Robert LaRoche has been a musician since his teens in Holyoke, Massachusetts. He toured long and hard with The Sighs in support of their Nineties’ albums What Goes On and Different, and when their frontman elected to step out of the spotlight, he found a satisfying role, writing, recording, and performing with Patricia Vonne, whose pop-rock sound has Latin/country flavors. Ultimately, LaRoche’s own muse stirred anew and he released the aptly titled Patient Man in 2015 and its follow-up, A Thousand Shades, four years later.
Now, on Forevermore, he’s come full circle. There are sparkling, giddy moments and somber, poignant pieces. LaRoche explains: “Loss and gain, dark and light—it’s the basic human experience of redemption that I hope rings true to the listener.”
George Eshleman is a veteran who inspired the upcoming film THE KEEPER which is based on his real-life experience hiking the Appalachian Trail while carrying 363 military name tapes from military members who committed suicide to raise awareness.
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Janet Rutkowski is a Brooklyn-based artist with a studio in Barryville, NY. She’s a self-taught artist whose work spans over 35 years and primarily works in steel, although during the pandemic, she created hundreds of works on paper entitled Quarantine Compositions. Janet is also a curator and currently has a large show in celebration of Women’s History Month entitled: Behind The Mask. The Art of Women Welders. It features 29 women welders and over 50 works of powerful art, as well as one of her large scale pieces.
Gloria Feldt is Cofounder and President of Take The Lead, a nonprofit organization providing training, coaching and cohort building, inspiring role models, and thought leadership to individuals and organizations, with the mission of intersectional gender parity in leadership. Gloria is the author of 5 books and former president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. She is a Forbes 50 over 50, angling for 80 over 80.
Jerry Colonna is a leading executive coach who uses the skills he learned as a venture capitalist to help entrepreneurs. He is a co-founder and CEO of Reboot, the executive coaching and leadership development company, host of the Reboot Podcast, and author of Reunion: Leadership and the Longing to Belong and Reboot: Leadership and the Art of Growing Up .
Marty Martinez leads the Reach Out and Read network, which includes more than 6,000 program sites in all 50 states and nearly 30 regional, state, and local affiliates. Marty brings 25 years of experience working on behalf of young people, families and underserved communities across the Greater Boston area. He has a strong skill set and expertise in public health, nonprofit management and positive youth development.
1. How does Reach Out and Read’s new children’s book, Talk Baby Talk, inspire a conversation about diversity in families?
Tulika Mehrotra is a Chicago-based branding and communications expert. She has over 15 years of experience in various sectors and organizations including start-ups with brand building, digital marketing, and communication. Tulika began with Peterson Technology Partners in 2018 as a consultant, leading brand marketing, communication, and digital strategy efforts across the organization. In 2021 she was promoted as PTP’s first Chief Digital Officer in ’ 25-year history.
Devora Yellin Fish is a social justice experiential educator with the goal to increase inclusion in the world. She mentors under-represented purpose-driven Emerging Professionals and Entrepreneurs toward goals. Her mission is to Uplift each and every person for their unique contribution to humanity. No one and nothing left out. (FormerDirector of Education for the TN Holocaust Commission)
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Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Lewis M. Simons (Lew) has been a foreign correspondent and investigative journalist for half a century, reporting throughout Asia, the Middle East and the former Soviet Union. He covered the Vietnam War, opened the world’s eyes to the terror in Tiananmen Square, was expelled from India for revealing Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s abuses and saved the life of a teen-aged Tibetan monk. Simons won the Pulitzer Prize for for exposing the billions that the Marcos family looted from the Philippines and led to the People Power Revolution and the fall of the government. Simons’ newest book, To Tell the Truth, with a foreword by the Dalai Lama, chronicles those and many other extraordinary adventures.
Takeaways for ongoing discussion:
Jim Fielding is President of Archer Gray’s Co-Lab Division. He is a respected leader in brand strategy, consumer products and experiences, and storytelling.