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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Susan Skog: susan@susanskog.com
or (970) 226-3014
PUBLISHING INDUSTRY TURNS DEAF EAR TO PEACE BOOK; AUTHOR TAKES
CALL TO READERS
EDITORS’ NOTE: The foreword for Peace in Our Lifetime
comes from Thich Nhat Hanh. It is endorsed by Yolanda King, daughter
of Martin Luther King Jr and Coretta Scott King, Arun Gandhi,
and Howard Zinn.
FORT COLLINS, CO - AUGUST 31 For two years, the most influential
book publishers in the country failed to hear the merit in author
Susan Skog’s message about peacemaking. “They said that a peace
book wasn’t commercial and that the market was too small,” says
Skog, the author of four traditionally published books.
But Skog’s inner voice said something different. Believing that
people, in this time of unrest, are hungry to talk and read about
peace, she issued her independently published book, Peace
in Our Lifetime: Insights from the World’s Peacemakers. Book
orders are streaming in, web sites are spreading her message around
the world, and Skog has speaking engagements into 2006.
"People say they are increasingly tired of waking up to reports
of new brutality. They're tired of endless conflicts in their
own lives, as well. They want something greater for themselves
and their children," says Skog.
Trained as a journalist, Skog spent three years interviewing
and putting together hopeful stories of peace from well-known
peacemakers in some of the toughest, high-conflict areas of the
world. They include Liberian refugee Kimmie Weeks, who negotiated
to free child soldiers in Africa; Compassionate Listening Founder
Leah Green, who trains people to listen compassionately; and Arun
Gandhi, who teaches people how to lay down their vengeance. She
also talked to people easing tensions in schools, neighborhoods,
and corporations.
"I gathered stories from Minnesota to the Middle East. These
people are creating epic changes in our world, but also showing
us how to achieve peace in our homes and neighborhoods. They illustrate
how we can channel our anger for positive change, find common
ground, build community, and reconcile with others.”
Ironically, after being unheard by mainstream publishers, Skog
found that the peacemakers she spoke with believe peace comes
down to one, critical thing: listening well. “We often turn a
deaf ear to people we don’t understand or agree with, fueling
tensions. Listening well is nothing short of humanitarian aid.
It heals individual relationships, as well as our relationships
with other nations.”
Skog is finding that, despite dour predictions of the publishing
industry, her book is attracting public and media attention. "If
ever there was a time to raise my voice for a more humane, thoughtful
world, it’s now. I'm a mid-life woman with two sons, concerned
about the direction of our world, and I am not about to sit back
and let my call for a more peaceful world stay silent," says Skog."
Peace in Our Lifetime: Insights from the World's Peacemakers
is available at www.susanskog.com
and www.barnesandnoble.com.
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