BLOG PAGE – Page 8 – Lane Igoudin | Author, Professor, Dad

Focusing on justice for adoptive families in a radio interview

Cincinnati-based Rodney Lear interviewed me on his syndicated radio “Sunday Morning Magazine” alongside Angie Thomas, a NYT-bestselling author of The Hate U Give, and gun control activist Whitney Austin. The show aired on 4 radio stations on Feb. 4: WKRQ-FM (101.9) and WYGY-FM (97.3) and 6:00 a.m. on WUBE-FM (105.1) and WREW-FM (94.9).

This 20-minute conversation about my memoir A Family, Maybe has been the best so far – mostly because of Rodney’s unscripted questions, aiming to get our story down in all its drama and details. In talking to him, I realized how much my quest to get the story out is really about justice for adoptive families. Our families are viewed as ‘less than’ while committing themselves to the kids we are taking in. I refuse to accept that and demand that respect, compassion, and resources be given as much to adoptive families, who are actually raising the kids, as to other parties in this process. The disempowering, marginalizing scenes like one in my book when we, the foster adoptive parents of a child who’d been with us longer than with her birth family, are thrown out of the courtroom when demanding to be part of the process must never happen.

Listen at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lane-igoudin-2-4-2024/id1342250552?i=1000700117644

AFM’s opening chapter shared by LGBTQ Nation

PROUD to see an excerpt from my memoir shared by LGBTQ Nation, ‘the world’s most followed LGBTQ media source’. I edited the opening chapter to fit the requested size, and the resulting post, “Curbside delivery: 2 dads confront the heart-wrenching foster system as a baby arrives at their door” reads as a complete, cohesive essay. Take a look!

Interviewed on NBC’s “Daytime” show (WFLA-TV)

Jonathan and I were just interviewed about our family journey depicted in my memoir A Family, Maybe. The 5-minute conversation was very warm. The “Daytime” show hosts Maggie Rodriguez and Farron Hipp (an adoptive mother herself) asked us questions about the joys and pitfalls of the foster adoptive process, and whether it has changed over the years, illustrating our interview with the family photos appearing in the book. Jon described our family building journey as the most important experience of his life, and I ended the interview by saying, “We are so blessed.”

Titled “A Family, Maybe shares the true tale of love and legal struggles met by one couple hoping to adopt,” the TV segment went live on Friday, Jan. 26 and was also shared on the WFLA website. Check it out!

Interviewed on “NY and NJ’s #1 Drive Time Morning Show”

Earlier today, I spoke live about my book A Family, Maybe on “The Frank Truatt Morning Show: NY and NJ’s #1 Drive Time Morning Show.” Frank’s co-host Taylor and I chatted for about 10 minutes about our family’s foster/adoptive journey depicted in the book, and the social issues it brings up. The segment aired on 4 radio channels during morning commute: WTBQ (AM 1110; FM 93.5) and WGHT (AM 1500; FM 98.3).

Interviewed by The Impactful Parent podcast

Delighted to be interviewed by the parenting coach Kristina Campos on her popular parenting app, podcast, and YouTube channel The Impactful Parent. In this 35-minute episode, which went live today, I summarize some of the takeaways from our foster adoptive experience.

So here it is, “5 Things You Need to Know before You Foster to Adopt,” as a podcast and a YouTube video.

The interview itself left me with a surprising takeaway. It made me realize how universal the parenting struggles are, no matter how you build your family, naturally or adoptively, and how the parenting lessons achieved through adoptive experience are just as broadly applicable to any type of parenting.

New “Foster / Adoptive Parent Resources” page

As a parent, writer, and speaker, I have engaged over the years with some excellent organizations, sites, and other resources that serve current and prospective adoptive parents. I am sharing some of them on a new “Foster/Adoptive Parent Resources” page and will continue to update as times goes on.

“Am Yisrael Chai: Essays, Poems, and Prayers” review in Jewish News

Earlier today, the Jewish News of Northern California published my book review of an anthology of poetry and essays in response to the tragic events of October 7.

Am Yisrael Chai is a very special book. I describe it as

“… raw, unvarnished and often uncomfortable to read, but that’s why its testimony is so powerful: It is a reflection that itself is an experience.

There will be time in the future to process, to contextualize the events and to compartmentalize the pain, but right now, these writers, poets, and liturgists are bearing witness to what is [. . .] “

This is my first Jewish News book review. My previous two (of Toibin’s The Magician and Ryziński’s Foucault in Warsaw) came out in Lambda Literary Review.

Reading a new piece at Authors Guild LA

I read “Postcards to a Stranger,” a new piece about meeting my husband Jon the same day I met President Clinton and his family oh-so-many years ago, the two events intertwined, at the Holiday Get Together of the LA Chapter of Authors Guild.

Catching up with other working writers, learning from their works, sharing tips and advice, drinks in hand – what a great way to finish a year!

Besides connecting me with other writers, Authors Guild has benefitted me in some other ways as well: by reviewing – and improving – my contracts, and allowing me to participate in its LaunchPad program this fall, a series of Webinars educating writers on the verge of publication on the art of launching a book. This couldn’t have been more timely, as the launch of my book, A Family, Maybe, is less than 2 months away.

Prayer for the Captives (Traditional)

May He who blessed our ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Aaron, David and Solomon, bless, protect, and guard the members of Israel’s Defense Forces missing in action or held captive, and other captives among our brethren, the whole House of Israel, who are in distress and captivity [as we, the members of this holy congregation, pray on their behalf].

May the Holy One, blessed be He, have compassion on them, and bring them out from darkness and the shadow of death.

May He break their bonds, deliver them from their distress, and return them swiftly to their families’ embrace.

Give thanks to the Lord for His lovingkindness, and for the wonders He does for the mankind, and may there be fulfilled in them the verse: “Those redeemed by the Lord will return; they will enter Zion with singing, and everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.” And let us say Amen.
The Koren Sacks Siddur, p. 525; The Rav Kook Siddur, p. 595

Hebrew text from the siddurim (prayer books) cited above:

In addition to the prayer, Psalms 121, 142, and 143 can also be recited for more comfort and resilience.

“Foucault in Warsaw” review in Lambda Lit

A startling book I picked up at a publishers fair turned into my latest book review for Lambda Literary.

Michel Foucault’s work forever changed our understanding of sanity, sexuality, morality, and crime. And yet his life concealed a personal secret that might explain how he first arrived at his profound realizations about society. . . It was a rumor, an urban legend, as no direct evidence of the relationship survived either in Poland or in Foucault’s archives in France. Or was it?

This secret I refer to above is finally rescued from the shadows and exposed to light in Foucault in Warsaw – an investigative book by Remigiusz Ryziński, a writer, gender studies scholar, and professor of philosophy at the University of Warsaw. Nominated for Poland’s most prestigious literary award, Foucault in Warsaw , the book also throws back the curtain “on the rich and rewarding—though at times perilous—gay life bubbling underground in the Polish capital” in the midst of the Cold War.

I really enjoyed this wonderful book and hope that it will continue to find new readers through its exposure in LLR.

Foucault in Warsaw
By Remigiusz Ryziński
Translated from Polish by Sean Gasper Bye
Open Letter, University of Rochester
Paperpack 220 pp.
ISBN: 9781948830362

BUY ON BOOKSHOP.ORG