Fierce Conversations with Toby Toby Dorr

“And the point is, you can do it. You have more strength than you think you do. You can go through these tough situations. You move through that adversity, and you move through those struggles. And you keep going.” 
      Susan J. Godwin, fervent educator, writer, freelance artist, and today’s guest on Fierce Conversations with Toby Head to https://www.youtube.com/@fierceconversationswithtoby to find all video interviews!
Transcripts available at https://tobydorr.com/podcast-schedule/
Some of our fierce topics today:
 [03:28] It shouldn't be called breaking up, because that implies a quick break. It's more like a taffy pull.
[04:50] I discovered a female court of writers in the late 17th century.
[09:31] Crazy David was my boyfriend who faked his own death and then showed up at my house in the middle of the night a couple weeks later. 
[13:22] I was cocktail waitressing in LA at the world-famous Palomino Club and I waited on Manuel (designer to the stars) and we fell in love and got married and had a baby.
[17:19] But it felt if I didn’t leave him I would get cancer and die – it was such a toxic unhealthy moment.

Susan Godwin is a fervent educator, writer, and freelance artist whose world has always been steeped in books, from Harold and the Purple Crayon; she couldn’t resist drawing on her bedroom wall, no matter how many reprimands; to her first job as a library book mender in her Shaker Heights High School basement to teaching English at the prestigious University School of Nashville. A former Oxford scholar, Godwin has received writing awards from the University of Michigan, Middle Tennessee State University, and Bread Loaf School of English. Though writing is her true passion, she is also a visual artist working primarily in oils and pastels. Her home is outside of Nashville, in Dickson, TN, on the banks of a winding Tennessee river, in a hayloft renovated by her sweet, sexy husband, Tony; with help from their rotty, Roady! 
Links mentioned in this episode:
Susan J. Godwin:
https://susanjgodwin.com
____________________________________
Toby Dorr:
Books and Audiobook
Website  
Patreon
YouTube
Instagram
Facebook
Or head to https://linktr.ee/fierceconversations for all things Fierce Conversations with Toby.
Credits:
Created by Toby Dorr.
Produced by Number Three Productions, a division of GracePoint Publishing.
Theme song:
Lisa Plasse: Composer, arranger, and flutist
Caroline Parody: Piano
Tony Ventura: Bass
For more information on these fabulous musicians, please go to https://tobydorr.com/theme-song/

“And the point is, you can do it. You have more strength than you think you do. You can go through these tough situations. You move through that adversity, and you move through those struggles. And you keep going.”
-       Pat Black-Gould, Ph.D., clinical psychologist award-winning children’s book author, fiction author, playwright, and today’s guest on Fierce Conversations with Toby

Head to https://www.youtube.com/@fierceconversationswithtoby to find all video interviews!
Transcripts available at https://tobydorr.com/podcast-schedule/
Some of our fierce topics today:
[09:19] The Paperclip project, is a teacher’s desire to show her students just how big a number is.
[11:43] Turning a children’s book into a ballet performance…
[13:04] Creating a staged production with a dramatic reading of the book, an artistic collage, music and dance.
[14:42] Pat discusses her work as a prison psychologist and discusses the problems faced by those who never had a mentor figure to look up to. 

About Pat Black-Gould, Ph.d:
Pat Black-Gould, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist and an award-winning children’s book author, fiction author, and playwright. Her children’s book The Crystal Beads, Lalka’s Journey, tells the story of a hidden child of the Holocaust. The book is the recipient of the Moonbeam Children’s Book Award, the Northern Lights Book Award, and the Vinnie Ream Award. Pat is currently turning her book into a stage performance featuring dance and music composed specifically for her work.
Pat and co-author Steve Hardiman will publish their first novel in 2024. All The Broken Angels is a coming-of-age story set during the Vietnam War era.
As a psychologist, Pat has worked on an inpatient Deaf unit and, along with co-author Dr. Neil Glickman, published in the field of mental health and Cultural Deafness.   Pat has also worked as a neuropsychologist and a forensic psychologist in an inpatient forensic unit and at a men’s state correctional prison, working primarily with maximum security level inmates.
In addition, Pat worked for the Veteran’s Administration with a special focus on Vietnam Veterans. She was also the coordinator for the LGBTQ+ veteran population. 
In her early career, Pat was a director and playwright in professional theater and ran a summer stock theater company and a murder mystery theater company. 
Links mentioned in this episode:
Pat Black-Gould:
https://www.patblackgould.com/
____________________________________
Toby Dorr:
Books and Audiobook
Website  
Patreon
YouTube
Instagram
Facebook
Or head to https://linktr.ee/fierceconversations for all things Fierce Conversations with Toby.
Credits:
Created by Toby Dorr.
Produced by Number Three Productions, a division of GracePoint Publishing.
Theme song:
Lisa Plasse: Composer, arranger, and flutist
Caroline Parody: Piano
Tony Ventura: Bass
For more information on these fabulous musicians, please go to https://tobydorr.com/theme-song/

Head to https://www.youtube.com/@fierceconversationswithtoby to find all video interviews!
Transcripts available at https://tobydorr.com/podcast-schedule/
“The women of Framingham (Prison) sought a way out and their struggles gave them dignity. I could hear their voices speaking out of the darkness.”
 - Jean Trounstine, author, activist, professor emerita at Middlesex Community College in Lowell, Massachusetts, and today’s guest on Fierce Conversations with Toby
Some of our fierce topics today:
[02:57] I began working with people in prison and, it changed me, it turned me into a prison activist, and it turned me into a writer.
[04:50] If my students tackled Shakespeare, a writer they thought beyond reach, they would also be learning to take on what was most difficult in life.
[30:33] My new book is called Mother Love and it's a book of short stories about ten different women whose child killed someone.
[38:35] Poetry comes to you when you need to say something that comes so deep from the heart that you can't say it unless you do it in a poem. 

More about Jean Trounstine and her work:
Jean Trounstine
I prefer to talk about how I became an activist, working in a prison, writing books to change things. 
I have written 6 and write currently as well for the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism.
Shakespeare Behind Bars
I believed that if my students tackled Shakespeare, a writer they thought beyond reach, they would also be learning to take on what was most difficult in life.
The women yearned for change and growth.
Eventually the program took on a philosophy: art has the power to redeem lives.
I came to realize that most women in prison are not dangerous. What characterizes them more than anything else is their heartache. Instead of frightening me they seemed lost, with tragic lives.
I knew nothing of the fellowship that exists in prison. Women inmates seek relationships, thrive on it.
It is this prison community that sustains women who do time. It is this community that taught me to value the prisoner’s lives, to like and respect them, and to understand that they are more than news stories tucked away on a back page in our local papers.
While it is true that prison is a repressive environment, the one who offers hope in the classroom has the potential to effect change.
The women of Framingham sought a way out, and their struggles gave them dignity.
I could hear their voices… speaking out of the darkness.
Boy With a Knife
The United States was a county that set controversial boundaries where childhood ended and adulthood began in terms of criminal responsibility. Until 2005, the US was the only nation that still sanctioned the death penalty for youth.
These boys and girls, barely having earned their driver’s license, too young to vote, too young to legally buy alcohol or cigarettes, are locked away with adult men and women. This in spite of the fact that 90 percent of juveniles, even those convicted of murder, grow out of criminal behavior as they age.
Putting young people in state prisons essentially silences them.
Sending juveniles to adult prisons doesn’t make us safer.
The international standard for incarceration of juveniles for the most serious crimes is ten or fifteen years prior to parole eligibility.
Links mentioned in this episode:
Jean Trounstine:

https://www.concordfreepress.com/request-a-book-motherlove
https://www.jeantrounstine.com/
____________________________________
Toby Dorr:
Books and Audiobook
Website  
Patreon
YouTube
Instagram
Facebook
Or head to https://linktr.ee/fierceconversations for all things Fierce Conversations with Toby.
Credits:
Created by Toby Dorr.
Produced by Number Three Productions, a division of GracePoint Publishing.
Theme song:
Lisa Plasse: Composer, arranger, and flutist
Caroline Parody: Piano
Tony Ventura: Bass
For more information on these fabulous musicians, please go to

“For eight years, I was ashamed of my story. I learned that my story is freeing. Other people need to know that in telling their own story you can take your power back. And it takes away the power of those who are holding your story against you. Don't be the person others believe you should be just because you're a felon. 

I am enough. And so are you.”
-        Tanaine Jenkins, best-selling author, TedX Speaker, Director of The Florida Safety Coalition, and today’s guest on Fierce Conversations with Toby 
Head to https://www.youtube.com/@fierceconversationswithtoby to find all video interviews!
Transcripts available at https://tobydorr.com/podcast-schedule/
Some of our fierce topics today:
[03:49] Sentences don’t end when you get out of prison…
[08:43] I believed what society said about me. But when you change your mindset, everything changes.
[10:59] A person that fails to plan, plans to fail.
[13:52] The children of incarcerated parents need just as much help as their parents do.
[18:01] I help others through the process so they never have to feel like they are not enough.

About Tanaine Jenkins:
After giving 10 years of her life to the Florida Department of Corrections, Tanaine Jenkins has dedicated her voice to shining a light on the Second Sentence that Returning Citizens face once they are released from confinement. Tanaine is the best-selling author of From Prison to President: 7 Ways to Succeed in Your Second Chance, the President of Everything I Am LLC, the CEO of The Loc’d Line, a member of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition Policy Council, and a 2022 TEDx Jacksonville speaker. She has also been featured in Forbes, on the CW Channel and PBS. Through her company, Everything I Am, Tanaine has helped hundreds of returning citizens and justice involved individuals find their 'Why' and learn the power of self-forgiveness.
Links mentioned in this episode:
Tanaine Jenkins:

https://www.tanainejenkins.com/
____________________________________
Toby Dorr:
Books and Audiobook
Website  
Patreon
YouTube
Instagram
Facebook
Or head to https://linktr.ee/fierceconversations for all things Fierce Conversations with Toby.
Credits:
Created by Toby Dorr.
Produced by Number Three Productions, a division of GracePoint Publishing.
Theme song:
Lisa Plasse: Composer, arranger, and flutist
Caroline Parody: Piano
Tony Ventura: Bass
For more information on these fabulous musicians, please go to https://tobydorr.com/theme-song/
 

“I feel like it's gotten to the point where we're so scared of crossing a boundary that we just say nothing.”
-        Hannah Rumsey, developmental editor & writing coach for Sara Connell Coaching, Inc., creator and host of the podcast “Friends Missing Friends”, and today’s guest on Fierce Conversations with Toby.

Find the video interview here!
Transcripts available at https://tobydorr.com/podcast-schedule/
Hannah Rumsey talks with those who have experienced the death of friends, grief experts, and more, to normalize the complex grief of losing a friend in a world that often doesn’t understand. “I lost a dear friend several years ago. Now, my goal is to create a loving community of people who know what it’s like to grieve a friend. It’s a specific, unique type of loss, and I think it’s important that we come together and talk about it. If you’re grieving or missing a friend, I’m here for you. I understand.”
About Hannah Rumsey:
Hannah studied Creative Writing at VCU and Northwestern University and has a Certificate in Editing from the University of Washington. In her spare time, she loves podcasting, watching movies (and complaining about how the book was better), filmmaking, and all things comedy. She lives in Chicago, IL. 
Some of our fierce topics today:
[05:52] Hannah’s podcast is about the beautiful relationship between friends.
[09:04 ]Learn how her friend composed her podcast theme song.
[13:59] None of us can avoid death. It's just beautiful that you provide an outlet for such a difficult and ignored topic. Nobody wants to talk about death, but when I listen to your podcast, I hear beautiful stories that inspire me.
Links mentioned in this episode:
Hannah Rumsey
https://www.friendsmissingfriends.com/
https://www.hannahrumsey.com/
____________________________________
Toby Dorr:
Books and Audiobook
Website  
Patreon
YouTube
Instagram
Facebook
Or head to https://linktr.ee/fierceconversations for all things Fierce Conversations with Toby.
Credits:
Created by Toby Dorr.
Produced by Number Three Productions, a division of GracePoint Publishing.
Theme song:
Lisa Plasse: Composer, arranger, and flutist
Caroline Parody: Piano
Tony Ventura: Bass
For more information on these fabulous musicians, please go to https://tobydorr.com/theme-song/ 

Head to https://www.youtube.com/@fierceconversationswithtoby to find all video interviews!
Transcripts available at https://tobydorr.com/podcast-schedule/
Natasha Dasher is on a life mission to help Returning Citizens realize their true potential. She is an appointed Commissioner for Returning Citizens and Re-Entry Affairs and the co-chair of the DC Democratic Caucus for Returning Citizens.
Some of our fierce topics today:
[7:38] Natasha started the ButterFly village to help children deal with social media and the stigma of having an incarcerated parent whose case is in the news.
[14:07] Choosing not to be a victim by taking ownership of your poor decisions.

[19:14] The power of community.
[27:42] The importance of a re-entry plan begins the first day you’re incarcerated.
[43:31] The freedom of owning the remote.
Links mentioned in this episode:
MORCA (Mayor’s Office on Returning Citizen Affairs) https://communityaffairs.dc.gov/morca
The Butterfly Village https://thebflyvillage.com/
____________________________________
Toby Dorr:
Books and Audiobook
Website  
Patreon
YouTube
Instagram
Facebook
Or head to https://linktr.ee/fierceconversations for all things Fierce Conversations with Toby.
Credits:
Created by Toby Dorr.
Produced by Number Three Productions, a division of GracePoint Publishing.
Theme song:
Lisa Plasse: Composer, arranger, and flutist
Caroline Parody: Piano
Tony Ventura: Bass
For more information on these fabulous musicians, please go to https://tobydorr.com/theme-song/