As relatives age or loved ones develop terminal illnesses, nothing can be more unsettling and uncomfortable than having a frank discussion with those who are nearing the end, and consequently we oftentimes put it off until either it’s too late to truly determine the final wishes of those who are departing. The Conversation: A Revolutionary Plan for End of Life Care by Dr. Angelo Volandes addresses the urgent need to have open and honest communication between the doctors, patients, and their loved ones.

Also today, Vicki chats with Northeast Trust Wildnerness president Tom Butler regarding Overdevelopment, Overpopulation, Overshoot, a large-format coffee table book featuring over 300 pages to demonstrate how human activity has transformed the Earth, and not always in a positive way.

Finally, we will also explore how to nurture spirit and imagination in your everyday life with poet Patrice Vecchione, author of Step Into Nature, a guide to make nature personal again.

Catch Conversations Live with Vicki St. Clair every Monday at noon Pacific on KKNW 1150AM or 94.9FM HD. Like us on Facebook and follow Vicki on Twitter for exclusive updates and contests!

Dr. Angelo Volandes wants patients, families, and doctors to place greater emphasis on the oldest trick in the black medical bag; talking to each other. With The Conversation: A Revolutionary Plan for End of Life Care, he illustrates the urgent need for open communication and discussing critical matters to counteract what often becomes an assault of medical intervention at the end of life. He addresses the need to find out the dying persons wishes… such as any fears they may have, and what is vitally important to that individual, including and spiritual, philosophical or cultural beliefs that guide them in medical decisions. Dr. Volandes is a physician and researcher at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, and is also the founder of Advance Care Planning Decisions, a nonprofit organization devoted to encouraging The Conversation through the use of videos.

Step Into Nature: Nurturing Imagination and Spirit in Everyday Life by Patrice Vecchione highlights the importance of reconnecting with nature to engage the restorative power of the outdoors by offering activities and resources that can easily be used by individuals, families, or groups. Patrice is a poet, artist, and author who will be appearing for a book signing and reading in Seattle at Elliot Bay Books on Tuesday, April 14th at 7PM.

Overdevelopment, Overpopulation, Overshoot by Tom Butler is a large-format coffee table book featuring more than 300 pages of a world overrun by human activity. “We wanted to go straight to the emotional center of a viewer, someone who has never thought about the population question, and say: Here is how the Earth has been transformed,” Butler explains. Butler is the editorial projects director of the Foundation for Deep Ecology and president of the Northeast Wilderness Trust. The book is produced as part of the 2015 Global Population Speak Out campaign and you can read it for free on their website.

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Spring is here, and since our weather is not fully cooperating, now is the perfect time to settle down in front of the year’s last fire, and get lost in the pages of a great book. Today Vicki welcomes back two New York Times bestselling authors… Hazel Gaynor to discuss her latest work, the poignant A Memory of Violets: A Novel of London’s Flower Sellers, and M. J. Rose with gothic novel The Witch of Painted Sorrows.

Catch Conversations Live with Vicki St. Clair every Monday at noon Pacific on KKNW 1150AM or 94.9FM HD. Like us on Facebook and follow Vicki on Twitter for exclusive updates and contests!

New York Times bestselling author Hazel Gaynor in her own words… “In writing A Memory of Violets, I was constantly struck by the cruel contradiction of the lives of the flower sellers. Here were some of the poorest women and children in society, and yet every day they were surrounded by the beauty of the flower markets. Black-and-white images and shaky newsreel footage taken during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries give a fascinating glimpse into market life in London, but it is difficult for us to imagine what these scenes would have looked like in full color. Oddly beautiful, perhaps.” Having been featured in The Sunday Times and the Irish Times, the English born Gaynor currently resides in Ireland and was the recipient of the 2012 Cecil Day Lewis award for Emerging Writers.

The latest from M. J. Rose, The Witch of Painted Sorrows, is a provocative spellbinder set against the lavish backdrop of Belle Epoque Paris, spinning the yarn of a New York socialite fleeing an abusive husband for her grandmother’s home in Paris, and finding something even more menacing. Richly imagined and full of suspense, it illuminates the fine line between explosive passion and complete ruination. Rose has authored over a dozen novels, and is the co-president and founding board member of International Thriller Writers and the founder of the first marketing company for authors: AuthorBuzz.com.

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In This Is Your Do-over: The 7 Secrets to Losing Weight, Living Longer, and Getting a Second Chance at the Life You Want, Dr. Michael Roizen, M.D., Chief Wellness Officer at the Cleveland Clinic offers 7 simple ways using diet, exercise, sleep, stress management and sex to revitalize your life now and for the vital years on the horizon.

Princess Leia and Han Solo. Aragorn and Arwen. Westley and Buttercup. To this list of beloved fantasy couples comes Marianna and Martak in Ellen A. Roth’s timeless romantic tale of mystery and adventure, Ten Fingers Touching. Learn how Ellen found time to write a novel while running her own company, what she learned while writing the book, and why fairytales aren’t just for children.

Catch Conversations Live with Vicki St. Clair every Monday at noon Pacific on KKNW 1150AM or 94.9FM HD. Like us on Facebook and follow Vicki on Twitter for exclusive updates and contests!

From Dr. Michael Roizen, M.D., Chief Wellness Officer at the Cleveland Clinic and co-author of the New York Times bestselling YOU: Owner’s Manual series of books comes This Is Your Do-over: The 7 Secrets to Losing Weight, Living Longer, and Getting a Second Chance at the Life You Want, a revolutionary guide to taking control of your bad habits and turning back the clock on your health. Dr. Roizen offers up readers a second chance… providing the tools you need to halt bad health and start living up to your full potential. Dr. Roizen has given over 1400 lectures to professional medical groups and has appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Today, 20/20, CNN, CBS, Good Morning America, and countless other programs as an expert, as well as having four PBS fundraising special.

Enchanted by fairytales as a child, Ten Fingers Touching is a true labor of love for first time author Ellen A. Roth’s. After earning her PhD from the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Education, she co-founded Getting To The Point Inc., and despite running her own business (she was named one of the Best 50 Businesswomen in Pennsylvania) and being a member of the National Speakers Association, she managed to find time to craft her own tale of adventure and mystery, gaining new insights and perspective along the way.

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How many times have you missed opportunities by waiting on the sidelines for “perfect conditions”? To be the right weight, have the right job, or meet the perfect partner. Today Vicki is joined by writer, author, and motivational speaker Kara Richardson Whitely, who at 300 pounds climbed Mount Kilimanjaro for the third time, documented in her new book Gorge: My Journey Up Kilimanjaro at 300 Pounds.

Now that we are well into the new year… how are you doing on your resolutions? Back in January, TimeFinder founder and It’s About Time! Transforming Chaos Into Calm, A to Z author Mitzi Weinman joined Vicki to share her secrets to making a New Year’s resolution stick. Today, she is back to follow up on how we are all doing with our resolutions… plus clearing clutter and creating time to make space for new things in your life.

Catch Conversations Live with Vicki St. Clair every Monday at noon Pacific on KKNW 1150AM or 94.9FM HD. Like us on Facebook and follow Vicki on Twitter for exclusive updates and contests!

At more than three hundred pounds, in 2011, Kara Richardson Whitely climbed Mount Kilimanjaro for the third time. Gorge: My Journey Up Kilimanjaro at 300 Pounds is the raw and inspiring story of her ascent from the depths of self-doubt to the top of the world. Her difficult trek speaks to everyone who has struggled with negative self-image. Honest and unforgettable, Kara’s journey is fraught with intense passion, endurance, and ultimately self-acceptance. A motivational speaker, Kara has written for SELF, Every Day with Rachel Ray magazine, and Runner’s World, among others. She was recently featured on Oprah’s Lifeclass and was one of Outside Magazine’s “127 Definining Moments” finalists.

New Year’s resolutions are the time honored tradition that nearly every one of us fails to uphold. There are many reasons why a resolution falls by the wayside, and Mitzi Weinman has advice to help you stay strong in your resolve with It’s About Time! Transforming Chaos Into Calm, A to Z. Some of her advice includes critical points such as is your resolution realistic, are you really dedicated to making it happen, and are you willing to refocus your current priorities and take the time neccessary to see it through. Mitzi is a coach, workshop leader, professional speaker and founder of TimeFinder, which offers practical approaches to personal productivity.

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Sasha Martin gave herself one simple task at the outset of writing Life From Scratch: A Memoir of Food, Family and Forgiveness… to chronicle her adventure of eating a meal from every country in the world with her picky husband and baby girl. Along the way, she came to realize the why she was doing this became much more important than the how, as her cooking unlocked long forgotten memories and helped to bring her peace through the worlds of food and culture.

Rich Bitch: A Simple 12-Step Plan for Getting Your Financial Life Together… Finally dispels old myths about managing money and delivers an empoering guide for women to take control of both their finances and their lives. Author Nicole Lapin, a former CNN/CNBC anchor shows how to put your career and life into overdrive and become the CEO of your own empire.

Catch Conversations Live with Vicki St. Clair every Monday at noon Pacific on KKNW 1150AM or 94.9FM HD. Like us on Facebook and follow Vicki on Twitter for exclusive updates and contests!

Life From Scratch: A Memoir of Food, Family and Forgiveness is not a typical cookbook… as Sasha Martin undertook the journaling of her 195-country culinary odyssey, she came to realize her new cooking obsession was rooted in something much deeper. The further she ventured into her journey, she began unlocking memories of a rough-and-tumble childhood and the loss and heartbreak that came with it. Food and cooking provided an emotional outlet for her, both during her troubled childhood, and as she came to terms with it. Sasha is an award-winning writer and blogger who spent almost four years cooking her way around the world. Her work has been featured on NPR, Whole Living, Bon Appetit, The Smithsonian, and several other major media outlets. Her website, Global Table Adventure, is a go-to hub for foodies around the world.

Money relates to everthing – if you’re working, paying bills, shopping, then you are CEO of your own financial department. Rich Bitch: A Simple 12-Step Plan for Getting Your Financial Life Together… Finally empowers women to take charge of their finances, leading to taking charge of their lives. Financial expert and former CNN/CNBC anchor Nicole Lapin offers up personal “Confessions of a Rich Bitch” and dozens of “Bitch Tips” on everything from buying in bulk (don’t!) to paying off loans to contribute to your employer’s 401K. Nicole got her start in finance at age 18, reporting from the floors of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade for First Business Network. She went on to become the youngest anchor ever at CNN and claimed the same title later at CNBC. She has gone on to serve as business anchor and correspondent for Bloomberg Television as well as hosting her own show on AOL.com.

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We all have an outer child – the pig-headed, self-centered, impulsive part of us that blocks positive change and gets caught up in patterns of self sabotage. Taming Your Outer Child by Susan Anderson offers powerful tools to help you overcome self-defeating patterns and heal the wounds caused by the outer child.

Food addiction is a complex, poorly understood issue that has the potential in some cases to be as deadly as cocaine, opiates, and alcohol. Dr. Vera Tarman sinks her teeth into this dangerous issue in her new book Food Junkies: The Truth About Food Addiction, a look at this leading cause of obesity from the perspectives of a medical researcher and dozens of survivors.

Catch Conversations Live with Vicki St. Clair every Monday at noon Pacific on KKNW 1150AM or 94.9FM HD. Like us on Facebook and follow Vicki on Twitter for exclusive updates and contests!

Inevitably we have all broken a diet despite our best intentions and without a good reason. Or perhaps been attracted to the wrong person and wondered how on Earth we ever wound up in that relationship. That is the Outer Child… the self-sabotaging part of our brain which drives our worst habits and whose patterns are so difficult to break. Taming Your Outer Child by Susan Anderson delves into the crux of the matter, explaining how the Outer Child is different from the Inner Child, how “abandonment issues” are at the forefront of the Outer Childs patterns, and of course how to heal those issues and stifle the rise of the Outer Child.

Food addiction is a condition that is a leading cause of the growing obesity epidemic in our country, as well as contributing to eating disorders such as bulimia, anorexia, and bingeing. “Sugar shares the same neurochemistry and neural pathways as cocaine,” explains Dr. Vera Tarman in her new book Food Junkies: The Truth About Food Addiction. “People can get addicted to sugar and flour, eventually becoming sick and depressed.” Built around the testimony of people that suffered and are recovering from food addictions, Food Junkies offers practical information grounded in medical science, while putting a face to food addictions.

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Seattle-based forensic psychologist and author Jay Richards brings his knack for ground-breaking research in the field of criminal psychology to his new thriller, Silhouette of Virtue . Also today, London-based author Mathew Lyons whose highly regarded book The Favourite: Ralegh and His Queen makes him an expert on the subject. We’ll separate fact from fiction by exploring the belief held by some that there was no love affair between Elizabeth I and Walter Ralegh, and that “she” was in fact a “he”.

Catch Conversations Live with Vicki St. Clair every Monday at noon Pacific on KKNW 1150AM or 94.9FM HD. Like us on Facebook and follow Vicki on Twitter for exclusive updates and contests!

In the field of criminal psychology, Seattle-based forensic psychologist and author Jay Richards is known for ground-breaking research and insightful case studies of psychopaths and other mentally disordered offenders. His exploration of moral dilemmas, choices, and character motivations results in Silhouette of Virtue being a psychological thriller that weaves together the culture and politics of Vietnam era America with racial tension, mystery and suspense. Richards early clinical experience was gained during National Institute for Mental Health (NIMH) pre and post doctoral fellowships in clinical psychology at the federal psychiatric hospital in Washington DC that was then responsible for mentally ill persons determined to be dangerous to the president, or other persons protected by the Secret Service. He has since embarked on a distinguished career in executive administration of forensic programs.

On a recent episode of Conversations Live, best-selling fiction author Steve Berry bought up an interesting theory to Vicki: Was Queen Elizabeth in fact a man, replaced as a young child by a boy from the local village due to her caretakers fear of Henry’s retriubution after the ‘real’ Elizabeth died from an illness? As Berry is known for being a history buff and diligently researching his stories to add factual situations, it seems like this seemingly outrageous theory may have some merit. Intrigued by this and doing her own research, Vicki contacted London-based author and blogger Mathew Lyons, who penned a highly regarded book on Queen Elizabeth’s romance with Sir Walter Raleigh known as The Favourite to inquire more into this fascinating notion, and he joins us today to aid in separating fact from fiction.

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Award-winning author John Burley is known as a master of medical, psychological suspense. He’ll share a sneak peek into his latest novel: The Forgetting Place, and the many ways in which the dangers of the world pale in comparison to the horrors of the mind.

Today, Vicki also chats with Amber Farman, who was 31 when she was diagnosed with stage one invasive breast cancer. She courageously overcame it and shares her experiences in how to deal with facing your own mortality, whether polyamorous relationships work, if you need religion to be spiritual, and living life beyond cancer.

Catch Conversations Live with Vicki St. Clair every Monday at noon Pacific on KKNW 1150AM or 94.9FM HD. Like us on Facebook and follow Vicki on Twitter for exclusive updates and contests!

Award-winning author John Burley’s The Forgetting Place is a dark and twisty psychological suspense novel about a female psychiatrist at a remote institution who finds herself at the center of a shadowy conspiracy. Burley is a master of of medical and psychological details, bolstered by the fact that he holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology and Physiology and currently works in San Francisco as an emergency department physician.

Amber Farman was diagnosed with stage one invasive breast cancer at the young age of 31. A few months after her diagnosis, she underwent a double bi-lateral mastectomy and reconstructive surgery. Today, Amber is cancer free and has learned to face her own fears of both life and death. She used her experience to bring life to the characters in her debut novel, Farewell My Loves, and she is passionate about her non-profit Families For Humanity

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Happy President’s Day! Enjoy this encore broadcast of Conversations Live with Vicki St. Clair. Vicki returns live next week.

What is it about Spain’s 1200 year-old Camino de Santiago trail that lures people from all over the world to spend a month or more walking the 500 miles with little more than a backpack and a pair of boots? Filmmaker Lydia B. Smith undertook this life-changing journey and shares her experiences in her award-winning documentary Walking The Camino. Be among the first to enjoy this film… there will be a screening on Tuesday, November 11th at the Siff Cinema Uptown in Seattle at 7PM. If you can’t make that one, join Lydia on Wednesday, November 12th at 7PM at Queen Anne United Methodist Church for a screening followed by a Q and A. Click here for more info.

Conversations Live with Vicki St. Clair airs each Monday at noon Pacific on KKNW 1150AM or 94.9FM HD. Like us on Facebook and follow Vicki on Twitter for exclusive updates and contests!

Producing Walking The Camino was a perfect fit for Lydia B. Smith who lived in Spain for more than six years and speaks fluent Spanish, Italian, and Catalan. She’s a licensed Spiritual Practitioner from the Agape International Spiritual Center… and it goes without saying, that she loves to hike and spend time in nature. Smith’s past credits include Senior Producer on CNN’s Soldiers of Peace: A Children’s Crusade; Co-Producer and 2nd Unit Director of Photography on the CNN documentary, The Mystery of the Arctic Rose; 2nd Unit Director of Photography on the PBS program, Stand Up; American Producer for Chilean TV’s The Route of the Beringia; Director of Photography for Anthony Hopkins Teaches; and many more. In addition to her producing and directing career, Smith has worked as Camera Assistant and Operator on major motion pictures, national commercials, and top music videos.

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There’s nothing funny about anxiety, but licensed psychologists Dr. Chris Cortman and Dr. Harold Shinitzky use humor in their approach to helping others. In their new book is Take Control of Your Anxiety: A Drug-Free Approach to Living a Happy, Healthy Life, they combine brain science, case studies, exercises and a little levity to deliver an easy read for anyone suffering from anxiety.

Food is not the culprit leading to overeating according to psychotherapist and eating coach Karen R. Koenig. In Outsmarting Overeating, she illustrates how boosting essential life skills such as physical self-care, problem solving, and handling emotions can propel you toward beating overeating rather than relying on sheer willpower.

Catch Conversations Live with Vicki St. Clair every Monday at noon Pacific on KKNW 1150AM or 94.9FM HD. Like us on Facebook and follow Vicki on Twitter for exclusive updates and contests!

Do you know what really triggers panic attacks? Are you a chronic worrier or have you ever self-medicated with alcohol or tranquilizers? According to mental health professionals, anxiety disorders have emerged as the common cold of mental illness. Dr. Chris Cortman and Dr. Harold Shinitzky have created a tool box of simple resources and self-help techniques with Take Control of Your Anxiety: A Drug-Free Approach to Living a Happy, Healthy Life, emphasizing a non-pharmaceutical, evidence-based approach to mastering anxiety. Chris Cortman, PhD has been a licensed psychologist for 28 years and is a much sought-after speaker, as well as providing psychological consultation at several hospitals. Harold Shinitzky, PhD has been a licensed psychologist for more than 20 years and was on the faculty at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Outsmarting Overeating by Karen R. Koenig explores eight essential life skills, illustrating how lacking in them can cause unnecessary eating. She picks up where diet books leave off, covering the difference between compulsive and emotional eating, why troubled eaters will never end their food problems if they dont’ improve their life skills, the psychology of eating, and how to combat rebound eating. Karen is a licensed psychotherapist, eating coach, and speaker who has authored five other books about eating and weight.

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