Author and meditation teacher, Rifka Kreiter, joined host Janeane Bernstein Monday May 15 at 9:15am to about her triumphant story - a search for liberation on every level, Home Free.

Did you miss Rifka Kreiter on today's show? Listen here!

Rifka Kreiter was on the front lines of the 1960s most significant moments and movements, from Civil Rights marches Mississippi with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to antiwar demonstrations in San Diego to est seminars in Manhattan. Now she's captured it all--the protests, the drugs, the journeys into meditation and more--in her new memoir, Home Free: Adventures of a Child of the Sixties
(May 16, 2017).

A captivating memoir full of her quirky personality, candid humor, and relatable recollections, her upbringing (primarily by her mother and the revolving door of "step" men in her life), relationships, and eventual inner peace speak to many women's' interests. Lots of fun Jewish cultural references as well!


An astrologer once told RIFKA KREITER that a certain planetary conjunction in her chart signifies “an unusual life, full of unexpected happenings,” and this has certainly proved true. She studied acting at New York’s High School of Performing Arts, philosophy at City College of New York, and clinical psychology at Adelphi University. She worked as a waitress, hat-check girl, and hearing researcher. She was Continuity Director at a New York radio station and Assistant Convention Manager at the Concord Resort Hotel. More recently, she tutored SAT Prep courses and was Assistant Director of Admissions at a rural community college. Since 1976, she has been following an ancient yogic path; she lived in a meditation ashram for ten years, and traveled to India three times. Rifka currently teaches meditation. At age fifty-five she met her life partner, an Upper West Side psychotherapist. They live happily together in suburban New Jersey. Learn more at RifkaKreiter.com.HOME FREE


After surviving a fraught childhood in New York and L.A., Rifka Kreiter revels in studying acting at the High School of Performing Arts and dancing the Twist at the Peppermint Lounge. Her road leads through broken love affairs and virtually all the great movements of the sixties, including civil rights marches in Mississippi, antiwar demonstrations in San Diego, and est seminars in Manhattan. On a deeper level, this is a profound quest to heal her psychic wounds and find spiritual meaning that she intuits lies beneath all the tumult of those times.

Here is an exploration of life’s deepest questions, as Rifka strives to bust free, be it with drugs, therapy or meditation. A triumphant story about a search for liberation on every level, Home Free ends with a jaw-dropping discovery—one as unexpected as it is transformational.

Cathy Greenly, luncheon chair, of the upcoming CROHN’S & COLITIS FOUNDATION and Ashley Atkins, Executive Director of the LA Crohn's & Colitis Foundation joined host Janeane Bernstein Monday May 15 9:00am pst!

If you missed today's show featuring Cathy Greenly and Ashley Atkins, listen here!

CROHN’S & COLITIS FOUNDATION HONORS

BROOKE ABBOTT, SHAWN LACY BULLEN
AND ROXY SOWLATY

AT TENTH ANNUAL
WOMEN OF DISTINCTION LUNCHEON

Los Angeles, CA– The Greater Los Angeles Chapter of the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation will celebrate its 10th Annual Women of Distinction Luncheon on May 17, 2017 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Each year the foundation recognizes women who are successful in their fields and celebrate their commitment to philanthropy. The 2017 Honorees include: Brooke Abbott, creator/blogger for The Crazy Creole Mommy Chronicles and owner of The Crazy Creole Mommy Life, Inc; Shawn Lacy Bullen, Owner/Managing Director, Biscuit Filmworks; and Roxy Sowlaty, Beverly Hills based interior designer.

Past honorees include Jamie Lee Curtis, Mary Hart, Wendy Goldberg, Joyce Brandman, Mindy Weiss, Amy Brenneman, Judy Felsenthal, Evelyn Heyward, Linda Howard, Bobbe Joy Dawson, Barbara Herman, Lisa Greer, Tina Finkelman Berkett, and Janice Bryant Howroyd.


We are pleased to announce that Bloomingdale's Century City, last year’s fashion show presenter, has agreed to partner with us once again and present the 2017 fashion show. In addition, Sprinkles Cupcakes of Beverly Hills has generously donated cupcakes for each guest.


“Since 1967, the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation has been a leader at the forefront of research in Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, committed to innovation and collaboration through uniting all patients, caregivers, providers, donors, and researchers to find cures for these diseases. As a volunteer driven organization, we rely on the generous support of local people and businesses to fuel our programs. Without the sponsorship of Mercedes-Benz of Beverly Hills and the support of Bloomingdale’s Century City, we simply couldn’t support the 90,000 patients in our community”, said Ashley Atkins, Executive Director.


The Women of Distinction Luncheon is a highly anticipated event of the Beverly Hills social season and is attended by 500 prominently influential leaders and philanthropists in the Greater Los Angeles community. For tickets and information: (310) 478-4500 or visit bit.ly/wod2017la.



About the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation

For the past 50 years, the Foundation has supported the IBD community with the goal to ultimately achieve our vision – a future free of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. One out of 200 Americans has Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis (also called Inflammatory Bowel Disease or IBD), and 5% of all those diagnosed are under the age of 18. Proceeds from the Women of Distinction Luncheon fund cutting-edge medical research, education programs for patients and healthcare professionals, and support programs such as Camp Oasis, the foundation’s summer camp for children who suffer from IBD. More than 82 cents of every dollar received goes directly to support our mission. For more information about the foundation, visit www.crohnscolitisfoundation.org.



Media Contact

Ashley Atkins

Executive Director

Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation, Greater Los Angeles Chapter

(323) 369-6409 aatkins@ccfa.org

Information on the 2017 Women of Distinction Luncheon Honorees:

In 2008, Brooke Abbott was diagnosed with left-sided ulcerative colitis. Though it was a mild case at diagnosis, the disease rapidly advanced over a period of four years. In 2009, Ms. Abbott traded in her film and television production notebook for a diaper bag with the birth of her son, Jaxon Lee Coltrane. While navigating through motherhood, Abbott began to tweet about her adventures with her newborn with the hashtag, #CrazyCreoleMommy. The stories behind her tweets and Facebook statuses grew larger than the allotted 140 characters and by 2011, her new life needed its own vehicle. In January 2012, The Crazy Creole Mommy Chronicles were born. In April 2012, Abbott was given a total colectomy after spending weeks in the hospital fighting a losing battle with her diseased colon. She was given an ostomy for five months, as a transition into receiving her JPouch. She now lives with an internal J-Pouch and her health continues to change for the better. Still without insurance, arthritis, and the inability to work as much as she could before, Abbott advocates for all those with severe and mild cases of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. Abbott continues to photograph, working under the name, bonzaibaby Photography, having photographed celebrities including Holly Robinson Peete, Alfonso Riberio, Valarie Pettiford & Arthel Neville. Abbott is the creator and blogger for The Crazy Creole Mommy Chronicles & The HollyRod Foundation Influencer Circle. She is an advocate often representing The Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation & The Digestive Disease National Coalition on Capitol Hill in Washington DC. Abbott is a single mother of one son, Jax Lee Coltrane, and they currently reside in Los Angeles.


Shawn Lacy Bullen is the co-founder and managing director of Biscuit Filmworks and Biscuit UK. She grew up in Washington DC to architect parents who fostered her entrepreneurial spirit and appreciation of art. Armed with a double major in French and political science from Duke University, she ignored the advice of family friend Jay Chiat to avoid advertising altogether, and immediately moved to New York to work at Young & Rubicam. Her journey in advertising, first in New York and later in Los Angeles with HKM, led her to work with then up-and-coming director Noam Murro. The two immediately hit it off and in 2000 co-founded Biscuit Filmworks, which today represents some of the top creative talent in advertising and is one of the most awarded commercial production companies in the world. As managing director, Shawn continues to expand the company’s roster, cultivate new talent relationships and oversee the production of an acclaimed portfolio of work. Her solid creative instincts have helped build Biscuit’s reputation for fostering and growing talent from within, and serving as a trusted partner for top advertising agencies around the world to deliver standout commercial projects. A consummate multi-tasker, Shawn is also the proud mother of four children, one in college, one in high school, and twin first graders. Her son Jett was diagnosed with Crohn’s in 2013, and she then became involved in the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation to help raise awareness and funding for Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.

Roxy Sowlaty is a Beverly Hills native that has been working in design since the age of 16, when she started a clothing line with her sister Tara called RoxTar. Upon earning her undergraduate degree from USC’s Marshall School of Business, she decided to re-focus her design interests from fashion to interiors. She enrolled at Parsons New School of Design to obtain her masters degree in interior design. During this time in New York, she freelanced on a number of residential projects in Manhattan, as well as a home in Aspen – which certainly confirmed her love for interior design! Now back in California, she has opened her own interior design firm specializing in high end residential projects and is simultaneously launching an online 'do-it-yourself' interior design website and home goods product line. She had a stint on one of E!’s top hit shows for three seasons, displaying her entrepreneurial spirit in getting her line off the ground. It is with deep gratitude that Sowlaty is involved with such a high honor, as both her father and sister are affected by Crohn’s disease. She is determined to use her voice to make a difference and shed light on this otherwise very difficult subject matter.

A few highlights from Janeane's musical guests on Get the FUNK Out!

Gary Pihl of BOSTON, Jake Shimabukuro, and Scott Patterson of Gilmore Girls and his band SMITHRADIO have been some of the many musical guests on Janeane's show. 

Listen to show highlights here.

Historian Huw Lewis-Jones, an author who travels regularly to the Arctic and Antarctica as a polar guide, joined host Janeane on 5/8 9:45am pst - to talk about his explorer travel journal, EXPLORERS’ SKETCHBOOKS - a collection of beautiful thoughts and drawings of travelers dating back to the 17th century.

Listen to today's show with
Huw Lewis-Jones here!

Huw Lewis-Jones is a historian and author who travels regularly to the Arctic and Antarctica as a polar guide. Kari Herbert has written several books on exploration and is the daughter of polar explorer Sir Wally Herbert. Huw and Kari are married and live by the sea in Cornwall, England.


In the great vein of the explorer travel journal, EXPLORERS’ SKETCHBOOKS collects and displays the beautiful thoughts and drawings of travelers dating back to the 17th century.


The sketchbook has been the one constant in explorers' kits for centuries of adventure. Often private, they are records of immediate experiences and discoveries, and in their pages we can see what the explorers themselves encountered. This remarkable book showcases 70 such sketchbooks, kept by intrepid men and women as they journeyed perilous and unknown environments—frozen wastelands, high mountains, barren deserts, and dense rainforests—with their senses wide open. Figures such as Charles Darwin and Sir Edmund Hillary are joined here by lesser-known explorers such as Adela Breton, who braved the jungles of Mexico to make a record of Mayan monuments. Here are profiles, expedition details, and the artwork of pioneering explorers and mapmakers, botanists and artists, ecologists and anthropologists, eccentrics and visionaries. Here is the art of discovery.

JANE A. SCHMIDT is a columnist and the owner of two businesses, Fitness Choices and Turtle Adventures, joins Janeane Monday May 8 at 9:30am pst!

A successful fitness instructor who moved from the big city to rural Wisconsin, Jane's “single-girl-gone-country” misadventures helped her become an award-winning newspaper columnist—and now she’s taking readers on a true, no-holds-barred and hilarious trip into her not-so-simple search for the simple life in Not a Perfect Fit: Stories from Jane's World.

ABOUT JANE'S BOOK

Not a Perfect Fit is a collection of stories that are laugh-out-loud funny one minute and thought-provoking the next. Stories range from Schmidt’s experience living off-grid as the only English woman in an Amish neighborhood to family trips that are remarkably similar to National Lampoon’s Vacation. Through it all, she manages to rise above the many challenges she faces―inspiring and entertaining her audience along the way. Filled with animal antics, gratitude, mishaps, and madcap adventures, Not a Perfect Fit’s tell-all, single-girl-gone-country, down-home stories give readers permission to laugh and cry―and, most important, to carry on.


The reviews honestly summarize the book so perfectly: Sheila Sherwin (editor of RealSmallTowns.com) gushed, “With humor, grace, and tenderness, Jane Schmidt gives her readers an entertaining peek into the layered life of a single mother, animal hoarder, and kick-ass fitness instructor―living a rustic life but still searching for the perfect wand of mascara and a respectable pair of jeans.”


Jennifer Morales (award-winning author of Meet Me Halfway) said, "Jane Schmidt helps us laugh out loud into that sometimes heart-breaking gap between our dreams and realities, and between what we hope is true about ourselves and what actually is...a gift of laughter, vulnerability, and wisdom."


Would you be interested in receiving a copy of Not a Perfect Fit for consideration for interview? Let me know if you'd like a copy of the book!


Not a Perfect Fit: Laugh-out-l \oud funny one minute and thought-provoking the next, Not a Perfect Fit includ es stories detailing everything from Jane Schmidt’s experience living off-grid as the only English woman in an Amish neighborhood to family trips that are remarkably similar to National Lampoon’s Vacation. Through it all, Schmidt manages to rise above the many challenges she faces, inspiring and entertaining her audience along the way. Filled with animal antics, gratitude, mishaps, and madcap adventures, Not a Perfect Fit’ s tell-all, single-girl-gone country, down-home stories give readers permission to laugh and cry—and, most important, to carry on.


ABOUT JANE
JANE A. SCHMIDT is a columnist and the owner of two businesses, Fitness Choices and Turtle Adventures. When not teaching her fitness classes or encouraging women to get outside, she spends her time backpacking in places like the Grand Canyon, Superior Hiking Trail, and Isle Royale National Park; biking across Wisconsin; hiking and kayaking in the Kickapoo Valley Reserve; or just hanging out with her animal family in rural Viola, Wisconsin.

"Jane exudes an innocence in her presentation of life that made me want to meet her and see the world through her eyes. She had me laughing and commiserating, shocked and envious, all at once. Definitely a fun read, and I would recommend this book to all, without any hesitation."
―Readers' Favorite, 5 stars


“Jane Schmidt documents the essential day-to-day of rural Wisconsin life with a deft balance of sentiment, reportage, and humor. City mouse, country mouse, newcomer or old-timer, you will find yourself nodding, grinning, and sometimes dabbing at your eyes as you read these stories."
―Michael Perry, best-selling author of Truck: A Love Story and The Jesus Cow



"In daring to share herself fully with the reader through these funny and heart-felt stories of country life, Jane Schmidt helps us laugh out loud into that sometimes heart-breaking gap between our dreams and realities, and between what we hope is true about ourselves and what actually is. Whether you live out in the country or in the big city, Not a Perfect Fit is a gift of laughter, vulnerability, and wisdom."
―Jennifer Morales, award-winning author of Meet Me Halfway


“Jane Schmidt is funny, candid, and has the keen eye of an outsider looking in―then turning the mirror back on herself. Reading the final pages felt like the last miles of a road trip with someone whose company you really enjoyed that has ended far too soon."
―Julie Buckles, author of Paddling to Winter


“With humor, grace, and tenderness, Jane Schmidt gives her readers an entertaining peek into the layered life of a single mother, animal hoarder, and kick-ass fitness instructor―living a rustic life but still searching for the perfect wand of mascara and a respectable pair of jeans.”
―Sheila Sherwin, writer and editor of RealSmallTowns.com

Author Donna Levin joins host Janeane Bernstein Monday May 8 9:15am pst on KUCI 88.9fm!

Listen to today's show
with Donna Levin here!

Donna was hailed by the Los Angeles Times as "a novelist to keep high on your reading list" thanks to her previous novels (Extraordinary Means and California Street), and now she's about to release a gorgeous, gripping novel about a mother who faces increasing hostility and an uncertain future when her son Jack, a young boy with Asperger's, is accused of killing a classmate, There’s More Than One Way Home.

Read more about her latest book here!

“Intriguing and gut-wrenching…reminiscent of Liane Moriarty...A witty, modern voice delivers a captivating tale about a mysterious death that feels like a light read but soon submerges the reader deep in the throes of substance.” -Kirkus

ABOUT DONNA'S BOOK

There’s More Than One Way Home: Anna Kagen seems to have it all: She’s young, beautiful, and married to a wealthy, prominent man. But within the walls of her San Francisco mansion, she spends her time dodging her husband’s barbs and hunting down potential friends for her son, Jack, a 10-year-old on the autistic spectrum. That old life suddenly seems idyllic when, on a school field trip, she makes the small error in judgment that sets in motion a chain of events that leads to another boy’s death. Suddenly Jack is a suspect, her husband’s career is in jeopardy, and Anna has to choose between loyalty to her son…and what may be her one chance at happiness.

ABOUT DONNA

Donna taught fiction writing for two decades, most notably at the University of California Extension at Berkeley, where she led the Novel-Writing Workshop. Her first novel, Extraordinary Means (William Morrow), was celebrated by Kirkus as a “a witty, clear-eyed debut,” and the San Francisco Chronicle described it as “an extraordinarily lively, funny novel.” The Los Angeles Times called her second novel, California Street (Simon & Schuster) “inventive…thought-provoking and fun to read,” and The San Francisco Examiner called it “a lifeboat in a sea of featureless fiction.” Both of Donna’s novels were optioned for film. Donna taught fiction writing for two decades, most notably at the University of California Extension at Berkeley. She lives in San Francisco. 

Donna published her first novel, Extraordinary Means, with William Morrow. Kirkus called it “a witty, clear-eyed debut,” and the San Francisco Chronicle described it as “an
extraordinarily lively, funny novel.”

Her second novel, California Street, was published by Simon & Schuster. Digby Diehl
wrote in the Los Angeles Times, “This is an inventive novel that is thought-provoking and fun to read, and Levin … is a novelist to keep high on your reading list.” The San Francisco Examiner called it “a lifeboat in a sea of featureless fiction.” Both of Donna’s novels were optioned for film.

Donna has published two books about writing,Get that Novel Started and Get that Novel Written, both with Writer’s Digest Books. Get that Novel Written was translated into Italian and published by Dino Audino Editore.

Donna taught fiction writing for two decades, most notably at the University of California Extension at Berkeley, where she led the Novel-Writing Workshop. Many of her students have gone on to publish, including Frank Baldwin (Balling the Jack and Jake and Mimi), Terry Gamble (Water Dancers and Good Family), and Mark Coggins, author of the August Riordan mysteries. She has also been a frequent guest at writers’ conferences, including the San Francisco Writers’ Conference and the Squaw Valley Community of Writers. For many years she was a freelance book reviewer for the San Francisco Chronicle and a columnist for the San Francisco Independent.

Donna’s work is included in Boston University’s 20th Century Archives and in the California State Library’s collection of California novels.
She lives in San Francisco.

About the Publisher: Chickadee Prince Books is a young Brooklyn small publisher of acclaimed fiction and non-fiction. CPB publishes the Watt O’Hugh literary science fiction series, and in 2016 published the critical hit, Max’s Diamonds by Jay Greenfield. CPB will publish five new titles in Spring 2017.

http://www.donnalevin.com/

Author Marie Trout Ph.D. wife of blues rock guitarist extraordinaire, Walter Trout, joined host Janeane Bernstein to talk about her newly released book: The Blues – Why it Still Hurts so Good - Monday May 8 at 9:00am pst!

Listen to today's show featuring Marie Trout  here!

Thanks for listening! Follow Janeane here!

For almost a quarter century working in the music industry, Marie wondered what it is that happens to perfectly ordinary people when attending blues concerts. Emotions drift across faces like migratory clouds moving across a sunny sky, toes tap and bodies start to sway. Looking at blues audiences from the stage, is to bear witness to displays of ever-changing life-affirming panhuman expressions of elation, joy, wonder, release, vulnerability, immersion, sadness and grief. When lost in blues music, the straight-faced watchfulness, otherwise customary in social situations, lessens. Marie muses:


– I have always been curious in how music, and particularly blues music, somehow transforms us in subtle, but pervasive ways: how it can lift moods and just make us feel comforted: enveloped, interconnected, and that it is OK to just be.

It was natural for her, therefore, to use this curiosity as driving force in approaching her PhD research: She embarked on a Grounded Theory study of what contemporary (mainly white and middle-aged) blues fans get out of their love affair with the genre today. Combined academic findings highlighted and illustrated by story-telling find expression in her book: The Blues – Why it Still Hurts so Good.

Born in Århus, Denmark in 1962, growing up Marie often felt alone and that she was “a bit of a strange bird.” She decided early on that instead of trying to fit in, she would rather fight to figure things out on her own terms. She wanted to be an author, but couldn’t figure out how.

Torn between interest in psychology and love of learning, she settled on a BA in Education, which she completed in 1989. During her studies, she managed a night club, did band PR, and owned and operated an advertising sales company. By the end of 1990 (with friends and family questioning her judgment), she packed up and left her business to follow her heart. She was in love, and moved to Southern California with Walter Trout: an internationally touring (but penniless) blues rock guitarist, singer, song-writer, who had recently gone solo after a steady career as a sideman with five years each in Canned Heat and John Mayall’s band, the Bluesbreakers.

Shortly after landing on American soil, Marie started working as part of Walter’s touring crew, a position that gave her access to business elements of Walter’s career. Although he had a Top Ten hit in the Netherlands and was voted the sixth best guitarist in BBC’s 1993 Listener’s Poll, financial success did not follow the accolades. Marie gradually discovered that there were many irregularities with regard to management of Walter’s business, explaining why financial success seemed far off. Eventually, she had collected enough evidence: Walter was being robbed blind by people he trusted to run his business affairs for him.

After Walter and Marie’s first child was born in 1993, Marie took over as Walter’s manager, a position she still fills today. In 1996, after giving birth to their second son, she also took over as Walter’s agent in Europe. A third son followed in 2001. Marie enjoyed being active in business, but also being able to bring the children on tour, and at other times work from her home office providing continuity when Walter was on the road, and the children needed to be in school.

In 2012, she completed her MA along with being certified in Life Coaching. In 2015, she completed her PhD in Wisdom Studies, which allowed many components of Marie’s work, observations, and professional pursuits to come together. She credits her Major Advisor, Mark Ryan, a 20-year Dean at Yale University with providing structure and encouragement to finish her studies when her life fell apart in 2013. Walter was diagnosed with end-stage liver disease.

In 2014, Walter came close to death repeatedly. In a desperate, last-ditch effort to improve odds of Walter receiving a liver transplant Marie brought Walter to Nebraska for six months, leaving two still-at-home middle-and high school children with a caregiver in California. A steady support from Walter’s fans made the move financially (and emotionally) possible, and Marie is adamant that his survival was a community effort. During Walter’s illness, and after he recovered, she has advocated organ donation, appearing on several radio as well as TV news and talk-shows. This commitment continues in support of Donate Life campaigns, and Walter and Marie jointly serve as protectors for the Danish organization, Organdonation – Ja Tak.

Marie and Walter are determined to give back. All proceeds from The Blues – Why it Still Hurts so Good, will benefit the HART fund, which helps provide medical care for musicians facing a broad range of health concerns. Marie is no stranger to uncertainty, pain, and worry:


– I know what it is like to live the blues. Nobody is immune to suffering no matter how much they seek to insure and protect themselves. Like lightning from clear sky, our lives change and we are powerless to change it back. Nobody can avoid hardship and pain, but we can dare to reach out, and walk through it together with those who respond. I have walked through my blues for now and am constantly reminded to take nothing for granted. When I look around our world, I realize that by comparison, Walter and I have been fortunate. Walter is once again healthy and on the road with his awesome band, and I am once again busy managing his career. With a book coming out, and another one brewing in my head, I feel connected to, and in tune with, my life’s purpose. I am grateful.

http://www.marietrout.com/home/