| Today, Norm Goldman, Publisher & Editor of | | | | plus. Initially I wanted the book to include |
| is excited have as his guest Frank McGee, | | | | story-telling pictures throughout, as we had |
| author of A Song for the World: The Amazing | | | | unearthed great photography from around the |
| Story of the Colwell Brothers and Herb Allen: | | | | world. But an important New York publishing |
| Musical Diplomats. | | | | company we were in contract negotiations with |
| | | | made it a condition that they would control |
| Frank has built a distinguished career as a | | | | the design and format, much to my |
| writer and journalist over half a century. In | | | | unhappiness. That contract was not finalized, |
| the tumultuous 1960s he covered stories as | | | | fortunately, and Many Roads Publishing in |
| far a field as Brazil, Indonesia, and Viet | | | | Santa Barbara, California produced a |
| Nam. As managing editor of Pace magazine, a | | | | picture-rich design and format that greatly |
| contemporary of Life, Look, and Holiday, he | | | | enhances the effectiveness of the book. |
| worked with thought leaders from around the | | | | |
| world. | | | | Norm: |
| | | | |
| Norm: | | | | What's the most difficult thing for you about |
| | | | being a writer and journalist? |
| Will you share a little bit about A Song for | | | | |
| the World: The Amazing Story of the Colwell | | | | Frank: |
| Brothers and Herb Allen: Musical Diplomats | | | | |
| with us? | | | | Well, you've probably heard the old saying: |
| | | | "There comes a time in the life of every |
| Frank: | | | | decision when it's got to be made." I |
| | | | translate that to mean that if you're a |
| Glad to Norm. This is a book about the power | | | | writer and journalist you need deadlines. |
| of music. It tells the story of four | | | | I've never relished them, something to do |
| musicians, The Colwell Brothers and Herb | | | | with my temperament I suppose, but it's |
| Allen. The Colwells were already country and | | | | obvious that until there's a deadline, |
| western instrumental and singing stars in | | | | nothing happens. |
| their teens, on TV and national radio in the | | | | |
| Tex Williams shows that originated at Knott's | | | | But deadlines are insignificant compared to |
| Berry Farm, the first theme park in America. | | | | the satisfaction, intense at times, of |
| They were the youngest group under contract | | | | creating something that you know has |
| with a major label, Columbia Records. | | | | significance and value. I'm very lucky to be |
| | | | in this profession. I became a photographer |
| Herb Allen of Seattle, a true music prodigy, | | | | in Brazil, moved on to creating magazine |
| conducted the Seattle Baby Orchestra at age | | | | photo essays, and then to editing, writing, |
| four. He was a xylophone maestro performing | | | | and publishing. |
| weekly on radio from age five to sixteen, a | | | | |
| student of classical piano scheduled to enter | | | | Norm: |
| Oberlin School of Music, and in high school, | | | | |
| conductor of his own dance band, "Herbie | | | | Do you feel that writers, regardless of genre |
| Allen and his Orchestra." | | | | owe something to readers, if not, why not, if |
| | | | so, why and what would that be? |
| In their teens these four musicians made a | | | | |
| choice that startled everyone who knew them: | | | | Frank: |
| they committed their lives to public service. | | | | |
| The remarkable story of how this happened, | | | | I definitely feel writers owe something to |
| and what their decisions led to, is told in | | | | readers. Some books have been hinges on which |
| the book. | | | | doors of enlightenment have opened. Whatever |
| | | | we read remains forever in the mental |
| Here's a quick rundown: The Colwells went on | | | | landscape of our lives. Whether the |
| to perform in 37 languages and dialects, | | | | contribution grows or withers is up to each |
| including songs written with locals in the | | | | individual, but putting it there in the first |
| scores of countries they visited. They sang | | | | place is a considerable responsibility, I |
| in African villages, the Diet of Japan, and | | | | would say. |
| Carnegie Hall. They worked for a full year in | | | | |
| the Congo as the country gained independence, | | | | Norm: |
| lived through revolution and invasion, and | | | | |
| made 400 broadcasts on Radio Congo (there's a | | | | As a follow up, what does it mean to tell the |
| quite dramatic chapter, if I may be permitted | | | | truth? And what does it mean to tell stories |
| to say so, about that tumultuous year). They | | | | in a work of non-fiction? |
| walked through Indian villages with Gandhi's | | | | |
| disciple Vinoba Bhave seeking land for | | | | Frank: |
| landless peasants. | | | | |
| | | | What a great question, Norm! A wise family |
| The Colwell Brothers and Herb Allen began | | | | friend once told us of an exchange she'd had |
| collaborating from their first meeting in | | | | with her professor at Vassar College. |
| Switzerland in 1953. In 1965 they were the | | | | Apparently she had submitted a paper in which |
| musical founders of Up with People, and a | | | | she'd stated some opinion as fact. So her |
| decade later literally invented the modern | | | | professor asked her, "And what else is also |
| Super Bowl Halftime Show format during | | | | true?" The topic of truth has filled |
| America's Bicentennial Year, 1976. They | | | | countless volumes and will fill countless |
| performed in three more Super Bowl shows, | | | | more. What is truth to one might seem lies to |
| more times than anyone else on record. That's | | | | another. But if writers portray what they |
| how many people came to know of them: through | | | | sincerely believe, we should regard their |
| television audiences of 90 million at those | | | | writing as ethical, even if we are |
| games. In 1978, at the end of Mao's Cultural | | | | diametrically opposed to what they're saying. |
| Revolution, their Up with People cast was the | | | | Sounds like we're describing the religious |
| first performing company to visit China. And | | | | and political divides of the world here, |
| in 1988, before the Berlin Wall came down, | | | | doesn't it? |
| the first in the Soviet Union, where they | | | | |
| returned three more times. There's lots to | | | | About stories, I think they can make |
| tell. | | | | non-fiction immensely readable. My wife |
| | | | Helen, who was an English major, has insisted |
| Norm: | | | | for years that history should be taught |
| | | | through literature; it would be better |
| What motivated you to write your book and | | | | absorbed and understood. Currently we've been |
| whom do you think will benefit from reading | | | | reading historical novels, and I've become |
| it? What are your hopes for this book? | | | | intrigued with things I never thought I'd |
| | | | care about, as I tended to fall asleep in |
| Frank: | | | | history class. In A Song for the World, I've |
| | | | been fortunate, as there was a wealth of |
| The seed was planted in 2003. At a gathering | | | | first person information in the letters |
| of longtime friends a prosecuting attorney | | | | retained and in the interviews. |
| from California told us about terrible things | | | | |
| youth in her city were facing. "There ought | | | | Norm: |
| to be a book about what the Colwells and Herb | | | | |
| have done," she declared. That resonated | | | | In the past few years or so have you seen any |
| instantly with all of us. We knew the | | | | changes in the way publishers publish and/or |
| adventures of these amazing musicians were | | | | distribute books? Are there any emerging |
| not only history making but topical. Of | | | | trends developing? |
| course I only realized after the research | | | | |
| just how profound the story was, an intensely | | | | Frank: |
| relevant story of courage, and doing | | | | |
| something of value with your life. | | | | Many changes, Norm, and all of them |
| | | | contributing to the accessibility of |
| Who will benefit from reading the book? I | | | | information. Conventional publishing channels |
| think what a great English headmaster said in | | | | still run the Olympic games for writers, but |
| 1862 would answer that: "Music is the only | | | | the initial selection process can overlook |
| thing which all nations, all ages, all ranks, | | | | significant manuscripts. A friend recently |
| and both sexes do equally well. It is sooner | | | | sent me an article that appeared in The |
| or later the great world bond." Music has the | | | | Guardian. It seems that a writer, puzzled by |
| power to connect people whether they're | | | | continuing rejections of his masterpiece, |
| musicians or not. Some read the book as an | | | | submitted to eight major publishers the first |
| adventure story, not a Harry Potter sort of | | | | chapters, with surnames and locations only |
| one of course, but a story from real life | | | | slightly modified, of several Jane Austin |
| that also intrigues the imagination. | | | | novels. He received seven rejections, with |
| | | | standard not the type of book for us |
| Here are my hopes for the book. The Colwell | | | | explanation and keep writing and good luck |
| Brothers and Herb Allen have been called | | | | best wishes. Only one responder mentioned the |
| musical diplomats. Doors have opened to them | | | | plagiarism, which he seemed to find amusing. |
| wherever they've gone, because they've gone | | | | |
| to listen and to learn, to appreciate instead | | | | I think writers, now as always, need to catch |
| of compare. That sort of diplomacy is needed | | | | the attention and spark the enthusiasm of |
| in the polarized environment of our times. | | | | someone who will carry the writer's banner, |
| Many NGOs operate on that basis. But if | | | | and will wave it where it can be seen. You've |
| official diplomacy also did, think what a | | | | heard the axiom: "You can promote anyone but |
| giant step that would be toward building a | | | | yourself." But the writer may have to work to |
| better world. That's why I hope to see this | | | | find that third person, whether enthusiast, |
| book utilized by schools and universities | | | | agent, or publisher. |
| that train public servants and candidates for | | | | |
| Foreign Service. | | | | Publishers have long probed distribution |
| | | | channels and are expert at exploiting book |
| Norm: | | | | clubs, bestseller lists, teacher assignments, |
| | | | library recommendations and more. Of course |
| Can you explain some of your research | | | | now the apparently limitless possibilities of |
| techniques, and how you found sources for | | | | the digital world are changing everything |
| your book? | | | | from bottom to top. |
| | | | |
| Frank: | | | | Norm: |
| | | | |
| With this book I was really lucky. The | | | | What do you think of the new Internet market |
| families of these guys kept the letters and | | | | for writers? |
| photos they'd received from their | | | | |
| globetrotting sons. Among hundreds of letters | | | | Frank: |
| were the personal stories of the struggles | | | | |
| they'd faced operating for years in crisis | | | | Well just look at us, Norm. Here we are |
| areas around the world, of the sheer grit and | | | | having this conversation online! Our kids |
| sacrifice involved. Then when it got out that | | | | think it's perfectly natural, and it is |
| a book was in the works, people from other | | | | today, but I grew up before you could say |
| countries began sending photos and documents | | | | something like that, and I still find it |
| they'd squirreled away about some historic | | | | pretty amazing. Someone might read your |
| event. I received emails, letters, photos, | | | | interview tomorrow in Berlin, or Bangkok, or |
| publications, and record albums from across | | | | Budapest. Of course A Song for the World is |
| the world, Zurich to Anchorage, London to | | | | all about that, isn't it? Connecting? |
| Cape Town, Hollywood to Helsinki. And of | | | | |
| course the color of the story and much of the | | | | Norm: |
| dialogue developed through hours of | | | | |
| interviews with the artists, and with music | | | | Is there anything else you wish to add that |
| industry people with whom they've worked. | | | | we have not covered and what is next for |
| | | | Frank McGee? |
| Norm: | | | | |
| | | | Frank: |
| What challenges or obstacles did you | | | | |
| encounter while writing your book? How did | | | | Most of all I hope a lot of people will read |
| you overcome these challenges? | | | | the book, because what these musicians have |
| | | | done offers real hope for the future. There's |
| Frank: | | | | an engaging glimpse of the story at and the |
| | | | book can be purchased there. |
| I'll mention just a couple. The first | | | | |
| challenge shouldn't have existed: biographers | | | | We're in the midst of a book tour now and |
| should portray their subjects with complete | | | | there is information about that on the |
| objectivity; I was a journalist long before I | | | | website. Special appearances by the Colwell |
| put on the hat of "author" and well aware of | | | | Brothers and Herb Allen in connection with |
| that. As the story unfolded though, with its | | | | the tour have caused a buzz in cities across |
| unparalled global connections, and I became | | | | the country. |
| increasingly impacted by the lives and work | | | | |
| of these four musicians, I needed to be | | | | Next for me is a novel I was working on and |
| certain that I let the story speak for | | | | set aside to write A Song for the World. I'll |
| itself. They've never made claims, and | | | | be expecting a bidding war for the publishing |
| neither should I. | | | | rights for that, of course. Many thanks for |
| | | | inviting me today, Norm. |
| The other challenge turned into a very great | | | | |