Blindness doesn’t need to limit goals

On August 21, disabled Navy veteran Lonny Bedwell made history becoming the first blind solo kayaker to traverse the entire length of the Grand Canyon. The journey took 16 days and was made possible with numerous volunteers, including three military veterans who relied on a system of voice commands to guide Bedwell through the trip. By kayaking the entire 226-mile length of the Grand Canyon in a solo kayak, Bedwell not only made history, but also fulfilled a dream. “I hope that other disabled persons will be able to share this feeling with me one day and achieve their dreams as well,” said Bedwell.


Weekend Program Books

Your Personal World (Saturday at 1 p.m.) is airing Weight Loss for People Who Feel Too Much, by Colette Baron-Reid, and Happier at Home, by Gretchen Rubin; For the Younger Set (Sunday at 11 a.m.) is airing The Opposite of Hallelujah, by Anna Jarzab; Poetic Reflections (Sunday at noon) is airing Useless Landscape or A Guide for Boys, by D.A. Powell; The U.S. and Us (Sunday at 4 p.m.) is airing The Orchid Murder, by Christine Hunt.


Books Available Through Faribault

Books broadcast on the Minnesota Radio Talking Book Network are available through the Minnesota  Braille and Talking Book Library in Faribault, MN. Their phone is 1-800-722-0550 and hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Their catalog is also online, and you can access it by going to the main website, www.mnbtbl.org, and then clicking on the link Search the Library Catalog. If you live outside of Minnesota, you may obtain copies of our books via an inter-library loan by contacting your own state’s Network Library for the National Library Service.

Listen to the Minnesota Radio Talking Book, either live or archived programs from the last week, on the Internet at www.mnssb.org/rtb. Call the staff at the Radio for your password to the site.

Chautauqua Tuesday – Saturday 4 a.m

Storm Kings, Nonfiction by Lee Sandlin, 2013. 12 Br. Began October 8. While tornadoes have been spotted elsewhere, only the central plains of North America have the perfect conditions for their creation. When early settlers saw one, they called it the “Storm King.” Read by John Hagman.

Salt Sugar Fat, Nonfiction by Michael Moss, 2013. 14 Br. Begins October 24. Since 1999, the food industry has been aware of the connections between the salt-, sugar-, and fat-laden foods and the increase in obesity. But without them, the food industry would cease to exist. Read by June Prange.

 

Past is Prologue Monday – Friday 9 a.m.

The Great Divide, Nonfiction by Peter Watson, 2012. 30 Br. Began September 3. When the last Ice Age came to an end, the Americas were divided from Eurasia and two great populations developed, each unaware of the other. Only three major differences can account for how cultures in the Old World and New developed so differently. Read by Bonnie Smith-Yackel.

The Ordinary Acrobat, Nonfiction by Duncan Wall, 2013. 16 Br. Begins October 15. When Wall visited his first nouveau cirque in Paris, it was captivating. Soon, he was waiting attending circuses several times per week. The circus has a long and fascinating history, full of ambitions, beauty, and thrills. Read by Judith Johannessen.

 


Bookworm Monday – Friday 11 a.m.

Bella Fortuna, Fiction by Rosanna Chiofalo, 2012. 13 Br. Began September 30. Valentina is marrying Michael in Venice. But when she thinks everything is falling into place, she is forced to re-examine her life to see what truly makes her happy. Read by Bonita Sindelir.

Letters from Skye, Fiction by Jessica Brockmole, 2013. 7 Br. Begins October 17. During an air raid of World War II, Elspeth disappears, and her daughter, Margaret, is left with only a letter as a clue to where she went or what happened to her family long ago.  Read by Holly Sylvester.

The Kings and Queens of Roam, Fiction by Daniel Wallace, 2013. 11 Br. Begins October 28. Rachel is blind. When their parents die, both she and her sister, Helen, think that Rachel will need to depend on her sister for everything. Read by Don Gerlach.

 

The Writer’s Voice Monday – Friday 2 p.m.

Going Full Circle, Nonfiction by Mike Link and Kate Crowley, 2012. 17 Br. Began September 30. Husband-wife team Mike and Kate set off on a 1,555-mile, shore-hugging journey around the world’s largest freshwater lake, Lake Superior. The five-month epic took them through three states and Ontario.  Read by Connie Jamison.

Beyond the Bear, Nonfiction by Dan Bigley and Debra McKinney, 2013. 9 Br. Begins October 23. A young backcountry wanderer, Bigley writes of his experience going from able-bodied wilderness hiker to blinded by a grizzly attack. It happened on a day full of promise. V – Read by Brad Bronk.
 



Choice Reading Monday – Friday 4 p.m.

Cervantes Street, Fiction by Jaime Manrique, 2012. 12 Br. Began October 3. Miguel de Cervantes distinguishes himself in battle, is sold into slavery in Algiers, and finally escapes to a remote village in La Mancha where he creates the first modern novel in Western literature, Don Quixote. Read by John Beal.

The Code, Fiction by G.B. Joyce, 2012. 10 Br. Begins October 21. After fourteen years playing pro hockey, Brad Shade is retired and scouting for Los Angeles. But when Red Hanratty, coaching legend, turns up murdered, Shade’s scouting job overlaps with investigation. Read by Jim Gregorich.

 

PM Report Monday – Friday 8 p.m.

Blind Devotion, Nonfiction by Sharlene Prinsen, 2012. 12 Br. Began September 26. When Sharlene married Sean, he was handsome in his camouflage fatigues. A combat veteran, he was plagued, though, with addiction, rage, and depression born from PTSD. She had to protect her children. L – Read by Sue McDonald

My Life in Politics, Nonfiction by Jacques Chirac, 2012. 20 Br. Begins October 14. A lifelong French politician and president of France from 1995 to 2007, Jacques Chirac was also prime minister of France twice in the 1970s and 1980s, and mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.  A recent poll voted him the most admired political figure in France. Read by Arlan Dohrenburg.

 

Night Journey Monday – Friday 9 p.m.

Death’s Door, Fiction by James R. Benn, 2012. 12 Br. Begins October 10. An American monsignor has been found dead at an entrance to Saint Peter’s Basilica. Lieutenant Billy Boyle is sent to investigate. His lover is imprisoned nearby. L – Read by Phil Rosenbaum.

Angel Baby, Fiction by Richard Lange, 2013. 10 Br. Begins October 28. Luz planned her escape carefully, only taking the clothes on her back, a Colt .45, and all the money in her husband’s safe. The corpses weren’t part of her plan. L – Read by Dan Sadoff.

 

Off the Shelf Monday – Friday 10 p.m.

Stonemouth, Fiction by Iain Banks, 2012. 13 Br. Begins October 2. Stewart is at Joe Murston’s funeral, though the last time he saw the Murstons, he was running for his life. There’s a truce between him and the Murstons but only Stewart is taking it seriously. L – Read by Tom Speich.

Woke Up Lonely, Fiction by Fiona Maazel, 2013. 15 Br. Begins October 21. Thurlow Dan’s cult, the Helix, promises to cure loneliness, but he is lonely for his ex-wife Esme, and their daughter whom he hasn’t seen in ten years. But Esme is a covert agent who has spent her life spying on Thurlow. L,S – Read by Kristi Sullivan.

 

Potpourri Monday – Friday 11 p.m.

Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted, Nonfiction by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong, 2013. 14 Br. Began October 9. When writer producers James L. Brooks and Allan Burns dreamed up the Mary Tyler Moore show, CBS executives said, “American audiences won’t tolerate divorce in a series’ lead any more than they will tolerate Jews, people with mustaches, and people who live in New York.” L – Read by Nancy Bader.     

The Art of Intimacy, Nonfiction by Stacey D’Erasmo, 2013. 4 Br. Begins October 29. What is the nature of intimacy, of what happens in the space between us? And how do writers catch it on the page? D’Erasmo examines the craft of creating relationships in fiction, arguing for clear, honest depictions. Read by Stuart Holland.

 



Good Night Owl Monday – Friday midnight

The Casual Vacancy, Fiction by R.K. Rowling, 2012. 19 Br. Began September 19. When Barry Fairbrother dies, the town of Pagford is in shock. The empty seat left by Barry on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has seen. L,S – Read by Eileen Barratt.

The Skull and the Nightingale, Fiction by Michael Irwin, 2013. 18 Br. Begins October 16. Aging James Gilbert asks his ward, Richard Fenwick, to experience (and report on) the extremes of human feeling for him. But it becomes clear that Gilbert wants correspondence of a titillating nature. S – Read by Neil Bright.

 

After Midnight Tuesday – Saturday 1 a.m.

The Teleportation Accident, Fiction by Ned Beauman, 2013. 12 Br. Began October 8. At the end of the Weimar Republic, set designer Egon Loeser leaves Berlin in pursuit of Adele, first to Paris, and then to Los Angeles. He finds himself close to a string of murders at Caltech, where a physicist is working on teleportation. L,S – Read by Don Lee.

Three Sisters, Fiction by Susan Mallery, 2013. 9 Br. Begins October 24. Andi Gordon, jilted at the altar, buys one of the three Queen Anne houses on Blackberry Island. Her neighbors, Deanna Phillips and Boston King, become great friends as each deals with her own emotional life. S – Read by Jenny O’Brien.

Abbreviations: V – violence, L – offensive language, S – sexual situations