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List Price: $18.95 | | Publisher: VonChasePublishing
Salesrank: 195257
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| Our Price: $12.13 |
| Used Price: $17.33 |
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| Media: Paperback |
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Editorial Review:
"Dream Reachers" is a magical mix of success stories and interviews with people who have dared to stretch to reach for their dreams. From living legends to legends-in-the-making, the subjects of this book let their imaginations soar. Author Betty Dravis shares her experiences as a young journalist when her idols, like Clint Eastwood and Jane Russell, walked right out of the limelight and into her life...for brief, memorable moments. Author Chase Von, a celebrity interviewer and poet, shares his current interviews with high achievers in the arts: acting, writing, painting, photography, music and dance. As these achievers tell you in their own words why they kept stretching to reach their dreams, they enchant the readers with their determination, inspiring them to DREAM BIG. With over forty compelling stories and interviews, this literary work casts new light on what it takes to be a Dream Reacher. These are stories of how even disasters can turn into dreams, challenges into opportunities, with the right attitude of perseverance and determination. Whether you dream of walking the red carpet in Hollywood, taking the Big Apple by storm, having a cottage with a white picket fence––or all of those pleasures––this book will inspire you to “stretch” to make your dreams come true.
Dream Reachers Reviews:
Reaching for your dreams? Reach for this book! 
2009-12-19 - If you've ever thought that the famous, the well-established, and those on the way to the top merely sailed on to their goals because of good connections or plain good luck, you are in for many great surprises thanks to Chase Von and Betty Dravis! If you've ever wondered about the character of those who've made it, the answers are here as well. One of the stories that touched me was about one of my all-time favorite stars, Ann Southern. Betty Dravis' brief, unexpected meeting with her under personally challenging circumstances was an absolute delight.
Attitude, drive, character... it's all part of the journey to the finish line that only you can create. The quote from Henry Ford in Dream Reachers absolutely sums it all up: "If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right."
This Book Points The Way To Success 
2009-10-30 - This book shares the stories and interviews of extraordinary people, who were determined to reach their dreams. It shows us how determination can lead to success, how misfortune can be overcome and even give additional purpose to our lives. It is not only inspirational, but gives us hope when we face road-blocks.
`Only those who stretch to reach their dreams find themselves living them'
2009-10-25 - I think that three generations of dream reachers are spanned in this compilation of interviews: names and talents vary, but the drive to thrive does not. I have a confession to make: many of these names are not familiar to me but that actually made the interviews more powerful. Why? Because reading about the dreams and aspirations of comparative strangers made the concept of dream-reaching far more accessible. We all have dreams, but sometimes we need to read the stories of others to realise that hurdles can be overcome.
I enjoyed Betty Dravis's memories of her early interviews with people such as Clint Eastwood and Jane Russell who many of us would regard as icons. Betty herself has three roles in this book: interviewer, interviewee and co-author, and I enjoyed this flow.
Chase Von's interviews, for The Student Operated Press, are more contemporary. I enjoyed the flow of the conversations between Chase and his interviewees. Sometimes I had to remind myself that I was reading interview transcripts as some aspects of conversation - such as smiling and laughing - do not translate easily into print.
I enjoyed reading each of these stories. We each have a unique journey to make, and none of us makes that journey in isolation. Reading the stories of others, sharing their aspirations and learning of their setbacks makes individual dreams seem more achievable.
Congratulations to Betty Dravis and Chase Von for achieving this shared dream.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
Some Authentic Interviews
2009-10-13 - I personally have stopped reading most interviews and have even less interest when the interview is televised or on radio. For the most part these interviews are filled with canned, "prescreened" questions and the responses seem more packaged than candid. There is also the sense that the interviewee is on another plane from the rest of us and the interview is merely a privileged glimpse we (the hoi poloi) can have into their lives, or at least what they would like us to see of them. This book, however, is refreshingly different. Chase Von and Betty Dravis offer readers a portrait of their subjects that is at once conversational and relaxed while also being informative. As a result, we learn far more about both the subjects of the interview and the authors themselves.
Mr. Von's contribution is by far the larger part of the book. He offers insightful conversation with a variety of artists: writers, poets, singers, and dancers. One of the recurring themes of these interviews is that the subjects are for the most part quite ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Implicit in the discussions is the broader point that we all have some talents; we just need to manifest them more in our lives. I found the conversation with Dawn Huffaker (poet of nature) a joy simply because it was nice to find a "celebrity" that I felt I could connect with on at least one level. Von himself is able to discover a connection with many of those he interviews. During his conversation with Aberjhani, for example, both find that they have been heavily influenced by Kahil Gibran.
If Chase Von offers us a new, more conversational style of interviewing, then Betty Dravis' contribution to the book is to offer a new picture of the interviewer. Often interviewers in magazines are "faceless" (we almost never see pictures of them, only the subject). They hide behind an apparent wall of "objective" questions that are often short and not terribly revealing (for either party, much less the reader.) But Dravis offers us a very human picture of the reporter conducting interviews. At times it is entertaining, as for example when she reflects on her "bad hair day" when meeting Clint Eastwood. At other times, it is poignant, as when she reflects on her meeting with Senator Ted Kennedy years before his prolonged struggle with cancer. But in all her anecdotes, Dravis offers readers a picture of how the interviewer, far from being a neutral questioner, is affected by the meeting with her subjects.
On the whole then, this is a good book. Von and Dravis have collectively offered us a new, more informal and conversational form of interview. It is a style which is far superior to the interviews still conducted by the mass media in this country. Readers of this book will find that they share an intimacy with subjects and authors that more traditional forms of interviews preclude.
INSPIRATIONAL INTERVIEWS
2009-10-11 - Dream Reachers is a truly captivating foray into the lives of celebrities, past and present, utilizing the lively format of the interview.
Betty Dravis's interviews with Clint Eastwood, Jane Russell, Ted Kennedy, and Tanya Tucker, to name a few, introduce this book to us readers and underscore the theme: dream big.
Chase Von then carries on in the format of his Student Operated Press, bringing to us the actors, singers, poets, and writers who pepper the pages of this star-studded tome.
Also included amongst the interviews is Chase Von's interview with co-author Betty Dravis, in which she describes some of her own personal experiences as well as her philosophy on life and dreams.
A recurring note throughout is that anything can happen if you strive for it and believe in the possibility.
Some of the celebrities have had to overcome extreme difficulties, such as Kitania Kavey, who suffered numerous injuries in a motorcycle accident and had to surmount the disabilities that followed.
Others have had to achieve their successes despite prejudice or oppression. Transcending the obstacles and beating out the odds presented by life are the common characteristics shared by the "stars" of this astounding book.
A definite five-star read, this is a book that I can cherish and reread whenever I need inspiration.
