A few weeks ago, I got a message about the death of Jim Christina of The Writers’ Block online radio show on LA Talk Radio. Jim had become a friend over the years as he interviewed me several times when I had a new novel published. “Let us know when you have a new book, we’ll talk,” he’d say. I believed him and emailed them with a new publication and was always welcomed. Hopefully, I didn’t overstay my welcome. But he always made me feel at home.
It’s interesting to get to know someone online and never actually meet them in person. I became friends with his wife, Gerry, and his co-host, Bobbi Jean Bell. They were delightful and always made me feel welcome. They read my books and were truly interested in them. But time marches on and Jim was suddenly gone.
This week, I was once again contacted, this time by Bobbi Jean. She and her husband, Jim, had decided to take the slot on LA Talk Radio where she’d once co-hosted with Jim. They wanted to continue the work of supporting writers and have changed the name to Rendezvous with a Writer https://www.outwestshop.com/pages/rendezvous-with-a-writer. I thought this was a wonderful idea and a great way to honor Jim and continue his work. And Bobbi Jean asked me to help by co-hosting part time. I could ask writers to come on the show and help her interview them. I said yes!
This type of work is new to me. I hope I can do a good job in supporting other writers. I want to live up to the memory of Jim and his promotion of other writers.
I agreed to interview Rene Gutteridge Rene Gutteridge on October 20, 2022. What a way to hit the ground running! I am a big fan of Rene’s work. She is a novelist and screenwriter and has a new movie recently released, Family Camp. Family Camp (2022) – IMDb. I met Rene a few years ago at a conference where she presented programs on screenwriting and quickly became a big fan.
Join me on October 20 with Bobbi Jean Bell and Rene Gutteridge as we talk to Rene about her talent as a writer and check out the new online radio show, Rendezvous with a Writer. I think Jim Christina will approve.
What are you reading/writing this week?
It’s the dog days of summer! It’s been a while since we’ve seen temperatures this high and I’m ready for fall.
I’ve been writing. I’m working on the third Sandhill Island novel and as always, I love being back there. It helps to soothe my need for the sea.
This week, following a 50th anniversary celebration, my husband had his third shoulder surgery. Yes, I said third, on the same shoulder—in a year. I guess the older you get the more your body refuses to heal correctly. The surgery didn’t hold the first time. His body reacted badly to surgery the second time and they had to quit before they could finish, and the third time was the charm, we hope. 
June 24, 1972, I married the love of my life at the ripe age of 19. We were broke, living in his parent’s rent house, with a baby on the way and no idea what to do with it. But we persevered. 
Then after our freshman year of college we married. The baby came much too quickly, and we were both terrified. But she soon taught us all we needed to know about how to parent her. Four and half years later we did it again—this one a boy.
It’s Father’s Day and since I wrote about my husband’s days as a father last year, this year I’ll talk about my dad.
He hired on at Vance AFB in 1960 to teach maintenance. He spent some time in Houston with NASA as Director of Aircraft Maintenance. Then later returned to Vance and retired in 1989 after becoming the Director of Aircraft Maintenance for them. 
(I’m the middle kid in front of him). 
Toward the end of his life, in the hospital for heart surgery while my mother suffered with lung cancer and chemo, his dementia increased. His doctor smilingly told me Dad thought he had once worked for NASA. I informed the doctor that the frail old man in the chair who couldn’t remember what he ate for breakfast that day did work for NASA and that was the one thing he still remembered. It was the highlight of his life—next to his family.
It’s been an uneventful week. I like those now and then. Next Sunday is Father’s Day and the following is a milestone anniversary for my husband and me. Fifty years—and they said it wouldn’t last!
Several years ago, my aging neighbor across the street brought me some strawberry plants in a three-pound coffee can. He could grow anything, and they were overrunning his little area where they were planted. I was excited to grow strawberries in the front flower bed. They lasted a year and fed the birds. I was not a successful strawberry farmer.
My husband should be having a third shoulder surgery soon. We’re waiting on a date. We had a well dug and a sprinkler system installed and waiting on sod for the back yard. We’re having a 50th wedding anniversary this year and a short trip planned. Such is the life of retirees. I remember my parents went to south Texas in their motorhome to stay for the winter and had many adventures. Our retirement seems to pale in comparison to theirs.
I mentioned last week my husband is looking at another shoulder surgery. To say the least we’re not looking forward to it. It’s not his first and we know what he is up against.
Peggy Chambers "Views from the Hammock" site 