Publisher: Chapman Park (September 11, 2017)
Category: Memoir, Non-Fiction, Social Activism, Women Empowerment
Tour dates: Sept/Oct, 2018
ISBN: 978-0999046302
Available in Print and ebook, 299 pages
Description Girl From Spaceship Earth by Patricia Ravasio
The true story of a life intertwined with the utopian ideas of an American genius.
A mind-blowing two-day interview with iconic futurist Buckminster Fuller in 1982 Chicago leads an overeager advertising copywriter to promise she’ll share his urgent messages with the world. She has no idea what she is getting herself into, scarcely understanding what he is talking about.
When his dire predictions come true on America’s worst day (9/11) she must face up to her commitment, which morphs into a fiery obsession thanks to unsettling discoveries about Bucky’s archives further confirming the truth of his warnings. Her outsized passions threaten her relationships and her sanity as she grapples furiously to bring his ideas back into the world.
This heartrending karmic tell-all memoir is about climbing out of comfort zones to find your own voice and make a difference in the world. It also gives readers a charming introduction to the ideas of a long lost genius you’ve probably never heard of.
Praise Girl From Spaceship Earth by Patricia Ravasio
Named Adventure Book of the Month by Hipcamp, October, 2017
“This is a well written, easy to read, girl empowering non fiction story that engages young adult readers.”-ToadHallLibrarian (WorldCat)
“An amazing personal journey that will simultaneously break your heart and mend it.” – Contempobook
“This world changing book makes a great holiday gift.”-Life…Successfully
“This is a great book! Pat Fields is a fledgling journalist who gets the opportunity of a lifetime to interview Buckminster Fuller. He gives her more than just an interview, he gives her a mission to save the world. This book would make such a great movie. 5 stars!”-Crimson, Goodreads
Excerpt Girl From Spaceship Earth by Patricia Ravasio
Bucky set an alarm on his pocket watch, tucked it away into his vest pocket, and in a gentle, cultivated New Eng- land voice, he said, “It is very nice to see you, Pat. One day, you will come to understand the odd time and space continuum of our meeting here today.”
What? Had the planet’s friendly genius just launched us off a paranormal cliff?
“I know it is a difficult concept to grasp,” he continued, “but time is not linear, and our paths will cross again and again.”
I nodded, mesmerized by his words. I wanted to follow up with a question, but my mind went blank so I just smiled and nodded and pretended like I understood. Not exactly my most shining moment as a reporter.
He furrowed his brow. “As you already know, just be- cause you don’t understand something doesn’t mean it’s not true.”
I gave him a small smile. “I feel like I’ve heard those words before.”
“And it is certainly no reason not to keep listening.”
“Yes, of course. But you know, I never really expect to understand anything anyway.” Realizing how stupid that must have sounded, I willed myself to just stop talking and listen. I was a reporter after all. I reached for my pen. I would get it all down then figure it out later.
“You are exactly right,” he said. “We can never be sure of our comprehension, since almost all physical realities are incomprehensible by humans, at least for now.”
I couldn’t resist trying. “But surely we know what we ourselves comprehend?”
“Aha, not quite—but you are on the right track. One day, we will. One day, humans will have that capability. We are evolving in that direction.”
He gestured toward a staircase and gallantly held out his arm for me. “I want to start up on the rooftop. There is something I want to show you.”
He led the way out through a thick metal door at the top of a concrete staircase. Behind us the door slammed shut, sending us aloft into a brilliant blue sky dotted with cotton balls of clouds. A tiny river of traffic streamed far below on Lake Shore Drive.
As he led me to the north side of the roof he turned to make sure I was listening. “The first thing you should know is that I am here with you today because you will still be breathing this sweet Earthian air long after I am gone.”
The hair on the back of my neck stood up. I knew I had heard these exact words before.
“There are breakthroughs coming, an awakening of sorts, which your generation will lead us to,” he said, reaching out his hands as if to capture the entire universe in them. “Human consciousness is evolving to where we
will be able to use our minds to make the world work for one hundred percent of humanity.”
I pulled out my notebook and my best pen.
“To make this happen, we must all begin to live lives of conscious evolution, bearing responsibility for all that we are, which is nature’s finest and most complex experi- ment.”
“Conscious evolution—nature’s finest experiment” were the first words I wrote, feeling very much like an im- poster, despite the quality of my pen.
Bucky seemed to sense my nervousness because he stopped to think a minute, then pointed northward up Lake Michigan. “This is where I want to start, at what was going to be the end for me. Right there, in Montrose Harbor. It was a freezing day in November of 1927. My wife and I had just had a new baby. We’d only recently lost our four-year-old daughter to meningitis, which was at least partly my fault. I had been out gallivanting around like some big-shot architect, jabbering on about how to improve living conditions for all humanity while my own four-year-old daughter died in our drafty apartment.”
I scribbled furiously to get it all down.
“I turned out to be a terrible businessman, never both- ered enough about money. My new business went belly-up just as Anne gave birth to another daughter. I realized that if she got my life insurance money, she would have what she needed to take care of the baby.”
The sun felt overly warm, but I didn’t want to take the time to struggle out of my jacket. “How were you going to do it?” I asked, a bead of sweat running down my back.
His eyes locked onto mine. “Well, I was just going to jump into the water and swim out as far as I could.” He stopped for a minute, letting himself float back to his fifty-year-old memory. There was no sadness in his eyes. His face was alight with the passion of a storyteller.
“Something amazing happened then,” he said. “A voice inside my head spoke to me, saying, ‘What right do you have to end a life? You do not belong to you. You belong to all of humanity.’ I made a bargain with myself that I would allow myself to live, but only if I set out to serve all of humanity. I would discover the principles operative in Universe, the design laws of nature, and I would turn them over to my fellow man. I would make my life an experiment to see what one ordinary person could accomplish if he set out to work for the good of everyone.”
He’d saved himself by latching onto a passion. That cer- tainly sounded familiar, although I wasn’t sure interviewing a genius whose ideas I barely understood was going to help me find mine.
About Patricia Ravasio
Patricia Ravasio has won awards for her radio journalism, advertising copywriting, real estate sales and community volunteerism. This is her first book, which she decided to publish on Election Night, 2016, when she realized how quickly time was running out on humanity’s clock. The Mother of three happy and ferocious grown Bucky girls, Patricia lives in Northern California with her husband of thirty years and two dogs.
Website: https://buckyworld.me/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/patravasio
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GirlFromSpaceshipEarth/
Buy Girl From Spaceship Earth by Patricia Ravasio
Amazon
Barnes&Noble
BookDepository
Giveaway Girl From Spaceship Earth by Patricia Ravasio
This giveaway is for the winner’s choice of one print or ebook copy of the book. Print is open to Canada and the U.S. only and ebook is available worldwide.This giveaway ends October 31, 2018, midnight pacific time. Entries are accepted via Rafflecopter only.
Follow Girl From Spaceship Earth by Patricia Ravasio Tour
Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus Sept 4 Kick off, Excerpt, & Giveaway
Monica Writers and Authors Sept 5 Review & Interview
Daneille Urban Book Reviews Sept 6, Review, Guest Post, & Giveaway
Lu Ann Rockin’ Book Reviews Sept 7 Review
Dawn Bound 2 Escape Sept 10 Excerpt
Dawn Bound 4 Escape Sept 11 Guest Review by Katy
Indie Review Behind the Scenes Sept 11 Video Interview (will be posted later in the week)
Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus Sept 21 Review
Morgine Amazon Sept 25 Review
