Spotlight: La Diva Renée!

Renée Fleming plans to enchant a Montréal audience with her famous voice, but not before giving me an exclusive interview about the origins of her career, her surprising political aspirations and her passion for music. Journalists have labeled her "America's favorite soprano," and I found the opera diva pleasantly down to earth. Raised in Rochester, New York and schooled in Rochester and Potsdam, Ms. Fleming is very familiar with the northern New York region, and says she can't wait to reconnect with her fans in the Adirondack region and southern Québec when she sings at Place des Arts in Montréal on January 25. Our interview took place in her Manhattan penthouse, where she talked about her early reluctance to perform and the challenges of being at the top of one's career. The story I am producing about her will feature career highlights, and some of the funny aspects with being so successful in a job in the performing arts. This "Spotlight" segment airs on Mountain Lake Journal Extra Thursday at 8:30pm on Mountain Lake PBS. It repeats on Friday at 6am and 12:30pm, Saturday at at 7:30pm and Sunday at 10:30am.

SPOTLIGHT: Healthy Humor!

A hospital stay is often no laughing matter, but health professionals say a little humor goes a long way in the healing process. This week, the spotlight shines on eleven year-old Anthony Grippo, who says he actually enjoyed staying in the hospital when he was founr years old. Grippo gives much of the credit to theresident clowns who kept his mind off the pain. Grippo, a studentat Children's World Academy in LaSalle, Quebec, now enjoys helping other kids get a healthy dose of humor too. That's why he rallied his whole school to raise money to give to the Dr. Clown program. Two school walk-a-thon projects have led to thosands of dollars benefitting kids at Montreal Children's Hospital. This "Spotlight" segment airs on Mountain Lake Journal Extra Thursday at 8:30pm on Mountain Lake PBS. It repeats on Friday at 6am and 12:30pm, Saturday at at 7:30pm and Sunday at 10:30am.

SPOTLIGHT: The Monkey Bible

I speak with author Mark Laxer about religion, science, and the origin of the human race. Laxer spent years researching scientific topics to accurately portray what scientists think about evolution. He also has reached out to the religious community to explore the mystical origins of human beings. Laxer says his goal is to bridge the gap between scientists and followers of religion so that people in both communities will feel compelled to work together to solve the problems facing our world and the creatures that live in it, including us! His novel The Monkey Bible presents a fictional story with scientific facts, and offers potential solutions to the problems that plague our world.