The Sages Among Us

Host Hollie Grimaldi Flores brings us an inside look at the life story of Jan Fishler. After graduation from Ohio University, she loaded her belongings into her VW Super Beetle and headed for San Diego. One of only a few women in the video production industry meant time  in San Francisco and Oakland, marriage, children and an eventual move to Nevada County and work with Grass Valley Group. A self-...

Host Lori Burkart Frank brings us the inside story of the life and times of Dick Law, realtor and co-founder of This Is Now Your Home (“TINY”), a nonprofit helping create small homes for unhoused folks in need. Raised in San Francisco and Marin County, Dick had a high school classmate named Robin Williams. After a short stint as a butcher, he moved into real estate and came to Nevada County in his...

Host Taylor Wolfe leads our discovery into the life and adventures of photography instructor and environmental filmmaker Jeff Litton. Jeff’s work has been published in National Geographic  and many other environmental publications. Growing up in Nevada County, he attended Nevada Union High School where he got great ideas and inspiration about doing something you love and figuring out how to be pai...

Host Keith Porter draws us into the intriguing story of Optometrist, actor and community theater founder Lisa Moon. Lisa’s parents--daughter of a wealthy Chinese family and a poor American studying Chinese--met at a Chinese university and over the bride’s family’s objections, moved to the U.S. Growing up in San Francisco in a family that encouraged education meant an advanced degree was expected,...

Host Brian Buckley brings us an inside look at a local treasure—author and Camptonville leading citizen Shirley DicKard. Shirley’s father was a physician, mother was a nurse. At the time, becoming a doctor wasn’t encouraged for women, but the nurse route was. Degrees from UC Davis and UCSF involved meeting husband, Dick, who became a dentist. From early experiences as a childbirth educator, practi...

Host Lori Burkart Frank brings us a detailed look at veteran’s issues and the man who manages them in Nevada County with an in-depth interview with Veterans Service Officer David West II. Graduating from high school in Sacramento, he decided he wasn’t ready for college, joined the Marines, and was named “Marine Of The Year” for the Pacific Fleet during his service in Okinawa. The transition back t...

Host Hollie Grimaldi Flores explores all things aviation, and traces the story of General Chuck Yeager's aircraft with Nevada County Airport Manager, Keven Edwards.

Host Taylor Wolfe provides an in-depth introduction to one of two Grass Valleys’ two newest City Council members, Tom Ivy. Born and raised in Nevada County was magical, and Tom then found another place in the woods with lots of recreation opportunities when he went off to UC Santa Cruz to study biology and other things in the process of finding his life’s direction. A class on the UC farm provided...

Host Keith Porter leads our exploration of the life and times of Michael Selby. From a Catholic Seminarian in his youth and young adulthood, to serving as a parole and probation officer, to corporate trainer, to consultant; all underlain by a love of music and a lifelong focus on service. Realizing his dependence on alcohol brought him into the twelve step process. Moving from Marin County to Lake...

Host Brian Buckley leads our exploration of excellence in education by telling the story of award-winning Nevada Union High School Drama Teacher Rob Metcalfe. Fresh out of college with a theater degree, he stage-managed a children’s production and fell in love with the impact  drama had on kids. He learned a lot about good teaching from both the great teachers as well as the terrible teachers in h...

Hollie Grimaldi Flores marks her hosting debut by introducing us to Gil Mathew, Executive Director of Nevada County’s Economic ResourHollie Grimaldi Flores marks her hosting debut by introducing us to Gil Mathew, Executive Director of Nevace Council, a businessman with a half century of experience building successful enterprises and a playwright, and so much more. For Gil, the secret to our succes...

Host Keith Porter introduces us to the guy who remodeled the Center for the Arts in Grass Valley. Well, Walt didn’t exactly do it himself, but he saw that it got done! He’s the chair of the Facility Committee of the Center board, and he recently retired as the Facility Director for Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital. From a relatively carefree childhood in Fairbanks, Alaska, to teen years in the Bay...

Host Brian Buckley brings us the inside story of Janeth Maroletti, the Executive Director of Gold Country Senior Services. Growing up with her grandparents in Mexico helped inspire her life’s work and led to a Master’s degree at CSU Fullerton in Public Health with a specialty in Aging. Building and Enhancing connections between generations despite today’s pressurized life styles is one of her grea...

Taylor Wolfe, our newest Sages host, interviews founding hosts Brian Buckley and Keith Porter, and the man who put it on the air at KVMR, Ralph Henson. With quotes from the Sages project godfather Gary Quehl and founding host Norm Westmore, they celebrate the show's anniversary and discuss how and why civic engagement makes great radio.

Host Keith Porter brings us the inside story of a Chaplain’s life. The third child of a Southern Baptist minister who was a World War II veteran, Norris moved six times as a child and graduated from high school in Atascadero. Influenced by his father’s life, he attended Baylor University and Golden Gate Seminary, became a pastor who was serving in Stockton, California, in 1989 when a horrific scho...

Host Brian Buckley gives us an insider’s perspective on the life and times of retired dentist and Camptonville community activist Dr. Richard DicKard. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, raised in Southern California, spent time on a ranch and looking for copper and gold in Arizona. Studying Physics at UCLA brought a confrontation with Calculus, and a realization that his interests were more about work...

Host Lori Burkart Frank brings us a glimpse into the life of Paul Cummings; where he came from, and how he became a key player in keeping Nevada County safe during emergencies. Growing up in San Diego, he hoped to become a military pilot. A degree in aviation and a pilot’s license resulted in work as an air traffic controller and on to a commission as an Air Force Navigator. Paul’s two kids were b...

Host Suzanne Webb moderates an in-depth introduction of Stuart Baker, new Executive Director of Nevada City Chamber of Commerce. Stuart grew up in Taos, New Mexico, where his first language was Dutch, spoken at home with his mother who’d immigrated from Holland to marry is Texas-born father, a travelling salesman whom she’d met on a holiday in Taos. The family later moved to a more benign climate...

Host Taylor Wolfe leads our exploration of the life and times of Kim Blix, Emergency Preparedness Coordinator in Nevada County’s Department of Public Health, and Operations Co-chief of the County’s Emergency Operations Center. She’s also a volunteer with Nevada County Search and Rescue. Kim’s parents brought their family to Nevada County when she was a “wee bairn,” and she attended school at Deer...

Host Keith Porter leads the investigation into the life and times of Brain Terhorst. An aspiring archaeologist when a medical condition limited his physical activity, he switched to the field of historic preservation and ultimately to radio broadcasting. He started volunteering at KVMR in 1991 and rose to become General Manager. In 2007 he was recruited to become General Manager at North State Pub...

Host Brian Buckley helps us trace the life journey of Trisha Tillotson, who’s just being promoted from her position as Public Works Director to become head of the Nevada County’s entire Community Development Agency. A local girl since landing here at one year old, she attended local schools and graduated from Nevada Union. She went away to earn her Civil Engineering at CSU Chico and worked her way...

Host Lori Burkart Frank leads our discovery of the life and times of Susan Clarabut, a woman with education in her blood;  Grandmother, Mom, Aunts and Uncles were all teachers. A former teacher, principal and Assistant Superintendent, she was elected to the Nevada County Board of Education in 2020. Susan would probably never have left her work in a one-room school in the Redwoods, but her husband...

Host Brian Buckley leads a deep dive into the life and times of a passionate and innovative educator. There’s a deeper work going on in education that doesn’t hit the news about closed classrooms and online learning. One great example is Heather’s “dual immersion” bi-lingual magnet program at Bell Hill Academy in Grass Valley. Growing up in a family of teachers in Redding, California, she discover...

Host Keith Porter leads the exploration of the life and times of a creative person whose great interest in life has always been understanding why people do what they do. Michael studied Psychology and Philosophy, and has developed and written about a unique approach called CARE Parenting—for Caring Adults and Respectful Environments. He’s an active counselor and therapist, a volunteer counselor fo...

Host Brian Buckley leads our journey of discovery into the life and times of a mayor of a small mountain town, who bought a home here sight-unseen on the day of the great Bay Area 1989 earthquake. Growing up in Lafayette with older brothers led Erin to a number of experiences in activism and the choice to get arrested or not at protests. From enjoying school and community theater, Erin tried the L...