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Ernest Lee ThomasPAGE 3

Jamie FarrPAGE 10

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3 BREAKING IT DOWN WITH ERNEST LEE THOMAS

10 BREAKING IT DOWN WITH JAMIE FARR

22 NEOS ZOE: A NEW LIFE WITH MARYANN CASTELLO

27 CAROLYN OWEN PURVIS

30 EXPERIENCE MATTERS: THATS WHY THEY CALL CAROLYN RUBIN

32 TAKE YOUR POWER BACK WITH EVELYN RYAN

34 TRAVEL IN THE SPOTLIGHT

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EDITOR OF TALK NATION MAGAZINE CARISSA CANTONE

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B R E A K I N G I T D O W NW I T H F R A N K M AC K AY &

Ernest Lee Thomas

Kennedy. That was really great. I’ve been kind of busy.

Frank: No question about it. In the past I think in the late 70’s I read you did some stage work with Glenn Close, right?

Ernest: We were on Broadway together in, “ Love for Love” and “Member of the Wedding”. Glenn actually, that was when her star was born, because the lead actress in “Love for Love” was fired and Glenn was the understudy. I know they raised her; she got rave reviews. Glenn is a sweetheart. Kim Cattrall we went to school together and dated for a minute, and Kim was in “Sex and the City”.

Frank: She went on to be a big star and actually later in life. I saw her in things like, “ Police Academy” in the 80’s, and she did a lot of work like that where she was the...

Ernest: “Mannequin”, remember “Mannequin”.

Frank: Sure and she looked great in all of that. Now let me ask about some

Breaking It Down with Frank MacKay, this is 1039 LI News Radio.

Frank: I’d like to welcome everyone to “Breaking It Down”. Our very special guest is a wonderful comedic actor , wonderful actor in general; is Ernest Thomas. How are you Ernest?

Ernest: I’m doing great Frank. How are you my friend?

Frank: I’m doing great and I want to remind people where they know you from cuz sometimes they see the face and they hear the name, but they don’t put it together. I think...

Ernest: Yes. Yes. Raj from “What’s Happening “, Raj from “What’s Happening Now”. Mr. Omar from “Everybody hates Chris”. Sydney X from “Malcolm X”.

Frank:I was going to to give that to them because I’m a big fan of “Everybody Hates Chris”.

Ernest: Okay. Okay.

Frank: And “What’s Happening” and

“What’s Happening Now”. I’ll just to tell yeah; actually you’re coming in a little hot maybe could back off the phone a tiny bit.

Ernest: Okay. Sure.

Frank: There you go that’s great. That’s great there. Anyway I again Ernest Thomas is a wonderful, won-derful comedic actor. Wonderful actor in general and he was the star of “What’s Happening”, certainly one of the stars of “Everybody Hates Chris” and ‘What’s Happening Now”, and he was in “Malcolm X”. You’ve done a lot of interesting work; it actually varies. What are you doing now, Ernest?

Ernest: “Anonymous”, they are doing it as a few webisodes of it on offthegridthemovie.com. It’s called, “ Anonymous”, I play a CIA agent on there. Then there’s one called “True Indigo”, that I did with Keith Davis. “79 Parts” with Eric Roberts was in that one. Then I had a film called, “4Closed” with Paul Sorvino from “Goodfellas” and Marlee Matlin from “Children of a Lesser God”, James Denton from “Desperate Housewives” and Jamie


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nervous really being around him. So the director was really being a but-thole, but Carroll O’Connor when I made a mistake he’d tell the guy, “No, I want to do it again”. He took the blame.

Frank: Covering.

Ernest: What a great guy.

Frank: That’s great, he was covering for you. Ernest: Yes, yes.

Frank: Now a lot of the shows we spoke about, where what you would call quote unquote Black Shows or African American Shows. Actually they didn’t use so much the term African American back then, but it was so much more segregated some of the shows. “Sanford and Sons” and “The Jefferson’s” and a bunch of shows like that. And “Good Times”, I just recently watched like a mara-thon almost on...

Ernest: Oh yeah, “Good Times” was really popular , its known.

Frank: But it was good too. It was quality TV. Let me remind everyone that we’re listening to Ernest Thomas. Who’s a wonderful comedic actor, and you’ve seen him on “What’s Happening” and “What’s Happening Now”, “Malcolm X” and what was cer-tainly not a comedic role and he’s done stage work and “Everybody

of your co-stars. I think in “What’s Happening Now”, Fred Berry didn’t appear in that. Am I right?

Ernest: He was in the first year, but he demanded money and to be the star of it. So they let him go, and that’s when Martin Lawrence was hired; Martin Lawrence and Ken Sagoes.

Frank: That’s an amazing replace-ment, that’s for sure. They got Martin Lawrence and look what he went on to do.

Ernest: Oh my God; and who knew that Martin, would become the Martin we see now.Frank: Where you friendly with him on the set?

Ernest: Oh yeah, The cast, they didn’t really want another cast member. Shirley Hemphill and I were both friendly with him. But I went with him to the comedy store when he audi-tioned Mitzy Shore and he was turned down each time. I went with him when he went back to “Star Search” to announce that he had his first gig with “What’s Happening Now”. So I was just like a big brother.

Frank: Some of the people from that show, and “ What’s Happening” was certainly a very, very popular show, hit show back in the 70’s. Some of the folks that were on that show are no longer here. Am I right?

Ernest: Yes, Fred Berry he passed away, Shirley Hemphill, Mabel King and a lot of people didn’t know the father that well, but was an accom-plished actor Thalmus Rasulala. Who was my father on the show, but was also Kunta Kinte’s father in “ Roots”.

Frank: That’s interesting. He had quite a few good roles. He wasn’t on “Sanford and Son”, right?

Ernest: No. He may have done some guest appearances, but not that I know. He wasn’t like a regular on there at all.

Frank: Now you also did something on “The Jefferson’s”, right?

Ernest: Yeah, that was my first gig. “The Jefferson’s”, I played the part of Train, who was a friend of Lionel’s who robs the van. The cleaning van.

Frank: That’s right. You never did work with Carroll O’Connor on “All in the Family”, right?

Ernest: No, but I worked with him in “In the Heat of the Night”, briefly.

Frank: What role did you play?

Ernest: I just had like a little detec-tive role; that the casting people just wanted, because the show had been cancelled. So this was after “What’s Happening Now” and I got in there. He was so nice; the kindest man. I was making mistakes; I was a little

frankmackaymedia.com


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Hates Chris”. How many episodes of that did you do?

Ernest: I did 31 episodes out of 88 and the one’s I did they show a lot of those. That guy, the character became very popular among a whole new gener-ation which who knew and all over Europe will be even more popular there. It’s very popular here, but it’s even more popular in Europe.

Frank: Did you get to work with Chris Rock at all on that? Ernest: No, he never was on it. I mean just one episode, but he was the narrator.

Frank: Right that’s what I mean, did he show up on the set?

Ernest: He may have showed of twice, that I know of and he was so nice. He said that when he was growing up as a kid he wanted to be “Raj”. Whether it was honor and you know he and Ali LeRoi created that role for me, which was overwhelming. Because I needed work at the time and when people said that Chris Rock was looking for me. I really did not think that was true and God Bless him, he and Ali LeRoi. That brought me to a whole new generation and made me international.

Frank: No question about it. That was certainly a good break and a good role. You did it justice, you were very, very good in that role. You were their funeral director, right?

Ernest: Yes.

Frank: It was great work. They got a bargain in you and you certainly got a bargain to do the show.

Ernest: Absolutely.

Frank: Having said that. Chris Rock, I think anything, it was Howard Stern who referred to him as the greatest living stand-up and I think a lot of people would agree with that.

Ernest: I agree with that. Yes.

Frank: Now what about some of the other, and again I hate to kind of profile or whatever, but some of the great African-American black actors and comedian of that time like Richard Pryor; did you get a chance to meet him?

Ernest: I did. He was just so shy though. I met him and Shirley Hemphill had told me he would be. He comes alive on stage and all that. But in real life she said that’s how he is and certainly when I met him, he barely made eye contact. But a real nice man and I also met Redd Foxx who called me his son. I love Redd Foxx. Oh my God and Bill Cosby, I did the “A Piece of the Action” the movie with him. So that’s how I met him, he’s another good guy that I admired. I met Flip Wilson in a res-taurant and told him I loved him, he was awesome. I’m trying to think of someone else. George, a lot of young people might not know him, but I’m trying to think of his last name.

Frank: George Wallace, maybe you think?

Ernest: No, Not George Wallace. This was way back, this was during the time of Redd Foxx. He was a heavy set guy.

Frank: African-American guy?

Ernest: Yeah, he’s a impressionist too. I can’t believe I can’t remember his name. He also did one of the epi-sodes of “What’s Happening”.

Frank: How many episodes did you do in total of “What’s Happening?

Ernest: Well, we did 69. People thought we did like 100 or so, because they ran them so much. They became so popular is like popcorn or like a drug, addictive drug, because you usually need 100 shows to really syndicate and that’s what they tried for. Those 69 shows; the phenome-non of “What’s Happening” is that those 69 shows, which is a primar-ily black show, that’s what it was. So we had lil’Earl and his father came along. We had guest appearances, white guest actors. For a predomi-nately black show they had no idea it would cross over like that. They even told us they didn’t think that would happen. It became more popular in reruns than it was on ABC primetime, who knew.

Frank: Well that happened to “Odd Couple” as well. I remember hearing an interview with Tony Randall and he said.

Ernest: Help Me.

Frank: He said, “ We didn’t know how it was doing and when we were getting cancelled”. Jack Klugman said to him who played “Oscar”, of course. He said. “ Look, I’m telling you right now when it goes to syndication. It’s going to be a huge hit”, and really that’s what happened with “The Odd Couple” in many ways.

Ernest: I love “The Odd Couple” too.

Frank: No doubt about it. What was the first thing you ever did. If you’re just tuning it right now Ernest Thomas played Roger Thomas on “What’s Happening” and “What’s Happening Now “, he was in “Malcolm X” and “Everybody Hates Chris”. What was the first thing you ever did as a


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show. I was just cheering the kid on, always. Chris he’s a...

Ernest: I know. That whole thing of him and I didn’t know how real that was. That was really a lot of pain. He was really beat up he said, every single day and until he got funny. Really though the white students helped him become a great come-dian. He was forced to be funny to make them laugh.

Frank: When I see his parents inter-view, I saw his mom interviewed. I kind of thought, you know what I see why he’s successful. She seemed like a rock. She seems like she was very strong.

Ernest: You’re so right.

Frank: What about your parents? What are your parents like? Ernest: Well my mother is that. My mother, she is my best friend. That’s the strongest lady. I never met my father, but just to watch my mother. Going through abuse as a child and her being abused by the boyfriends and the step fathers and still having; she would never ever complain to us. She was always like, “Oh, everything’s good”. She’s there laughing trying to get us little gifts and stuff. She never ever was crying, she didn’t like com-plainers actually. She still doesn’t and at 83 years old she believes in doing. Don’t sit around, complaining, just make it happen. She loves everybody. She grew up in Mississippi. I wrote a book about her called, “Conversations with my Mother”. Even as a child in Mississippi, she has no hate or resent-ment towards any of the whites that might have been racist or whatever. She’s a strong Christian lady.

Frank: Well, that’s wonderful and

young actor? Did you get on stage in school? Did you join the drama club?

Ernest: No, Frank I was a late bloomer. Also I was in Pentecostal Christian Church, God in Christ which was against all of that. Be in the world, but not of the world. So no proms, no dances, no going to the movies; none of that. Definitely not pursuing or participating in that in school. In church we did the Christian plays, the Christmas play and the Easter play. I watched friends; I was in awe of my friends in grade school, junior high, and high school would do the plays. I was a late bloomer, it was in college, my sophomore year and my friend, my first fan. My friend Jake Smith he was the one who saw that in me, which I still didn’t see. He saw it in me before; I was going to be a social worker and was going to be happy doing that, but he saw because I would clown and act silly around all the time trying to make him laugh. He said, “ Ernie you could do any-thing they do on TV or film I’ve seen that man. I’m telling you , I know you got it man. You got it. You got it “. What are you talking about? He said, “At least pursue at least take a course”. So I took a course and I got an A in acting. That teacher said the same thing. Then there was a play, “ Romeo and Juliet”, I went up for the play just to see. I got the play, but still I’m not thinking, I’m just saying, “ Just a little hobby”. Then in my graduate year, I just couldn’t take it anymore. It was just something that I could not get rid of, like a thing that right on the back of your neck, you just could not let it go. He convinced me to try out for the American Academy.

Frank: Thank God he did.

Ernest: Yes.

Frank: Well, let me ask you. You men-tioned you religion. Do you still prac-tice the same religion at this point?

Ernest: Yes, I am Christian. I’ve gone through all phases. I went through Buddhism. I went through Islam. I went to through everything; a little bit of Judaism, I went to the little syn-agogue there in New York. I had the Star of David. I liked all of it. But it’s like because I was raised Christian I went right back to it, it just seemed to be better. I loved all of it.

Frank: Ernest Thomas is our very special guest. He’s a wonderful comedic actor, you’ve seen him on “What’s Happening”, “What’s Happening Now” and certainly “ Everybody Hates Chris”. Is it every-one hates Chris or everybody hates Chris?

Ernest: Everybody Hates Chris.

Frank: I think he was giving some social commentary on “Everyone Loves Raymond” or “Everybody Loves Raymond”.. So he just did the oppo-site. I actually love the premise of the

M y mother, she is my best friend. That’s the strongest lady. “


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she’s still with us. She got to see your success and she continues to see you.

Ernest: But Frank she doesn’t watch the show.

Frank: Why?

Ernest: She never was into TV. There was a point where she would, but I’ve given up on that. She never was a TV person or a film person. So, even now friends will say hey you’re son’s on TV, they’ll call and she’ll tell me, “Turn it on for me Ernie, turn it on”. But she’ll be nodded out man. She never saw “Malcolm X” or “A Piece of the Action”, but she loves me. She couldn’t tell you one episode, I’m not lying.

Frank: Well listen all that matters is that she was there and she got through it. It sounds like a horribly tough time, but she’s tough and she’s 83 years old and she raised a won-derful guy. How about you, do you have children?

Ernest: I have one daughter, Pam Trotter.

Frank: Is she in the business?

Ernest: She is. As a matter of fact she did “The Color Purple” tour and the part of Sofia. The Oprah Winfrey role and she got rave reviews. She’s up for some major pilots right now, but she’s a incredible singer. Great singer.

Frank: That’s nice that she’s following in her dad’s footsteps right there and you talk about following somebody’s footsteps to play the Oprah role is a nice thing. You can’t get a better role model than Oprah.

Ernest: Absolutely, and you know Oprah’s first guest was Shirley Hemphill; just a little trivia there.

Frank: Oh, I didn’t know that.

Ernest: Yes, she had AM Chicago first, before she became the Oprah she is today. She needed celebrity guests, she’s a fan of “What’s Happening” . Shirley was doing some stand-up there and she camped outside of Shirley Hemphill’s door in the hotel. Cuz’ Shirley didn’t care for interviews, but she won her over and that was her first interview and they remained friends.

Frank: That’s fantastic. We’re out of time here, but hopefully we can bring you back another time and we can chat about what’s going on new and what’s happening new I should say.

Ernest: Okay, yes. TV1, Wednesday, “Unsung Hollywood: What ’s Happening”.

Frank: Okay and also give me a website and give all of us a website that they can follow you on. Are you on Twitter or Facebook?

Ernest: Yeah, I’m on Twitter. Twitter is Ernest L Thomas, because there’s so many Ernest Thomas’ now. That weren’t there back there 30 years ago. But Ernest L Thomas on Twitter and Ernest L Thomas on Facebook. And its E-R-N-E-S-T, and ernestlthomas.com; www.ernestlthomas.com.

Frank: Ernest Thomas is our very special guest and he’s been very gra-cious with his time. Ernest thank you

very much for being here. And comedian, well I should say first actor, comedic actor.

Ernest: Thank you Frank.

Frank: And very serious actor at certain times, and has done just a great job with his career, Ernest Thomas everyone.

Ernest: Thank you, God bless.

Frank: We’ll be back, right after this.

Photo Credit: Ron T. Young


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Widening its sustainabil-ity efforts

beyond its plants and office buildings, Colgate has launched a “Save Water” campaign which includes a discussion forum on social media, #EveryDropCounts, and “Save Water” messaging on product packaging.

A M E R I C A N CO M PA N I E S E M B R AC E A S U S TA I N A B L E F U T U R E Meeting in Paris, delegates from 195 nations ended 2015 by reaching a landmark agreement to make signif-icant efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The historic pact rep-resents a global effort to curb climate change and a move toward wide-spread investment in zero-carbon energy sources and other sustain-able practices.

Many saw the Paris climate deal as a major change in global policy and a step in the right direction. Though nations at the highest levels might be in agreement on the next steps to take, there is still a lot to be done at the ground level. While there is plenty of discussion about how an individual can lead a more sustain-able lifestyle, what doesn’t get a lot of coverage is what businesses can do to reduce their carbon footprint.

This is an unfortunate oversight because businesses have a vital role in addressing global environmental issues such as climate change, carbon

emissions and water security. As it stands, buildings in the United States account for 39 percent of CO2 emis-sions and consume a staggering 70 percent of the electricity load. Over the next 25 years, it is projected that CO2 emissions from buildings will grow faster than in either the indus-try or transportation sector. Among these, commercial buildings are pro-jected to increase their CO2 output the fastest, by 1.8 percent a year, according to the U.S. Green Building Council.

Through its green guidelines and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) cer-tification, the U.S. Green Building Council is responding to an urgent need to help businesses around the world save energy, water resources and money while amplifying human health and wellbeing.

Though it is a demanding set of guidelines, many companies have made it a priority to make their build-ings LEED certified. One successful

example is the Colgate-Palmolive Company, which currently has 11 LEED certified facilities and eight more in the works. The company has been so successful in their efforts that they were awarded the 2015


9Photo source- Public D

omain

Ray Anderson Radical Industrialism Award for exemplifying leadership in the evolution of green manufactur-ing. This award reflects the company’s global strategy that includes a com-mitment to “Reducing Our Impact on Climate and the Environment,” and “Making Every Drop of Water Count.” To do this, they have set such goals for 2020 as reducing absolute green-house gas emissions from manufac-turing plants by 25 percent com-pared to 2002 levels, and cutting pro-duction water use by half and energy by one third.

Widening its sustainability efforts beyond its plants and office buildings,

Colgate has launched a “Save Water” campaign which includes a dis-cussion forum on social media, #EveryDropCounts, and “Save Water” messaging on product packaging. The overall aim of these efforts is to remind consumers that by simply turning off the faucet while brush-ing, one person can save up to 3,000 gallons of water a year.

While Colgate continues to make substantial strives in these areas, they are not alone. Manufacturing plants for Fortune 500 companies such as Coca-Cola, Mars, Kraft and Intel Corp. are making strong efforts to reduce carbon emissions. As of August, 2015, there were over 72,500 LEED build-ing projects around the world. In fact, the world’s second tallest building,

the Shanghai Tower, has achieved an LEED Platinum rating.

The range of these efforts to reduce carbon emissions encompasses daily activities, business practices and the global community. While such accomplishments don’t make headlines like the Paris climate deal did, they are a reminder that a sus-tainable future begins at home with people, families and with the brands they trust.

(BPT)


B R E A K I N G I T D O W NW I T H F R A N K M AC K AY &

Jamie Farr

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character you played on “MASH”--

Jamie : Yes, and let me tell you how that happened. Gene Reynolds who was the producer of “MASH”, he had been a child actor, but he had been born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. Gene had been under contract at

Frank : I’d like to welcome everyone to breaking it down. Our very special guest today is certainly a favorite of mine. An actor, a character actor, a comedic actor who many, many, many of you will know and you’ve appreciated his work over the years, his name is Jamie Farr. Jamie how are you?

Jamie : I’m just wonderful Frank and of course with that accent of yours, I know you’re from the east coast.

Frank : You’re not really from Toledo, are you?

Jamie : Yes, I am really from Toledo.

Frank : No kidding.

Jamie : Born and raised there. The thing about it, is that I was a child that loved to listen to radio programs and go to the movies every weekend. I would go to the Loews Valentine theater in Toledo, Ohio and watch an MGM movie. A year and a half after I got out of high school and went to the Pasadena Playhouse, I was on the MGM lot making an MGM movie. Blackboard Jungle with Glenn Ford,

Sidney Poitier, Louis Calhern , Anne Francis, Richard Kiley, what an expe-rience that was.

Frank : Yeah, that’s something else. I should just remind people that the reason I said you’re not really from Toledo, that’s where Klinger, the

Actors Jamir Farr and Alan Alda on MASH Author: CBS Television


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MGM for a while and did a lot of movies there. He did a lot of the Boystown films with Mickey Rooney and he later became a director and a producer. Larry Gelbart who created my character; Larry you probably remember him from the Sid Cesar days, he was one of the writers. The Sid Cesar show, along with Mel Brooks, Woody Allen.

Frank : One of the legendary writers.

Jamie : Larry was attending highs school in the L.A. area, Fairfax high school and his father was a barber in Beverly Hills. He was the barber to all the comedians, Milton Berle, the Ritz Brothers, and one comedian who was also from Toledo, Ohio by the name of Danny Thomas. Harry Gelbart, Larry’s dad said, “Danny my son is a terrific writer you got to listen to some of his jokes.” Danny said, “Okay, let me hear some of them”. Well, he liked them so much; this was long before Larry had even gotten to writing professionally with Sid Cesar. Danny Thomas bought jokes from him for his radio and tele-vision show. So I think as a pay back Larry later, when he became famous and created my character along with the TV series “MASH”, made my char-acter Lebanese and made him from Toledo, Ohio. So that’s how that worked out.

Frank : You mentioned “Blackboard Jungle”, that’s really a breakthrough movie--

Jamie : Yeah, Richard Brooks that was Vic Morrow’s first movie after that made a couple of films. Of course that brought in “Rock Around the Clock - Bill Haley & the Comets”. What a great picture that was , it’s a little dated but it still stands up. We had wonderful performers in that.

Frank : You were Santini, right?

Jamie : Yeah, Santini. I was at the Pasadena Playhouse, that’s where I attended school and I was doing a play and talent scout from MGM saw me in the play and he recom-mended that I should screen test at MGM for the part. I got an agent Sam Marx’s brother, Sam Marx was a big producer at MGM. He discov-ered Elizabeth Taylor and I think he did National Velvet and a few other great films at MGM. I screen tested and got the role and there I was this kid from Toledo, Ohio, I was watching MGM movies and now I was on the MGM lot. I have to tell you, going into that commissary to have lunch and there’s Spencer Tracy, Clark Gabel, Elizabeth Taylor and Robert Taylor. What a time that was for a kid to take that all in.

Frank : Now how did you handle it? Where you star struck, well I know that you were star struck, but did you show that you were star struck?

Jamie : Oh sure, yeah a lot of us when we; I forgot which stage we were shooting on, but I had seen “Signing In The Rain” with Gene Kelly and Donald O’Connor and Debbie Reynolds. They were shoot-ing a movie I think a couple of stages away from us, I think a movie that was called, “It’s Always Fair Weather”, with Dan Daily and Michael Kidd. A bunch of us would run over to watch them shoot when we weren’t shooting our scenes. We’d go to all the different sounds stages to see what they were doing. It was very exciting.

Frank : Jamie Farr’s our special guest today, if you’re just tuning in. Jamie Farr is just a wonderful comedic actor and those fans of MASH got to see him for 11 years, was it 11 seasons?

Jamie : Yes, it was 11 years and..

Frank : A lot longer than the war.

Jamie : 1972 to 1983. I think it was February 28/ 1983 when the final episode aired there were 200 million people in the United States at that time and 125 million watched the last episode.

Frank : Can you imagine? Wow! Those are staggering numbers; that’s a Super Bowl, that’s bigger than a Super Bowl.

Jamie : Well, no. Actually we were the highest rated show in the history of television, until the last couple of years. The last two Super Bowls beat our ratings, but of course there are 300 million people now in the United States. Obviously there are more people, more television sets. You have to remember that at our time there were only three networks. There was some cable, but it was CBS, NBC and ABC, and a little bit of cable. That was quite an achievement for our little show.

Frank : That many people seeing you, I imagine it was very difficult to have any kind of privacy.

Jamie : That final week of shooting was just horrendous for all of us. Not only emotionally, knowing that we were going to say goodbye to one another, but all of the people that wanted to do interviews. I think we were on the cover of Life magazine, on the cover of News Week maga-zine, people doing interviews with us, TV shows, radio shows; it was never ending. The final episode that aired, was not the final episode that we shot. We had shot the episode; our ranch burned down actually where the set was and Jack Nicklaus was building his golf course over at Sherwood, so that’s exactly where we had to go. We rebuilt the set there and where you see Tiger Woods’ golf tournament that he used to have; that is where we filmed the last episode. The final

Actors Jamir Farr and Alan Alda on MASH Author: CBS Television


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Mulcahy, he lives in Pasadena, and Mike Farrell who is married to Shelley Fabares, the actress; they live in the Studio City, California area. Some of the others, I think David Ogden Stiers moved up to Oregon. I think Gary Burghoff moved up to Northern California. Wayne Rogers I believe is in Florida, and he does that morning Fox show that they have on Business. Of course Harry Morgan passed away, McLean Stevenson passed away, and Larry Linville passed away and Larry Gelbart passed away.

Frank : When you talk about people like that, that’s got to be family. That many years and that many seasons and that much success. You’re going through all of that together . I don’t want to put words in your mouth, but was it a close knit group?

Jamie : Of course it was. As I said we’re still in touch with one another. Obviously I use to see Loretta more often, because Loretta lived here in Southern California. Her mom Nell, who lived to be 103, was over here at the Motion Picture hospital, not too far from where I live. Actually, when Nell was well, we always had a Christmas Eve party, and we’d have everybody here at the house. We had a nice big tufted chair by the fire-place, and Nell liked to have her red wine. But we use to go visit her all the time at the Motion Picture home, of course Loretta was over there. And I did a play with Bill Christopher, we did the odd couple years ago. We did a touring company of it, he played

episode that we shot, where we had like 400 people that were on the set; news people, TV, Radio, newspapers, magazines and everything. Was the episode where we buried the time capsule.

Frank : Right.

Jamie : Incidentally, we had a great idea. We thought wouldn’t that be fantastic if we took some of our memorabilia and buried it on the lot at 20th Century Fox and then years later tell everyone about it. They said, “What a great idea that is”. We were going to replicate what we had done in the show where we buried the time capsule in the ground in Korea. We tried to figure a place, where would they not do damage and we said, “ How about right next to the com-missary”?. We waited late at night; we had somebody dig a big hole in there and we’ve put all of our differ-ent things we thought that might be interesting and some written notes in a waterproof Red Cross box. At mid-night we all gathered around; Arlene Alda was a wonder photographer was there. We had some Champaign and we had a ceremony. She took a lot of the photographs of it, I don’t know where they are. We buried the time capsule, covered it up with dirt, had a toast of champagne, and we said “Oh we can’t wait now. Years later we’ll tell everybody about it”. Well the show finally closed and we left stage nine there; they decided to do some renovating and what do you think they dug up. Right where we buried

the time capsule.

Frank : How many years ago?

Jamie : Some guy saw it, didn’t know what it was and just threw it away.Frank : No kidding. How many years ago was that dug up?

Jamie : It was shortly after. We’ve been out of production 37 years.

Frank : 31 years now.

Jamie : Yeah, 31 years thank you. The guys from Toledo can’t add that well. You guys from Long Island are better at it.

Frank : You mentioned some of the players; Alan Alda turned out to be the big star of that. But you were all stars. It was an ensemble cast.

Jamie : It was called MASH, it wasn’t called the Alan Alda show, but obvi-ously Alan was the hub, he was the important character in the show. Alan was wonderful, he’s a wonder-ful writer, wonderful director, won-derful actor and a friend. We’re still all in touch, those of us that are still around. Alan reside mainly in New York, he use to have a place in California where I live, but he sold the house then took up total residency back in New York City. Loretta Swit is moving back there as a matter a fact, she likes it back there. I’m not a cold weather person, so I’m going to stay here in California. William Christopher who played Father

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Felix and I played Oscar. Then of course I’ve done some things with Mike Farrell. I haven’t seen David Ogden Stiers in quite some time, we get an email every once in a while. Gene Reynolds who was our pro-ducer and Burt Metcalfe who was our producer they still live here in Southern California as do many of the writers, John Rappaport and Allan Katz. One of our favorite direc-tors Charlie Dubin passed away a couple of years ago. That’s nice we still stay in touch.

Frank : Let me remind everyone that we’re speaking with Jamie Farr. He’s done so much more than “MASH”, but “MASH” is really a signature role Kilnger. It was an incredible role, you’re in drag every episode right?Jamie : No, not every episode, that was the beginning of it. They did other things with him. Where he was a gypsy, he ate a jeep. Larry Gelbart and the writers were just absolutely wonderful. The charac-ter was so bizarre, that he could just about get away with anything. They could come up with anything they wanted and it would be accepted. It was much fun, believe me. The cast where just as surprised at whatever this character was gonna do, it sur-prised them as well.

Frank : You must have loved opening up the scripts.

Jamie : Oh, yeah every week to find out what this character was; he was into voodoo, he tried to get away in a raft over the Sea of Japan, he tried to fly off the compound with a hang glider. It was just so much fun and as I said it was a surprise to the char-acters, the Hawkeye’s, Hot Lips, the BJ’s, Trapper John, the Colonels. He came in and I told him he was preg-nant. One of my favorite ones, I came into Harry Morgan’s office and told him that I didn’t deserve to be in the

United States Army, because I was a communist. He said, “Bulshevik” and I said, “No, honest sir”.

Frank : It’s terrific. I was a smart show, it was very well written. But it was a smart show.

Jamie : Wasn’t it? I have to say I think the writers were just terrific. They had to give us a new name, it wasn’t a comedy and it wasn’t a drama; it was a dramady. Because we’d always have two things going on in one show in the little half hour show. We’d have something kind of serious, and then something absolutely silly going on; there was a great balance.

Frank : What year did Wayne Rogers leave the show?

Jamie : You know, I’m not sure. I think probably the third year. That was pretty close to when McLean Stevenson was going to leave. They were very clever in those days, when a show got popular. MASH was like many shows it was going to be can-celled after the first year because we were in a terrible time spot. We were on Sunday nights against the Wonderful World of Disney, and if it wasn’t for Billy Paley’s wife. Bill Paley was the chairman of CBS, Babe Paley the wife liked the show and she said, “ You know Bill, why don’t you keep that on. Just change the time spot”. He said, “Okay. What do you suggest?”. So they put us on Saturday night, which turned out to be the greatest line up in the history of tele-vision. I don’t have the line up nec-essarily in order, but it was “All in the Family”, “Mary Tyler Moore Show”, it was “MASH”, it was Bob Newhart in “The Carol Burnett Show”.

Frank : Wow, that’s some ratings right there.

Jamie : No one left their homes. The

movie theaters lost business, the res-taurants lost business, the live theatre people lost business. It was the great-est night in the history of television and that’s what saved our show.

Frank : The thing is here, you’re picking up viewers from Mary Tyler Moore, which was also a very smart show. All In The Family was brilliant show.

Jamie : The Newhart show and Carol Burnett, what a wonderful comedy that was. I was relating the stories, is that NBC knew that we had a winner there, so they started romancing McLean Stevenson. Tantalizing him with that thought that he might take over Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show. That’s when the Mac left the show, and went over to NBC, of course that never happened. They gave him a TV series that wasn’t very good, didn’t last very long.

Frank : Hello Larry, right?

Jamie : Was that it? Yeah, I think you’re right.

Frank : I remember the rumors, that


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he was going to take over for Jonny Carson.

Jamie : Exactly. Well, they use to do that. They’d try to sabotage shows by taking major characters out of the program and hopefully then they think the program would lose its ratings. But Wayne Rogers, McLean Stevenson left and Larry Linville left; the show got more popular.

Frank : That’s the thing have you ever spoken to, I’m sure you have after all these years. But spoken to Wayne Rogers and if you can’t say I don’t want you to tell tales out of school. But has he ever said, “Wow, what a horrible mistake I made leaving MASH”.

Jamie : Well actually, he didn’t really make a mistake. He did a couple of TV series after that he owned it. He did the series that Walter Matthau starred in, it was a doctor there.

Frank : Doctors.

Jamie : It was wonderful. House Calls.

Frank : Yeah, maybe House Calls.

Jamie : It was and then he also did “City of Angels” which was on for a couple of years. Wayne was a gradu-ate of Princeton and he was actually a business major. He was the business manager for The Smothers Brothers and Peter Falk. He felt that what hap-pened, I guess; it was supposed to be the two of them that were the leads in the show and they started to go a little heavy on Alan Alda’s character of Hawkeye, and he became a sec-ondary character to Hawkeye’s char-acter. He didn’t appreciate that much and he said if you don’t really need me then I’ll leave the show. He appar-ently had not signed his contract and

left the show. Wayne was actually very successful on what he did.

Frank : It sounds like it, but still..

Jamie : Wayne and Alan are still friends, and we’re all still friends with Wayne.

Frank : He was terrific in the role. I actually missed it when he left. I want to remind everyone who’s just tuning in now that you’re listening to a wonderful character actor and a wonderful comedic actor, Jamie Farr. You don’t mind the term char-acter actor?

Jamie : No. When I was a kid I loved movies, I told you I use to go to them. I knew all the character actors in the movies. To me they were; practically all of the Warner Brothers stars with the exception of Errol Flynn were character actors. Humphrey Bogart nobody ever considered, that hand-some guy. Edward G. Robinson and James Cagney they were considered character actors, but they were stars. Not at all, I love character actors. I use to know all the names of them.

Frank : It’s just an interesting busi-ness. I find it fascinating. You might be bored with it at this point.

Jamie : No. Not all. I started in theatre and I’m going back to theatre. I’m doing a show called, “The Last Romance”, which I did in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada about a year ago, year and a half ago. It got wonder-ful reviews and we’re going to do it in Edmonton, Alberta with the same cast. I’ll be leaving very shortly for it and I’ll be there for most of the summer.

Frank : What is it called again?

Jamie : I have another show at a theatre that I go to and I’ve been playing many, many years in Kansas City called the New Theatre. I’m going to be doing a show, that’s the longest running show in the United States. “Shear Madness”, it’s been playing in Boston for 25 years and I think it’s at the Kennedy Center. So I’ll be doing that.Frank : Do you get involved in Twitter or any other social media.

Jamie : No. You know what, I’m not very good. I dabble in the computer a little bit, but Twitter and Facebook they always say will you join and I accept. But I don’t do Facebook or Twitter I’m probably a member of them and LinkedIn. I don’t want to hurt somebody’s feelings when they say will you accept my invitation, so I got I accept. But I don’t really use them.

Frank : Certainly, it’s a new phenome-non. If you think about it, you’ve been through your whole carrier without all of this stuff. It’s worked out well for you, without getting involved in this.

Jamie : I have Netflix and I enjoy that. I like to watch a lot of; I love the British shows, the British comedies and a lot of their mysteries that they have, Masterpiece theatre. I watch a lot of that. I’ve been watching the PBS, Mister Selfridge the depart-ment store owner and interesting. I did some research on him and what a fascinating life he had. The man actu-ally died a popper, after all these mil-lions that he made in business, he got involved with the Dali sisters, no was it-

Frank : Hey, Jaime. Keep that thought we’re coming up on a break. Do we have you for another segment?


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Jamie : You bet.

Frank : Alright. The wonderful. The incomparable, Jamie Farr right after this.

Frank : I’d like to welcome you all back to Breaking It Down. Our very special guest today is a wonderful comedic actor, he has been around many; for a young man he has been around many, many years.

Jamie : Not that young. I was going to tell Glen Ford was in the movie “Blackboard Jungle” obviously and when his son wrote his biography, Peter Ford did and I’m mention in his book. And William Holden had a book called, “Golden Boy” which was his first movie...

Frank : He played a boxer.

Jamie : I’m in Bill Holden’s book because I did the first miniseries which was “The Blue Knight”.

Frank : Hold that thought. Let me just remind people we’re speak-ing to Jamie Farr, we just came back from a break and I want every-body to remember that we’re with Jamie Farr here. The wonderful actor, many people know him from “MASH”. Let’s talk about that for a second, Bill Holden. I know “Golden Boy” if I remember correctly he was a violinist.

Jamie : Boxer.

Frank : Was he a violinist?

Jamie : No, he was a boxer.

Frank : Boxer. Right.

Jamie : I think of that one John Garfield might have done the movie. He was a violinist and became a boxer.

Frank : There we go that’s it.

Jamie : I think that’s it. I hope people remember these names, John Garfield.

Frank : Yeah, people remember them.

Jamie : Red Skelton, was my mentor. I did his TV show before I got drafted into the real army and I used to carry half the show with Red. I took basic train-ing at Fort. Ord, California and I wound up in Astoria, Long Island City at the army pictorial center which was the old Paramount Studios where they did all the old Marx Brothers movies and W.C. Field’s movies. That’s now I think Kaufman studios, it’s a real studio again making movies. Then I got sent overseas, I was sent to Japan. I was with armed forces radio in Japan and then when Red Skelton’s son Richard passed away, he requested me from the state department. I got VIP status and we went and enter-tained the troops all the way to the 38th parallel, the demarcation zone. We went through mash units, this was long before I even know I was going to be on the TV series. When Red was leaving, he said you know you’re going to have to start your career over again, it might be tough. Why don’t you come and see me if you run into any problems. While I did get out of the service, but before then I had also gone to Korea again to open up armed forces television. I was with that unit that opened up armed forces television and when I came home; in those days you had to spend six years in the military. You had to spend two years of active

duty, two years of active reserve, and then two years of inactive reserve. You had to spend six years before you got your discharge. I came out of the Army, I was still in the active reserve and my dad passed away.

I was going to have to go home to help support my mom, we didn’t have any money. So I went to say goodbye to Red at CBS’s studio, and he said, “ Oh no. You’re not going any-where. You’re under contract to me right at this moment”. Reached in his pocket, pulled out some money for me to send home to my mom. He said, “You’re now under contract to me. You’re going to travel with me. I’m going to play the Fountain Blue Hotel in Miami Beach, the Shape Aria in Chicago, The Sands hotel in Las Vegas you’re going to be on my TV show”. Red really saved my career.

Frank : That’s terrific. That’s a friend, that’s for sure. Just a reminder we’re on with Jamie Farr and again we talked about the “Blackboard Jungle”, we talked about “MASH”. Let’s if you don’t mind Jamie, let’s go back to Toledo. You’re born in Toledo, you’re raised in Toledo. What did you do in high school? Were you an athlete?

Actor Red Skelton: Public Domain


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Were you an actor? What did you do?

Jamie : I was in the radio class; we use to have radio classes then and I was in the school newspaper. I was interested, I had never done any real theatre work at all. All the things that I had done, were just fun things, with the fee schedules. As a matter of fact when I went and I got to the Pasadena Playhouse, one of the first scenes that they has us do was a scene from Mister Roberts. Where I was supposed to play Ensign Pulver’s character, and I had never really done a play, never really seen what a play looked like. I was rehearsing with the other gentleman that was in the play. It was a scene that we had to do for our class and I didn’t think the dialogue was very funny. So while we’re doing the scene I just decided to ad-lib. They took me aside, they said you can’t do that as an actor. When you’re doing a play, you have to do what the playwright wrote. I really must have scared the heck out of the other actor, I learned then that I have to interpret what the writers say. I can’t just make up things.

Frank : How old were you at that point?

Jamie : Let’s see, I think that I gradu-ated from high school when I turned 18. So when I went to the Pasadena Playhouse, I was 18. When I got Blackboard Jungle I was 20 years old, when I got my first movie.

Frank : How did you get that?

Jamie : That’s what I told you. When I was doing a play at the Pasadena Playhouse a talent scout saw me. I meant to tell ya, the first agent I had was Burt Marx, Stan Marx’s brother. Burt Marx said, I have a lot of the actors at MGM and my career was

really taking off. I was starting to do really well and in a lot of the shows. Eventually I would up getting the Red Skelton show and that’s when I got drafted in to the real Army. That interrupted my career and then once I got back and I went with Red, I was with him for an entire year and then I decided I’d better get out on my own, because I didn’t want to be a hanger on. I had a tough time getting back again, and thanks to Carl Reiner, who was doing the Dick Van Dyke show; he interviewed me for snappy service. The deli guy that brings in the sandwiches and that helped get my career going again.

Frank : Just a reminder once again, Jamie Farr is our very special guest. Let’s talk about Red Skelton for a moment. I’ve heard so many great things about him from people who knew him. Now I don’t know if they just say that because he was so leg-endary, but what was your total impression of him?

Jamie : Red was just absolutely fan-tastic. He was absolutely wonderful to me. As a matter of fact I paid tribute to him many, many times and when Red passed away his second wife Georgia... I didn’t this, later I found out that she had committed suicide on the same day his son Richard had died. So that Red could have just one day of mourning. Could you believe that, what a story that is.

Frank : Oh my gosh.

Jamie : Anyway he remarried, a lady by the name Lothian Toland, who was Gregg Toland’s daughter. Gregg Toland was one of the greatest cine-matographers in Hollywood. He had done citizen Kane and a lot of other big movies. I got to know Lothian, and when Red passed away she called me, she said would you like to be Red’s pallbearers. I said, “Oh, I

would be so honored”. So I was one of the pall-bearers, along with Bob Hope and Milton Berle and Dolores Hope. Red’s interned in Glendale, I think it’s Pierce brothers, he’s in the crypt. That’s the one where George Burns and Jack Benny are. The was quite an honor that I was asked to be a pall-bearer at Red’s Funeral.

Frank : That’s comedic royalty there.

Jamie : He was wonderful, I loved him as a kid listening to him on the radio. I didn’t even know him at that time, for me to wind up on his TV show. He had so many wonderful gags and that one of them; did you remember him from radio at all?

Frank : No, I was born in 1967, but I watched repeats.

Jamie : He use to do a character, well he did all those characters that he did on TV. Cauliflower Mcpugg, Freddie the freeloader, obviously he didn’t do Freddie the freeloader on the radio. But he did some of the other charac-ters, one was a mean little kid. He use to have his grandmother, and he use to say to his grandmother, “Grandma is that true that we come from dust and we go to dust”. She says, “ That’s right junior”. He says, “Well you better look under the bed, because I think there’s either somebody coming or going”. He use to have clean stories. When we did his TV show at rehearsal, they use to call it the dirty hour. He’d thrown in all kinds of silly things and all the executives would watch it. Then when he’d go on the air he’d get right to that point where he almost would say what he said at rehearsal, and everybody would be shocked, and he’d laugh and just pass it over. He wouldn’t say it, but he got everybody all nervous. Of course he had cue cards, the rest of us didn’t have cue cards. We had to be really


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careful sometimes, this live TV when I did it with him and they’d say we’re running over the thing because Red’s ad-libbing. Can you jump over to something else, and I’m like “oh my gosh the heck can am I supposed to remember that”?. But I did, it was great training.

Frank : You mentioned the story about him reaching in his pocket and giving you some bucks.

Jamie : About what?

Frank : About sending your Mom the money, but was he a teacher to you?

Jamie : Yes, of course. He taught me really, how to treat the general public and the respect he had for the general public. That’s why I always tried to be as nice as I could to people that I see at airports and in stores or in anything that they recognize you. I am always very cordial to them. That was very important to Red, that he’d do that with his fans and the people that liked him. Then he taught me to the professionalism. There’s a lot of great things in the business to learn as an actor, one of them James Cagney use to say, “What you do to act, is you stand in front of the other actor, look them straight in the eye and tell them the truth”. Spencer Tracy use to say, “What you do is, you show up on time, know your lines, and don’t bump into the furniture”. Red was pretty much like that. You learn from the great ones, and that’s what makes them great, because they are professionals.

Frank : Jamie Farr’s our special guest, actor comedian. Well, comedic actor is more like it, Jamie Farr. When you mentioned about being cast a Klinger and being named Lebanese; What is your nationality?

Jamie : I am Lebanese, my mother and father...

Frank : You are?

Jamie : Yeah, they’re both Lebanese. My dad was born in Lebanon, then came over at the turn of the century 1900 with his brother. My mother was actually born in America, but then was taken back as a child with my grand-mother and grandfather to Lebanon. That’s a fascinating story, they stayed there for a few years and then they were coming back to America and they stopped at Marseille. To pick up a cousin that they were going to take back to America, and the cousin was late getting there and my father had already had his tickets on the ship to come back to America. The mother of the cousin said, please you must wait, you must take my son to America. So my grandfather says alright, and he forsook the tickets for the ship. The ship was the Titanic, it went from South Hampton to Marseille. I wrote in my book, I want to thank a cousin I never met. Who saved my life before I was born, because my mother was only seven years old at that time.

Frank : Wow. That’s a game of inches, life. That’s amazing. Let me ask you something about another role I may have seen you in. Did I see you in a F Troop episode as a Native American?

Jamie : That’s how I got the part on “MASH’. You brought that up. Hy Averback who later directed some of the mashes; he was the producer of the show, and Gene Reynolds was then directing. What they did, was give me this part of the standup Indian. They took all the Henny Youngman and Milton Berle’s one-liner jokes and they turned them into Indian jokes. A guy I think by

the name of Arthur Julian wrote it. The usual they’d have take my wife please, they’d have take my squawk please. I had all these really bad jokes that I was auditioning for the Hacowie tribe, and Gene was direct-ing. The punch line to the whole thing is after I’ve auditioned for them the Hacowie chief says, “Don’t smoke signal us, we’ll smoke signal you”. Gene remembered that and when-ever he saw an actor that he’d like, he wrote down their name in his little black book. So when Larry Gelbart created this character of Kilnger, he said there’s only one guy who can play this and get away with it, it’s Jamie Farr. Larry at that time didn’t know who I was, and of course he hadn’t put in the Toledo thing and the Lebanese thing or any of those other things in because I’d only had 4 or 5 lines in the first episode that I came into do.

Frank : Did you not have to audition for it?

Jamie : No, actually I didn’t. I didn’t even know the part. As a matter of fact my agent called me and said Gene Reynolds likes you. There’s a show called MASH and they’re going to pay you $250 dollars for the day, go on down to the studio. I said well what’s the part. They said they’ll tell you when you get there. I got there, they took into this trailer just outside stage nine and there was this woman’s Army Corps. uniform hanging up in the hanger there. I thought I was dressing with an actress, he says, “No, that’s yours. Put it on”. I said, “What kind of part is this?” Anyway I put it on and of course I had hairy bold legs and they got the biggest kick out of that. They started laughing and they took me out on the sound stage, and everybody was falling out on the floor. That was the beginning, I came on for one day and stayed on


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for 11 years. Frank : Wow! When did it turn into a real gig, where they cut a contract? What was the first contract?

Jamie : That was the third year. The first year I came back, I think I did six shows, I think. I was a day player, I didn’t make much money. Then the second year, I think I did half of the shows and then the third year

they put me under contract. Then I remained on it till the very last episode.

Frank : Now, MASH came in after the residual situation was settled?

Jamie : Yes, we get residuals. There’s a lot of people didn’t for example...Frank : The Brady Bunch.

Jamie : Like, Bob Denver, you know Gilligan’s Island. They didn’t get any residuals, the I Love Lucy people. I don’t remember the year that that

started. But you know when people talk about residuals unless you make a special deal with the network or the producing studio, you only get a per-centage of whatever the minimum salary is that year. For example let’s say an actor was getting five thou-sand dollars an episode for a show, of course they make that in a day today, in an hour. But let’s say that they were making five thousand and they get residuals, unless they make a special deal where they’re supposed to get a percentage of the five thousand, they only get a percentage of whatever the standard contract is for a series player. Let’s say the standard contract would be six hundred dollars, so they would only be getting a percentage of the six hundred dollars and not the five thousand. That’s why a lot of these actors make special deals, like Roseanne Bar, Alan Alda and some of the other names that have series. Of course today, my goodness the salaries that these people make are incredible.

Frank : Let me ask you and I won’t get to personal. By the way I should remind everyone that we’ve been speaking with and we’re continuing to speak to Jamie Farr. Comedic actor Jamie Farr. How are you with your money? Were you good with your money? Did you handle it well?

Jamie : I was very good. Red Skelton was like a father to me, and there was a comedian the very first come-dian, he was actually the first Texaco comedian long before Milton Berle did it on television. His name was Ed Wynn and he was known as the perfect fool. Ed Wynn was like a father to Red Skelton. I actually when I did the movie “The Greatest Story Ever Told”, I was on that for nine months. We had George Stevens directing that picture. I got to meet Ed Wynn, and Ed and I became very, very dear friends. Of course Ed was the father of

Keenan Wynn who was a big start at MGM studios. Ed did a lot of movies for the Disney family and he said, “Jamie I’m going to give you a little piece of advice”. I said, “ What’s that sir?” He said, “ I have three words for you. Save your money”. I have done that very nicely.

Frank : That’s terrific. That is very, very good advice. Anything in entertain-ment or sports you see so many of these kids..

Jamie : You can’t depend on this busi-ness. It’s a fickle business and every-body goes through it. You know as well as I do, Frank Sinatra ran into the problem. Marlon Brando ran in it, before he got the Godfather. People didn’t hire Marlon Brando before. Sinatra was able to get DiMaggio and from here to eternity. Nobody hired him, everybody goes though those spells. You have to really protect yourself in this business.

Frank : All you guys from “MASH”, that spent any significant time on “MASH”. I imagine cash is not a big issue, as long as you didn’t blow it. All those guys did pretty well?

Jamie : Yes, I would think so.

Frank : That’s a lot of years at top level. By the time you got on...

Jamie : Well you have to understand something, we never made the sala-ries that these people make today. My goodness, some of these shows they’re not even hit TV series and they make a hundred thousand dollars an episode or something like that. We never made that kind of money. As I said there were only three networks at that time, so you were lucky to be working on one of them. Today with cable and all the other things that are going on there’s plenty of money out there so these young

Jamie Farr as Max Klinger MASH 1975: Public Domain


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people or older people that are for-tunate enough to be working in tele-vision make much more money than any of us did. I knew Willy Mayes and Joe DiMaggio and a lot the baseball players, Joe before he passed away I got to be good friends with him. His best financial year with the Yankee’s was a hundred thousand dollars a year. Now you figure it out some of these guys make a hundred thou-sand an inning. Willie Mayes said the same thing, Willie didn’t make that kind of money, and the same thing with the actors. We never made that kind of money, it was substantial for the time, for that Era. But nothing like they make today.

Frank : We have about a minute left with Jamie Farr. Jamie let me ask you, not to get to heavy here, but is there anything left that you really would like to do as an actor?

Jamie : Well, I would like to have another TV series. The kind of thing that John Mahoney did on Frazier and maybe Jerry Stiller who’s an old friend of mine, that he did on King of Queens. Something like that, I come in and have some funny lines and play some-body my age. Make a nice salary and stay home. That’s about it. I’ve played Broadway, I’ve done radio, I’ve done live television and I’ve done all the things. I’ve written and I’ve produced, I’ve directed. I’ve

done many, many things in the busi-ness and I’m still working; as I told you I have these shows that I’m going to be doing, but there’s one thing. I wouldn’t mind doing one more, just have one more to say that I did a show, particularly at my age now.

Frank : It’s been an incredible career, Jamie Farr has been our incredible guest. Jamie thank you very much for your time.

Jamie : My pleasure Frank it was fun talking to you, and it’s really an honor that you’re even interested and that an audience would be interested. I

enjoy sharing stories. Frank : I think you’ll be surprised. I think a lot of people would enjoy your stories. Jamie Farr thank you very much for being here.

Jamie : Okay, you stay well.

Frank : And thank you all for tuning in. Our special guest has been, the very special Jamie Farr and we’ll see you next time on Breaking it Down.

Cast photo from M*A*S*H for 1977. Front row from left-Loretta Swit, Harry Morgan, Alan Alda, Mike Farrell. Back row from left-William Christopher, Gary Burghoff, David Ogden Stiers, and Jamie Farr. Public Domain


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F I V E H AC K S TO T R AV E L S M A R T W I T H YO U R S M A R T P H O N E

Whether you’re traveling solo, as a couple or with your entire extended family, there’s one thing you likely won’t forget to bring on your trip: your smartphone or tablet. Nearly two-thirds of Americans are now smartphone owners, according to the Pew Research Center, and almost half own a tablet. Right next to socks and a toothbrush, your mobile device is one of the most impor-tant and useful items you’ll bring with you.

These devices are meant to be mobile and while on the road, our mobile devices help us navigate new places, entertain us during long flights and keep us con-nected to back home. However, what might throw your trip into a tailspin is the amount of data these devices can consume. Streaming video, photo sharing, travel apps and Internet brows-ing can eat up data fast and if you don’t have the right data plan you could end up having your trip cost a lot more in overage fees.

And trends show our need for data is growing exponentially. In fact, individual data usage will increase from almost 2 GB used per month in 2014 in North America to almost 11 GB in 2019, according to Cisco’s Mobile Visual Networking Index. The last thing you want to come home to is a huge bill of data overages because you or your child used too much data. To get the most out of your smartphone and tablet without the headaches of low batteries and data charges, consider these expert travel tech tips:

C o n n e c t t o Wi-Fi whenever possible

One simple proac-tive step can dramati-cally decrease your data

usage: connect to Wi-Fi. While not always possible, Wi-Fi is widely available at airports, train sta-tions, restaurants and many other public places. If you’re dealing

with a delay, connect to the local Wi-Fi network and you can check email, surf the web or shop online until your heart’s content.

Download playlists and movies

Taking a long plane trip or heading out on an epic road trip? Traveling to another country? Download playlists and movies

before you leave so your content is ready to go when you’re not able to be connected to a network. You’ll enjoy immediate access to what you want even in air-plane mode or without network coverage.

Stream smart

Streaming video and music can use a

1

2

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ton of data so be careful what you choose to watch. T-Mobile recently launched “Binge On” which lets customers enjoy video stream-ing from top select partners like Netflix, Hulu, HBO, Showtime, ESPN and more without using their high-speed data bucket. That means watching the game, catch-ing up on your favorite series or movies for the kids won’t cost you any data on T-Mobile. And the best part is, it’s automatically included in qualifying plans. T-Mobile also offers a similar program for music streaming as well. Learn more at www.T-Mobile.com.

Ready devices f o r t r a v e l abroad

It’s important to know your plan and ready your devices for traveling to other countries. Call your carrier to make sure you’re covered and avoid outrageous international roaming fees. If you are constant international traveler, check out T-Mobile’s Simple Choice plan, you get LTE data and texting at no extra charge in more than 140 countries. And, as an added bonus, T-Mobile customers traveling to Canada or Mexico, can use their phone just like the US. The com-pany’s Simple Choice plan is one

of the best in wireless for people that travel a lot.

Stay charged

Nothing is worse than running out of battery while traveling. Your directions, your entertainment, and some argue, your sanity, are gone! If you’re road tripping, remember to pack a car charger. If you plan to be away from a charging port, an extra battery or portable charger can be a life saver. Only have a few minutes to charge before takeoff? Charge devices faster by switch-ing to “airplane mode” before plugging in.

(BPT)

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N E O S ZO E, A N E W L I F EW I T H F R A N K M AC K AY &

Maryann Castello

was thera-peutic for me. I always loved it, and it was something I loved to do. I did that for my w h o l e l i f e . W h a t

happened is you work your cor-porate jobs and everything, as you grow up, but I also had my own company where I would do DeeJaying, live vocals, karaoke, things like that when it became popular. I did all that for quite a few years, and then one day I just did not feel right. It was something I did. I ignored every little sign. I think your body whispers before it cries, and I didn’t pay attention to it. I did what everybody else does, where you just keep going, and moving, and ignoring it, hoping it goes away. I started feeling out of sorts. I started getting dizzy. I started getting temperature change fluc-tuations, extreme fatigue, unde-sired body changes, I noticed palpitations, even panic attacks. That’s just to name a few. I felt like everything was spiraling out

Frank MacKay: I’d like to welcome everyone to a premiere broad-cast, a brand new radio show called Neos Zoe, a New Life, with Maryann Castello. This is Frank MacKay. I’m proud to be her co-host. Hey, Maryann, how are you?

Maryann Castello: Good. How are you?

Frank MacKay: I’m doing great. Thank you. More importantly, let’s talk about you and especially now, let’s get a little bit of your history. Tell us a little bit of the background and the back story on Maryann Castello. First of all, where were you born and where were you raised?

Maryann Castello: I was born in Franklinville, New Jersey and I was raised in Clark, New Jersey. Frank MacKay: Where was that in relation to New York City?

Maryann Castello: P r o b a b l y about 25 miles south.

Frank MacKay: I also grew up in the suburbs. Do you think growing up

in the shadow of the biggest city in the country, the biggest market, had any influence on you?

Maryann Castello: Yeah, I do believe so. My thing is that I feel like even though we’re in the suburb and having the type of area, I think what’s really great is everybody could be able to unite in one place, easy locations. Also, with the power of the internet nowadays, we also like to work with people on the internet as well. I think it just opens up glob-ally, you know, besides just being in one central location.

Frank MacKay: I know you have a wonderful voice, and singing is one of your passions. When did all of that start? Let’s do a little bit more on your childhood.

Maryann Castello: Yeah. That was my first love. I used to drive everybody crazy in my household. It didn’t matter if I had a celery stalk in my hand, or whether I had, you know, a baton in my hand, it would be my microphone. I used to sing all the time. I love to be an entertainer. I felt like singing


23

of control. I decided then, I said, “You know what? It’s time to go see what’s going on.” I was diag-nosed with a hyper thyroid, and I was prescribed medication. I took it faithfully every day, because I just wanted to feel better. After a couple weeks, I still was not feeling well. In fact, I felt worse. Then, I got my life scare. That’s where I could not breathee. I mean, literally couldn’t breathee. My throat was closing. I was brought to the hospital emer-gency room 3 days in a row. Then, as it turns out, I was experiencing a severe allergic reaction to the medication I was taking. As I fol-lowed all the doctor’s protocols, to the letter, I followed everything they told me, my symptoms, they kept on deteriorating until I was allergic to most allopathic medica-tions. I couldn’t really use much.

Frank MacKay: Wow.

Maryann Castello: Yeah. It ’s a really scary situation, because you’re saying, “What can I do for myself?”, and you don’t know. You feel like everything’s spiral-ing out of control. I kind felt like I had to just notice changes. What I noticed was if I was having a bad day, just mentally, emotion-ally, stress, whatever, I was feeling that was physically. If I was having a great day, I felt like I was like on top of the world all the time. Then, I said, “Wow. I have control. I am in complete control of my physi-cal, emotional, mental, and spir-itual self.” I empowered my own body to be able to recognize any changes I was experiencing at any given moment. Then, I was able to adjust various holistic modali-ties, that for me, that helped me achieve homeostasis. What I did realize through my experience was that I didn’t want anybody

else to feel this way, so I decided to start educating myself through various institutions. This way I could help myself, my family, and anybody else, to help achieve optimum help with an integrated approach. When I did that, my whole entire lifestyle had changed. Everything that I was complain-ing of, you know, physically, everything just started to go away. It was absolutely wonder-ful. What I realized is that when I noticed my lifestyle change, after a couple of months, I decided to all the holistic modalities, differ-ent ones. Then, I had more energy, desirable body changes. I had no more palpitations, no more temperature fluctuations, never a panic attack, because those things can be really debilitating, and I felt like my old self again, but in some ways even better than I originally did, my entire life. Then, I started incorporating that with myself, my family members, my friends, my colleagues. Then, I realized everybody was getting a benefit through education. Then, I decided, I’m going to keep edu-cating myself. I’ve been in con-tinuing education for 15 years. I always want to stay on the fron-tier of innovative holistic solu-tions, you know, the introduc-tion of allopathic medication changes everyday, and there’s new dietary guidelines. I’m com-mitted now, not only to my own personal growth, but how to help incorporate that for other people. It became my mission.

Frank MacKay: Maryann, keep your thought. I just want to interrupt everyone, once again, if you’re just tuning in, or if you’re just turning on your radio, this is Frank Mackay. More importantly, you’re listen-ing to a premiere broadcast of

Neos Zoe, with Maryann Castello. Maryann is ... Well, I’m going to let her say it, in her words. You mentioned panic attacks and not being able to breathe. What did you think was happening?

Maryann Castello: The thing is, I didn’t know. I felt very out of control, but it was one of the scar-iest, debilitating feelings. It was hard to even talk when I couldn’t breathee. I realized panic, just sheer panic set it, and you’re won-dering, “Is this it?”, you know. You don’t know what to think. I will never forget that feeling, and I never want anybody to feel like that either. It was a wake-up call. It really was. We all go about our life, every single day I was one of them, and it changed my life. It really did.

Frank MacKay: I know that people

What I try to tell

people is, you can have your career, you can have everything, but at the end of the day, if you don’t have your health, you don’t have much of anything”


24

listening to us now, and people that will be listening to the same broadcast, friends of mine, have issues. For some reason or another, they’re being disregarded by stan-dard practices usually, or from traditional medicine. They still have these issues, and they need answers. There has to be a place that you go to pinpoint the prob-lems that you know you have, and try to figure out some alternate routes. I am all for this. I’m com-pletely behind what you’re doing, and I think you serve people very well. I know people, obviously, that have been going to you that rave about the results that they’ve gotten. You have a storefront in New Jersey. Tell us where it is.

Maryann Castello: W e a r e at 230 Centennial Avenue in

Cranford, New Jersey. It’s con-veniently located right off the Garden State Parkway. We like to keep it in a nurturing and comfort-ing environment, because people need to feel comforted. When your body’s spiraling out of control, or your mind is, you need to be able to come to a space where you feel safe, where you know that you can speak your mind, just what you’re saying, and that nobody is sitting here in judgement of you. We just want to be able to listen to your concerns, and then figure out a plan of how we can help.

Frank MacKay: I would imagine that not only is this a relief for people, but it’s a boost of empow-erment at the same time. I would think that clients of your come from all walks of life. Is that accurate?

Maryann Castello: Absolutely. I’ve found through this experi-ence, that day I couldn’t breathe, and it changed my entire life, the way I knew it, completely how I know it. I started to lose everything, my voice for singing, because I ended up needing a sur-gical procedure, also, within my neck area, after all this. I felt like your whole life spiraling out of control. Then, now, 15 years later, you’re sitting here, and you’re saying, “You know what? I got my life back.” That made me empow-ered to help other people, but there’s nothing better than living your passion every day. This has become a passion, to be able to believe in people, like I believe in myself now. That was the biggest transition, because a lot of us have self-doubt, are saying just what you’re saying, when people think they’re not listening to you. There’s nothing worse than that. I always tell people, listen

to your gut. Listen to that gut feeling that you have, because it will never steer you wrong. Never ignore it, because you will find out that if you feel inside that some-thing’s wrong, doesn’t matter what level it is, then go see about it. If it keeps nagging at you, go see about it. You keep going, and you might discover something about yourself. I think, nowadays, you have to be your own doctor, because sometimes you can go to a doctor, and to your point, they’re not listening. I hear that constantly. I actually am told from my clients, they had tried every-thing else, and that this was their last resort. There might be tech-niques that they’ve never ever used before, but we use like a comprehensive approach for each person. We work with them at their level. One size does not fit all, especially when you’re working with people. We do medical massage, we incorporate and customize massages. When somebody walks through the door, it’s not the same thing for everybody. We want to work in harmonious living, teach you individual lifestyles, give you a new state of mind, and then we’ll give you customized rec-ommendations, and things that you can do in your everyday life. One step at a time. It’s not all done in one day, because most of it’s a fearful thing, I’m going to go in, and I have to change everything I know in one day. That’s not true. I did it myself, and I empathize with people, I think more because I’ve been through it. I really had many years where I didn’t have my health. What I try to tell people is, you can have your career, you can have everything, but at the end of the day, if you don’t have your health, you don’t have much of anything. I experienced that. To

N e v e r give up.

Never think your life is over. Once you start believing in yourself, you start listening to yourself, and making your-self a priority, not an option, but a prior-ity, you can change your entire life.”


25

find out, by living my passion I was able to turn my whole life around, and then all of a sudden, it’s like divine intervention, a pro-ducer and arranger shows up on my doorstep for healing. That’s how I got back into music again, and my career’s taking off.

Frank MacKay: Wow.

Maryann Castello: Never give up. Never think your life is over. Once you start believing in your-self, you start listening to yourself, and making yourself a priority, not an option, but a priority, you can change your entire life.

Frank MacKay: These are excel-lent points. Let me remind people, once again, that they’re listening to a premiere edition, a premiere broadcast of Neos Zoe, A New Life, with Maryann Castello. This is Frank MacKay. I’m proud to be her co-host. You’ve made so many excellent points, and giving just terrific advice here. Let’s get a web contact, so people can kind of follow along, hopefully not while they’re driving, but if they’re in front of their computer, they can kind of follow along with you through a website, or social media site.

Maryann Castello: Sure. Neo Zoe, our website is Neos Zoe, that’s n-e-o-s-z-o-e.com. We also have a Facebook page, Neos Zoe LLC, that we will post all kinds of ideas for you through the day, and give you informative tips, and be able to communicate with us, that we would be love for you to like that page, and you’ll get all our information, as well.

Frank MacKay: Let’s get a little more into your singing, if you

don’t mind, just for a moment. You mentioned singing into celery, and into batons when you were a young girl. What were you singing into those batons, those items. Who was the music that first caught your attention? Was it a singer? Was it music? Was it a genre of music?

Maryann Castello: Well, when I was young it was various things. I mean, I had my grandmother in the house, my mom, and they would listen to country music, even Patsy Cline, stuff like that. Then, Donna Summer came along, and I liked Donna Summer a lot. From there, it would just go into differ-ent various music. I didn’t have 1 genre that I listened to. It could be show tunes. It could be Broadway tunes. Anything. I would just sing anything. Whatever was in the spur of the moment. I think that is what incorporated, you know, transition in like depending on what my mood was, depends what I sang. I felt like that when I would sing, my emotions would just come out, good, bad, indiffer-ent, but it was very therapeutic.

Frank MacKay: Everything that I’ve known about you, and know about you, or read about you, and heard about you, all has to do with enthusiasm and passion. You seem passionate about every-thing you get involved with. Were you born that way, or did you develop?

Maryann Castello: Yeah. I think it’s ingrained in me. I was born like this. I’m happy that I was born like this. I’ve run every gamete, worked in corporate for many years. I did all that, and now to be able to have that change and live my passion. I think because I love what I do,

and I can empower others, and there is no better payment in life than watching other people grow, I think that keeps my energy up, just naturally. It really does.

Frank MacKay: Here’s another quick reminder to those just tuning in, or turning on their radio, that this is Frank McKay, but more importantly, the host of the new show Neos Zoe, A New Life is Maryann Castello, and she will be hosting once a week, a broad-cast on many different outlets, about many things. One of those things, and I’m being very careful here, Maryann, not to cram a whole bunch of information into a short period of time. I know, in the future weeks, we will be talking about essential oils. Let me ask you this. Again, being mindful of not trying to cram information into a short period of time, what was the first essential oil that had any impact on you?

Maryann Castello: For me it was lavender. Lavender essential oil is powerful, it’s versatile, and the uses were endless. I feel like that it has a sweet, floral aroma. It’s something that I can use to just freshen the air, or I can use some-thing to moisturize my skin, and have skin radiance. It was some-thing that I found very soothing, that when I was going through all my troubles, and I was scared, I was very scared, I used to put some in a diffuser at night before I would go to bed. It created, for me, a relaxing, calming atmo-sphere, peaceful, spa-like, and just fell asleep in comfort every night, instead of the fear.

Frank MacKay: Also, if you can give us a couple of examples of some of the issues that people are


26

addressing with your services in the store.

Maryann Castello: Well, what they come in for, they might want to do a healthy weight loss. I hear that a lot, “How can I maintain a healthy weight loss?” They might want to maintain healthy blood glucose, or healthy lipid metabo-lism. Basically, a lifestyle change. They might want to change their environment. They might, you know, have ... They want to main-tain their immune system, espe-cially during the winter seasons, or the cold seasons. Things like that. It really varies. You know, we do sports nutrition, so they might be getting ready for a mar-athon and need some help with that. They exercise too much, and their body needs to be uplifted, shall we say. It’s just a wonderful feeling, because there’s not just one thing that walks through the door. Everybody has their own sig-nificant challenge that they would like to deal with. You just work with them. Sometimes they come in for 1 thing, and realize, wow, I didn’t realize I needed something else, or I needed to speak with you and see what’s going on. It’s something where I have a very long questionnaire, when they come in, about their life. It incorporates every aspect of their life, because not only in the physical, we would also would like to delve into the immense emo-tional spiritual side of people. Just to be able to help them make the changes, and be there for support. I think that’s the most important thing. I think people leave offices, and they feel like, “Wow. I just got there. I had my time, now what?” I’m the type of person, I call to check in. I want to see how you’re doing, or encourage people to keep giving me feedback just to

help them. They have to provide me with feedback, and then they become very compliant. Compliance is a very big commit-ment for me. I like to see people that are compliant, because if you’re not, lifestyle changes may not work for you.

Frank MacKay: A reminder that we are nearing the end of our pre-miere broadcast of Neos Zoe, A New Life with Maryann Castello. Frank McKay here, proud to be her co-host and co-pilot on this journey, which is going to take us into a lot of different directions. Maryann, again, trying not to get into big, heavy subjects with very little time left, but there are people that are clients of yours that are dealing with special need children. They’re raising their chil-dren, or they have special needs themselves, and they’re coming to you as clients, to address these needs. Can you give us an over-view of what some of these issues may be?

Maryann Castello: Absolutely. Aroma therapy is very affec-tive with dealing with autism, or special needs in particular. What we try to do is support. You can put the essential oils in a diffuser, and you can be able to put the diffuser in the room while they’re trying to do their homework. This way it can keep them focused, and balanced, and attentive to their work. You can have things that if they’re having some type of stomach distress, meaning they’re not feeling their best, or maybe they’re nervous doing their home-work, or anxiety or something like that, you have oils that can help accomplish. This way they can maintain a healthy environment for themselves. I’ve seen them just teaching children, especially, how

to use essential oils, and showing how to apply them, topically, to their skin. It becomes a game for them, but in turn they’re healing themselves. It empowers them, because they know that they have a tool in their toolbox, that they can go to to be able to help with focus, to be able to relax, make them feel good about them-selves, and most of all to know that they’re being supported. It’s something that I’ve seen a big turnaround. Special needs is actu-ally very personal to me, as well. It changes lives. I’ve literally seen it change lives.

Frank MacKay: In closing, I just want to remind everyone, once again, that they’ve been listen-ing to Maryann Castello, and Neos Zoe, A New Life with Maryann Castello, which is a brand new show. This is the premiere, pre-miere broadcast, and we will be back, week after week. Maryann, just give us a website, one last time before we go. Maryann Castello: Sure. I t ’s w-w-w.neoszoe, that’s n-e-o-s-z-o-e.com.

Frank MacKay: Finally, I’d like to thank all of you for listening, and I hope you continue listening to us. Again, Fran McKay here. The name of the show is Neos Zoe, A New Life with Maryann Castello. You’ve been listening to Maryann’s voice throughout this broadcast. Now, you’ll be listening to her singing voice as we close. We’ll see you next week on Neos Zoe, A New Life.


27

TALK NATION’SAmazing Women Series Presents

The best way to describe Carolyn Purvis is a trailblazer for women in business, especially in the male dominated field of quality management systems. Carolyn is the head of CP Quality Consulting in Paris, Tennessee, and an expert in the ISO family of standards. She conducts internal audits and recommends ways that her clients can improve efficiency. She continually strives for excellence and truly enjoys her work. This is why she is the person that executives rely on to help them produce and deliver top of the line quality for their customers.

See our article on Ms. Purvis in this edition of Talk Nation.

Carolyn Owen Purvis


28

Talk Nation’s Amazing Women Series

CAROLYN OWEN PURVISCP QUALITY CONSULTING

So many of the spectacular women Talk Nation is profiling in our special January Amazing Women Series have created lives as vibrant as they are unique. Carolyn Owen Purvis, the owner of CP Quality Consulting, is one of the most highly regarded quality management consultants in the nation. “Quality” is a recognized profession, just like engineer-ing and medicine, and its disci-pline – or objective – is to ensure that a business is running in the most efficient way by adhering to quality controls and making con-tinual improvements to meet the demands of its consumers and suppliers. Ultimately, quality man-agement leads to higher profits; which is why Carolyn Purvis’ ser-vices are in such high demand.

It’s also a highly special-ized field of work that is essen-tial to the foundation and productivity of the American economy, and in fact its evo-lution as a field of expertise has played an integral role in the economic success of the nation. Incidentally, Carolyn’s business is located in Paris, Tennessee—the quintessen-tial small southern town with a strong industrial base and a thriving medical industry.

It’s a place where modern times converge with the area’s his-toric past, which is evidenced by Paris’ vibrant downtown which was painstakingly restored in the 1990s to its original 1920’s-era style. There are beautiful parks with pavilions, walking trails, and all-American rodeos, music festi-vals and fairs -- such as its annual Fish Fry, which draws people from across the nation.

Ten years ago, Carolyn left her position as the Quality Director for a printing manufacturer in Middle, Tennessee, and along with her husband, moved back to her hometown of Paris to be closer to her family. The move precip-itated the start of her own busi-ness; and soon after she relocated she received a call from her former

e m p l o y e r who was in need of assis-tance with some audits. That’s when CP Quality Co n s u l t i n g was born.

She now takes pride in

helping companies implement quality management systems and obtain their ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 14001:2004 certifications. Carolyn states that a six to eight-month analysis is often done to get a comprehensive feel for a company’s inner workings. She is often called upon when there is a significant need to create order out of a chaotic business atmo-

sphere, or to simply help a company increase their prof-itability through streamlining business processes. The anal-ysis involves a step by step process to identify quality, safety, productivity and effi-ciency through an ISO certi-fication process that is both simple and productive.

It’s an art form. And Carolyn has mastered the ability to balance the needs

of her clients while Carolyn Owen Purvis at her home in Paris, Tennessee


29

thoroughly reviewing their busi-ness processes.

After more than twenty years in the field, Carolyn knows the red tape and obstacles in the indus-try. She understands how over-whelmed company executives can get whenever she walks through their door to begin an auditor. Twenty years have also shown her the importance of the human touch, especially in an auditing situation, which can seem cold and impersonal. Carolyn believes that part of her job is to help alle-viate those butterflies. She states that her goal is to treat people the same way that she would want to be treated if she found herself in the same position.

In addition to ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 14001:2004, Carolyn is an expert in ISO/TS 16949, which is intended for use by automo-tive production and service parts organizations. The global auto-motive industry demands world class levels of product quality, productivity and competitiveness as well as continual improvement. It is therefore important that man-ufacturers insist that their sup-pliers are certified to the quality management standard known as ISO/TS 16949. This type of analysis might include a review of all doc-umentation, and records required by statutory, regulatory and cus-tomer requirements, and can be applied throughout the supply chain in the automotive industry. It’s not surprising that Carolyn’s services are in such high demand these days.

It’s with great pride that we include Carolyn Owen Purvis in Talk Nation’s Amazing Women Series.

What is ISO CERTIFICATION

The ISO 9000 family of quality management systems

standards is designed to help organizations ensure

that they meet the needs of customers and other

stakeholders while meeting statutory and regulatory

requirements related to a product. ISO 9000 deals with

the fundamentals of quality management systems,

including the eight management principles upon

which the family of standards is based. ISO 9001 deals

with the requirements that organizations wishing

to meet the standard must fulfill. Third-party certi-

fiers provide independent confirmation that orga-

nizations meet the requirements of ISO 9001. Over

one million organizations worldwide are indepen-

dently certified, making ISO 9001 one of the most

widely used management tools in the world today.

An organization applying for ISO 9001 certification

is audited based on a sample of functions, products,

services and processes.


I was able to be the

caretaker for my grandparents and help them under-stand what they were going through.”

E X P E R I E N C E M AT T E R ST H AT ’S W H Y T H E Y C A L L

Carolyn Rubin

30

By Jackie Lowery Carolyn Rubin of Fort Worth, Texas is the national go-to expert in the revenue cycle management market, an industry that is now valued at more than $20 billion -- and growing -- due to the great demand for technological solu-tions required to manage patient information, care and financial transactions. In her position as Vice President of Revenue Cycle Innovations of Anthelio Healthcare Solutions, she is responsible for end-to-end revenue cycle assessments for clients. Carolyn and her team eval-uate every aspect of her clients’ offices -- from the moment a patient arrives until the insurance claim is paid. Ultimately, recom-mendations are made to improve workflow and efficiency. By streamlining the office’s revenue cycle, she ensures that patients are receiving the very best care.While many professionals in the field take a rigid analytical approach, Carolyn is known for her unique ability to put her clients at ease and for her approach to

assessing an office’s workflow, and recommending the right type of technological solutions. When healthcare providers have access to complete and accurate information, such as electronic medical records, patients receive better care from their physicians. The right mix of cutting edge technologies can help improve profitability and reduce medical errors. Carolyn is truly customer-focused and concerned about the well-being of every patient that enters her clients’ doors -- and it is from this vantage point that she approaches her work. She recently stated during a radio interview on Breaking It Down with Frank MacKay, “A patient who is ill needs to know that the person at the other end of the counter in their physician’s office wants to provide the best service for them. How they perform their work truly impacts each patient’s experience.” Carolyn has more than twenty-four years of experience and has cultivated a tremendous body of knowledge that she can pass on


Contact Information: [email protected]

and www.linkedin.com/in/carolynrubin

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to her clients. Her passion for work in the healthcare field truly began to emerge when she began caring for her grandfather who was suf-fering from cancer. Carolyn was born in Lincoln, Nebraska and then moved to Rock Port, Missouri

where she spent her childhood as part of a large family of six chil-dren. Rock Port is a very small town eight miles east of the Missouri River in the Loess Hills bluffs. It’s a place where people extend a warm Midwestern welcome to neighbors and strangers alike. Undoubtedly, growing up in a small town with a lot of commu-nity spirit and hospitality gave Carolyn a strong foundation for caring for others. After gradua-tion from high school, she worked at a local pharmacy for four years. She also pursued her education and studied medical assisting at the Omaha College of Health Careers. As she reflects back on this time period, she credits her grand-father with having the greatest impact on her decision to pursue a career in healthcare. “I was able to be the caretaker for my grand-parents and help them under-stand what they were going

through.” He was very support-ive of her decision and she knew from that point forward that this was her calling. After graduation, Carolyn went on to become an Adjunct Professor at the Omaha College of Health

Careers, and began build-ing a career in healthcare revenue management at numerous oncology medical practices. She also went on to have a family of her own, and worked throughout her life to balance the development of her career with the prior-ities involved in raising two children. Motherhood gave her even more perspective on caring for others, and helped to hone her man-agement skills. Over time, she became certified in numerous highly special-

ized areas of healthcare manage-ment and earned her ICD-10 cer-tification as an instructor from the American Academy of Professional Coders. She is now a well-known public speaker and educator in the field of revenue cycle optimi-zation in the healthcare field. Her children are now grown – and with the love of her life, her husband Ron, they share in the joy of their combined family of five children and nine grandchildren. As a consultant in a field of work experiencing tremendous growth, her services are in high demand. The need for revenue cycle assess-ment has been driven by dra-matic changes in the healthcare

industry over the last decade. Hospitals and healthcare practi-tioners are ever more mindful of the need to increase insurance reimbursements while optimizing patient care. A recent study by the Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine found that staff who underreport medical conditions during reim-bursement coding can have dev-astating effects on hospitals’ eco-nomic health and reimbursement rates. As Vice-President of Revenue Cycle Innovations of Anthelio Healthcare, Carolyn is responsi-ble for completing end-to-end revenue cycle assessments for clients and implementing dash-board reporting technological solutions for high-level execu-tives. She also provides educa-tional support for clinical and business staff in the area of coding and revenue cycle efficiencies. In addition, she performs clini-cal documentation assessments. Anthelio Healthcare is the nation’s largest independent provider of technology and services to hos-pitals, physicians and medical private practice groups.Carolyn is a member of several pro-fessional societies, including the American Academy of Professional Coders, the Healthcare Financial Management Association, the Medical Group Management Association and the American Health Information Management Association. She is also a speaker for SOAP, AHIMA and HAHIMA.


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“We can-not heal our psychologi-cal wounds

and end compulsive self-destructive behaviors at the same level of thinking that caused our pain. Heal-ing requires major shifts in our thinking to address our authentic needs.” Excerpt from the book Take Your Power Backby Evelyn Ryan.

Evelyn Ryan is a certified profes-sional life coach who founded the popular website YourLifeLifter.com. The portal is a place where people can find comfort and joy when they are in need of a quick pick me up, or a serious boost of support during difficult times. Ryan’s “Life Lifting” techniques are not only unique, but they are based on extensive research into the root causes of emotional pain, and conversely, the process of genuine healing.

Evelyn Ryan is an expert in recov-ery from childhood trauma, and like many addictions, trauma tends to repeat and manifest in many ways until it is fully worked through. In her new book, Take Your Power Back: Healing Lessons, Tips, and Tools for

Abuse Survivors, Ryan guides her readers on a journey to discovering the causes of their emotional pain, and provides practical advice and a proven path to follow to fully regen-erate and live trauma free. She is par-ticularly adept at guiding women through the process of healing from the overwhelming sense of fatigue that is so pervasive in women living with abusive partners. The abusers, or narcissists, will sap all of the energy from their “prey,” which makes this fatigue so difficult to reverse, accord-ing to Ryan.

It was Ryan’s personal experiences with childhood trauma, narcissism and abuse that led her to become a serious student of the subject, and now she has taken what she has learned to help others. There is no better teacher than someone who has walked in the same shoes as their students. She has a deep under-standing of the subject matter, but of equal importance is her positive outlook, which enables her to con-tinually inspire others to seek and achieve emotional healing – and believe it is possible.

Evelyn Ryan is also a certified career coach, a successful business woman and mother. She has an international reach and she uses her knowledge of health and nutrition, trauma, abuse and personality disorders to quickly identify effective solutions to chronic emotional pain and unhealthiness. By doing this, she helps people to improve and sustain their lives through a holistic approach based on each clients’ unique needs. Take Your Power Back completely exposes the different lies people have been living since childhood and guides its readers to discover the simple notion that the source of one’s truth and healing is within them, according to Ryan. Everybody has the power to

E V E LY N R YA N TO O K H E R P O W E R B AC K A N D N O W S H E I S H E L P I N G OT H E R S


33

Behind the scenes of Evelyn Ryan’s up and coming documentary

Photo credit: Carissa Cantone


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“Healing involves a leap of faith. It invites us to detach from what we are comfortable being, believing, thinking, and doing. It calls us to face and

challenge the familiar sources of pain and fear, and to embrace new beliefs with which we are not so familiar.” Excerpt from the book Take Your Power Backby Evelyn Ryan.

heal; we only have to discover how to tap into it. But she cautions that this isn’t an easy process.

Ryan credits Greg Zaffuto of the well-known Facebook page After-Narcissistic-Abuse, and others, for encouraging her to gather her insights into a book to help survi-vors and those currently struggling with abuse. As a long-time expert in problem solving through her work in international security, finding ways to get to the root of serious, and even deadly, situations was not foreign to her. And since many of her posts on social media seemed to resonate with people, she began to write, and quickly developed a following of her own. She wrote more than a hundred articles on the subject and then compiled them into a book.

Ryan’s message is tied to the notion of replacing toxic pain with a new belief system. She used her skills from business and industry to create the healing lessons contained in the book – and there is a tremendous need for help with this issue. She calls abusive narcissism a pandemic and there are people out in the world that are targeting people who essentially and unknowingly crave the abuser’s

attention to relieve their own emo-tional pain. This is the root of the problem for those struggling to over-come the addictiveness to narcissist abusers. In order to break free from these predators, who are very weak individuals, the abused must recog-nize why they allow themselves to be drained of all their life force and energy. “They need our energy to survive,” says Ryan. She added, “But they don’t want to do any of the work.”

It is these kinds of profound state-ments that set Ryan apart in this growing field of research. She has the ability to summarize extremely complex problems into manageable steps and solutions.

Ultimately, Ryan is seeking to give people the tools they need to fully restore themselves, and she does this in a logical way and based on “Healing Lessons” that are grounded in sound research.

Therefore, Take Your Power Back is no ordinary book. Abuse survivors from around the world have inter-acted with Ryan, and shared their issues and ideas, and have learned from her insights. She has guided

countless individuals towards finding their personal truth, getting their personal power back and releasing their emotional pain.

In her book, she stresses that all human beings can heal regardless of the psychological trauma faced. The book Take Your Power Back outlines clearly the causes of chronic pain, as well as the emotional pain that renders human beings powerless. Regardless of how powerless one may feel, Ryan believes that there is hope for everyone. She advises that one of the first steps toward recovery is to stop thinking like a victim.

While that may seem like a simple commonsense piece of advice, some of her other thoughts on the subject of overcoming victimization are downright radical, empowering and healing. Ryan doesn’t believe in “Forgive and Forget” when it comes to abusers. Instead, she leads her readers and those she coaches with an ever so positive fighting spirit that inspires people to regain their strength and live healthy and happy lives.


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Who should read Evelyn Ryan’s book? - Victims of narcissistic abuse.- People who suffer from traumatic stress.- Individuals who are experiencing emotional crisis caused bydeath, illness, betrayal or divorce- People who want to heal due to their past traumas.- People who are always deprived of happiness no matter what.- Individuals who are mentally fatigued.- Individuals who are suffering from chronic emotional pain.


TRAVEL IN THE SPOTLIGHT

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Mention South America, and most travelers envision the mysterious Amazon, the majestic Andes, the unmatched Galapagos Islands and the magnificent Pacific beaches. What many don’t know is you can enjoy these experiences and more, conveniently packaged in a country roughly the size of Colorado

Ecuador

This fall, 16 artists from the USA, Canada, UK and Germany discov-ered just that as part of the Feel

Again Project, led by the Ministry of Tourism of Ecuador. The project invited international teams of artists to find inspiration in the diverse landscapes of Ecuador’s four main climatic regions - the Amazon, the Andes, the Galapagos Islands and the Pacific Coast.

“The amount of different landscapes and microclimates in such as small area really surprised me; the varia-tion is quite staggering,” says Team UK artist, Conor MacNeill. “There’s so much to do across a manageable amount of landmass.”

The AmazonEcuador is one of the most biodiverse countries on the planet, as reflected in the famed Amazon basin. The lush landscape offers visitors a chance to encounter an exotic range of land, water and arboreal life, including pigmy marmosets, two-toed sloths, scarlett macaws, pink river dolphins, piranha and jaguars.

For Team UK artists Jason and Keiko Hindley, the greatest inspiration came from the people working to pre-serve that biodiversity - particularly


Photo credit: Sebastian Crespo. Quilotoa volcanic crater, Ecuadorian Andes.

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the indigenous Kichwa Añangu com-munity, which runs the Napo Wildlife Centre. The Centre is a great desti-nation for families, they say, with so much to see and do, and guides that adjust treks accordingly for different ages and fitness levels.

The AndesEcuador’s Andes region offers awe-inspiring highlands, dramatic valleys, colonial towns and breathtaking views. Team Germany members Steve Hanisch, Rocket & Wink, and Michelle Phillips and Johannes Conrad of Studio Yukiko recommend visitors immerse themselves in the colors of the region.

Their picks for the region’s most inspi-rational experiences are riding the luxurious Tren Crucero, a bright red, four-coach train that winds its way through the mountains, and taking a moment to just breathe while over-looking the still blue waters in the Quilotoa volcanic crater, more than

12,800 feet above sea level.

The Galapagos The Galapagos Islands are a living museum of evolution. The region includes 13 major islands, each with unique offerings. For Team USA artist Scott Pommier, uninhabited Española Island was the true stand out.

“We saw such incredible animals at such proximity,” he says. “You’re greeted by sea lions, brightly colored crabs and lava lizards all over the shore. You have to step over marine iguanas to make your way down the trail to one of the only places you can see the mating dance of the waved albatross. On the way there, you pass hooded and blue-footed boobies.”

T h e P a c i f i c CoastForest, mangroves and beaches

line Ecuador’s picturesque Pacific Coast. Here, travelers can catch a wave at more than 50 beaches, try the region’s African-influenced, sea-food-based cuisine or sample choco-late made from locally grown cocoa, considered the world’s best.

Team Canada artists Rick Leong, Jesse Louttit and Jeff Bartlett each came away with unforgettable expe-riences to inspire their art. Louttit and Bartlett’s must-do lists include boating with dolphins, exploring the coastal town of Montañita, visiting a cocoa plantation and, of course, trying the chocolate.

“I think that the coast can offer differ-ent things to different kinds of trav-elers,” Leong says. “The luxury trav-eler will find places to relax and try amazing cuisine, and the budget traveler can head to Montañita to surf and hang out. I think it’s ideal for adventurers, who want to explore and discover.”

Learn more about the artists’ inspira-tional discoveries at FeelAgainProject.com and explore the many unfor-gettable experiences of Ecuador at ecuador.travel. (BPT)

Giant tortoise native to the Galapagos Photo Credit: Carissa Cantone


5 T I P S T H AT W I L L H E L P YO U R S M A L L B U S I N E S S M A K E T H E M O S T O F 2016

38

01 K e e p i n t o u c h .

Connecting with some-

one is a good idea any time of year,

so why not pick up the phone and

see if you can schedule a coffee or

need, making it easy for you to

make more happen.

02 Tie up loose ends. Get

out your “to-do” list,

find the projects you never had

time for, and jump on them when

the New Year arrives. Mark them

off your list and start 2016 with

some momentum. And if your

project list includes upgrading

your business with some new

tech, Staples Tech Services ser-

vices can keep your small busi-

ness running smoothly with the

Is there any time of year more important for a small business than right now? The business you do in these months will go a long way toward not only deter-mining your day-to-day success, but the very outlook for the rest of 2016. So how do you make sure your small business is up to the task and makes the most of the here and now?

Small businesses everywhere are asking these same ques-tions, and to help, Susan Solovic, The Small Business Expert, offers these helpful tips.

lunch meeting for the New Year,

especially if it’s an old colleague

or a customer who has fallen off

your radar. You may also consider

sending holiday cards and greet-

ings to everyone on your list to

close out 2015 right. Staples

Copy and Print has customizable

stationary and cards you need to

send the perfect message at the

perfect time. They also have all

of the marketing materials, prod-

uct customization and graphic

insertion options you could ever


39

latest tech that will improve your

productivity and save your com-

pany money in the long run.

03 Review successes and

failures. What worked

well for you this past year? What

didn’t work? What do you think

you can do better? The New Year

represents the chance for a clean

slate. Fill that slate with the things

that work!

04 Read and

learn. You’ll

probably have some

extra down time when

the New Year rolls in.

Spend a few minutes

searching the Internet

for lists of “must-read”

business books. Find

a couple that look like

they’d be a good fit

for your business and

commit to reading

them in the first part of 2016. In

the same manner, learn a new

skill. Experiment with social media

or learn how to manage an online

marketing campaign.

05Start tax preparation.

Review your book-

keeping system and make sure

everything is up to date. Start

organizing your files in antici-

pation of tax season. If you get

organized now, the process will

be much easier come tax time.

The New Year is the perfect time to say goodbye to a successful 2015 and prepare for the year ahead. Apply the tips from Solovic and you’ll be ready to make 2016 your business’s best year yet. To learn more about finding the right tech solutions and everything else your small business needs, visit Staples.com.


W O R K I N G PA R E N T ST H I N K YO U R E M P LOY E R D O E S N’ T ‘G E T ’ YO U ? YO U M AY B E R I G H T, B U T T H E R E I S S T I L L H O P E

40

Sixty-two percent of working parents don’t believe their

employers care about them. They also say employers are inatten-tive to the needs of working par-ents (64 percent) and don’t have their best interests at heart (76 percent).

J ust 34 percent of managers are concerned working par-

ents struggle to balance work and life demands, while just 30 per-cent worry about whether work-ing parents feel their company doesn’t care about them.

Although nearly all parents say they experience burn-

out, 70 percent don’t speak up about it. Meanwhile, 60 percent of managers say working parent burnout can be avoided. The same percentage of parents say their manager wouldn’t even realize when parents experience burnout.

Seventy-nine percent of work-ing parents and 77 percent

of managers say to curb burn-out, changes need to occur in the office, not at home. The first step is for parents to begin voic-ing their concerns.

More American families than ever before have two parents working, but recent studies show many employers haven’t adapted to this change in the workforce demographics. Working parents feel burnt out and unloved at work, making them less creative, less productive and more likely to quit because of work-related stress, according to the 2015 Bright Horizons Modern Family Index.

Employers can do their part to create a culture that supports working parents and reduces the risks of valuable employees quitting or experiencing burn out. Managers should watch for signs of employee burnout and provide opportunities for working parents to voice their concerns. The Modern Family Index, which surveyed working parents across the country and in different indus-tries, found:

“Many of the parents we sur-veyed expressed frustration with their employers and indicated they feel their companies don’t really understand or care about the stresses they face,” says David Lissy, CEO of Bright Horizons, a provider of employer-sponsored child care and other work/life solutions. “All employers must consistently look for new ways to ensure the culture they are culti-vating is one that resonates with and is valued by their employ-ees. The labor market is tighten-ing. Jobs are expected to outnum-ber workers by 5 million by 2020, and competition for top talent will continue to intensify.”


41

Learn more about your employee benefits. You may

be unaware of some, such as back-up child care or a telecom-muting policy that can help.

Be realistic and honest about your work and personal

goals. When both you and your employer understand your goals, you can work together to achieve them.

Take a vacation. Employees who take less than 25 per-

cent of their earned vacation are more likely to feel burnout, according to a recent study by Horizons Workforce Consulting.

Rest is vital to your overall well-being, and a lack of

sleep negatively affects satisfac-tion with life, health, work and financial success. The Horizons Workforce Consulting study also found 60 percent of working adults don’t get enough sleep each night.

Managers should watch for signs of employee

burnout and provide opportuni-ties for working parents to voice their concerns. Regular meetings about work-life issues can help generate ideas for solutions and give employees a better sense of community.

However, the survey indicates the blame does not fall squarely on employers. Both employers and parents need to do better to adapt to the new realities of modern families. “Good commu-nication between employers and working parents will benefit both groups,” Lissy added.

Working parents can take several steps to improve their work/life struggles. Kim Callaway from Horizons Workforce Consulting agrees that the first step is communication. Parents should talk to their managers. Often, managers are unaware if an employee is struggling to balance work and home demands. Talking to a manager means you can work together to find a solution. “Don’t

“People want to work for employers who understand and support their needs,” Lissy says. “This year’s study shows commu-nication among employees, man-agers and company leadership needs to improve. When working parents express their needs and employers listen and respond, the whole organization benefits.” (BPT)

just point out a problem,” she says. “Be prepared to suggest a viable solution. You can also take advan-tage of the annual employee opinion survey most employers conduct and share your concerns in an anonymous forum.”

In addition to speaking up, parents can also take other steps toward a more satisfying work-life balance..


he leads me be-side still watersas I gaze at the trees and buildings

reflected in the Central Park Pondthe breeze is still and we lookat an egret as it takes flightover a grove of trees, alonesolitary, and I watch thewild ducks and mallards swimleaving ripples and circlesthe longing of peace invadesmy soul every moment of the dayas I remember the pond and its bridge”

-Eve Jeanette Blohm

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ve Jeanette Blohm is a renowned author, artist and collector and poet who has

been working steadily on her crafts since 1973.

She has exceptional insight into life and nature, and her words project a beauty that is enlightening, soulful -- and can be described as transcendental.

She has worked hard to achieve success in poetry and has received many prestigious awards and accolades throughout the years for her work. She was a featured poet for ‘Haiku Headlines,’ ‘Poets Fantasy’ and ‘Simply Words, and was a distin-guished poet for PAW. She has published an astonishing twen-ty-eight books over the years, as well as a manuscript entitled ‘Sandcastle Dreams.’ In addition, she has publishing credits in pub-lications such as ‘Parnassus,’ ‘Se La Vie Writers Journal,’ ‘Cochran’s Corner,’ ‘Poets at Work,’ ‘Lucidity,’ ‘Lone Star Magazine,’ ‘Bell’s Letters Poet’ and the ‘United Amateur Press.’

Eve attributes her enormous success to the amount of per-sistence and loyalty she has, as well as to her family that she describes as very encouraging.

They expressed joy in her artistic pursuits from an early age, and this contributed to her courage to do what she truly loves in life. She also believes that her time at Adelphi University helped to encourage her to be a writer.

In her New York City apart-ment, she is surrounded by her art, and inspired by the magnif-icence of Central Park, which is nearby.

She proudly displays col-lages, watercolors and photo-graphs, many depicting color-ful scenes that represent her vast worldview in one of the most exciting cities in the world. Eve is also a very private person, and is humbled by all of the attention

she has received through the years.

It is therefore not sur-prising why the editors of Talk Nation Magazine chose to name Eve Jeanette Blohm A VIP Member for her lifelong accomplish-ments as an Author, Artist and Collector.

Eve’s renaissance -like nature undoubtedly comes from the variety of artistic, personal and pro-fessional domains she has encountered and experi-enced throughout her life. She studied at Adelphi

University, and after graduating with her degree, she went on to study at the New School for Social Research in New York City, where she took her art classes.

Apart from being a very suc-cessful artist and writer, early in her life she developed an array of sports skills that may surprise people. Eve has a spirit of adven-ture that has been her hallmark since childhood. Her father, Arnold Mechur, encouraged her to play sports games, and as a doting and loving father, he often joined her when playing. She performed well as a lap and endurance swimmer in the past, and has reflected that she would have done exceptionally well in

E


I am the wordsof all

the song lyricsMy heart is fullof joy and sadnessThe words are echoesof the world’s painIt is the mirror andthe reflection of the sunIt is feelings in the heartLove is there and nevergoes away from youas long as my heartcan offer a smile

-Eve Jeanette Blohm

43

the Olympics if she had chosen to pursue that path. She has also courageously climbed mountains,

and managed to swim across Lake George in the Adirondacks.

Eve has a vast collection of her own poetry which displays her wide range of interests about a variety of topics. Some of these include winter, winter landscapes, the wind, and snow. She says that she is inspired by the complex-ity of snowflakes because of the way they fall in various directions – and these are the kinds of obser-vances that enhance her writing. She also confesses her love for Central Park and how its beauty inspires her.

Her father has also been an inspiration throughout her life. Arnold Merchur was born in July 1915 in Germany. He was actu-ally the youngest in a family of 12 children. They were all half-Jew-ish, and they emigrated to the United States during the twenti-eth century. He went to school in Berlin where he studied tailor-ing. After getting married in Cuba to Eve’s mother, Sara Schlee, he traveled to America and settled in New York.

In her writings, Eve states that her father was a German refugee that escaped the Holocaust. In

2013, she generously d o n a t e d some of her father’s col-lection to the United S t a t e s Holocaust M e m o r i a l M u s e u m . Most of the d o n a t e d collection were doc-u m e n t s and photo-

graphs that were related to Arnold’s prewar schooling and his training as a tailor. There were also photo-graphs that were taken in 1937 showing Arnold and two other boys, the immigration docu-ments he used while moving from Europe to Cuba, the neutraliza-tion document for America and a special program that shows his involvement in a 1974 art show that took place in South Florida.

Eve often recollects how much she adored her father, and has kept a collection of thimbles, which is representative of his life-long work. This is because her father was an accomplished tailor and the collection, mostly given to her by her Aunt, pays tribute to him. Her grandmother was from Hungary, and she came to the United States during the last century. They enjoyed travel-ing a lot as a family. Her mother was a nurse, and she met Eve’s father during one of these numer-ous trips. Eve eventually married her husband, William H. Blohm, of nearly 40 years. They met during a skiing weekend organized by a

church group. They fell in love and married in 1971. William passed away in 2011 at the age of 72. He was a teacher and they lived a vibrant life together. Her most recent work is a book of her late husband’s antidotes, aptly titled Assumptions and Presumptions.

Eve has also worked in several capacities during her journey to become a highly successful author, artist and collector. She was once a typist, clerk and Gal Friday. She has volunteered at the Lighthouse, American Cancer Society, and even for Congressman Bill Green. She has also worked in publish-ing and public relations, where she honed and polished her skills. She looks back on these experi-ences with fondness, and yet con-tinues to strive to make each day an opportunity to dream, write and accomplish her many goals.

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