Interview with bestselling author August Turak***
Templeton Prize winning essay, now released as an illustrated book teaches us the redemptive power of an authentically purposeful life
Brother John: A Monk, a Pilgrim, and the Purpose of Life
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August Turak, author of the new book Brother John: A Monk, A Pilgrim and the Purpose of Life is available for interview. This is a story of the redemptive power of an authentically purposeful life. Turak’s message comes at a critical time for us in America; a time when our nation seems to be experiencing a cultural crisis of meaning and purpose, a nation that seems to be searching hopelessly for a cure.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recently made depression the number one health issue in the Western World. Suicides rates are spiking and mass shootings are becoming more common. Despite historically low unemployment rates, the Labor Participation Rate is at an all-time low as more and more people simply drop out of the work force. All of these are symptomatic of the spiritual crisis afflicting America that is most easily described as a lack of higher meaning and purpose.
New York Magazine recently published a powerful article on the opioid epidemic in America titled “The Poison We Pick.” In the article, writer Andrew Sullivan says, “To see this epidemic as simply a pharmaceutical or chemically addictive problem is to miss something: the despair that currently makes so many want to fly away. Opioids are just one of the ways Americans are trying to cope with an inhuman new world where everything is flat, where communication is virtual, and where those core elements of human happiness — faith, family, community — seem to elude so many. Until we resolve these deeper social, cultural, and psychological problems, until we discover a new meaning or re-imagine our old religion or reinvent our way of life, the poppy will flourish.”
It is these core elements of human happiness — faith, family, community that August Turak and the story of Brother John addresses. It’s the true story of an encounter between the author, going through a midlife crisis, and an umbrella wielding Trappist monk that asks us to reconsider the meaning and purpose of life.
August Turak is now available for interview. To receive a review copy of Brother John or to schedule an interview, please contact me at the number/email below.
All the best,
Heather
Contact: Heather Huzovic, 516.412.4686 or heather.huzovic@gmail.com
Winner of the $100,000 Templeton Prize and written by August Turak, Brother John is the true story of a monastic encounter between the author, going through a midlife crisis, and an umbrella wielding Trappist monk: a magical Christmas Eve lesson that teaches us all the redemptive power of an authentically purposeful life. Uplifting, deeply moving, and set in the magnificent Trappist monastery of Mepkin Abbey, Brother John is dramatically brought to life by 22 full-color paintings by Glenn Harrington, a multiple award-winning artist who has illustrated over 700 books for all the top publishers.
Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Life, one of the highest-selling non-fiction books in publishing history has abandoned his long-running aversion to endorsing any books to praise Brother John on the inside jacket.
As a former MTV founder, business executive and highly successful entrepreneur, August started living and working with silent Trappist Monks, sometimes for months at a time. In an interview, August will talk about what led him to write the story of Brother John and how it’s an inspirational tale for so many of us in search of happiness and higher purpose.
AUGUST TURAK is an award-winning author, speaker, consultant and contributor for Forbes.com and the BBC. He is also the founder of the spiritual and educational nonprofit the Self Knowledge Symposium Foundation (SKSF). August retired as a successful entrepreneur and corporate executive. His book, Business Secrets of the Trappist Monks, was published in 2013 by Columbia Business School Publishing. When he is not praying and working alongside the Trappist monks of Mepkin Abbey, he works with his nonprofit and lives on a seventy-five-acre farm near Raleigh, North Carolina.
GLENN HARRINGTON is an internationally recognized and collected artist. His paintings have been featured in American Arts Quarterly, American Art Collector, the New York Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer, International Artists Magazine, and the covers of American Artist and US Art. He has had numerous solo exhibitions in New York, Japan, South Carolina, and Pennsylvania, and has exhibited at the Norman Rockwell Museum, the Museum of American Illustration, and the USGA Museu
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