Having, Keeping and Providing Faith
John Tesh is a multi-talented musician, composer, radio host and media personality. He has received accolades and awards throughout his career, hosts a syndicated radio show heard on over 300 radio stations, and has a loving family. Five years ago, John’s life took a dramatic turn. He was diagnosed with a devastating cancer and doctors handed him a very poor prognosis. After the cancer continued to recur, he decided to go in a different direction with his healing and turn to his faith.
John shares this compelling story, along with other fascinating anecdotes about his life, in his new book Relentless: Unleashing a Life of Purpose, Grit and Faith.
Having faith in the goodness of people, a restaurateur on Staten Island has launched a gofundme campaign to help keep his unique and beloved restaurant alive. Jody Scaravella is known for his unusual eatery, “Enoteca Maria” where “nonnas” or grandmothers are hired to cook their special ethnic dishes for adoring customers.
Because his chef-grandmas are of a certain age, he is worried for their safety and feels it would not be wise to bring them back into a kitchen environment. Hoping that people will come to the aid of his restaurant and his nonnas of the world, he is appealing for assistance.
And providing faith for others, veteran Broadway producer Jim Kierstead has launched two new ventures: Broadway Virtual, providing an online platform that will help artists to further their work virtually under today’s challenging circumstances, and Broadway United, a production company that is committed to developing and promoting work of artists across all racial and ethnic backgrounds.
To hear my conversations with John Tesh, Jody Scaravella and Jim Kierstead, listen to “Bagels and Broadway with Valerie Smaldone” Saturday morning from 9-10 on WNYM Radio, online and Alexa, and available on podcast here: https://bit.ly/bagelsandbroadwaypodcasts following airing of the show
Valerie Smaldone is a 5-time Billboard Magazine Award winner and is well known for her unprecedented success holding the #1 on-air position in the New York radio market on 106.7 Life-FM, an iHeart station. She has hosted, produced, and created several award-winning nationally syndicated programs featuring in-depth interviews with stars like Paul McCartney, Celine Dion, Rod Stewart, Elton John and Mariah Carey among others. Her radio talk show "Bagels and Broadway" highlighted theatre and food personalities. She is an accomplished interviewer and voice artist heard on commercials, narrations, promos and audiobooks, as well as a sought after live announcer.
Most recently, Valerie produced and directed a film, The Thursday Night Club, featuring pop diva Gloria Gaynor in her movie acting debut. She is one of the creators and producers of a docu-series, Divine Renovation, starring Erik Estrada, on streaming networks soon.
