Photographer Jonathan Diaz says “I have always been fascinated by the power and poignancy of a child’s imagination. Children are not afraid to dream big: they believe anything is possible. They are innocent. With this innocence comes dreams and honest aspirations that, from the view of an outsider, might seem impossible. However, through the eyes of a child, such dreams are absolutely obtainable.” Diaz is creator and photographer of Anything Can Be and a book “True Heroes” which features the dreams of 21 children are or were fighting cancer. Each child is featured in a professional photo shoot depicting his or her dreams. And 21 authors (including such best-selling writers as Shannon Hale, Brandon Mull, Ally Condie, and Jennifer a. Neilsen) were commissioned to write a story, featuring one of the children as hero.
In the first half of Monday’s Access Utah, we’ll talk with Jonathan Diaz, and Peggy Eddleman, author of “Sky Jumpers,” who wrote “Braelyn and the Speeding Train” included in the book.
Later in the program, Deseret News columnist Jason F. Wright writes “On Thanksgiving night in 2008, Taylor Richards of Sandy sat in his dark car a few miles from his parents’ home. He was exhausted, cold, 25 years old and a raging alcoholic. He was also alone. This wrong kind of silent night was interrupted by a phone call from his brother Spencer.
A few minutes later, they sat together in the front seat of his Subaru wagon and ate turkey and stuffing on paper plates.” Richards told Wright “I knew I needed to do something, but getting and staying sober and happy seemed about as likely building a space shuttle out of the few belongings I had in my car and then orbiting the Earth.” Richards is now sober, married with a son, and founder of a new business.Taylor Richards will join us in the second half of the program to tell us his story.
