Guest: Thomas R. North

Jim and Jennifer welcome Thomas R. North to the show.  Tom was born into a military family visited by tragedy when Tom was just six years old. His father was killed in the crash of an experimental jet aircraft, leaving Tom’s mother with seven children and one on the way. His mother, Helen North, moved from Washington state to California and married another military officer, who turned out to be ultra-violent and a child molester.  As the award-winning author of True North – The Shocking Truth about “Yours, Mine and Ours”, Tom writes about his experience as the 11th of the 20 Beardsley children, made famous in the 1968 film “Yours, Mine and Ours.” With Lucille Ball playing the role of the mother and Henry Fonda as the father, the film was a critical and box-office success. However, the loving family portrayed in the film differed dramatically from the actual Beardsley family. Tom shares in True North – The Shocking Truth about “Yours, Mine and Ours” what it was like to grow up in that family, taking the road less traveled through violence and despair, to hope, and eventually to self-discovery and a fulfilling life.  After his mother remarried, Tom North grew up in Carmel, California, and his book captures the grandeur of coastal central California. Having spent his formative years in the forests of the Pacific Northwestern U.S., Tom was guided to seek solace and sanity in nature, and later, in Eastern Meditation.  He became a successful financial advisor, writer, poet, and adventurer. He is married to Connie North and they have two daughters. Tom has written extensively about scuba diving, jade hunting in the wilds of Big Sur, and spiritual topics as well. He is working on his second book, The Economics of Spiritual Transformation.  Website:  www.TrueNorthbyTomNorth.com