Channel of Peace
Written and Narrated By: Kevin Tuerff
Length: 3 hrs and 53 mins
Actionable steps to be taken if you’re feeling grateful around 9-11 anniversaries
I get it; we weren’t there.
I’m a trifle sore as I’m writing the reviews for this year’s 9-11 audiobooks; I slept wrong and now my back and hips hurt. So I’m all irritable and short of temper. Soooo, this year’s duet are NOT finding me as charitable as I might’ve been saaaaay, like, even YESterday. So phooey to me.
Still, I can’t help but think that this year’s Channel of Peace by Kevin Tuerff isn’t quite as grand a listen that The Day the World Came to Town was as far as tales of Gander’s hospitality to air passengers after 9-11 go.
This audiobook is far more of a personal memoir than it is of Gander’s specialness on that awful, awful day. It’s jam packed with specific details that have nothing to do with Newfoundland’s people. Think two guys getting privately soused (French Grey Goose vodka!) on an air mattress rather than people coming together to create thousands of meals and donating toiletries. Think snagging the last pairs of boxer briefs rather than people setting up a hangar to care for travelers’ pets. Come to think of it, Kevin Tuerff is kinda sorta an Ugly American, but that’s only cuz my back reeeeeally hurts, see?
If I STOP thinking about my current agony and give the guy a break? Well, it’s a charming enough Listen that has actionable steps if you’re in the mood for Gratitude. The events that led over 6,000 air passengers to be stranded at Gander are covered rather quickly, Kevin and his partner witness the utter goodness of the people of Gander and the surrounding townships, and then all are off and flying back to their homes.
Then starts the “Pay it Forward 9/11” movement/charities, and then begins the musical “Come From Away” in which Kevin and his partner are portrayed.
Seriously, that’s about all there is…
Tuerff narrates this himself, and his gawky, geeky enthusiasm works well. He was sooo taken with Catherine Ryan Hyde’s Pay it Forward that since 9-11 his workplace management gives teams $100 and challenges them to do as many random acts of kindness that they can with it. Sometimes this is purchasing a Starbucks card and buying one person their coffee with the suggestion that they pass the card to the person behind them and so on. Or it’s buying treats and distributing them to strangers. Seriously, the entire last half of the book is of Tuerff happily offering suggestions.
Seriously…
So oh well, really. I don’t think it’s just m’ aching aging body that has me offering to you: If you’re feeling warm and fuzzy and wanna hear about a group of folks who are goodhearted and met the needs of many, give this book a pass.
-BUT-
If you’re feeling grateful to be alive this coming Sept. 11th (Even if your body is old and achy!), if the pandemic and divisive politics have you hungering to see, to BE the good that you’re looking for in this world? You, my friend, are in for a whole LOTTA suggestions here!
Chuckle-worthy, inspiring. Celebrate being alive and honor your fellow man!!!
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