True
Tales of Life and Laughter
Recorded
Live on July 25, 2010 at Beans in the Belfry Café in Brunswick, MD
Available
from CD Baby or directly from Geraldine Buckley at www.geraldinebuckley.com.
Email:
geraldine1234@aol.com. Snailmail: 5256
Bamburg Ct., Frederick, MD 21703.
$15.00,
plus $1.00 shipping and handling.
Reviewed By
Linda Goodman
Geraldine Buckley, a former British
convent schoolgirl, is a comedian, a poet, a philosopher, and, above all, a
storytelling evangelist. Listeners will fall in love with her self-effacing
humor, rapier wit, unique wisdom, and her eagerness to share all the she has
learned from life.
There are eleven stories on this CD,
each one a gem. The Night That Changed Everything chronicles Geraldine's first trip to the largest
men's prison in Maryland where she teaches poetry to the inmates who have
gathered to
fill time, but who end up filling their minds with eloquent verse and sentiment
as they realize that they are in the presence of someone who feels their
pain. “Yay! Yay, God!” they cry in a climactic, heart-stirring
moment. There is more than one way to “take down” a man.
Tatton Hall, set in Knutsford, Cheshire in
the North of England, details Geraldine’s childhood love of reading and
her quest for adventure, inspired by Enid
Blyton’s The Famous Five and
Carolyn Keene’s Nancy Drew
books. The story culminates in her discovery of a secret passage, to the
chagrin of her by-the-book teacher, Miss Lemming.
Paradise proves to be quite dreary
in Bored in Paradise, until a bus load of nuns knocks at the door. Will
a little something extra in the Sangria quench their thirst?
Teachers do not know everything, as The
Interview’s Mrs. Blythe proves when she prophecies that her student will find her niche working for the
BBC. Geraldine tries her best, and, in spite of a
pair of ill-fitting panty hose, she gets a job working behind the scenes at the
fabled network. Will it be everything she hoped for?
A lost love in Austin, Texas, a job as a radio salesperson, and a parental visit set the scene for Liz Carpenter’s High Hillside, a story that shares the beginning of Geraldine’s life-long friendship with Lady Bird Johnson’s Press Secretary, a woman who knows how to live life without wasting a minute of it.
Anyone who has ever tried to be the
third person to answer a question correctly for a radio show contest will
appreciate the humor of Lady in Red. When you are on the radio, ears are
everywhere.
In Hitching Up My Wagon
Geraldine talks about the “Road to Damascus” experience that led to her becoming
a Pentecostal minister. This short piece segues nicely into The Correctional
Academy, where Geraldine must prove her ability to shackle an inmate and “take
down” a man before she can secure the job of chaplain for the facility.
In The Bus, a meeting with a
prison gang leader recalls a long ago bus trip to Delhi, India in a bright pink
bus, filled with unwashed bodies and Hell’s Angels. This story gave me chills
as Geraldine lovingly yet firmly established her turf and saved her prison
service. What insights this woman has into human nature!
This CD ends appropriately with An Extract From a Franciscan Blessing
that wishes for all to be blessed with those things that bring about heartfelt
living, justice, and generosity.
The cover that Andrea Stasulis
created for Destination? Slammer!
is as colorful and unique as the wonderful teller it showcases. This recording
boasts the best CD insert I have ever seen, with liner notes for each story and
information about Geraldine’s work.
This CD is the winner of a Storytelling World Gold Award,
and deservedly so. This world is filled with uncertainty, fear, and pain.
Geraldine Buckley has found the secret joy that lies within the darkness and
these stories bring that joy to life. You will not soon forget her men behind
bars, or her fearless, selfless quest to be of service to them. Her blessing to
you is these stories, which bear testimony to her belief that, with God, anything
is possible.
