Bruce Feiler, Savannah's Best-Selling Genius

I have known Bruce Feiler since he was a seventh grader. His parents were nice and understanding enough to let me play "big brother" to him while he was growing up and I always knew he was special and brilliant. Without a doubt one of the most erudite person I've ever had the honor and pleasure of knowing. Bruce headed off to Japan after graduating from college to teach English to Japanese children and was inspired to write a book about it, his first, Learning to Bow. It was an immediate hit with a plethora of rave reviews saying a new non-fiction star had been born. Bruce proved them prophets...he has not disappointed in the least. Far from a one-hit wonder, Bruce found a unique niche by immersing himself into a culture and then writing about it--those became best sellers too like his experience as a circus clown with the Cole Brothers Circus Under the Big Top where he became the first person in the history of that organization to join a clown family who was not a blood member of that family. Then it was on the road with country music's biggest stars in Dreaming Out Loud that received rave reviews again and featured in the book section of USA Today. Then he stumbled on his "gold mine." He was pondering the Holy Bible collecting dust on his night stand and realized that he'd read the Bible as a child which meant, he really hadn't read the Bible. So he got the brilliant idea to follow the trek of Moses through the Middle East going into parts of the world where being caught with a Bible in your possession was certain arrest and probably death. The result was the classic Walking the Bible which sold the proverbial roof and totally unbeknownst to Bruce, church groups all over the country--if not the world--began forming Bible study groups and the subject of numerous sermons. When the book was made into an HBO special it was the highest-rated show in HBO history at the time.

Bruce, his wife and twin daughters now reside in New York and was there on that fateful day 18 years ago today (as this is written) and he saw the Twin Towers fall. The imagination in him was stirred as he began wondering how this happened. What was the genesis (pun intended) of this hatred with one religion attacking everyone who isn't one of them? He knew it had to start with the man at the center of it all, Abraham. Sure enough, Abraham, A Journey to the Heart of Three Faiths because an instant best-seller as well. Quoting from the inside flap of my autographed copy, "At a moment when the world is asking 'Can the religions get along?' Abraham stands as the shared ancestor of Jews, Christians, and Muslims. He holds the key to our deepest fears--and our possible reconciliation."

I spoke with Bruce on my morning radio show, AM Savannah this morning and that interview is here for you to enjoy, ponder and share. Brilliant as always, Bruce relates what went through his mind that day almost two decades ago. Bruce Feiler is truly a brilliant writer and explorer and story teller. He is also a true gift from God for us all. The Good Lord saved him for us when Bruce developed a very rare cancer in his thigh about ten years ago and had to have one of the most incredible surgeries ever--like him, it was one-of-a-kind done for the first time. It was so touch-and-go for awhile Bruce feared his twin daughters would grow up without really knowing him. So, in his usual manner, got six of his closest male friends who knew him best to be their "foster fathers" to tell them about him as they matured to get some idea of what a wonderful father (my words) they had. And he wrote a book about it, believe it or not, Ripley! Council of Dads was another runaway best seller that touched too many hearts to mention. And, thank God, those guys didn't have as much to do as feared. Bruce is cancer free and we're the better off for it.

If you ever have an opportunity to hear Bruce speak, don't miss it. No matter the topic, he will mesmerize you for an hour or two, without referring to a note and you'll swear you'd only been there ten or 15 minutes. I'm so proud to be his friend because he's truly something special. But if you don't get to hear him in person, get the tapes, CDs, DVDs, and read his books...you'll thank me for this. As our Johnny Mercer was to music, so Bruce Feiler is to storytellers. Thank God he came our way!