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Rabbi Sandy Eisenberg Sasso is an award-winning author of books for children of all faiths and backgrounds. She has been rabbi of Congregation Beth- El Zedeck in Indianapolis since 1977.

     Sasso was the second women to be ordained a rabbi (in 1974) and the first women rabbi to become a mother. She and her husband, Dennis, were the first rabbinical couple to jointly lead a congregation.

     Rabbi Sasso has published ten books, including: But God Remembered and A Prayer for the Earth. She writes a weekly column for the Indianapolis Star on religious and spirituality issues. Her new book Cain and Abel: Finding the Fruits of Peace was published last fall. I spoke with Sasso while she was visiting Toronto recently for an event celebrating "Thirty Years of Women as Rabbis."

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by Gerry McCarthy

Mark Kingwell is a professor of philosophy at the University of Toronto. He has lectured to academic and popular audiences throughout the world. A contributing editor at Harper’s Magazine, Kingwell’s work has appeared in numerous publications including: The New York Times Magazine, Adbusters, Utne Reader, and The Globe and Mail.

     Kingwell is the author of eight books including: Dreams of Millennium, Better Living, Marginalia, The World We Want, Practical Judgments, and Catch and Release.

     His new book Nearest Thing To Heaven: The Empire State Building and American Dreams was recently published by Yale University Press. I reached him in Toronto to speak about the book.

Gerry McCarthy: In Nearest Thing To Heaven you quote Fay Wray. She once said that: "When I’m in New York, I look at the Empire State Building and feel as though it belongs to me, or is it vice versa?" You then add: "Of course, many people feel as though the Empire State belongs to them. It is, we might say, part of its iconic genius that the building, at once so forbidding and so familiar, becomes its own kind of monumental household possession, a shared treasure not just for all New Yorkers, but of anyone who has ever visited New York –in person or, sometimes more powerfully, only via the overwhelming imaginative medium of film." Can you speak to me about this? What was Fay Wray trying to say?

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by Gerry McCarthy

Charles Curran is a distinguished moral theologian and the author of numerous books, including: Catholic Social Teaching 1891-Present: A Historical, Theological, and Ethical Analysis, The Catholic Moral Tradition Today: A Synthesis, and The Origins of Moral Theology in the United States. He is also co-editor of a twelve-volume series from Paulist Press entitled Readings in Moral Theology.

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by Gerry McCarthy

Dan Wakefield is a novelist, journalist, and screenwriter. He is the author of two best-selling novels Going All The Way and Starting Over, which were produced as feature films. His memoir New York in The Fifties was also produced as a documentary film.

     Currently, Wakefield is Writer-in-Residence at Florida International University’s Writing Program. A graduate of Columbia University, he has also taught at Boston University and the Iowa Writer’s Workshop.

     In addition to five novels, Wakefield has written 11 non-fiction books. Some of these books include: Expect a Miracle, Creating from the Spirit, and How Do We Know When It’s God? Wakefield has also been a Neiman Fellow at Harvard and a grantee of the National Endowment for the Arts. His work has appeared in The New York Times magazine, The Nation, Harper’s, The Atlantic Monthly and GQ.

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by Gerry McCarthy

Dr. Robert Franklin is the Distinguished Professor of Social Ethics at Emory University. He is one of the leading voices in theological education.

     An ordained clergyman, Dr. Franklin has served at Harvard Divinity School, The University of Chicago, and the Interdenominational Theological Center. His previous books include Liberating Visions, and Another’s Day Journey. His new book Crisis in the Village: Restoring Hope in African American Communities was just published by Augsburg Fortress Press.

I reached Dr. Franklin in Atlanta, Georgia, where he lives with his wife and three children.

Gerry McCarthy: Early in Crisis in The Village you write that: "The world needs strong moral leadership, but our national leaders continue to miss opportunities to provide it." Are you hopeful this can change?

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by Gerry McCarthy

Alexander Shaia is an educator, spiritual director, author, psychotherapist, and professional speaker. He’s also the founder and director of the Blue Door Retreat in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

     Shaia has a doctorate in clinical psychology. He travels internationally and conducts retreats and seminars on Quadratos, Christian Spirituality, rites of passage, and Jungian Sandplay therapy.

     His new book, Beyond the Biography of Jesus: The Journey of Quadratos (Book 1) was published by Cold Tree Press. Book 2 will be published this summer. I reached him in Orlando, Florida.

Gerry McCarthy: You’ve talked about fundamentalisms on the left and right in Christian denominations today. Can you speak to me more about this?

Alexander Shaia: Today both sides of the continuum are flattening the message of Jesus Christ down to one aspect. One side is passionately focused on the literal words in the scriptures. The other side is concerned about history, and the re-creation of the first century and Jesus’ original words. Quadratos uses both perspectives, but toward a new end. The Gospels were not intended to be about a dead philosopher, but a risen Jesus the Christ.

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by Gerry McCarthy

Huston Smith is recognized internationally as a leading public scholar of world religions. He has taught at Washington University, MIT, Syracuse University, and was recently visiting professor at the University of California, Berkeley.

Dr. Smith is the author of two best-selling books entitled The Religions of Man (re-published as The World’s Religions in 1991) and Why Religion Matters (2001). His forthcoming book The Soul of Christianity: Retrieving The Great Tradition will be published this summer by HarperSanFrancisco. I reached Dr. Smith in California.

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by Gerry McCarthy

Stacey Kent with husband Jim Tomlinson

Stacey Kent is an award-winning singer with six best-selling albums. She won the 2002 BBC Jazz Award for "Best Vocalist."

     A native of New York, some of Kent’s albums include: In Love Again, Close Your Eyes, The Tender Trap, and Boy Next Door.

     The Lyric is Kent’s latest album. On the album she collaborates with her husband Jim Tomlinson –who is a saxophonist. I reached Kent in New York City to speak about her work and new album.

Gerry McCarthy: I understand The Lyric was "Album of The Year" at the 2006 BBC Jazz Awards this past July.

Stacey Kent: Yes –we’re so thrilled.

GM: Congratulations.

SK: Thank you.

GM: When is the album available in the United States?

SK: It’s released on September 12. It was released in Canada earlier. It makes the rounds according to when we’re touring –and we come to America in October.

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by Gerry McCarthy

Jesuit Fr. Walter Burghardt is the founder and past co-director of "Preaching the Just Word," the pioneering program at Woodstock Theological Center, Georgetown University. The program encourages and assists ministers throughout the United States and internationally to become effective preachers of biblical justice. He is also professor emeritus of patristic theology at Catholic University of America, former editor-in-chief of Theological Studies, and past president of the North American Academy of Ecumenists....

by Gerry McCarthy

Robert Ellsberg is Editor-in-Chief of Orbis Books, the publishing arm of the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers. In the early 1970s, he left Harvard and spent 5 years working with Dorothy Day at the Catholic Worker community in New York. In 1980 Ellsberg converted to Catholicism. He later returned to Harvard and received a degree in theology....

by Gerry McCarthy

Donald Messer is a United Methodist minister and scholar. He is past president of Iliff School of Theology, where he is currently the Henry White Warren Professor of Practical Theology. He is also Director of the Center for Global Pastoral Ministries at Iliff....

by Gerry McCarthy

George McGovern is a former U.S. Senator from South Dakota and the 1972 Democratic Presidential Candidate. In 1997, he was appointed by President Clinton as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food And Agriculture. In 2001 he was appointed United Nations Global Ambassador on World Hunger. He’s also a recipient of the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom....

by Gerry McCarthy

Miriam MacGillis is a member of the Dominican Sisters of Caldwell, New Jersey. She lives and works at Genesis Farm, which she co-founded in 1980 with the sponsorship of her Dominican congregation.

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by Gerry McCarthy

Roger Gottleib is a philosophy professor at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts. A columnist for Tikkun magazine, he is the author or editor of a dozen books. Some of those books include: Liberating Faith: Religious Voices for Justice, Peace, and Ecological Wisdom, and Joining Hands: Politics and Religion Together for Social Change, and Deep Ecology....

by Gerry McCarthy

Acclaimed as the greatest baseball writer of his generation, Roger Kahn is the author of seventeen books, including: the award-winning bestseller The Boys of Summer, A Flame of Pure Fire: Jack Dempsey and the Roaring ’20s, Head Game: Baseball Seen From the Pitcher’s Mound, and Good Enough to Dream....

by Gerry McCarthy

Fr. Diarmuid O’Murchu is a social psychologist and member of the Sacred Heart Missionary Congregation. He lives in London, England.

     O’Murchu has written numerous books, including: Quantum Theology: Spiritual Implications of the New Physics, Reclaiming Spirituality: A New Spiritual Framework for Today’s World, Poverty, Celibacy, and Obedience: A Radical Option for Life, and Evolutionary Faith: Rediscovering God in Our Great Story.

     A revised edition of Quantum Theology was published last year by Crossroad. I reached Fr. O’Murchu in Peru to speak about the book and other issues.

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