Working on a new website.  I've added a few services.  

I'm mentoring people who wish to present their writing in book signings, with readings from their books.  So many authors do not know how to read out loud.  It's essential to do it right, or you can hurt more than help.

Also, I am counseling people who wish to journal their lives or write memoirs for family history keepsakes.  

Doing a few readings of my own - original plays and excerpts from a book or two that I'm working on, especially my children's series, It Seems.  More about that later.

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ALL THINGS TO ALL PEOPLE

On this, the first day of my first post, I want to set the scene. I'm combining, at least for the moment, all of my hyper-activity into one Blog.

We'll be discussing issues pertaining to the following projects of mine (and I'll try to be clear and not obtuse, referring specifically to the project whenever possible, to avoid making the reader crazy.

1. Gary Young Unlimited is the umbrella organization.

Also, my playwriting efforts are under that banner, and occasionally under the banner of Archaesus Productions, a company that I started in Washington, DC, about 600,000 years ago.

My plays range from ten-minute treatments to full-length. Visit my website if you are interested in seeing the current list. I also write magazine articles, a non-fiction book, LOSS AND FOUND, which I'll explain below, and I'm in process for more writing, which I'll also explain a little about, below.

One of my plays, INTERRUPTIONS, was originally produced at the Kennedy Center, and ran in Hollywood for a summer. It's the story of a young man whose wife has died, leaving him in stasis. She "returns" to help him out, enlisting the support of a wacky pizza delivery man/apprentice psychologist/angel in training, her somewhat overly enthusiastic sister, and a slightly off the wall support group. It's serious and has lots of issues, but it's also off-beat and funny.

ON HOLD: The MYTH of Male Maturity, is a new one-person play that I will perform some time this year in Hollywood. Yes, I'm an actor as well. People who come to the play from this Blog will receive a $5 discount to the show, for any performance, if they just mention the Blog name.

I have several plays available for hire, appropriate for professional theatres and/or school productions.

2. LOSS AND FOUND: Surviving the Loss of a Partner, by Gary and Kathy Young.

The first edition is helping people, which it's all about, and it's being used as recommended reading at colleges through the doctoral level. It's really very easy reading, though. Both a man and a woman (myself and Kathy, my wife) discuss the issues pertaining to the loss of a partner. We both lost our spouses at a young age, and have been helping people nationally for quite a while now.

The second edition will be coming out soon. We'll be adding our Workbook, already available to those participating in our seminars. One such seminar was recently done at Esalen Institute in Big Sur. We'll also change the cover to the one pictured here, and a powerful forward. You can read about the book on the Loss and Found website. You can also sign up for our free eNewsletter in support of those who have lost a partner, if you are interested. One such newsletter can be previewed here if you want to see it.



3. LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT FOUNDATION
Our goals:
• Honoring those who have shown an ongoing commitment to enhancing the quality of people's lives.
• Celebrating excellence in the Arts.
• Recognizing positive, good works within the atmosphere of negativity throughout the world.
• Scholarships for the children of young widows and widowers who have demonstrated a need.
• Seminars, symposia, and workshops covering Human Rights, Wellness, Mentoring,
and other uplifting topics.
• Mentoring in the arts and letters

Our first Lifetime Achievement Award recipient was Ray Bradbury, and the experience was very inspiring! We will be honoring Mariette Hartley and Marcia Wallace in July, 2007.

It will be interesting to me to see how this Blog communicates to people. I will get into issues covered by the Lifetime Achievement Foundation, writers issues, publishers concerns, and some cool stuff about my plays.

Right now, I'm re-editing I'M A SHOE, a one-act play about a ship-board heist gone wrong, where the wrong diamond is stolen from the wrong person, the wrong body is in the suitcase, but he gets the girl in the end.

Chime in if you have a thought about any of this!