Most people never listen: Hemingway

 "Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you'd have preferred to talk." --Doug Larson 

As the host of a daily radio talk show for more than 15 years, I learned some very important lessons. One of the best ones, the most meaningful, was the importance of listening. 

You’ll see and hear broadcasters who still haven’t received that message day in and day out on radio and TV. They claim to be interviewing, but they’re not listening to their guest. They’re simply nodding, and thinking about the next question they’re going to ask. Early on in the business, I learned that interviewing isn’t Q and A, it’s discussion! And meaningful discussion only happens when all parties listen. 

I’m harping on that topic today, because last night HFP CEO Matt Tjapkes introduced breaking news. He announced the formation of HFP’s first Client Advisory Committee. As you know, our clients reside in Michigan prisons. This has been a dream of our President for years: getting input, advice and suggestions from the people we serve. After a lengthy and deliberative process of selecting a broad cross-section of inmates, Matt announced the appointment of these six persons to our first committee, in alphabetical order: Steven Benjamin, Sharee Miller, LaChante Mobley, Jami Naturalite, Herbert Newman and Matthew Parker. 

I’m so pleased that these prison residents have agreed to serve in this capacity. I know all of them, and have great respect for all of them. 

This is a dramatic move for a prisoner advocacy agency. We know of no other organization that has taken a step in this direction. Granted, we’re going to have to walk before we run, but I think it is an exciting development. Who better to give us advice and suggestions than the very people we are trying to help? 

HFP, serving thousands of Michigan prisoners with this message: You matter! 

"One of the most sincere forms of respect is actually listening to what another has to say." Bryant H. McGill



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Half-a-race!

The HFP Drag-Racing Fund-Raiser had the potential of being extremely successful, and could have raised several thousand dollars. Let's just say it was partly successful. For background purposes I'll explain that I was racing a 1963 supercharged Studebaker Lark that has a reputation of being one of the fastest stock Studebakers in drag racing today. The engine was built by one of the finest Studebaker engine mechanics in the country, and the car many times has achieved quarter-mile runs in less than 14 seconds! We promised to make at least ten passes in the Pure Stock Muscle Car Drags at Mid-Michigan Motorplex in Stanton, Michigan, this past weekend, and we asked for pledges ONLY ON THOSE RUNS REACHED IN LESS THAN 14 SECONDS. On Friday, here's how we fared: Run #1 13.936 @ 101.24 mph Run #2 14.027 @ 101.30 mph Run #3 14.091 @ 100.88 mph Run #4 13.805 @ 102.84 mph Run #5 14.058 @ 101.26 mph By the 5th run we discovered that ...
Read more

Gregory John McCormick: 1964-2008

Itchy is dead. The lifeless body of this talented rock musician, whose band Shock Therapy was a popular group especially in Europe, was found in a field in Detroit last Wednesday, November 5. The Wayne County Coroner's office informed father Glenn McCormick that the body of his son Gregory, better known to all of us as Itchy, bore no signs of trauma. Glenn said that Itchy, who had been living at his father's dental lab in Detroit, had been drinking to excess for some time. While the toxicology report has not been released yet, the general consensus seems to be that he drank himself to death. Our agency, while still named INNOCENT, first got involved with Itchy in 2005. The Detroit native, who called Germany his home, got involved in some unfortunate activity that placed him in the Michigan State prison system on a charge of arson of a dwelling. It was really just a bonfire in an alley, but an alleged parole violation placed him in prison for 1-20 years. I personally sat w...
Read more

Three lives, connected by a divine thread

My kids say it should be a book! The Doug, Pat and Mark story is a doozie!   About 25 years ago, while fighting to free Maurice Carter from prison, I read a newspaper column written by Pat Shellenbarger of the Grand Rapids Press on the topic of eyewitness identification. I contacted Pat re that story. That led to a friendship between Doug and Pat that continues to this day.   In subsequent months, Pat would go on to assist me in an investigation into the Maurice Carter case that eventually led to solving the crime.  That particular episode became a chapter in my book about the Carter case, SWEET FREEDOM, published in 2006.   Fast forward to 2009, A New York businessman claims wrongful conviction, and while serving time in a Michigan prison is handed a copy of my book. Mark Hartman, who was also convicted in Berrien County, was amazed at the similarity of these two stories and tried to reach out to me. His letters bounced.   Persisting in his efforts to c...
Read more