Joseph F. Radosevich

I keep a notebook where I write quotes that I want to remember and return to. I write down what I like. Sometimes I pick them because they are funny, beautiful, stirring, or encouraging. This notebook encourages me and helps me remember the books that I read. I didn't intend it for writing material or quotes for sermons, but it helps from time to time. It mostly encourages me. When I'm down or discouraged, I read it. Writing the quotes can be a bit tedious, but it is well-worth it when I see those quotes a couple of years later.

Robert Caro is everywhere right now. I hear him mentioned on podcasts. I see his name in William Zinsser's book Writing to Learn .  Why is he everywhere? I might just notice him everywhere because I've been reading his books. I once started noticing Hondas when I had a Honda Accord. Now that we drive Toyotas, I see them everywhere. It could be the same with Robert Caro, but I suspect that it is his excellence. His excellence makes him relevant. I've read four of Robert Caro's books. That is around 2500 pages. I have two more by my nightstand right now. What makes Robert Caro so excellent? First, he gets information that nobody else gets. He goes to lengths that nobody else will go to. He talks about running the route from Lyndon Johnson's apartment to the Capitol building at the exact time of day Johnson would have run it so he could see what he saw. Caro went for a season to live in Central Texas so he could understand how the people lived. He tracked down people o...

I heard an interview recently with an author with a unique name. She downplayed it and acted like it was a challenge for people to find her books because of her last name. She told people to search for the name of her book instead of her name online. She’s not the only person who thinks their name is a challenge. I know of a singer-songwriter with a Czech last name who goes by his middle name. I think he goes from being a unique singer-songwriter to a common one. A common name can get you confused with so many others with that name. I follow a fitness writer named Pat Flynn. The problem with looking for Pat Flynn’s writing, books, podcast, and videos is that there is a more popular Pat Flynn who writes about business and finance. I have to add “kettlebell” if I ever search for something, or I get the wrong results. In the age of Google, having a unique name is a superpower because people can find you easily. Google means that you can misspell my last name but if you get it in the ballp...