worldwide.
The story is the same. The cover is different. Check it out on Amazon.com.

I'm still printing and binding the original edition at Arborwood Press. Bookclubs interested in the book should go to Arborwoodpress.com for special pricing.

Readers comments on The Ruin: "It is an incredible book."

Although an "official" book review has not appeared in a newspaper that I know of, I've received communication from those who have read The Ruin or who are in the process of reading it. These are the book reviews that count, as far as I'm concerned. I get it, that a favorable book review by a person who works for a newspaper or who writes book also, will help spur sales. But if a reader with similar taste in books tells someone else they have just finished a good read, that is a good book review.

The communications I get come either directly, by mail, e-mail, FaceBook, phone, or some indirectly as in the case of the first one below, which was sent to my daughter. Some communications have come in personal letters which have shared experiences of bullying and go on to share what the book meant to them. They are too personal to use to promote a book. I will cherish those letters forever. As with most of the thousands of first time novels that are published each year, The Ruin will have a long way to go to earn more than it takes to keep it out there. But in terms of making a difference in lives of those who have carried a weight for most of their lives, it may already be making a slight difference. That makes it worth the effort. 

"So exciting, Janelle! I'm up to page 266. It is an incredible book. Did your dad already know all of the "how to...survival" topics that he tells us about through Cliff before he wrote the book? It is such a good story and so informational... plus I had to think of Moombeam the other night when my husband and son observed our little backyard skunk beginning his evening meal with our compost goodies. I am sure Moonbeam is a lot cuter though."

"Hey Ken, from the first page of "The Ruin" I have not been able to put it down! Great book! My Jim can probably do all of the things Clifton does ... but he doesn't get the book until I am finished! You rock, Ken!"

For those of you who have communicated your thoughts on The Ruin, many thanks! Your thoughts are keeping it going.

Respectfully,
Kenneth Fenter

The Bend Bulletin Visits the Ruin!

Saturday morning I woke earlier than usual and waited impatiently for the familiar sound of the newspaper to land on the driveway. It usually makes it's arrival long before daylight during the weekdays but a little later on the weekends. I went out and searched the drive by the porch and light over the garage doors. No paper yet. Started the coffee and settled back for the the final chapter of another self published book the autobiography of Darcy Wingo, Vietnam veteran and career helicopter pilot. Six AM. First cup of coffee finished. Checked the driveway once again. It's there! I slip the plastic rain cover off and unfold it as I walk back to the house. Above The Bulletin mast head is a small photo of a hand holding an untrimmed copy of The Ruin and next to it in 36pt red type the heading "Books made by hand" and the sub head "Local writer takes self-publishing to its extreme-community, B1.
I force myself to pour a second cup of coffee as I turn to the Community section and there are the center four columns with a photo of the author of The Ruin holding a copy on his knee with a grin and below a story by Bulletin feature writer David Jasper. As usual David wrote a very well tailored story of my novel and my efforts to bring the novel to life through the self publishing process with my own twist. 

I would love to re-produce the story here but copyright laws and ethics prevent that. However if you would like to see the original feature you can go to www.bendbulletin.com/communitylife It is free if you are a current print subscriber to the Bulletin. It does cost 50 cents to access the online newspaper for one day, if you are not a subscriber to the print edition or are not an online subscriber. The article appeared in the Saturday, May 15, 2010 edition.
I didn't realize people were so interested in the fact that I was doing my own printing and binding. That has drawn quite a bit of attention.

The Ruin National Edition ready for debut on Amazon, National, Library, International channels

I will receive the proof copy of The Ruin this week for the National Edition of the Ruin. If it meets the standards I expect it to, then I will give the go ahead for it to featured on Amazon.com and to enter the wholesale market for distribution to bookstores throughout the United States and abroad. This will also make it available for sale to the library trade. Book fulfillment will be handled by CreateSpace, a subsidiary of Amazon.

Arborwood Press will continue to publish limited quantities of the original edition of The Ruin at its facilities in Bend, Oregon and market them through the website arborwoodpress.com and at the original price. The books I print at Arborwood Press are special to me. I do the printing, binding, packaging, and autograph each one. Usually I know the person the book goes out to. Often I hear back from that reader and the reader shares their story with me.

That is not to say that the reader who buys a copy from Barnes and Noble in Bar Harbor, Maine or the Corner Book Store in Naples, Florida can't sit down and write an e-mail or even call me and share their story. I'd love that. My e-mail is in the back of the book. Comments are welcome on the blog also. None have been rejected so far.

I'm excited about the book's availability to the national audience. I had resisted because I wanted to keep the price down. In order to make it available to the wholesale trade, I had to raise the price about five dollars to bring it in line with books of similar page count. The alternative was cut the page count. I did not want to do that to the story. The e-editions of the book remain the same, whether at the Kindle Store, or directly from my web site.
Respectfully submitted,
Kenneth Fenter