All Episodes

July 30, 2024 36 mins
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.

Enjoy this episode and be sure to subscribe to the show.

If you have any questions or want to contact Nancy or Jose, please send an email to podcast@uwsd.org. Thank you for listening.

To learn more about the two social impact organizations making The Gap Minders possible, please visit www.TheGapMinders.org.
Mark as Played

Advertise With Us

Popular Podcasts

Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang

Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang

Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.

The Joe Rogan Experience

The Joe Rogan Experience

The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.

Stuff You Should Know

Stuff You Should Know

If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.