10-20-20 Interview
Betsy Gertz is a multi-talented woman. A gifted photographer, sculptor and potter, she has also worked as a chef, an EMT and a nurse. Betsy excels at whatever she decides to try. Currently she is living on a large plot of land which she calls her “piece of peace,” where she cares for dogs, cats, horses, ponies, burros, sand cranes and deer. Somehow in addition to the work it takes to minister to the needs of these creatures, she finds time to ride her horse, create art and assemble and publish a book of her photographs called “Encounters.” Listen to this extraordinary woman describe her struggle with and survival from a deadly disease, and come down to The Starlite Room 1001 Cocoanut Ave, Sarasota, FL 34236, on Sunday Nov 5th from 4:00-6:00 to help Betsy launch her book.

1-6-20 Interview

4-22-19 Interview

4/22/19 Kelly Dumar A poet, playwright, and engaging workshop leader, Kelly generates enlivening writing experiences for new and experienced writers. Her Aim for Astonishing photo-inspired process elicits profound personal awakenings, deepens connection with others, and fosters beautifully crafted writing in poetry and prose. Author of three poetry collections, Kelly is also author of Before You Forget— The Wisdom of Writing Diaries for Your Children. Kelly inspires readers of #NewThisDay – her daily photo-inspired blog – with her mindful reflections on a writing life. Each post

9-1718 Interview –

9/17/18 Part 3 of my interview with Roger Steffins begins with his description of how he discovered Bob Marley and Reggae Music and how this discovery became a lifelong obsession. Today his collection of records, posters and other memorabilia, is the largest in the world. Hear about his frustrating campaign to establish an archive of this collection as the Museum of Reggae Music in Jamaica. Then he describes his years of doing a radio show on MPR, the creation of the Reggae/African Music newsletter which lasted 28 years and had as many as 60,000 subscribers, his relationships with film greats Waldo Salt, Bill Link and John Ritter which led to his career as an actor and narrator of film, audio books and documentaries.

9-3-18 Interview

9/3/18 This is the first of a 3 part interview with the indescribable Roger Steffins. It seems impossible that one person would have had the time, energy or talent to care about and/or do all the things that Roger has both cared about and done. Truly Roger demonstrates what we humans are capable of, but which few achieve. In this segment Roger describes his early love of, interest in, passion for all things visual which begins at the age of 5 with stamp collecting, all things written, beginning with newspapers, he wrote his first newspaper at seven both the copy and the editorial cartoon, and the serendipitous way in which he created his one man show “Poetry for people who hate poetry”’ which took him all over the world. This segment ends with my asking Roger if he was drafted during the Viet Nam war.

2-11-19 Interview

Many artists describe themselves and their work with one or a few adjectives, they’re a writer, a painter, a musician, an actor, a singer, a dancer; they work with light or sound or design. Eliza Ladd uses all these adjectives and more to describe herself and her art. She has spent her life exploring every possible way a person can express themselves creatively. Although she didn’t know how she was going to use all the skills she pursued, Eliza followed her curiosity and instinct and has created an art which synthesizes all of the skills she studied, trained in and developed. Listen to this spontaneous, guileless, breathless woman describe a journey for which there was no roadmap, a life in which she had to be her own guide and in which she created an Art which is uniquely her own

2-12-18 Interview

2-12-18 Photographer Clyde Butcher got his first camera at six years old. He began taking pictures right away and got and much more sophisticated camera at nine, but he didn’t commit to a career as a photographer until after graduating from a rigorous degree in architecture (Clyde was one of only 13 to graduate from the 425 who’d begun the course with him). From then on his career is a patchwork of different mediums, clever creations, and many time outs. PBS aired a documentary about him, Visions of Florida, which won a Wolfson Award and with film producer Elam Stoltzfus Clyde collaborated on several multimedia projects as a result or which he hosted the several documentaries Big Cypress Swamp: The Western Everglades and Kissimmee Basin: The Northern Everglades, films that highlighted the importance of conservation and art in the state of Florida. Listen to the way he “discovered the real Florida” which at 75 he is still documenting and advocating for. And come hear him speak about his career and see slides of his groundbreaking, eclectic work at the Venice Performing Arts Center (1 Indian Ave, Venice, FL‎ – (941) 218-3779) on Friday Feb 23rd at 7:00

10-31-17 Interview

10-31-17 Betsy Gertz is a multi-talented woman. A gifted photographer, sculptor and potter, she has also worked as a chef, an EMT and a nurse. Betsy excels at whatever she decides to try. Currently she is living on a large plot of land which she calls her “piece of peace,” where she cares for dogs, cats, horses, ponies, burros, sand cranes and deer. Somehow in addition to the work it takes to minister to the needs of these creatures, she finds time to ride her horse, create art and assemble and publish a book of her photographs called “Encounters.” Listen to this extraordinary woman describe her struggle with and survival from a deadly disease, and come down to The Starlite Room 1001 Cocoanut Ave, Sarasota, FL 34236, on Sunday Nov 5th from 4:00-6:00 to help Betsy launch her book.

July 22, Audio Interview

Director Mark Clayton Southers is an award winning playwright, poet, photographer, scenic designer, theatrical producer and stage director. He is the founder and producing artistic director of the Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company. But he discovered his passion for theater late and mostly by accident. Working as a photographer he shot stills for theatrical productions but never stayed to see the play; it was “just not his thing.” While videotaping August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom he finally understood “the power of theater.” Years later his cousin asked him to stand in for an actor who was temporarily unavailable; that actor lost his job and Mark began a new career. Dedicated to giving his family all that they needed, Mark managed to balance his “good paying work” in the Steel Industry with his passion to pursue theater. Listen to this serious, multi- talented, self-deprecating man talk about his creation of a rich, diverse and satisfying life.

1-14-14 – Audio Interview

Lynn Goldsmith is impossible to categorize. She is Island Record’s recording artist Will Powers, the youngest woman ever accepted into the Director’s Guild of America, and the award winning celebrity portrait photographer of Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones, Michael Jackson, Bob Marley, Bob Dylan and Patti Smith to name a few. She has done over 100 album covers and was co-manager of Grand Funk Railroad. Her most current endeavor is a book of her photographs called Rock and Roll Stories. In this interview Lynn talks about how she became the multi-talented person she is, and tells stories of some of the famous people she’s photographed.

Sharon Sokal was given a “box camera” at 8 years old and has had a camera in her hand ever since. But she was raised when a woman could be either a “teacher or a nurse,” so Sharon pursued her other love, majored in English and became a teacher. Still she documented everything in her life photographically. When she finally bought a “real camera,” and learned how to use it she also accepted that photography was her art; her “visual voice.” She joined and became president of Photogroup Miami, a conclave of all of the photographers in Miami which provided classes, exhibits and lectures. Listen to the way in which she has enriched the lives of at risk kids in Miami and New York, using a program called Picturing Ourselves, and the ironic way she managed to collect the photographs which fill her current book Plus One: An Outsider’s Photographic Journey Into The World Of Fashion.

2-15-11

Interview – Bobby Neel Adams grew up in a town with the “most boring public high schools.” He had no exposure to art except Life magazine’s coverage of the Viet Nam war, which he says “told a bigger story” and clearly had an impact on him. Luckily when he was in high school an acquaintance gave him a camera; he began taking pictures and rapidly became obsessed, but still had no idea that photography could be a career. He so hated high school that he didn’t plan to go to college until another acquaintance assured him that college was different from high school. In college Bobby not only found that photography would be a career, but discovered his own very unique visual style. Now he is one of the artists chosen to work at the Hermitage artist retreat in South Florida. Bobby, who has always been interested in the way things alter and decay, is working on a series called ”Drowned”, which features all things underwater. You can see Bobby’s unique vision at his web site Bobbyneeladams.com