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The Creative Spark , livre ebook

Travelers' Tales - Michael Shapiro

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215 pages

English

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A propos
Informations
Extrait

Description

Michael Shapiro is the author of A Sense of Place, which was reviewed or excerpted by the New York Times, Washington Post, National Geographic Traveler, San Francisco Chronicle and many other publications. He was interviewed by PBS, CNN and many local outlets and will follow up with all of these.

Shapiro is well-connected in the media and will be able to create press coverage through his contacts.

Strong social media presence, especially Facebook

Dedicated Facebook page

Numerous author events in the San Francisco Bay Area and other regions

Special events at the Exploratorium and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA)

Build podcast, blog, and YouTube channel called Fanning the Creative Spark to support the book

Create alliances and leverage organizations with memberships that care about the creative process, e.g., writing groups, writing courses, book clubs, partner advocacy groups

Seek endorsements from influential people and thought leaders across the spectrum, such as Seth Godin, Michael Krasny, Chip and Dan Heath, Elizabeth Gilbert, David Kelley

TV and radio interviews

Dedicated book website, author website, publisher's website
“Knowledgeable, probing, and thoughtful.” —Foreword Reviews

Smokey Robinson • Barbara Kingsolver • Francis Ford Coppola • David Sedaris • Jane Goodall and other luminaries reveal the secrets to their creative success. Amy Tan talks about how she finds truth by writing fiction. Melissa Etheridge tells us how she channels her fire into her music. Pico Iyer shares how seeking stillness enhances his creativity. And Coppola discusses how he found the courage to make groundbreaking films.

In The Creative Spark, a collection of interviews prefaced by brief biographies, these luminaries join dozens of other voices to create a symphony of inspiration. Lucinda Williams talks about honesty and making every word count; Jane Goodall cites the value of persistence and believing in yourself; and Smokey Robinson heralds the timeless power of love songs.

For more than a decade, award-winning author Michael Shapiro (A Sense of Place) has interviewed many of our brightest creators. In The Creative Spark, musicians, authors, explorers, and chefs speak about what drives them, what helps them see the world in fresh ways, and what inspires them to turn their visions into art.

Shapiro’s work as a music journalist has led to interviews with legends including Graham Nash, Lyle Lovett, Melissa Etheridge, Jake Shimabukuro, Merle Haggard, and Jethro Tull bandleader Ian Anderson. And he’s spoken with creative masters in other fields, such as comedian Joan Rivers and author Frances Mayes.

Yet it’s not simply that Shapiro has had access to so many supremely talented people—it’s that he gets them to go deep. Moments into his penetrating conversation with Lucinda (her fans call her by her first name), she tells Shapiro about how decisions made about her mother’s funeral led to fissures in her family. From this achingly personal conversation, readers can glean fresh insights into why Lucinda has such a devoted following and why her songs open listeners’ hearts.

Unexpected revelations pop up in every chapter of The Creative Spark. Iowa folksinger Greg Brown isn’t a household name, but his fellow musicians revere his poetic compositions. Then there’s San Francisco Giants announcer Mike Krukow, who turns every broadcast into a work of art. Chefs, including SingleThread’s Kyle Connaughton, discuss how they’re transforming the way we approach fine dining and why social responsibility is essential.

Each chapter starts with a short biography of the creative person being profiled, then segues into Q+A. This collection brings together some of the best-known artists of our time with others who may not be as famed but who have valuable insights about living an artful life. The Creative Spark stands as a testament to human achievement, showing how creativity illuminates our world. And how it resides in each and every one of us, just waiting to break out.
Introduction

Emerging from the Chrysalis

Traveler’s Mind

Pico Iyer

World of Wonder

Barbara Kingsolver

Down Where the Spirit Meets the Bone

Lucinda Williams

Front Porch Songs

Lyle Lovett and Robert Earl Keen

Reason for Hope

Jane Goodall

Timeless Love

Smokey Robinson

King of California

Dave Alvin

Fearless

Melissa Etheridge

The Godfather

Francis Ford Coppola

Heart to Heart

Joan Rivers

Peaceful Troubadour

Graham Nash

Sweet Judy

Judy Collins

Field of Dreams

Mike Krukow

To the Ends of the Earth

Dervla Murphy

Songs from the Heartland

Greg Brown

Walking on a Wire

Richard Thompson

How Sweet It Is

Melvin Seals

Deep Down

Amy Tan

Say Anything

David Sedaris

Honest Outlaw

Merle Haggard

The People’s Chef

Juan Cuevas

Hope Dies Last

Studs Terkel

Sending Down Roots in Tuscany

Frances Mayes

The Minstrel in the Gallery

Ian Anderson

To Boldly Go

Jake Shimabukuro

The Impresario

Warren Hellman

The Godmother of Soul

Sharon Jones

Circus of Life

Kinky Friedman

Hero’s Journey

Phil Cousineau

The Long View

Kyle Connaughton

Speaking for the Seas

Sylvia Earle

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Sujets

Creativity

Performing arts

Informations

Publié par	Travelers' Tales
Date de parution	09 novembre 2019
Nombre de lectures	7
EAN13	9781609521776
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	1 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0047€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

Praise for Michael Shapiro s previous collection of interviews, A Sense of Place: Great Travel Writers Talk About Their Craft, Lives, and Inspiration
Illuminating, entertaining, and insightful.
-Chicago Tribune
Shapiro [has] done his homework, seeming to know the books as well as their authors do. He elicits philosophies of travel (Jan Morris says, Grin like a dog and run about the city ) as well as homely advice (Tim Cahill: Never go shark diving with a guy that's only got one arm ).
-Washington Post
Hearing some of the great travel writers talk about their craft is certainly instructive for readers and writers alike. Most enjoyable are [Shapiro s] interviews with some of the standard-bearers: Arthur Frommer, Eric Newby, Peter Matthiessen and Jan Morris.
-The New York Times Book Review
Big-minded, big-hearted, progressive and compassionate.
-San Francisco Chronicle
I enjoyed A Sense of Place down to the last drop. This is a wonderful book, full of literary and experiential allusions, a fascinating read.
-Keith Bellows, former editor, National Geographic Traveler
I ve never thought of us so-called travel writers as forming a comradeship, but in this innovative book, Shapiro brings our motley crew into a single focus by surveying eighteen of us, as writers and as people, through a single pair of perceptive, generous, and imaginative eyes.
-Jan Morris, author of Trieste and the Meaning of Nowhere
Shapiro s descriptions of each writer are miniature masterpieces, I felt, every one, in part because each is so different. He evokes the very special and unique atmosphere of Isabel Allende showering her kindness on everyone, Tim Cahill and his open heart, Jan Morris with her wry compassion, Eric and Wanda Newby twinkling together.
-Pico Iyer, author of The Open Road
Travel writer is much too claustrophobic a label to hang on some of the finest nonfiction writers of our generation, and Michael Shapiro coaxes out fascinating insights into their journeys, their craft and the beloved places they leave behind.
-John Flinn, former travel editor, San Francisco Chronicle
Hooray for Michael Shapiro, for bringing us these sweet insightful visits with the great creators of contemporary travel literature. These are the writers who gave so many of us our longing for the road, our passion for place, who informed our own wanderings. I always wondered about their lives, and it took Michael Shapiro to track them down, get them talking, and share with us their perspectives on our world.
-Lynn Ferrin, former travel editor, Via magazine
Whether getting up at 4 a.m. to photograph the sunrise over Jerusalem, or prowling Waikiki Beach s Halloween madness, Michael Shapiro goes beyond the ordinary in his travels-and his writing. He brings a passion to his topics, digging beyond the surface to find deeper meanings and connections, but always with a sense of fun. And in the end, he and his readers are wiser for the effort.
-Larry Bleiberg, former travel editor, Dallas Morning News
A Sense of Place won a bronze medal in the ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year awards and was a finalist for the 2005 Independent Publisher Book Awards.

A Selection of Travelers Tales Books from Solas House
Travel Literature
The Best Travel Writing, Soul of a Great Traveler, Deer Hunting in Paris, Fire Never Dies, Ghost Dance in Berlin, Guidebook Experiment, Kin to the Wind, Kite Strings of the Southern Cross, Last Trout in Venice, Marco Polo Didn t Go There, Rivers Ran East, Royal Road to Romance, A Sense of Place, Shopping for Buddhas, Soul of Place, Storm, Sword of Heaven, Take Me With You, Unbeaten Tracks in Japan, Way of Wanderlust, Wings, Coast to Coast, Mother Tongue, Baboons for Lunch, Strange Tales of World Travel, The Girl Who Said No
Women s Travel
100 Places Every Woman Should Go, 100 Places in Italy Every Woman Should Go, 100 Places in France Every Woman Should Go, 100 Places in Greece Every Woman Should Go, 100 Places in the USA Every Woman Should Go, 100 Places in Cuba Every Woman Should Go, 50 Places in Rome, Florence, & Venice Every Woman Should Go, Best Women s Travel Writing, Gutsy Women, Mother s World, Safety and Security for Women Who Travel, Wild with Child, Woman s Asia, Woman s Europe, Woman s Path, Woman s World, Woman s World Again, Women in the Wild
Body & Soul
Food, How to Eat Around the World, A Mile in Her Boots, Pilgrimage, Road Within
Country and Regional Guides
30 Days in Italy, 30 Days in the South Pacific, America, Antarctica, Australia, Brazil, Central America, China, Cuba, France, Greece, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Nepal, Spain, Thailand, Tibet, Turkey; Alaska, American Southwest, Grand Canyon, Hawai i, Hong Kong, Middle East, Paris, Prague, Provence, San Francisco, South Pacific, Tuscany
Special Interest
Danger!, Gift of Birds, Gift of Rivers, Gift of Travel, How to Shit Around the World, Hyenas Laughed at Me, Leave the Lipstick, Take the Iguana, More Sand in My Bra, Mousejunkies!, Not So Funny When It Happened, Sand in My Bra, Testosterone Planet, There s No Toilet Paper on the Road Less Traveled, Thong Also Rises, What Color Is Your Jockstrap?, Wake Up and Smell the Shit, The World Is a Kitchen, Writing Away, China Option, La Dolce Vita University

Copyright 2019 Michael Shapiro. All rights reserved.
Travelers Tales and Solas House are trademarks of Solas House, Inc., Palo Alto, California. travelerstales.com | solashouse.com
Art Direction: Kimberly Nelson
Cover Design: Kimberly Nelson
Cover Art: Alex Brady
Interior Design and Page Layout: Howie Severson
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request
978-1-60952-176-9 (paperback)
978-1-60952-177-6 (ebook)
978-1-60952-178-3 (hard cover)
First Edition
Printed in the United States
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

For my mother, Phyllis Shapiro, who encouraged me to be curious and creative from my earliest days, and for my wife, Jacqueline Yau, my teammate through life

Life isn t about finding yourself or finding anything. Life is about creating yourself and creating things.
-Bob Dylan

Table of Contents
Introduction
Emerging from the Chrysalis
Traveler s Mind
Pico Iyer
World of Wonder
Barbara Kingsolver
Down Where the Spirit Meets the Bone
Lucinda Williams
Front Porch Songs
Lyle Lovett and Robert Earl Keen
Reason for Hope
Jane Goodall
Timeless Love
Smokey Robinson
King of California
Dave Alvin
Fearless
Melissa Etheridge
The Godfather
Francis Ford Coppola
Heart to Heart
Joan Rivers
Peaceful Troubadour
Graham Nash
Sweet Judy
Judy Collins
Field of Dreams
Mike Krukow
To the Ends of the Earth
Dervla Murphy
Songs from the Heartland
Greg Brown
Walking on a Wire
Richard Thompson
How Sweet It Is
Melvin Seals
Deep Down
Amy Tan
Say Anything
David Sedaris
Honest Outlaw
Merle Haggard
The People s Chef
Juan Jos Cuevas
Hope Dies Last
Studs Terkel
Sending Down Roots in Tuscany
Frances Mayes
The Minstrel in the Gallery
Ian Anderson
To Boldly Go
Jake Shimabukuro
The Impresario
Warren Hellman
The Godmother of Soul
Sharon Jones
Circus of Life
Kinky Friedman
Hero s Journey
Phil Cousineau
The Long View
Kyle Connaughton
Speaking for the Seas
Sylvia Earle
Acknowledgments
Credits
About the Author

introduction
Emerging from the Chrysalis
S omething magical happened as I completed this book. One evening just before sunset I was in our backyard watering the planter boxes. On a stem of parsley I noticed a startling pattern of color, concentric rings of orange and black dots. Looking closer I saw the segments of a swallowtail caterpillar and could identify its tiny feet. For the next few days the caterpillar chomped on the parsley plant, absorbing energy for the next stage of its life. I placed a stick in the pot, at an angle to give the caterpillar a place to hang its chrysalis.
The caterpillar s appearance felt like a message from the universe. For many months I d been working on transforming interviews I d conducted with some of the world s most creative people into a coherent set of chapters. I d distilled the essence of these interviews into a tonic of ideas about the creative process. And I d written biographical introductions that sought to put each person s life in perspective and offer insights about the sources of his or her art.
As I write this, on 2019 s summer solstice, our adopted caterpillar (my wife has given it the gender-neutral name Jordan) is undergoing a miraculous transformation into a butterfly. During the past week, we ve watched the caterpillar turn into a chrysalis that matches the color of the branch from which it hangs, its striated brown camouflage the antithesis of the colorful creature it was just a few days ago. Yet it s what is happening inside the chrysalis that is truly astonishing.
The caterpillar is dissolving, using enzymes to digest itself. It s being broken down into nonspecific cells that can be used for any part of the butterfly. Yet some highly organized groups of cells known as imaginal discs survive the digestive process, according to Scientific American. Each of these constellations of cells is programmed to build a specific part of the butterfly. There are imaginal discs for wings,