Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Did you know Book Interrupted has swag? Check out our swag shop on bookinterrupted.com. there's hats, t shirts, tanks, and a whole bunch more. Go to www.bookinterrupted.com.
[00:00:16] Speaker B: Parental guidance is recommended because this episode has mature topics and strong language.
Here are some moments you can look forward to during this episode of Book Interrupted.
[00:00:27] Speaker C: His bipolar disorder is not what defines him. It's not his identity that you wrote.
[00:00:32] Speaker B: It with your father. But I also noticed that he passed away.
[00:00:36] Speaker C: So he did that especially for the freedom rides, which people know about.
[00:00:40] Speaker B: I just think nowadays we're a lot more educated about mental health.
[00:00:45] Speaker C: I don't want to get too sappy, but he asked me while he was dying in the hospital. We've sort of given up on this collective shame and hiding. So he was always traveling and facing violence from racist white people.
[00:01:08] Speaker A: To read a book is the goal.
I wanna learn something new.
I don't wanna be disrupted.
My body, soul, inspiration is the goal.
And we're gonna talk it out on book. On Book Interrupted.
[00:01:37] Speaker B: Welcome to the author's spotlight. During these mini episodes, we have authors come on and tell us about their books and why we should read them. Let's listen.
Welcome to the authors spotlight. On this episode, we're talking with Lucas Klesing and his book Words with my father. Hi, Lucas. Thanks for being on the show. Hello.
[00:01:55] Speaker C: Thank you. Great to be here.
[00:01:57] Speaker B: So why don't you let us know why we should read your book.
[00:02:01] Speaker C: Somebody else described Words with my Father as a compellingly different mental health memoir amongst sort of a proliferation of that sort of genre. The reason for that is that this book doesn't center on psych wards and hospital stays and medication trials. A perpetual patient journal. It's much more about my father's journey through real life. And his bipolar disorder is not what defines him. It's not his identity. So it really promotes a sense of agency and responsibility and living your life with whatever cards you were dealt. And we think that's a really strong point of view when a lot of these other titles don't go into that so much. So the book explores how my father's bipolar disorder led to a pretty dangerous and dramatic existence during the civil rights movement, the environmental movement, the Vietnam war protests, and of how it drove what happened in those times for him. And also what we can learn from how he managed to get through his illness. I like to say that this isn't a story for readers or listeners. We have an audiobook coming out. It's Not a story of some other man's strange life. We think it really has the ability to draw you in and sort of make you part of the story because it employs all this historical context and events that you. You'll know about and you'll have opinions about and you'll recognize from movies and stuff. So it sort of takes you into the story, and it's not just some description of somebody else's experience. So we think that makes it a pretty unique experience for readers.
[00:03:59] Speaker B: So I was wondering, is this memoir or is it a biography? Like, I noticed that you wrote it with your father, but I also noticed that he passed away. So I was just wondering, did you write it together when he was alive, or was it stories that he told you and then you wrote as a biography of his life?
[00:04:19] Speaker C: I would classify it as a narrative memoir. You know, we have to put our books into categories for all the retailers and all that, so that's what I put it into. But you're right, it does fit multiple genres. But to answer your question, my dad had this long compilation memoir of his life that he was writing after he got diagnosed with early cognitive impairment, which is a precursor to Alzheimer's. So he wanted to get his thoughts and experiences down before his mind started to go. Unfortunately, a different disease took his life while he was finishing that project. I don't want to get too sappy, but he asked me while he was dying in the hospital to finish it for him. When that happened and I started, I thought, this would be great if I just edited it and put it out there as is. But it would be even better if I lent my voice and transported us between his experience in his time, which, you know, is 50, 60 years ago, and how it applies to our current world. That's more where my voice comes in, through chapters that we call reflections in the book that are interspersed between his retelling of his story.
[00:05:45] Speaker B: That's great.
[00:05:46] Speaker C: I love that it's not just a historical telling. It brings it into the modern world.
[00:05:52] Speaker B: Well, I think it's great, actually, especially if it has to do with his bipolar. I just think nowadays we're a lot more educated about mental health, and it's not necessarily such a thing to be, you know, kept quiet about. People talk about it openly. It's a normal thing. I have someone close to me, too, who has bipolar, and I know that in the past, when they were younger, only our family knew about it because, you know, you didn't really talk about it very much because there was a lot of misinformation and assumptions that people make and judgments that weren't fair or correct. So I like that it kind of weaves between the two because I think that our world now is a little bit more, I guess, tolerant of mental health or at least more educated about it.
[00:06:42] Speaker C: Yeah, well, like you said, I think there's sort of been this grand realization that almost everybody in their lifetime has these sort of struggles. So we've sort of given up on this collective shame and hiding, which is.
[00:06:58] Speaker B: Normal, it's actually common, and everyone just has a different version of something.
[00:07:04] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:07:04] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:07:05] Speaker B: That's great. So what I read about this book is the way you interweave between the two is you're having a conversation with your deceased father and then he's telling you stories. Is that how it works?
[00:07:20] Speaker C: Some of the marketing company makes it seem that way. It's more of him telling the story and then me reflecting on his experiences and then the. The values and takeaways from his experiences. So it's not literally back and forth conversation.
[00:07:41] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:07:42] Speaker C: It's like we call the sections Reflections. But I understand because we wrote some of the marketing company to make it seem like it's a dialogue like that. But don't be dissuaded. It's still good.
[00:07:55] Speaker B: Okay. No, no, I think that's great. Also, I read it goes into the civil rights movement, so there's a lot of stories from that in the book, right?
[00:08:03] Speaker C: Yeah. My dad's bipolar disorder manifested as it does for many people during the late teens, early 20s. And his mania manifested into sort of this activist frenzy where he would get involved in all these causes. And his main role in the civil rights movement was doing some of the marches and the protests, but also transporting black people to those gatherings all across the south and Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, northern Florida, Tennessee. He did that especially for the Freedom Rides, which people know about some of the sit ins at segregated restaurants and, you know, establishments that comprised sort of his activity with that. So he was always traveling and facing violence from racist white people in the South. He's been threatened and shot at and called all sorts of things. And so we go into that and how it interplays with how it. His mania led him to do that because he had all this energy and that combined with his ideas and his values into. Into that activism.
[00:09:23] Speaker B: That's great.
[00:09:24] Speaker C: And some of that same drive compelled him to. Into the anti Vietnam War protests and what they call the peace movement, and then later into the environmental movement.
[00:09:36] Speaker B: Wow, that's great. All right, so that's all the time we have. But for listeners, if you'd like to read Lucas's book, you can find it on our website at www.bookinterrupted.com shop and underneath the heading of Author Spotlight, you'll find it under there. You can also find his website on our show notes and you can read more about Lucas and his father and there's some bios on there. Your website's pretty good, so you can find that in the show notes as well. And there's also a blog that you can find all that information as well. Is there anything else you want to tell our listeners before we sign off about your book?
[00:10:17] Speaker C: When people ask me that, I always say if you connect with the book and it resonates with your life or your experience in some way, feel free to reach out to me by email or social media. I talk to people every single day, usually at least five to 10 people every day, about how the book connects with their life. And I love to do that. So feel free and I would love to hear your story.
[00:10:42] Speaker B: I can also put, if you'd like, your email address as well in our show notes and then people can know exactly where to find you.
[00:10:49] Speaker C: Okay, great. Great. Which is lucas wordswithmyfather.com well, thanks for.
[00:10:55] Speaker B: Being on the show. I really appreciate it.
[00:10:56] Speaker C: Thank you. Thank you, Sarah. It's been a fun conversation.
[00:11:00] Speaker B: Thank you for joining us on this episode of Book Interrupted. If you'd like to see the video highlights from this episode, please go to our YouTube channel, book interrupted. You can also find our videos on www.bookinterrupted.com.
[00:11:15] Speaker A: Bookies, we really want to hear from you. Go to www.to find out the variety of ways you can get in touch. Give us a call and leave a voicemail and we will play it on the podcast. Or write us an email and we can read it on the podcast. Or better yet, leave us a review on itunes. Anything, bookies, we want to hear from you. Pretty please.
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