Born and raised in NYC, Howard Feller, now 60, started writing comedy in his mid-20’s. Throughout his stand-up career, he’s also been a sidekick on “The Jon Stewart Show” and had various roles in films such as, “I Hate Valentine’s Day” and “Awakenings.” Most recently, he’s appeared on the 2014 TV series, “The Following.”
Here, he gives advice to up-and-coming NYC comedian Gabe Waldman at the iconic Stand Up NY comedy club.
Kelly Carrion, is a multimedia journalist who believes in the incredible influence storytelling has on people, and how they view the world. That is why she has made it her mission to tell compelling stories about extraordinary people. Her articles have been featured on NBCNews.com, NBCLatino.com, LowellSun.com and Nashoba Publishing. She is a recent Boston University graduate. Follow Kelly on Twitter @kellycarrion12.
Poet Laureate of Los Angeles Luis J. Rodriguez (Photo/ Arlene Mejorado)
Growing up in poverty in South Central and East Los Angeles, Luis J. Rodriguez says he found himself so emotionally empty that he joined a gang at age 11. He started abusing heroin by 12, and by 15, he was put in juvenile hall and later prison. It was his love for books, however, which turned his life around.
At 60, Rodriguez is now an award-winning poet, author, and founder of a cultural arts center which helps youth in the San Fernando Valley stay away from gangs. This month, he was chosen by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti to be the city’s second Poet Laureate, succeeding Eloise Klein Healy.
“I thought they’re probably not going to pick me,†says Rodriguez, who was one of approximately 30 applicants. “I was quite amazed. I also understand the responsibility. I want kids to recite poetry. I’ll do anything to get poetry exploding in Los Angeles.â€
Rodriguez will be getting an office in the same Central Library where he had once found refuge from the gang world four decades ago. The same peaceful place where he’d escape gunshots, and spend hours upon hours reading, will now be where he writes poems for his city.
Rodriguez remembers before he was aware of the power of books, the most eminent force in his life were the gang members who surrounded him.
“They were tough. Everyone was scared of them. They had heavy tattoos,†recalls Rodriguez. “I wanted to be part of that. I thought being a part of that, people would respect me.â€
However, in the late 60’s and early 70’s, he says soldiers began returning from the Vietnam War wounded mentally, and there was heroin everywhere. That’s when he says what he thought about gangs began to erode.
“You used to be able to trust your homies, but I realized you couldn’t trust an addict,†says Rodriguez. “I was becoming just like them. When guns come in to the picture, people start killing people. It wasn’t this homey and loving relationship. It wasn’t a place where people could relate and hang. By the time I was 19, I had lost 25 friends, I was addicted to heroin, my family threw me out.â€
Rodriguez spent time in county jail for some misdemeanors, where he started writing little stories, but once he was out, he decided he wasn’t going to go back. He opted to return to school instead and even went to night school to better his English.
“I started doing gang intervention,†he says. “I tried helping my neighborhood, and I actually got shot at by one of the gang members because of my work.â€
However, Rodriguez remained steadfast, after equipping himself with the power of books. He went on a 35-year mission of gang intervention around the world, which he still makes time for, and founded Tia Chucha’s Centro Cultural and Bookstore, with his wife, in 2001.
“This has helped a lot of kids,†says Rodriguez. “Gang kids show up, and they’re welcome. They are young people that need a relationship to options. The option can’t be, ‘I’m going to prison,’ or ‘I’m going to be a heroin addict.’ They need to know they have gifts and callings. That’s what they need to tap into. That’s the work that I do – tap into their own capacities – build them up from there, so they don’t feel like they’re trapped in their crazy life.â€
On November 1, Rodriguez will be one of the award-winning authors to speak at the 15th  Annual Los Angeles Latino Book & Family Festival – along with three other poets from Tia Chucha. He says it’s very important for him to give back to his community, because it was the same community which helped get him back on his feet.
What is the one piece of advice he would give his younger self with the wisdom he now has?
“The one thing I had was my imagination,†says Rodriguez. “All young people are filled with imagination, but with all the trauma of life and on the streets you lose it. You’re stuck trapped. Don’t lose your imagination.â€
Jim McNamara says he was often the only “gringo†in the room who knew Spanish.
He was born and raised in Panama City, Panama and left for the first time to attend Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida in 1972. Today, he resides in Miami, where he is the chairman of Pantelion and Panamax Films, as well as the Hispanic Scholarship Fund.
“My dream was to be a golfer,†says McNamara, 60. “I went to college with a golf scholarship.â€
However, life had other plans for McNamara.
“Through a series of events, I was befriended by Arnold Palmer – ‘the god of golf,’ he says. “He helped me get more focused, and I got into the sports industry.â€
One of McNamara’s first jobs was representing athletes and promoting sporting events.
“I quickly learned I was not a good agent,†he says. “I was transferred to the television division. I didn’t know anything, but I was searching for something I could be good at.â€
He says he worked his way up the ranks, and then got a job at New World Entertainment, an American independent motion picture and television production company. After five years learning the media ropes, he got a job as CEO of Spanish-language television network, Telemundo.
“I immersed myself in it,†says McNamara. “We really transformed Telemundo from a buyer [of programming] to a producer. I’m very proud of it.â€
He says after that experience, he decided he really wanted to give back to the Hispanic community that was truly meaningful. That’s what brought him to serve on the board of the Hispanic Scholarship Fund – a non-profit organization which provides scholarships and pre-college support services to Latino students – and where he’s been serving for the past 10 years.
“Our message is, ‘Don’t let the cost of college get in the way.’ Now I’ve become aware of what this means to the future of the U.S.,†says McNamara about the organization. “I truly think we are serving the country, and the U.S. Hispanic population directly, with the scholarships and directly informing parents and students.â€
He goes on to say that he believes with the growing number of Hispanics in the U.S., every American company should hire Hispanics to make up 17 percent of their workforce.
“It is in their best interest that the entire Hispanic population mirrors the entire U.S. population in education as well,†says McNamara. “We need to address this issue.â€
Meanwhile, on the work side, he says he also has started producing movies for the same market. “Instructions Not Included†was the first bilingual success in mainstream U.S. theaters in 2013,  “Cesar Chavez” (2014) was the first bio pic about one of the most influential Hispanics for labor rights, and he’s looking forward to the equally inspirational story-plots of “Spare Parts†and “Aztec Warrior†in 2015.
“It’s a fight between good and evil, and lots of special effects,†says McNamara about “Aztec Warrior,†starring Luis Guzman and Eugenio Derbez.
He says he’s grateful for each phase life has granted him.
“The sports job was the PhD, the events taught me how to sell, and best of all was Telemundo,†says the good-natured businessman. “The experience came in not knowing about Spanish television. I learned if you really commit, and I mean commit, you can really do anything. It opened up a lot of doors.â€
And he adds he’s really grateful that his parents had always wanted him to learn Spanish, despite his initial resistance.
“Be open to all ideas, and before you make up your mind. Take the time to learn a little about it, before you decide,†McNamara advises to youth.
My advice to parents, especially Latino parents:
“Do not let your kids not learn Spanish. There is a lot of peer pressure to not speak Spanish, but you’ve got to insist. English will take care of itself.â€
For millennia, our ancestors have existed in a very close relationship with the natural world. We have been intrinsically connected to the rhythms of our natural environment, from our water and food, to the changing of the seasons. As humans we seem to have an innate need to be close to nature and living things. We seem drawn, almost unconsciously, to activities which involve the natural environment.
It is only in more recent times, largely due to industrialization and urbanization, that man has become more and more disconnected and isolated from the natural world. People in industrialized nations now spend more than 90 percent of their lives indoors. Our time spent outside, surrounded by nature, is estimated at only 1 to 5 percent. In our modern society, that in-built need for relationship with nature has become disrupted, leaving us unbalanced and open to a variety of mental and emotional problems.
Most people are already aware of the beneficial psychological effects of simply being on a beach, paddling in a stream, or walking in a forest or the mountains. I’m sure it is no accident that we are drawn to areas of natural beauty when taking our holidays. The human need for nature is not just linked to use of its resources, but it also has an influence on our emotional state, thought processes, physical health, and even spiritual well-being.
Compared to many traditional talking therapies, eco-therapy is often focused much more on experiential learning. Participants are forced to learn to appreciate being present in the “here and now” and immerse themselves in the environment and activities. Because of this, change can often occur without the lengthy discussion often associated with many talking therapies.
You can develop greater awareness of your own strengths through the use of the natural environment and challenging nature-based activities. This can also build trust and motivation in yourself, and others, as well as reduce anger, depression, anxiety and stress.
Mankind’s use of nature to enhance well-being, physically, mentally and spiritually, has been around probably as long as humans have existed.
I make it my daily practice to get up at 4am. I then pray, meditate and read the scriptures. By 5am, I am out the door for my morning walk/run with nature, which brings me close to God. I walk literally looking up to the sky in awe of the immense beauty of the sun, the birds singing happily for a new day, and the smell of jasmine and other scents of trees and flowers. Then I do my yoga, and finally, I jump in the blue ocean to feel the warm water healing my soul.
Personally, these disciplines have brought me unlimited growth and understanding of my purpose.
Look around you, and try a nature regimen that works for you!
Dr. Josefina Monasterio is a certified life coach, fitness expert, and nutritional counselor based in Vero Beach, Florida. She holds a PhD in Adult Personal Development from Nova University and a Master’s Degree in Education from Boston University. Dr. Josefina is also a certified Yoga Therapist from the World Yoga Society of Calcutta, India, and host of Healthy Power TV’s “The Dr. Josefina Way.â€
Carol Crawford, originally from Buffalo, NY, has been creating art ever since she can remember. She inherited her talent from her father – an artist and calligrapher.
“I used to watch him work,†she says. “He did gorgeous lines. He handed me a bottle of India ink when I was seven and a sable brush. I never spilled anything.â€
And that’s how it all began.
Crawford has had a long art career consisting of documentary photography, filmmaking, printmaking, and theater set design. In 1995, she got a masters in interior design from Pratt Institute in NYC – where she has been teaching since 1999. Slightly before that, she also founded her own design firm, Carol Crawford Environments, which specializes in sustainable interior design. And on October 7, her latest exhibit, “Time Frames: Visual Metaphors for the Passage of Time†opens in New York.
“All the work was done in 2014,†says Crawford about her latest exhibit which she completed while on medical leave from Pratt. “I had spinal surgery, and it took a long time to heal. I thought I would go out of my mind, so I decided to throw myself into studio work. I plunged in. It was an evolution from designs from my sketchbook.â€
She says what she loves most about art is the ability to communicate and to invent.
“What I like about it is telling stories,†says Crawford. “I’m looking always to break new ground. It’s mixed media, because I love to shift. I’ve used a lot of wood and plexiglass, and photography has always played a large part. I used to make a living as a documentary photographer – so the camera is an important tool.â€
Whatever she has worked on throughout her life, she says, she has loved. And she also made sure to make time for everything that was important to her.
“I’ve been teaching in universities and colleges from California to Maryland for the past 60 years…I love teaching very, very much, but I didn’t want to give up the idea of becoming a mother,†says the busy woman who now has four grown kids and five grandchildren. “…One of the things I had to fight for was to have children and a family – so it means a great deal.”
Crawford says she wasn’t always so sure about what she wanted. One day her father asked her why she didn’t go to Pratt?
“We were not rich,†she remembers. “I was always a scholarship student with a job. I thought, ‘How could I do that?’â€
And then her mother asked her, “Wouldn’t you like to be a designer? You keep doing it for free?â€
Crawford says she didn’t know how she could go back to school with four kids, and she recently realized it all happened. She had actually graduated from Pratt and is a designer and teacher.
“Some of the best ideas I’ve ever had was using my brain with my feelings,†she says. “Some of the best artwork has come from that as well.â€
If she had one piece of life advice that she would tell her younger self, it would be to be true to yourself, others and stick to your dream – even if you don’t know how you are going to make money.
“If you haven’t already fallen in love with something…listen to yourself,†says Crawford. “If you are an honest observer to life around you, you’ll come up with something that is true to you. You will have success if you do that.â€
Kelly Carrion, is a multimedia journalist who believes in the incredible influence storytelling has on people, and how they view the world. That is why she has made it her mission to tell compelling stories about extraordinary people. Her articles have been featured on NBCNews.com, NBCLatino.com, LowellSun.com and Nashoba Publishing. She is a recent Boston University graduate. Follow Kelly on Twitter @kellycarrion12.
