Making Friends on a Train

6/23/2014

Years ago, Jeff and I were in Illinois and took the train either from Chicago to my brother's house further south or vice versa.  By the way, if you haven't traveled by train, it's really very nice.  The seats and legroom are superior to anything you're going to get on a plane, unless you're in first class.

While we were on the train, someone sitting next to us, asked if we wanted to have a drink, and we said sure why not.  This stranger then began to tell us about a professor and author named Leo Buscaglia who taught at the University of Southern California.  Students just called him Dr. Love.  This stranger gave us one of Mr. Buscaglia's books and when we got home, we ordered several others.

While teaching at USC, Buscaglia was moved by a student's suicide to contemplate human disconnectedness and the meaning of life, and began a non-credit class he called Love 1A. This became the basis for his first book, titled simply LOVE. His dynamic speaking style was discovered by PBS and his televised lectures earned great popularity in the 1980s. At one point his talks, always shown during fund raising periods, were the top earners of all PBS programs. This national exposure, coupled with the heartfelt storytelling style of his books, helped make all of his titles national Best Sellers; five were once on the New York Times Best Sellers List simultaneously.

The books are great reads and I highly recommend them to you.  Mr. Buscaglia passed away in 1998. I know you won't be disappointed with his books.

1. Love (1972)
2. The Way of the Bull (1973)
3. The Fall of Freddie the Leaf (1982)
4. Living, Loving, Learning (1982)
5. Loving Each Other (1984)
6. Amar a los demás (1985)
7. Personhood (1986)
8. Bus 9 to Paradise (1987)
9. Papa My Father (1989)
10. Because I Am Human (1972)
11. The Disabled and Their Parents: A Counseling Challenge (1983)
12. Seven Stories of Christmas Love (1987)
13. A Memory for Tino (1988)
14. Born for Love (1992)

 P