I Really Enjoyed Producing TRP’s Episode w/ Carol Felsenthal
By Dr. Lucas J. Mather, Ph.D.
Here’s Why
The way the episode came about is a story in spontaneity and curiosity. My wife and I love used bookstores. Most of the best books have been published long before now. And I came across Carol’s book on Phyllis Schlafly. It was published in 1981 and was signed, not by Carol, but by Phyllis Schlafly.
We left the bookstore without purchasing it, and were to leave town the next day. On the way out of town, I said to my wife, I need to make a stop at that bookstore. I need the Phyllis Schlafly book — I sense it’s a part of the TRP project. I started reading it almost immediately and none of it disappointed — not a single word. The book is called “The Sweetheart of the Silent Majority,” and it’s linked in the episode https://www.therepublicanprofessor.com/podcast/ , specifically here .
Schlafly didn’t need publishers to sell millions of copies of books (sometimes within a matter of mere months). She did so, while pregnant !, and raising kids, and answering her own phone, in 1964, while working to get Goldwater not only nominated by the Republican Party but also elected president.
Carol is old school. She shared with us how she writes, what got her into writing, and some of her standards, habits, and fears. There’s no evidence of grade inflation. She had a Democrat-dominated background, but it wasn’t grade-inflated. The grade-inflation is relatively recent for Democrats.
What comes through the episode is her life-long dedication to her craft of writing, which starts and ends with not taking shortcuts. She does the work the long way and the right way. That was my take-away. That was what I found to be inspiring. As you’ll hear in the episode, that way isn’t the way to make lots of friends — some people just stopped talking to her because she did things the right way instead of the quick, easy way.
Check it out, and let me know what you think.
Master Luke, for TRP
(I have a Masters degree, so. Like Dr. Phil, it’s…yeah).
