I have been invited to participate in the Boston Book Expo, early next year, by my publisher, iUniverse.
I have been told that this is an important expo for libraries looking for new additions to their collections, with the new budgets for the upcoming year.
I am not sure whether I will ultimately be able to participate, but just to be invited is a great thing.
The radio interview on John Derringer's show has just aired, and by the looks of things it has had a great impact!
Hits to my website have jumped dramatically and it is apparent that many people a quite interested in "Travels in a Blue Chair".
If you would like to listen just click the link below and in the audio box, look for the "interview with Walt Balenovich"...
http://www.q107.com/DJsandShows/DerringerInTheMorning/Home.aspx
Thanks again to John, Ryan and all the gang at Q-107 !!
I received some great news from Ryan at Q-107. The interview recorded one month ago will be aired on Thursday at 7 am.
It was a 6 minute interview and went quite well, here is the link...
http://www.q107.com/index.aspx
You can listen over the internet too, that would be 12 pm in Ireland and the UK, and 1 pm in Europe.
I hope it reaches out to disabled and travellers alike!
If you are looking for "Travels in a Blue Chair" in your local library, the code to use in your search is "910.4 BALEN".
I am really gratified to see that the book is now in the library at Ryerson University, for their degree program in Disability Studies!
It is also available at the Toronto and Vancouver public libraries, as well as those in Welland, Dunnville, and even 2 libraries in Washington State!
There is also a request to add it to the collection to the state library of Tasmania in Australia.
Yay, the positive energy continues to flow!
I am attempting to find out what is happening with the airing of my interview with John Derringer last month at this time. It was a great 6 minute interview, but it has not aired yet?
I am hoping it will air shortly.
It is very important to me to know the schedule in advance to let the disabled listeners be aware of it ahead of time.
I hope to contact John and Ryan next week to get this great interview on the airwaves!
I got a brainstorm this week to contact Richard Branson, the owner of the "Virgin" brand, and specifically "Virgin Atlantic Airways". As a result, I left a message to him on his website.
I know that he is a lover of adventure and I thought it might be a good idea to tell him about myself and "Travels in a Blue Chair".
Additionally, I wanted to enquire to see if he would be interested in sponsoring a year of worldwide travel via his airline.
I am hoping to use this trip to create a documentary, in conjunction with the "Virgin Earth Challenge", to show that the disabled can travel the world independently and enjoy the planet and the many cultures on it!
It could really motivate other disabled people to travel too!
It is early days yet, and I haven't heard back....but I am hoping that I will.
I contacted Ryan last week to ask to be notified ahead of time as to when the interview will air. I still have not received word.
Hopefully it will be this week or next. Stay tuned!
I really enjoyed my talk in Dunnville yesterday. Everyone there was so hospitable, and Joyce had even set up some coffee and treats on a back table.
The crowd was very receptive and I even remembered to set my cell phone to beep 15 minutes before the hour was up, so that I would leave time for questions. Many of those in attendance introduced themselves to me beforehand and already had questions or told me about their recent travel adventures! It was so great.
The talk went quite well and when it was question time, one fellow, a library user, had already checked out "Travels in a Blue Chair" and told us how much he enjoyed it. He had even written down some of his favourite passages and surprised me with a present - two beers! - because he said I was usually enjoying one in most of my stories. What a neat thing to happen.
I signed many copies of the book and then talked for an hour afterwards to many of the patrons.
Thanks so much for the invitation and the great time in Dunnville!
Yesterday morning I was interviewed on the phone by John Derringer, the morning man on Q-107!
The interview went quite well and lasted about 6 minutes. John had lots of very good questions and, though I was a bit nervous, I tried to answer as smoothly as possible.
They will air the interview sometime next week, and they will let me know in advance so that I can let folks know ahead of time.
Q-107 has streaming audio online, so you can hear the interview via the internet wherever in the world you happen to be.
I look forward to receiving some feedback next week. Thanks to Ryan and John at Q-107 !
Here is the text of an article published last week in the Dunnville Chronicle in advance of my visit to the library there this Sunday...
By CATHY PELLETIER , CHRONICLE STAFF WRITER
"One of the things that interested me most when I was a disabled kid sitting in front of the TV was nature programming," reads an excerpt from Travels in a Blue Chair, a book written by world traveller, Walt Balenovich.
"It was the thrill of a lifetime when in 1993 on a visit to Kenya, my friend Wayne suggested we fly out to the Masai Mara, Kenya's portion of the Serengeti, for two days camping. I didn't know if I could do it, but if he was willing to take me, then I was definitely going to give it a try.
"I could never have imagined the wondrous beauty of this continent and I looked down," he said, describing the view from the plane, "wondering which animals were playing their daily game of life and death. The Africa of open fields and animal migration is slowly fading into history, as fences are erected and forests are brought down to clear for planting. This is exactly what happened in North America and ultimately led to the end of the buffalo and the First Nations' way of life."
In addition to vivid accounts of Masai warrior traditions and monstrous Nile perch weighing 175 pounds, the Kenya chapter describes spectacular sightings of cheetahs, hyenas, hippos, giraffes, zebras, rhinos, and lions, seen from a Land Rover during safaris.
"After two days out of my blue chair and in the front seat of this bumpy ride, my sore bum was starting to get the better of me," wrote Balenovich.
"We began to make our way back to camp and as we did, another herd of antelope seemed to gather to bid us farewell."
Diagnosed with polio at just 12 weeks old, he spent the first five years of his life in hospital. Originally from Welland, Balenovich became a self-described "I. T. geek," earning the necessary funds to travel the globe in trips spanning six months to a year.
His journey around the world began as a bench-warming athlete and coach in wheelchair basketball, rugby and sledge hockey, as well as in his capacity as a volunteer in disabled sports, as Athletic Director of the Niagara District Wheelchair Association and Vice President of the Development for the Ontario Wheelchair Sports Association.
Balenovich currently lives in the Lakeshore Village community of Toronto, and can often be spotted wheeling a 10-kilometre route through the lakeshore streets in an effort to stay fit for his trips.
He has spent significant parts of the past 15 years navigating the world, and sending humourous e-mails to friends and family about his unique adventures, from being stranded in a small boat in the dark on the Java Sea off Indonesia to falling out of his chair and breaking his leg in Victoria Falls in Zambia. Their reaction was invariably the same: "You should write a book."
Peppered with liberal doses of humour, Balenovich's tales chronicle the distinctive challenge of seeing the world from a wheelchair.
An excerpt written in November 1977 from Tokyo, reads: "As I was anticipating my date with the white throne ... I attended the washroom, which luckily has an oversized stall for the disabled. As I left the stall, I was surprised to see an elderly woman with what seemed like a handmade broom, sweeping out the men's room. She worked diligently and took no notice of me, but what really surprised me were the men at the urinals, going about their business, and taking no notice of her. My notions of the staid Japanese were immediately challenged and I realized that Asia was going to be a totally unique experience for me."
Balenovich has made numerous media appearances, including guest segments on Canada AM and Breakfast TV, sharing his adventures about backpacking --usually unaccompanied --on all six habitable continents.
The well-known author will share more exciting excerpts from his book at the Dunnville Public Library on Sunday, Sept. 20 at 2 p. m.
"I have been contacted by Joyce, the Coordinator of the Dunnville Branch of the Haldimand-Norfolk Library, about speaking there in September," he said. "Apparently, some library patrons from the community had heard me speaking last month at the Hagersville Abilities Centre and really enjoyed listening to some of my adventures. Dunnville is one of my favourite towns in Ontario, and it would be great to meet some of the disabled community along the Grand River."
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