I’m honored to be invited to speak at the Tucson Festival of Books at The University of Arizona, Saturday, March 13. The weekend event (March 13-14) is a celebration of literacy where authors gather to share their work and meet their readers. The festival will include author panel discussions, workshops for attendees, events for children, food and fun. There’s an impressive roster of speakers this year including Alice Hoffman and Daniel J. Balz.

The Arizona Star is sponsoring me at the event. They have asked me to talk about The Ring in the Rubble at the festival and have also invited me for a luncheon address for an employee group at the paper.

What a great way to celebrate literature! Proceeds from the festival promote literacy in Southern Arizona through the Tucson Festival of Books Foundation that donates money to the Literacy for Life Coalition. Last year, the festival raised $200,000 toward this cause and made huge strides toward 100 percent literacy in the local community. If you are in Tucson during the festival, please join me!

Here’s a short clip we produced to help “reset” our perspectives in a way that makes us receptive to positive change that is based on the principles discussed in The Ring in the Rubble. Let us know what you think.

On January 15, I was privileged to talk about Dr. Spencer Johnson’s Peaks and Valleys a second time on New York’s WCBS with Pat Farnack. In Spencer’s book, he discusses how you can get out of your valleys and up to your next peak. One way to make this transition happen is to do those small little things to help other people out throughout your daily life. Our discussion includes the great example of ModestNeeds.org, a Web-based organization for people to express financial needs and for others to grant those financial wishes, that I wrote about below. WCBS has the interview available as a podcast, here on their website.

Currently, I do 25 to 30 keynote speeches per year. Needless to say, this puts me on the road a lot, away from my family. I love the work and am thankful for it. In addition, it’s nice to get a little recognition every now and then.

So, I’m happy to share with you that I’ve been named a “Top5 Speaker” by Speakers Platform, one of the most prominent speakers bureaus in the United States. It’s great to hit a peak, as Spencer Johnson might say.

I’m grateful to the more than 13,000 business leaders, educators, association members and others who cast votes for Top5 Speaker and to Speakers Platform for nominating me. And I’m grateful for my wife Dr. Peggy Bradt, who is an inspiration to me always. Thanks to all of my colleagues, friends and family who have supported me over the years. I appreciate you all.