Episode 117 | John Thill, Author, Learning Specialist and Literacy Advocate

In yet another excellent episode, Nancy and Jose are joined in the studio by John Thill, an author, a learning and development specialist, and a literacy advocate. 

When we say author, we mean storyteller.  A story of love, family, California history and how families are made.  "A California Love Story" starts in the 1920s with John's grandparents, future husband and wife Ray and Dora and their 205 letters back and forth from Wichita, KS to Oceanside, CA.  What we hear from John is how the letters reflect the love between his grandparents, their hopes, their dreams and Ray's incredible optimism about California and Oceanside in particular.  John was particularly moved by the promises made by his grandfather to his grandmother as to the life he would give her - and he followed through and ended up building a very succesful real estate company while also serving as Mayor of Oceanside.  We also hear why John painstakingly typed out the letters on his IBM Selectric in 1986 as a book for his family.  Not only was it inspiring, it was also partly how it handled the grief of losing his grandfather.  

An excellent interview from a passionate gap minder. Thank you, John, for your contributions in San Diego, and for joining us on The Gap Minders.

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