Hoping you can send some positive energy to an 11 year-old midwestern boy named Tyler. He's scheduled to have another cleft lip/palate surgery this Thursday, June 18.Bilateral clefts experience extra pain.According to his brave and resourceful mom who wrote me a heartfelt note* the other day, Tyler's had it tough of late. He feels like an outcast because bullies lay into him and call him names. As a bilateral cleft born with gaps to the left and right of the midline, I'd warrant a guess that … [Read more...]
Yale to showcase Cleft Heart
I'm excited to announce that Yale University will exhibit Cleft Heart: Chasing Normal in Sterling Memorial Library. The book will be featured in the Memorabilia Room of the library starting May 28, 2015. The exhibit will run through the summer into September. Sterling Memorial Library and Cleft Heart. The library is a fitting location for an exhibition since five chapters of the book deal with my life in Trumbull College, the residence hall that abuts Sterling. The exhibit represents a … [Read more...]
Things are looking up for site & Cleft Heart.
Can't complain about millions of site visitors. Just yesterday, my dog* and I were thrilled to learn some stats about this website (KarlSchonborn.com). As of May 1, 2015, over 125,000 readers have visited the website and blog (126,000 to be exact) since it's inception in February of 2013. They're responsible for over 2 million page views. In fact, exactly 2,195, 700 pages or blogs have been viewed—hopefully read. Cleft Heart. This is great news, and I'm cheered by the interest generated by … [Read more...]
How to stop a bully ——in the office, on the battlefield.
A fellow writer and college classmate of mine, Alain Gunn, recently penned this post about stopping bullies. He was responding to the debate about managing the threat from military activity in the Ukraine caused by Russia and in the Middle East caused by ISIL ( ISIS, Daesh, or the Islamic State, take your pick). What triggered author Gunn's essay was another classmate's assertion that "Anyone paying attention realizes Obama has no strategy against the Islamic State" (Bob Woodward, as reported … [Read more...]
Possible origin of “Cleft Heart” & other hearty phrases——a Valentine treat.
In honor of Valentine's Day, we'll look at eight phrases containing the word "heart." Most of this fun-with-phrases is due to the hard work of word sleuths at dictionary.com. Thank you kind souls for this . . . and the ongoing service you provide, esp to book authors. If you break someone’s heart, you cause them great disappointment or sorrow. This often occurs in the realm of love, though heartbreak is not exclusive to romantic endeavors. This expression has been describing sorrow and … [Read more...]
“Heroes, villains and fools” paintings: at Orinda Books this month.
Visitors to my website probably remember the elongated paintings that grace the left margins of most pages. The subjects of the paintings—in keeping with one of the themes of the website—are various American heroes, villains and fools. I intentionally chose well-known personages who force people to take sides since one person's hero is often another's villain . . . or fool. I've explained all this in a prior post which I've reprinted below.* In my memoir, Cleft Heart, I identify among other … [Read more...]
QB Peyton Manning: Cleft lip star makes history.
It was a special night for the Special Needs community. Bronco QB Peyton Manning threw Touchdown Pass number 509 to become NFL's all-time touchdown king. Cleft Lip steeled star for later surgeries. Here's how the Denver Post covered it. Cellphones were raised in unison at 7:40 p.m. The cheapest tickets for this game were priced at $301 in section 507, the highest $12,000 on the 308 club level. No one among the 77,047 standing fans was going anywhere at Sports Authority Field at Mile High … [Read more...]