Colorado publisher offers books that describe transformation
June 30, 2024
Elisabeth Sherwin -- ensherwin@gmail dot com
Columnist
An Estes Park, Colo., publisher has issued two interesting and unique books – memoirs – written by men who actually have something to say.
The first is “Heart of a Stuntman: From Hollywood to Humanity” by Kevin Ball. There’s no denying that Ball has an ego, which is apparent throughout his story. But the twist is this: He took his ego and talents and did something wonderful. He became a videographer on humanitarian missions around the world.
His 2022 book describes how this happened, which is in itself a tale with a twist. Imagine a ladies’ book club in Carmel, Calif., complete with white wine and celebrity wives. The book club members are bored and decide, after reading “First They Killed My Father” by Loung Ung, to form an international land-mine removal nonprofit. This they do.
Ball managed an introduction to the group, assured them he was a skilled documentary filmmaker (he wasn’t) and traveled with 10 women to Cambodia in 2007.
“I yearned to help humanity find a voice that would be loud enough to overpower greed and negative energy, so I decided to document the groups and the people around the globe who were making a difference,” he said. “I would use whatever outlets I could find to tell their stories to the world.”
It was on his first trip to Cambodia that he met Cindy McCain, not just a political wife but a board member on several international NGOs, who invited Ball and his business partner, John Evanko, to become her personal documentary team. This opened the door for him to work with many humanitarian organizations worldwide.
Ball is a comfortable, conversational writer who describes his work in Cambodia, Kosovo, Guatemala and India without hiding misery and discomfort. But he also finds great joy. He describes life on these missions as an emotional roller-coaster.
The most haunting? The landfill in Phnom Penh where thousands of people live. The team visited a day-care center next to the landfill that fed 6,000 children a day. Living in a garbage dump is not just disgusting, it’s dangerous.
“As horrific as it may be to imagine, adults, children and entire families are sometimes sucked down in these collapsing sinkholes of garbage, where they die an unimaginable death,” he writes.
The most impressive? With the help from Operation Smile International, more than 7,000 cleft-palate or -lip surgeries have taken place in Guwahati, Assam Province, India. Enlightened government officials have made it a point over the past several decades to bring in NGOs that can repair the facial disfigurements suffered by many children and adults. Because the deformity is assumed to be the result of an evil spirit, these people are shunned.
Estes Park’s Armin Lear Press also published a 2022 memoir titled “The Young Terrorist: Journey from Arab Militant to Proud American” by Nabil Khouri. That is not his real name of course because were his identity published, his remaining family in the Middle East would be shot.
When he was 11 he joined a branch of the Palestine Liberation Organization in his Jordanian village. He was given a Kalashnikov, a belt filled with grenades, and hundreds of bullets hanging from an old leather strap which he slung over his skinny left shoulder.
“Had I known I would move to the United States eight years later, marry an American woman, give up my Arab nationality to become an American citizen, and form intimate friendships with American Jews, I would have shot myself in the head,” he wrote.
His childhood and teenage years were chaotic and dangerous, scarred by Lebanon’s 15-year civil war, a conflict that Khouri did his best to avoid. He enrolled in the Lebanese University in Beirut. One day, almost on a lark, he went to the American Embassy and filled out the paperwork for admission to an American university. Many students made the same application and failed. Khouri did not tell his parents and soon forgot about it.
But, for some reason, Khouri made the cut. He was accepted at the University of Florida in Gainesville to study engineering.
“Although I did not know English, I was excited to leave the hellish life in Lebanon behind,” he said. He was 19.
Khouri’s memoir describes how he overcame what might have been overwhelming difficulties. He learned English, graduated with an engineering degree, married an American woman, and is today living the American dream in Virginia.
Both of these titles were picked up by a publisher who was fascinated by the idea of change.
“The whole idea is transformation,” said Maryann Karinch, owner of Armin Lear Press (www.arminlear.com).
“Everyone can relate to the stories these two men tell. They felt like they were stuck in the wrong place, at the wrong time. The transitions these two made is a journey anyone can relate to.
“I try to publish books with bite to help others make changes in their lives,” she added. All her books are sold worldwide in English.
Karinch did not set out to become a publisher, although she now has 70 titles. She was a speech and drama major at The Catholic University in Washington, D.C., who became a successful freelancer and wrote several nonfiction books. Her transition occurred over time as she picked up skills in writing, marketing, communications and business.
Today, she is a successful publisher with titles that have something to say.
-- Reach Elisabeth Sherwin at ensherwin@gmail.com
For More Information, Visit These Links:
Armin Lear Press (www.arminlear.com)
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