by Mark Smiley | Jun 28, 2018 | Glendale City News
by John Arthur
Writer on behalf of Infinity Park
For the first time, Glendale’s Bruises & Brews Beerfest will expand to two days: August 24 and 25, 2018. Photo by Travis Prior
Since its creation more than a decade ago, Glendale’s Infinity Park has been the epicenter of rugby in the United States, establishing its rugby programming during that time as a friend and champion of local businesses. For the inaugural season of professional rugby in the U.S., the Glendale Raptors have featured local brewers at each home game, and will also host the annual Bruises and Brews beer festival in August — taking place over two days this year for the first time in the event’s history. As Major League Rugby’s exciting first season winds to a close, rugby fans and beer enthusiasts can look forward to the two-day festival — a perfect pairing with the annual RugbyTown 7s tournament. Hearing from two featured brewers demonstrates what makes the hard-hitting sport and cold, local suds such good bedfellows.
A Colorado native, Dave Meira of Boggy Draw Brewery started brewing beer in 1989. The warm, woodsy ambience of his Sheridan taproom is almost as welcoming as the rich, smooth flavor of his Groundhog Mountain Milk Stout. Built by Meira himself, a carpenter by trade, the outdoor-themed bar is named for an area in southwest Colorado’s San Juan National Forest, a place where he grew up hunting. The featured brewer at the Raptors home opener, a victory over Austin Elite Rugby, Meira’s passion for rugby is plainly equal to his passion for beer. Opened in July 2015, Boggy’s somewhat sparse décor includes a number of rugby balls and jerseys. With 16 beers typically on tap, Meira is slowly working toward expansion, though his bread and butter remains the Sheridan taproom.
Playing rugby himself in the late ’80s, Meira admits today’s professional league is another animal altogether: “It was a different game back then,” he chuckles. “Today’s game is a lot faster and a lot more fluid. Back then if you could still stand up you kept playing.” When his son was in high school, Meira learned of the rugby programming at Infinity Park and both got involved. While his son played, Meira volunteered as an assistant coach. Asked about the comparison between the sport and brewing, he notes that the two share a common mentality: “Rugby is very fraternal, and the brewing scene at our level is like that too. They’re both close-knit communities.” That fraternity ensures Colorado brewers and American rugby will continue to grow together.
Just south of Mile High Stadium, Strange Craft Beer Company was born from disaster. Owner Tim Myers had been home brewing for eight years when the Great Recession cost him his IT job. Rather than wade through unpromising employment prospects, he took the plunge and founded Strange, the first nanobrewery in Denver. Asked about the distinction, Myers explains that craft brewers are typically described in terms of size: “There are multinationals, regional brewers, packaging breweries, brewpubs, and more,” he says. “Smaller brewers are microbreweries: we’re the next size down. We celebrate our smallness, focusing on selling pints across the bar in our tasting room.” Myers experimented with nearly 65 beer recipes last year — the most in Strange’s history.
The featured brewer for the Raptors May 13 win over San Diego Legion, Strange Craft embodies how craft brewing is facilitating the burgeoning American rugby scene. Myers explains: “I always think of rugby as an English sport, and it seems like any time I’ve gone to a rugby event there has been Bass or Harp or Guinness on tap,” he says. “Those were the original craft beers in the 1970s and ’80s in the U.S. If you wanted something different tasting, that’s what you drank. I think that plays really well with bringing rugby to America. That craft beer heritage and the U.S. brewing scene work well toward Americanizing rugby.”
Myers’ sentiment succinctly explains Glendale’s brewer-friendly mentality. Pairing the athletic spectacle of the niche sport and its uniquely community-centric ethos, with the creativity, camaraderie, and local-focus of craft brewing is a no-brainer. Embracing the grassroots nature of rugby, Colorado’s craft brewers are finding themselves on the ground floor of a rapidly growing sport, and enjoying the successful inaugural season of Major League Rugby in the process. As craft brewing continues to grow, so too will Glendale’s presence as the center of American rugby. Drop by Infinity Park to check out the professional rugby action — and have a pint while you’re at it.
by Mark Smiley | Jun 28, 2018 | General Featured
by Glen Richardson
Visual Content: JSD’s Jennifer Jordon behind the scenes at LAX producing compelling visual content that connects with customers.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. And in today’s online world, video can be worth thousands of views and that means more clicks to a business’s website, more likes, more shares and more positive connections with potential customers. Across the board, tech research shows that video content is crucial. Video posts are twice as likely to get views as still pictures. And one media company estimates videos are shared a thousand times more than a simple text post.
Julie Hayden, Marketing Director for the Glendale Cherry Creek Chronicle says, “Business owners know how important it is to have an Internet and social media presence. But for almost any business, providing new and compelling video content is a challenge.”
That’s why the Glendale Cherry Creek Chronicle is launching a partnership with JSD Digital, a video production and SEO (search engine optimization) company.
Jennifer Jordon oversees JSD Digital’s video production. Jordon says, “I discovered my passion for storytelling through the visual platform of cinematography in college.” She started out transcribing video tapes (back when footage was actually shot on tapes) and quickly moved up the ladder to an associate producer on an HGTV program.
She was promoted to field producer and director and has worked with networks like HGTV, Travel Channel, VH1 and many others. “I’ve braved grizzly bears while producing programs in Alaska, marveled at magnificent sunrises working on water park episodes in Costa Rica and been amazed at the engineering and zipline feats performed by the teams from DIY Network’s The Treehouse Guys.” Her many commercial business projects include a multi-year campaign on the renovations at LAX, Los Angeles World Airport. Hayden says, “Jennifer is uniquely qualified to handle whatever visual scope a business desires, from one camera shoots to multi camera produc
Expertise Gets Results: JSD’s Jennifer Jordon on location with reality TV series in Homer, Alaska.
tions including drones.”
Jordon adds, “Our productions range in scale from a “one-person band” operation where I do all of the preproduction, film all the components in the field while producing and directing and then edit everything in house. For clients looking for a higher cinematic value, I build teams of freelancers whose expertise complements each other. Both result in a dynamic and impactful finished product. We can achieve a lot with whatever budget a client has to work with.”
Because of her experience with large-scale productions, Jordon notes she’s seen big corporations out compete everyone else. “My goal is to give small businesses the marketing tools they need to compete with the bigger guys by making the right impression on their potential clients and customers.”
Jordon explains the Internet is both a blessing and a challenge for small businesses. “With the nature of social media like Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Twitter you don’t need network television advertising to get your commercial or video posting to y
SEO Maximizes Exposure: Seth Drake with JSD Digital utilizes SEO strategies to maximize internet search results.
our demographic. But you do still need a quality visual product and many businesses don’t have the time or the expertise to use the Internet to their full advantage. Video content can help make a great, lasting impression if you make the right impact and really captivate your viewers.”
Hayden points out, “We’re not talking about traditional commercials.” Jordon adds, “At JSD Digital, we meet with the business owner, talk about their brand and what message they want to convey. Our goal is to create visually compelling video and still pictures that spark a positive emotional connection with potential customers. We provide two to three minute clips or longer for use on websites or Facebook but also shorter ‘sizzle’ pieces for social media like Twitter. Our packages focus on maximizing the results with whatever budget the business has to work with.”
Customer Satisfaction
One of JSD Digital’s video partnerships is with Delastudio.photos. Owner Ariane Delafosse Uhll offers a unique brand where she photographs people doing whatever they are passionate about. She contacted JSD Digital because she wanted videos to show customers just what they could expect in a session with her. “I wanted to convey how fun it is, how our team of hair and makeup experts will make them look their best. I wanted a video that walked them through the process.”
Delafosse Uhll says JSD Digital exceeded her expectations. “Jennifer was totally professional and also excited and interested in my business. She worked wonders within my budget and the final product was amazing. She was able to produce something beautiful in a short period of time that perfectly captured my vision and what I wanted to convey.” Delafosse Uhll adds the investment was worth it. “Having a beautiful, professional video really helps set my business apart and sends the message that I am a high quality, successful business.”
Jordon says, ‘Seeing a business owner light up when they watch the commercial video I have created is my favorite moment. Knowing they will have something that makes them proud and will truly bring in new customers and build trust when a potential client visits their website is huge.”
SEO Maximizes Exposure
Creating compelling visuals is the first step to help businesses get noticed. JSD Digital’s SEO component provides the second step to make sure they keep getting noticed. Owner Seth Drake explains JSD Digital uses industry-leading tactics to first check and amend your site to make sure the architecture and design of the pages are recognized as relevant to your industry. He says, “This helps search engines understand your business and therefore rank them accordingly.” From reputation management to the discovery process behind keyword analysis, JSD Digital harnesses all avenues within SEO.
If you have considered maximizing your business’s potential through visual content or are curious about SEO potential, JSD Digital offers free consultation and website evaluations.
For more information, contact Glendale Cherry Creek Chronicle Marketing Director Julie Hayden at julie@glendalecherrycreek .com or 303-359-8366.
by Mark Smiley | Jun 28, 2018 | Travel
by Ruthy Wexler
Beekeeper: Katherine Cornwell at home with her two hives of bees. Now a planning consultant, she worked for years as city planner for Seattle; Madison, Wisconsin; and — for eight years — the city of Denver. Madison, she says, “is the most like a bee colony. Itsdemocratic process was sometimes irritating as hell … If they did not want to do something, that city could not be moved. But when an idea was good, action was swift.”
While Denver continues to expand, the local bee population goes about its own complicated business — and a growing number of beekeepers are available to help when the two paths cross. On a recent sunny Friday, a large swarm threatened the pleasure of outdoor diners at Proto’s Pizza and so the construction crew across 15th Street called Katherine Cornwell, who is registered with the Swarm Hotline — and, it turns out, knows quite a bit about Denver’s expansion.
The small crowd attracted by Cornwell’s actions — gently scooping bees from the tree they’d settled on into an ordinary packing box atop her car — wondered how on earth she’d get the entire swarm into that box.
“See those bees near the hole of the box?” Cornwell explained. “See how they’re putting their butts in the air and fanning their wings? They’re letting the other bees know that the queen is inside.”
Fascinating And Wonderful
Katherine Cornwell didn’t know how much she would have in common with bees when she began studying them 10 years ago. All she knew was, she’d fallen in love.
Captured: Katherine Cornwell outside Proto’s Pizza on 15th Street, where she captured the swarm and explained to onlookers how she did it. The key was making sure the queen got inside the box, so other bees would follow.
“I was watching TV, which I rarely do,” she recalls. “This Haagen-Dazs commercial comes on — bees flying over a field toward a big succulent flower … then the screen goes blank. Words appear, ‘The honeybees are dying’ — and I start sobbing.
“I cannot explain to this day why it moved me so much. I was determined to learn more. I studied with Corwin Bell in Eldorado Springs — which ranks as one of the most lovely experiences of my life. I learned how fascinating and wonderful bees are. And I realized that bee colonies embodied principles I’d been thinking about in my own field, city planning.”
Bees And People
Expert: Corwin Bell, whom Cornwell studied under, teaches Bee Guardianship courses that show how bees, humankind and the natural world are connected and promote alternatives to conventional beekeeping. A computer animator and filmmaker, Bell has filmed hours of footage of honeybees. He travels the world to witness beekeeping under every condition imaginable.
As city planner for Denver from 2000-2008, Cornwell was inspired by her boss, the late Jennifer Moulton. “All around the city, wonderful things were happening. Civic Center, Stapleton, Central Platte Valley, Lower Downtown Denver …. Jennifer had such vision about the future, while preserving the past …”
Cornwell, who was co-author and project manager for Denver’s University Park Plan; East and West Colfax; the Main Street Zone District, and co-author of Blueprint Denver, now feels frustrated that current projects — like the widening of I-70 — do not take urban and environmental principles into account.
“As a city planner, I can tell you this project is counter intuitive. Widening roads in the urban core makes congestion worse …
“Development is now crafted behind closed doors,” Cornwell observes. “The so-called experts are just lobbyists, lawyers and spineless bureaucrats.
“And here’s where this relates to beekeeping. Bees and people are both very 
complex. Both need communication, both need communities … But developers don’t trust citizens. Politicians don’t ask what citizens want. So wealthy individuals with high stakes interests are superimposing their vision on the people.
“It’s not just those in charge. Citizens are not participating. But all bees participate in their community.”
Participatory Democracy!
“Bees have different roles, which they perform meticulously,” Cornwell explains. “The sentinel bee protects the hive, the nurse bee raises the baby bees, the scout goes out to find new food and new hives …
“When a scout finds a new potential hive, she doesn’t order everyone to go there. She comes back and communicates through a waggle motion danced in a figure eight pattern. Where she stops on the figure eight and how long she waggles indicates direction and distance of the new find. The number of times she repeats the dance correlates to the find’s degree of awesomeness, persuading other bees to check it out …
“If they agree, they’ll waggle dance about it too, until the whole colony decides as a group to go there.
“If that’s not participatory democracy, I don’t know what is!
“Denver,” she says, “is not behaving like a bee colony.”
Back To The Box
After a good hour — and a minor catastrophe, where the box’s lid blew off and Cornwell had to start all over! — the hive of bees all seemed to be collected and she entertained a few more questions.
“How did that swarm end up here?”
“Sometimes hives are disturbed by construction,” Cornwell said. “Which might have happened here. But usually they swarm because a new queen was born. The hive splits and the old queen leaves with half the colony to find a new home.”
“How do you get the queen inside the box?”
Cornwell smiled. “Providence, good luck, or chance. Usually it’s pretty easy. If the bees are just hanging from a small branch, I’ll clip it so the whole thing falls into the box.
“Today, the bees were clumped on a tree trunk. So I gently scooped them a bit at a time until I saw them acting like I had the queen, you know, fanning their butts in the air.”
Mission accomplished, Cornwell put the box inside her trunk and began the drive to an organic farm in Boulder where the bees will take up residence in a hive box with million-dollar views of the Flatirons.
For more information on swarm removal or beekeeping visit coloradobeekeepers.org or call 1-844-779-2337.
by Mark Smiley | Jun 24, 2018 | Editorials
Plato
In the 4th century BC, Plato wrote the highly influential treatise The Republic. Plato was no fan of democracy — either direct democracy where every eligible citizen would have the opportunity to vote on legislation or representative democracy where eligible citizens would vote on representatives who would in turn vote on legislation. He postulated that the best system would involve rule by “philosopher kings.”
He envisioned that a special class of people be given a specific education, available to few, which would include men and women as philosopher kings and queens. Out of this collective elite only the most virtuous and capable would become rulers. They would live simply and rule benevolently for the common good.
While his treatise has been widely read and praised for over two millennium no one has actually sought to institute rule by “philosopher kings,” at least until now. Here in Colorado we have begun to adopt a form of rule by philosopher kings that would have thrilled Plato.
Federal District Court judges in many ways resemble Plato’s ideal. They have a very specialized education (law) that is available to only a few. They live simply as federal court judges presently make only $169,300 annually. Like kings they are appointed for a life tenure. Among this class of philosophers (i.e. lawyers) federal district court judges are chosen by the President of the United States with the advice and consent of the US Senate for their purported knowledge and virtuousness.
In Colorado we have seven regular philosopher kings (with one present vacancy) and five senior philosopher kings. They are almost evenly divided among Democrats and Republicans and include both men and women as desired by Plato.
To placate the Colorado masses, we have both pretend direct and pretend representative democracy but that is largely window dressing. Any time the masses do something egregiously stupid any of our philosopher kings can change it for the good of all of us.
Back in 2006 the Colorado hoi polloi in their atavistic ignorance and bigotry voted to have “their” state constitution define marriage as union of a “man” and a “woman.” Luckily philosopher king Judge Raymond P. Moore struck down that ridiculous bit of direct democracy as his legal wisdom was recognized as being correct in the U.S. Supreme Court decision of Obergefell v. Hodges.
Do not think that a dutiful philosopher king like Raymond Moore bothers himself with simply hotly contested issues. Recently in the case of Holland v. Williams he went after another bit of voter approved idiocy concerning campaign state finance reforms. In his wit and wisdom Moore decided he didn’t like the fact that private attorney generals (everyday citizens) could just bring claims against candidates or their campaigns without the claims being vetted by someone so he struck that provision down as unconstitutional.
It was the perfect case for a modern philosopher king where the plaintiff, Tammy Holland, and the defendant, Secretary of State Wayne Williams, both adamantly disliked the campaign finance laws in Colorado and so neither argued for it. Moore refused other parties who do support the campaign finance laws from entering into the case. What is so cool about the case is that since both plaintiff and defendant don’t like the law neither will appeal Moore’s decision to the Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit so that Moore’s ruling can’t and will not be reviewed by anyone.
The best thing about being a ph
Judge Moore
ilosopher king like Moore is you can be as lazy as you want to be at times. Moore was too special to say how you vet the campaign finance complaints, just somebody should do it.
Secretary of State Wayne Williams is widely viewed as an establishment Republican hack who protects at any cost other establishment Republicans like Bob Beauprez and Walker Stapleton. He has now declared that he will simply do all the vetting of any complaints himself. Obviously, the voters of Colorado did not want politicians like Williams being the gatekeeper, but who cares what the voters want. The philosopher king can’t be bothered to decide and in in his absence the politically avarice Williams fills the void.
Other Colorado federal judge philosopher kings have also been active in their benevolent rule. In order to be placed on the primary ballot in Colorado, Colorado statutes provide one of the ways to obtain a sufficient number of signatures is to have petition gatherers who are Colorado residents. Six-term Republican Congressman Doug Lamborn could not be bothered with getting Colorado residents for petition gatherers and he was in danger of not making the ballot. First, he went to state court and lost all the way up, including the Colorado Supreme Court.
Luckily Federal District Court Ju
Judge Brimmer
dge Phillip Brimmer somehow decided that having Colorado residents collect signatures was a stupid idea that he didn’t like so voilá, he declared it unconstitutional and the Republican Congressman was back on the ballot.
Federal District Court Judge William J. Martinez recently decided he didn’t like parts of Amendment 41 which made it harder to change the state constitution by voters. He simply found significant portions of the constitution amendment to be unconstitutional.
These are but a few of many wonderful decisions by Colorado’s federal district court judges that make it clear dem
Judge Martinez
ocracy is largely a thing of the past here in Colorado.
Mark Twain sagaciously declared: “If voting made any difference they wouldn’t let us do it.” We here in Colorado can vote and approve directly or through the legislative process anything we want, but it really doesn’t matter. We have evolved into a form of Plato’s ideal of rule by philosopher kings. Hopefully our experiment will continually be improved upon and we can dispense with the cost and annoyance of the pretend direct and representative democracy. We can then just directly petition our philosopher king federal district court judges to direct all aspects of our lives. It has taken almost 2,500 years to recognize that we need to live under the rule of philosopher kings as outlined by Plato but we here in Colorado have finally gotten it right and it will only get better and better over time.
by Mark Smiley | May 25, 2018 | Glendale City News
by John Arthur
Writer for and on behalf of the City of Glendale
GLENDALE, CO – MAY 21: Saint Marys vs Lindenwood during the USA Rugby College 7’s National Championships at Infinity Park on May 21, 2017 in Glendale, Colorado. (Photo by Seth McConnell)
GLENDALE, CO – JUNE 3: Life West vs Raleigh at Infinity Park on June 3, 2017 in Glendale, Colorado. (Photo by Seth McConnell)
Tournament play has long been a staple at Infinity Park, the Glendale venue hosting some of the largest and most prestigious competitions in the country. Known as RugbyTown USA, Glendale has been a hotbed of national rugby activity for more than a decade. Starting in mid-May, tournaments returned again to the nation’s first rugby-specific stadium, kicking off with the USA Rugby Collegiate 7s National Championships. June 2-3 will see the USA Rugby Club National Championship competition, and August 24-26 Infinity Park’s signature annual event will again be in Glendale: RugbyTown 7s.
An increasingly popular rugby discipline, participation in Sevens play skyrocketed following the 2009 announcement of its return to the 2016 Olympic Games. A variant of rugby union play, Rugby Sevens is a faster-paced version of the sport, with smaller teams and considerably shorter game duration. Instead of the usual 15-player teams playing 40-minute halves, Rugby Sevens features seven players to a team and seven minute halves. The abbreviated game play places an emphasis on conditioning and endurance, and means that an entire tournament can be played over the course of a weekend.
In mid-May, Infinity Park hosted the USA Rugby Collegiate Sevens National Championships for the second year running. Founded in 2011, the tournament has consistently drawn the nation’s best young talent, producing competition at the highest level. 2018 saw the return of reigning Division I Men’s and Women’s sides from Lindenwood University, traveling from St. Louis, Missouri, to compete. Friday, May 18, through Sunday, May 20, 2018, more than 40 teams from colleges across the nation
GLENDALE, CO – AUGUST 27: Ramblin Jesters vs Fiji (Savu Water) during RugbyTown 7’s at Infinity Park on August 27, 2017 in Glendale, Colorado. (Photo by Seth McConnell)
gathered to vie for National titles in Men’s and Women’s Division I and II play. With teams from Arkansas to Arizona, California to North Carolina, it was truly a national gathering.
June 2-3 will see the next round of tournament action at Infinity Park, as the 2018 USA Rugby Emirates Airline Club National Championships come to town. Featuring club finals for Women’s Division I and II, as well as for Men’s Division I, II, and III teams, the tournament will decide the top amateur rugby talent in the United States. The USA Rugby Club structure divides the nation into two conferences: East and West. Within each conference are four distinct competitive regions (Pacific North, Pacific South, Frontier, and Red River in the West, and Atlantic North, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, and Southern in the East). The winners of each region advances to the semifinals, which took place May 19-20. The winners of those matches move on to compete at Infinity Park in June.
Every year, summer rugby in Glendale concludes with a bang: Infinity Park’s signature annual event, the RugbyTown 7s (RT7s) Tournament. Attracting scores of teams from every corner of the globe, as well as representative teams from every branch of the U.S. Military, RT7s provides Glendale spectators a taste of rugby’s universal appeal and expansive international presence. Last year’s tournament attracted thousands over three days of play, and with the emergence of professional rugby in 2018 stoking the U.S. fan base, promises to be larger still this August. Alongside the fast-paced competition, attendees will get to enjoy Glendale’s Bruises and Brews Beer Festival, a recent tradition that pairs Colorado’s craft brewers and distillers with the sport of rugby.
Augmenting the already exciting professional debut of the Glendale Raptors, tournaments at Infinity Park offer rugby fans another outlet for exploring the sport — enjoying top-tier play at the collegiate, club, and international level. In addition to the tournaments scheduled this year, fans can look forward to the Major League Rugby semi-finals, a double-header that will take place at Infinity Park on June 30. Long the epicenter of rugby in the United States, Glendale’s professional, club, and tournament play means that in 2018, more than ever before, the city is truly RugbyTown USA.
by Mark Smiley | May 25, 2018 | General Featured
Glendale Barnes & Noble Hosts Signing On June 16
The stories of three Colorado authors who found love in midlife when they least expected it are included in Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Miracle of Love that will be available in bookstores and online June 5. Cindy Charlton of Lakewood, Lisa Marlin of Denver, and Susan Mathis of Colorado Springs, are among the 101 authors featured in the latest release from the popular book series.
The new book is a compilation of true stories from women and men who have written openly about their adventures in dating and romance, proposals and weddings, lasting marriages and second chances at finding love.
Charlton had resigned herself to being content without a relationship. Her story “Romance Therapy” is about reconnecting with the physical therapist she’d met 20 years ago when she was adjusting to life as a triple amputee. Their midlife lunch date evolved into a new relationship. “When it happened, I couldn’t believe that this was my life,” she said. “When I gave him the story to read, before I even submitted it, he was a bit in awe I think.”
This is Charlton’s fifth time to be published in Chicken Soup for the Soul. “I wanted to share this unbelievable lov
Susan Mathis
e story with the masses,” she said.
Marlin said she’s enjoyed Chicken Soup for the Soul books for years and decided to see what it would be like to write for them. Scanning the lists of topics on their website last year, this one caught her eye. “I’d already written a love story as an anniversary gift to my partner about how I remember us meeting as teens but not getting together until 30 years later,” she said. “So I polished it up and sent it in.”
In March, she got word that her story “Haven’t We Met Somewhere Before?” had been selected. “After I got over the shock, it occurred to me that I should ask my partner if it would be okay to share our story with the world,” Marlin said. He did not hesitate when he told her, “Of course. We’re a good story.”
Mathis said that she too has always liked reading the inspirational books and was in fact published two years ago in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Spirit of America. For this new book she said, “I wanted to share our love story since it’s a story of commitment, hope and enduring love. In a world that throws away relationships far too easily, ‘for better or worse, in sickness and health’ is a much-needed vow.”
Mathis’ story “Live Without Regret” is about how they faced her husband’s health issues before and after they married. The couple has also co-authored relationship books, including The ReMarriage Adventure. Just days before his birthday in May, she surprised her husband with an advanced copy of the new book. “He, too, is happy to be part of sharing our ‘miracle of love,’” she said.
Lisa Marlin
Before the authors knew they had been selected, Amy Newmark, publisher and editor-in-chief of the Chicken Soup for the Soul book series, knew their stories would resonate with readers. “People tell us that they want to be able to offer hope,” she said. “They want to share this book with a 25-year-old daughter to encourage her as she waits for love or to let a widow or divorcee know that second chances at love are possible.”
With more than 150 books to her credit since she and her husband Bill Rouhana acquired Chicken Soup for the Soul in 2008, Newmark has a sense for what readers want. Sometimes she discovers that by what writers are submitting. That’s how this most recent book came about when a call for submissions for the topics “Step Outside Your Comfort Zone” and “Miracles and More” garnered a lot of love stories that fit into those categories but seemed to need a place of their own.
“As I got stories for the other books, there were all these fascinating ways people wrote that they found love,” Newmark said, adding that she approached her publishing team who all agreed when she suggested they do a book about finding love.
As with all Chicken Soup for the Soul books, this one delivers a message of hope. In this book, that hope comes from real life stories that prove love is possible at any age and often in the most unexpected ways because, after all, that’s the miracle of love.
Marlin and Mathis will sign copies of the book at Barnes & Noble, 960 S. Colorado Blvd., in Glendale, on Saturday, June 16, from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Charlton is not available for the event.
