This I Believe II » (Bargain)

Jay Allison, the host and curator of This I Believe, is an independent broadcast journalist. His work appears often on NPR and has earned him five Peabody Awards. He is the founder of the public radio stations that serve Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, and Cape Cod, where he lives.

Dan Gediman is the executive producer of This I Believe. His work has been heard on All Things Considered, Morning Edition, Fresh Air, Marketplace, Jazz Profiles, and This American Life. He has won many of public broadcasting’s most prestigious awards, including the duPont-Columbia Award.

An essay collection that ties into the NPR series This I Believe.

Publishers Weekly

Allison and Gediman's newest omnibus highlights 75 more essays from the archives of the successful NPR program, a contemporary version of Edward Murrow's classic radio show. Culled from writers both legendary and previously unfamiliar, each essayist presents what he or she believes in 500 words. From Robin Baudier's tract on "Strange Blessings," detailing her experience living in her parents' FEMA trailer after the devastation of Katrina, to Michelle Gardner-Quinn's credo for "upholding reverence for all life" (Quinn was tragically murdered after completing this essay) to Kim Phuc's essay on "Forgiveness," borne of her experience as that "girl in the picture" running naked, napalm-burnt on a road near Saigon, each micro-essay stuns with its singular beauty, lucidity and humility. Icons like Helen Prejean, Studs Terkel and Elie Wiesel find estimable company in heretofore unknown writers who distill their individual truths with affecting sincerity and admirable aptitude. (Oct.)

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Contents

Introduction

JAY ALLISON

Finding the Strength to Fight Our Fears

TERRY AHWAL

I Will Take My Voice Back

QUIQUE AVILES

A Silent Night That Brought Healing

STEVE BANKO

Living with Integrity

BOB BARRET

The Strange Blessing That Brought Me Home

ROBIN BAUDIER

Returning to What’s Natural

AMELIA BAXTER-STOLTZFUS

The Right to Be Fully American

YASIR BILLOO

The Person I’m Supposed to Be

ANDY BLOWERS

Making It Up as I Go Along

ALICE BROCK

Sticking My Nose in the World’s Business

BRIGID DAULL BROCKWAY

Teaching a Bad Dog New Tricks

DAVID BUETOW

The Learning Curve of Gratitude

MARY CHAPIN CARPENTER

Failure Is a Good Thing

JON CARROLL

The Faith That Brings Me Peace

BETSY CHALMERS

The Person I Want to Bring into This World

LAURA SHIPLER CHICO

The Deeper Well of Memory

CHRISTINE CLEARY

A Marriage That’s Good Enough

CORINNE COLBERT

Creating Our Own Happiness

WAYNE COYNE

A Way to Honor Life

CORTNEY DAVIS

We Never Go Away

DENNIS DOWNEY

The Questions We Must Ask

TAMAR DUKE-COHAN

Learning True Tolerance

JOEL ENGARDIO

Doing Things My Own Way

BELA FLECK

Dancing All the Dances as Long as I Can

ROBERT FULGHUM

A Reverence for All Life

MICHELLE GARDNER-QUINN

A Feeling of Wildness

DAVID GESSNER

All the Joy the World Contains

JIMMIE DALE GILMORE

As I Grow Old

DAVID GREENBERGER

Untold Stories of Kindness

ERNESTO HAIBI

Peace Begins with One Person

IVORY HARLOW

Do What You Love

TONY HAWK

Combating the Tyranny of the Positive Attitude

BARBARA HELD

My Husband Will Call Me Tomorrow

BECKY HERZ

The Tense Middle

ROALD HOFFMANN

Living in the Here and Now

JEFFREY HOLLENDER

Inner Strength from Desperate Times

JAKE HOVENDEN

Becoming a Parent Is a Gift

CHRIS HUNTINGTON

Finding Redemption Through Acceptance

INTERROGATOR

Paying Attention to the Silver Lining

ANNALIESE JAKIMIDES

There Is No Blame; There Is Only Love

ANN KARASINSKI

The Universe Is Conspiring to Help Us

KEVIN KELLY

We All Need Mending

SUSAN COOKE KITTREDGE

Telling Kids the Whole Truth

MARTHA LEATHE

Every Person Is Precious

ISABEL LEGARDA

Navigating Turbulent Waters

JIMMY LIAO

All Beings Are Interconnected

JAMES LONEY

A Musician of Many Cultures

YO-YO MA

Being Content with Myself

KAMAAL MAJEED

Be Cool

CHRISTIAN MCBRIDE

That Old Piece of Cloth

FRANK MILLER

My Home Is New Orleans

MIKE MILLER

That Golden Rule Thing

CRAIG NEWMARK

My Personal Leap of Faith

BILL NUNAN

Admittance to a Better Life

MICHAEL OATMAN

Living What You Do Every Day

YOLANDA O’BANNON

The Long Road to Forgiveness

KIM PHUC

The Practice of Slowing Down

PHIL POWERS

Living My Prayer

SISTER HELEN PREJEAN

The Chance to Move Forward

MARIA MAYO ROBBINS

Utterly Humbled by Mystery

FATHER RICHARD ROHR

I Always Have a Choice

CATHERINE ROYCE

I Am Not My Body

LISA SANDIN

Resilience Is a Gift

JOEL SCHMIDT

The Designated Celebrator

MELINDA SHOAF

Baking by Senses and Memories

EMILY SMITH

Learning to Trust My Intuition

CYNTHIA SOMMER

An Optimistic View of the World

DAN TANI

Community in Action

STUDS TERKEL

Music Makes Me Come Alive

JOAN TOWER

God Is God Because He Remembers

ELIE WIESEL

The Guts to Keep Going

AMY LYLES WILSON

Freeing Myself Through Forgiveness

YOLANDA YOUNG

A Potential for Brutality

YINONG YOUNG-XU

A Duty to Family, Heritage, and Country

YING YING YU

We’re All Different in Our Own Ways

JOSHUA YUCHASZ

Afterword DAN GEDIMAN

APPENDIX A:

How to Write Your Own This I Believe Essay

APPENDIX B:

How to Use This I Believe in Your Community

Acknowledgments

Reading Group Guide