I just happened to come across your www site on CHARLIE. What a most "fantabulous" surprise and pleasure.  I had talked with Anna Ruth just before Charlie passed away and  then  right afterwards. (My birthday was May 23rd) I served on 2 Sessions at the Jekyll Island Community/Presbyterian Church with Charlie when he was the pastor on Jekyll Island.

When he first  arrived on JI, he was having a California agency handle his Parent  Talk radio series.  Knowing (at that time) I had already spent 40 years in broadcasting and  television, and headed up my National Communications Associates, he suggested I begin to handle the Parent Talk syndication---which we did  for several years and eventually his new series Marriage Talk. Charlie and I could use our Brunswick radio facilities to produce the tapes and eventually discs.  I'm confident Charlie had passed along his personal history to you...as a high  school basketball star...his years in the ministry...the Abundance Foundation...and how he had his first REAL publication (book--Letters To Karen) come into being through McCrackin at Word Publishing and then Reader's Digest condensation...to having "to sacrifice" and take a church on Wakaii  Beach, Hawaii...and then for a VERY FEW WEEKS serve in what he termed the largest mausoleum he'd ever been in as a pastor (Miami...downtown transition area)....time at Church of The Stars in California, etc etc etc. even to his "Tree House" on Fripp Island, SC; having members meet at a fire house for about a year on Skidaway Island (GA) while new members and funds for a church were obtained. Charlie was very good as a wood-working expert. His home on Jekyll island had a front yard sign stating "The Shedd House." 

I wish you could have been there with us when Gov. Jimmy Carter came down from Atlanta to have Charlie and Martha discourage son Chip from wanting to be married on the beach at Jekyll with a ceremony that Chip and would--become wife prepared. Charlie turned him down...and a spat followed...and Charlie "cooled Jimmy & Rozzie) and Jimmy told us at that time---he was going to become President of the United States - --but serve only one term. (The first un-official announcement of his plans).

Oh, the stories I could share with you about Charlie & Martha and the children. I never had the honor and pleasure to personally meet Anna Ruth..although we have talked--thanks to Alexander Graham Bell.

Ken Kribbs (called) The Memory Man
kkribbs@bellsouth.net

Being 'Odd' Has its Own Advantages
 

Dr. Charlie W. Shedd of Ardmore, an 87-years-young retired Presbyterian pastor, is author of a newly published book titled, "I'm Odd, Thank You God."  Hot off the press, this delightful treatise is his 41st published book with high-water marks in two earlier classics that sold in the millions - "Letters to Karen" and "Letters to Philip."

One review of his newest book writes, "His admission that he is odd does not surprise me.  What does surprise me is that at 87, he still writes in that direct, simple and insightful way--continues to see God at work in life's small events."

In this enjoyable volume, Charlie Shedd shares various anecdotes of personal experiences that reflect the broad definition of "odd"--meaning "extraordinary or rare; markedly different from the usual."  Too often, he points out, "odd" gives a negative connotation.  Other than the double play on the word "odd," he holds to the "markedly different" throughout his book.  He builds on the gospel record that Jesus was markedly different from the religious people of his time and invites the readers to consider Philippians 2:5--"Let his mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus."

Part II of his book provides a broad group of extra-ordinary stories to nourish the "mind of Christ."  Some of these appear under headings of "Am I able to accept the things I cannot change?"  "Am I doing the best I can even when I'm hurting?"  "Am I giving what I should be giving?"

In Part III, he takes account of his childhood experiences with his father as a woodworker "par excellance."  With his mother, whom he regards as a super teacher, he recalls a school instructor, Miss Fanchon, and her "never-ever" list.  And he shares lessons from a summer job with his uncle during threshing season, remembering the words, "Charlie, being in a rut usually is good only temporarily."  These down-to-earth accounts of personal experiences invite us to listen carefully for our own everyday encounters that reflect and address insightful issues of worth, joy and encouragement.

He tells of his discovery of Anna Ruth Hulme, a longtime resident of Ardmore and only a few years younger than himself.  Seeing her at a party in her home for the first time, he recalls his silent prayer, "Dear Lord, what a beautiful combination of molecules you have fashioned in this lovely lady."  Within a year they were married.  He was then 84.

One cannot know the author for very long without appreciating his approach to faith and the love of living.  At the end of his book is a farewell moment: "Most of us wait 'til we're in trouble, and then we pray to God on the double.  Wonder what would happen if each day, we'd ask the Lord, 'Anything I can do for You today?'  I'll bet that would really make Him happy."

May Charlie Shedd's understanding of "odd" grow and multiply among us all.

The Rev. Charles H. Brown
Ardmore Village Public Relations Director, Ardmore, OK