How do we understand those who are different from ourselves, particularly when these are people we may have never met? Maine authors of both fiction and non-fiction can help us bridge cultural divides. Today, we speak with journalist and Telling Room cofounder, Sara Corbett, who writes the true story of Amanda Lindhout, another journalist who was held in captivity for more than a year by Somali extremists in the book, A House in the Sky. We also spend time with Eleanor Morse who explores her own experience with South African apartheid in the novel, White Dog Fell from the Sky.

Each of us has access to a different set of attributes: skills, talents and physical characteristics. For some of us the attributes are more readily apparent than for others. This is especially true of individuals who were, in the past, referred to as “handicapped.” We now understand these individuals to be ‘differently abled,’ and often capable of accessing attributes that many of us have never even considered, largely as a result of learning to work with the world. Today’s guests, Scott Wentzell and Charlie McBrady, have experienced this firsthand through their experiences raising differently abled sons, and through their work on the Morrison Center Board of Directors.