Lives Charmed: Intimate Conversations with Extraordinary People

by Linda Sivertsen

In Lives Charmed: Intimate Conversations with Extraordinary People, writer Linda Sivertsten interviews many of the celebrities she came to know through being a professional dog-walker in Los Angeles.... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1558745939
• ISBN13: 9781558745933
• Release Date: January 1998
• Publisher: Hci
• Length: 398 Pages
• Weight: 1.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.9" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Your Life can be Charmed, too!

"Lives Charmed" shows you how the people who seem to 'have it all', created their lives to be that way. As I read this book, I found myself taking many things from the individual lifestyles and applying them to my own life. I began to see a common thread of thinking, a way of looking at the world that makes sense. All of the subjects of the 'mini-autobiographies' have their own unique style, but the spirituality is the same. They all have a deep connection to their Inner Wisdom, the Earth, their Soul and their God. Linda's personal anecdotes about how these extraordinary people came into her life are the real treasures in this book. I cried when I read about her father-like relationship with Paul Williams. I laughed from my own skeptical-belly when she described her first meeting with Guru Singh. This book is a treasure for your personal library and a great gift for friends & loved-ones. I can't wait to read more of Linda's extraordinary conversations. I am looking forward to 'Lives Charmed II'!!

Lives Charmed opens the door to our own magic

Although Linda writes about the lives of celebrities, the quality of the writing and the anecdotes she chose from her lengthy interviews frames their humanity first. These people struggle, as we all do, with the trials and traumas of life and loss, love and tragedy, they just do it with a spotlight illuminating their struggles as well as their triumphs. Their generosity to share the lessons learned on their journeys and Linda Sivertsen's vibrant and focused writing makes this book a kind of treasure map to help all of us on our journeys to discover our own magic within. Thanks, Linda, for helping me believe in and create my own "Life Charmed"!

How to be successful and enjoy life

As the author of the 'Paul Williams Music And Acting' web pages, I was first drawn to this book because it contains a fascinating chapter on singer, songwriter, actor and humanitarian Paul Williams. Being an avid fan of Pauls and Vice-President of the Official Paul Williams Fan Club I was interested to know what Linda could tell me about Paul that I did not already know.What I found was that Linda has a gift for writing about those areas of her subjects lives which are usually 'hidden' from public view. Not that this book is a 'kiss and tell' book with lots of scandal. It is rather an account of what has made her subjects the contented people they are today. Contentment is the over-riding theme of all the mini-biographies. Despite some of her subjects past histories of abuse and self-abuse, they have all come to a place in their lives when they have the courage to look back and understand the part their past history has played in making them the fulfilled people they are today. After a brief introduction at the start of each chapter Linda then leaves it up to her subjects to 'tell their own story'. Rather than a 'question and answer' type of interview Linda has very effectively chosen to divide up each chapter into topic headings, and then leaves it up to her subject to tell his/her story in his/her own words. What makes this book the gem it is, is the topics Linda has chosen to focus on. Each of her subjects starts by defining what to them is 'Happiness' and then moves on to talking about their 'Early Years' and 'Influences'. Other topics regularly covered include 'Obstacles', 'Spirituality', 'Life Work', 'Family', 'Drives', 'Fears', 'Visions', 'Miracles' and 'Earth'. Not subjects one is used to hearing 'stars' talk about. As well as Paul Williams, Linda also interviews people from a variety of walks of life. Linda interviews include a number of actors (Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Woody Harrelson, Robert Townsend and Catherine Oxenberg), film producers (Sandy Gallin and Janet Yang) journalists (Keely Shaye Smith and Leeza Gibbons), spiritual leaders (Guru Singh and Robert A.Johnson), sportsmen (Arnold Palmer and Chris Chandler), artists (Wyland and Beatrice Wood) as well as super model Tatjana Patitz and an English lord (Lord Robin Russell ) who works to save endangered animals through his English safari park Wobern Abby.The fact that Linda is obviously a person who her subjects trust makes each account an extremely personal and hence fascinating read.

Moving. Touching. Insightful.

What a gift these stories are to the world. This book made me realize we are all humans on this planet and we all go through our "stuff". With each story, I was moved to ask questions about myself. It made me discover more of me. Thank you for this insightful and moving testament to the human spirit. When's the next book?!?!

Fascinating revelations of beliefs that charm these lives!

This is a wonderful book that gives the reader a very personal glimpse into the attitudes, beliefs and feelings that have guided these extraordinary people to greatness. Rarely has an interviewer asked such pertinent and revealing questions as posed by author Linda Sivertsen. Each of the people she has profiled in her book has achieved greatness in their lives, and Linda shows us their power, their passion and their foibles as well. (When was the last time you heard an interviewer ask about a star's spirituality on a TV sound bite interview show?) From spirituality to happiness to family values to obstacles overcome, each celebrity answers in depth about the inner drive that charmed their lives. This is a great book and I recommend it highly. I can't wait for the next installment!