Jo Maeder, Author at Jo Maeder

THE TALE OF THE SQUIRREL-PROOF BIRD FEEDER

May 24, 2018 by Jo Maeder 1 Comment

From Audubon.org website Updated May 24, 2018. New information appears at the end. Let me explain why I was so determined to outwit the squirrels stealing birdseed from the wild birds I’d attracted to my yard. Of course they didn’t see it as stealing. It’s their natural right to snarf up anything they can. And […]

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Life Works in Mysterious Ways: How losing my last sibling gave me more than just a new perspective

May 9, 2018 by Jo Maeder 3 Comments

I once wrote an essay for AOL about getting through Mother’s Day when Mom is no longer here (the essay is no longer here as well—so much for everything living forever online). Now I’m faced with Mother’s Day without my brother, Art. Every day without him has been hard, but we always shared memories of “Mama […]

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When A Video of Someone You Know Goes Viral (in a bad way)

March 4, 2018 by Jo Maeder Leave a Comment

It was bound to happen. Someone I knew and consider to be a nice person behaved badly, a bystander made a video, it went viral, this person lost their job and now must mentally wear the scarlet letters IPH (Internet Public Hanging). I don’t want to leave a clue to their identity by saying “he” […]

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How to leave a book review on Amazon (anonymously or not))

November 30, 2017 by Jo Maeder 4 Comments

When a tech-savvy friend confessed that she loved my book yet had no idea how to leave a review on Amazon, I decided to write this for her and anyone else who may not know. Books depend on word-of-mouth and mouse. It’s part of my job description now to ask readers to leave book reviews the way […]

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What is the #1 way to increase happiness?

November 20, 2017 by Jo Maeder 4 Comments

Life is not a bowl of cherries for anyone. We must take the bitter with the sweet, we’re told. But some people seem to have an innate melancholy they can never shake. Studies now show that we stay at the same level of happiness our entire life. There’s only one thing that’s been proven to […]

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Zerk ’em: Another surprise in a pile of old family papers

November 8, 2017 by Jo Maeder Leave a Comment

In honor of Aviation History Month, Veteran’s Day, and my father’s birthday, I’m sharing a peek at a treasure I unearthed when his widow died. I was asked by her executor if I would like his papers. What papers?, I thought. When he passed she became obsessed with ballroom dancing and turned his office into […]

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Chuck Berry, the author, takes out the trash and dishes it, too

March 19, 2017 by Jo Maeder Leave a Comment

I confess, I probably wouldn’t have read Chuck Berry’s autobiography had I not seen Bob Dylan reading it backstage. I immediately bought it and devoured it. Not long after, Berry played a club in New York City and I was asked to introduce him onstage as part of my DJ duties as “The Rock and […]

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Beating the Odds: Finding Love at Any Age

November 6, 2016 by Jo Maeder 4 Comments

It was mid-January, 2014, still soon enough in the new year for the air to be charged with renewal and resolutions. My friend Rita had been in a long-term relationship with a wonderful man everyone adored. She adored him, too. But it had become more of a warm friendship than a romance. Her New Year’s […]

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Behind NAKED DJ, the audiobook

October 10, 2016 by Jo Maeder Leave a Comment

I’m so thrilled Rachel Butera has been nominated for a SOVAS Voice Arts Awards for her narration of NAKED DJ, as have I for my narration of WHEN I MARRIED MY MOTHER. Known as “The Oscars of Voice Acting” it’s indeed an honor. The awards ceremony is Nov 13, 2016 at the Warner Brothers […]

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Mother’s Day without Mama

May 7, 2016 by Jo Maeder 4 Comments

This Mother’s Day, 2016, marks the eleventh one without Mama Jo. It’s always been tinged with sadness since her passing, but this one will be particularly hard. I recently completed reading and editing the audiobook of When I Married My Mother. I read it once. Didn’t like the way I did my mother’s parts. Re-read them […]

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