“Use All The Crayons!” companion Podcast coming Oct. 3!
Here’s the press release …
One of Latrobe’s most seasoned storytellers is launching a weekly podcast that will feature Latrobe as the beguiling backdrop for every tale.
Chris Rodell, author of popular offbeat biographies of Fred Rogers and Arnold Palmer, will on Oct. 3 release “Use All The Crayons!” featuring a treasure chest of rollicking stories originally appearing in many of America’s most popular and prestigious publications.
Mayor Eric Bartels says, “Chris Rodell took the time to explain to Latrobe council the prospects for his ‘Use All The Crayons!’ podcast. We’re very excited to see where this leads. We think it’ll benefit our community and the lives of anyone who could use a soulful laugh.”
The stories will be told through the filter of Rodell’s humorist mind and relate behind-the-scenes anecdotes of how the stories came together. Like the time he spent an evening drinking in a Bellingham, Washington, bar that was home to three serial killers: Ted Bundy, Hillside Strangler Ken Bianchi and D.C. sniper John Mohammed. Or the time …
He gained 20 pounds in one week eating like Elvis Presley.
• Was handcuffed for 72 hours to his future wife to test if they were ready for matrimony (they were; Chris and Valerie have been married 27 years).
Snuck into a Reading rehab treatment center to interview actress Courtney Love, widow of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain.
The podcast title is taken from one of Rodell’s most popular books, “Use All The Crayons! The Colorful Guide to Simple Human Happiness.” The book is 1,001 tips in how to live more colorfully. The tips range from the serious: “No. 998 — Never forget for even a single instant how many happy colors your life is adding to the lives of those you love, And remember, together we can all brighten the whole world!”
To the silly: “No. 318 — Tell friends you’re going to open an art gallery. Then invite them to a room with nothing on the walls and be greeted by 30 guys who say nothing but, ‘Hi! I’m Art!.’”
The tips will be read by Rodell’s friends, guests and civic leaders in “Voices of Latrobe” segments that will serve as story breaks and as a way to let Latrobe participate. Want to contribute a reading? Rodell can be reached at storyteller@chrisrodell.com; 724 961-2558
“I do radio shows and various media all over the country and I’m always delighted when the hosts introduce me as “Chris Rodell from Latrobe, Pennsylvania, birthplace of Arnold Palmer, Fred Rogers, Rolling Rock, etc.,” he says. “There’s just such an enduring fascination about how one small town can birth so many international legends.
“I believe because of its Latrobe roots and the stories about the fascinating people I’ve known and the things I’ve done, the ‘Use All The Crayons!’” podcast has the potential to charm the nation in the same the way Garrison Keillor’s ‘Lake Wobegon’ once did.
“Because even though we’ll always enjoy a proud association with a Land of Make Believe, Latrobe is very gritty and real and that’s a combination that makes it very compelling.”
Rodell remembers talking at the school bus stop with a woman who’d just moved here from Texas.
“She was just so giddy to be living in Mr. Rogers Neighborhood. She loved the schools, the churches, the restaurants, but especially the people. She said, ‘Everyone is just so nice.”
Rodell says he told her, “‘If you think everyone is nice then you haven’t met everyone.’ But those brusque, challenging personalities are every bit as important in making Latrobe as special as it is as the most refined socialite. They’re each doing their part to make Latrobe authentic. I can’t imagine ever living anyplace else.”
Bartels says, “We’re lucky in Latrobe to have so many ingenious residents who apply their creativity to find ways to make life even better for everyone.”
Today’s Theme … Music
• You can play a mean bluegrass banjo or country fiddle here on earth & it won't matter one bit. Once you get to heaven, everyone's in a soul band.
• As a believer in American equality, I don't miss Jim Crow; as a believer in American folk music, I do miss Jim Croce.
• My daughter, 8, thinks Coachella Music Festival is a music festival run by a coach named Ella.
• We live in an age where people display more affection for devices that play music than for the music devices play.
• France is populated by creative, artistic and passionate men and women. So how come in my entire life I’ve never heard anyone say, “You gotta hear this really kickass French rock band!” France: Where mimes matter more than music.
• I never really thought about being a podiatrist, but I once repaired an Apple music device. I guess that makes me an iPodiatrist.
• I guess it's because the name seems both generic yet familiar, but Rolls-Royce was founded by Henry Royce & Charles Rolls. Who knew? It's like learning my favorite music genre was founded by William Rock & Todd Roll.
• We live during a time when there is so much emphasis on visuals that the people who'd rather face the music now outnumber those of us who prefer just listening to it.
• It is not my wish to appear controversial or provocative in a social media forum where so many others seek respite, but this must be said: The greatest single side of rock music from the vinyl era is not "Sticky Fingers" Side 1. The greatest single side of rock music from the vinyl era is "Sticky Fingers" Side 2.
• Anyone who aspires to teach the whole world to sing in perfect harmony has never spent a minute at a karaoke bar after 10 p.m.
Randoms …
• Because he's one of our most buoyant and charming celebs, I propose we rename Henry Winkler "Henry TWINKLER!”
• Most people who think they have the world on a string realize too late what they're really holding is a lit fuse.
• Xanax? Valium? Neither. Our most addictive painkiller is the tepid rewards of soothing mediocrity.
• Most adults as they become older don't so much solve problems as exchange them.
• I sometimes fear my Odor Eaters will forget their benign mission and begin consuming parts of me I’m casual about washing.
• I wish in the interests of polite society that people described as lightning rods attracted actual lightning.
I welcome your donations. Please consider supporting me with some tangible appreciation (PayPal, Venmo, 874 Solomon Temple Rd., Latrobe, Pa, 15650).