Scott Benner's Blog: Life Is Short: Book Blog

The door to Howard's compound, I wasn't allowed in but if the rest of the Sirius studio is any indication... it must be amazing!

What do you get when you mix real news stories with Wack Pack members from the Howard Stern Show?

You get 'Leiberman Live', a rapid-fire news show hosted by Jon Leiberman that is everything that you may imagine.

I had such a fantastic afternoon appearing on the show and checking out Sirius Satellite Radio... it was a dream come true for this life-long Howard Stern fan.

The questions came fast and furiously during this fifteen minute segment, see if you can keep up... I barely did. 

Check out the reader reviews for my book, 'Life Is Short, Laundry Is Eternal', I think you'll like them!

Image property of Major League Baseball

Today, in celebration of the 2014 Major League Baseball season, a chapter from my book is available as an excerpt on both Huffington Post Parents and Huffington Post Sports. Baseball, Part II, is the story of how my son and I often communicate about life in baseball terms and how the game lends lessons that go far beyond the field.

The chapter captures a moment from my son Cole's 2012 Little League all-star tryout and ends with a conversation that we had about setting goals, perseverance and the love that we share for each other and baseball.

I hope you have a few moments to check it out and click share over at Huff Post. 

2013 Fall Championship game

Winner of the Gold 2013 Mom's Choice Award

I can't tell if I'm more excited to share my book on a big stage or to see a picture of Cole playing baseball on the front page of HuffSports, on Opening Day. 

Life Is Short, Laundry Is Eternal is available at Amazon.com and everywhere that books and eBooks are sold.

Justin Bieber Getting Pulled Over In Miami Led To Me Being On A Radio Show In London England - Because That Makes Sense.

I woke up the other day to Twitter going crazy about J.B.. Later in the morning I was full of thoughts about the Biebs when I remembered, "I have a Huffington Post blog... why am I talking to myself about this?". The next day the producer of the Iain Dale show on LBC, London's Biggest Conversation, was asking me to come on the air and talk about role models. I was just vacuuming and doing the laundry, so what the hell - right!?

Here's how that went...

HuffPost Article

My thoughts on the Bieb.

“Parents of young children may find Justin’s behavior to be not so different from what they see in their own home. He doesn’t know where to pee, writes on the walls with his crayons and lacks the mental sophistication to be concerned for his own welfare. In short, Justin needs a diaper, a timeout and a parent to put those foam bumpers on the sharp corners in his life. He is a mess, and his decisions seem to get worse every time I look up and see his name on my Twitter feed.”

— Scott Benner via Huffington Post

read the full story

Today was perhaps my favorite day since 'Life Is Short, Laundry Is Eternal' was released last year...

I've been a daily listener of the Howard Stern Show since my sophomore year in high school. I genuinely wish that I could climb into a time machine and tell the seventeen-year-old me what happened today.

I found the Howard Stern Show in 1987, one year after it debuted on Philadelphia radio and I've been listening ever since. I've attended a number of Stern events like the John Debella Funeral, Howard's record breaking book signing and a taping of America's Got Talent. My wife and I were even extras in his movie, 'Private Parts' just days before our wedding in 1996, though Kelly only appears onscreen for a brief moment.

I listen most every day, but I've never called the show until today...

 I know that some people have a negative view of the Howard Stern Show, but I love it. It's not the dirty, senseless, base entertainment that some would say. In my mind, the Stern Show is near perfect. I've learned so much about how people speak to one another from my time as a listener. I hear beats in language that may not be evident to others, conversation can take on a pentameter like flow in the right hands and if I am any measure of a storyteller, it's because of Howard Stern and the people he does his show with - which is why I thank Howard in the acknowledgements of my book, 'Life Is Short, Laundry Is Eternal'. 

 I don't quite know why I was moved to call into the Wrap Up Show today, TWUS airs immediately after each live Howard Stern Show, but I'm happy that I did.

Gary and Jon 

The Wrap Up Show is hosted by Jon Hein and longtime Stern Show producer Gary Dell'Abate. I could hear writer Benjy Bronk and a host of other familiar voices as my call went live on the air and I was actually a bit nervous, which shocked me after all of the television and radio that I did this year for the book. So much so that I found myself short of breath after I spoke. Anyway, I went on to talk about a topic that only a true fan of the show could possibly care about, it was frivolous and fun but very real - just as life often is. 

Two highlights of the call (for me), I made a suggestion for the show that Gary said was funny and he indicated that he would take it to their writers meeting and at some point I made a comment that caused Benjy to laugh which reminded me of hearing Fred Norris of in the background of the Stern Show... laughing just of mike.

Benjy

After my point had been made and the people in studio began to speak to each other, I felt like my time on air was finished. A few moments later, the phone went dead and I assumed that they were finished with me and I hung up. A few minutes after I hung up Gary said, "Did we lose Scott... I wanted to let him plug his book". When I heard those words as I listened back, my heart stopped, not because I didn't get to plug, but because I almost got to say my full name followed by the title of my first book on my favorite show. That would have just been amazing.

Later in the afternoon I took a chance and sent a message to Jon Leiberman, who is a reporter for the show. I asked simply if he thought my acknowledgement to Howard would be an interesting story for him to pursue. He's calling me tomorrow... Hoping that the call pans out. One way or the other, I was on the Wrap Up Show today!

There I was two weeks ago minding my own business on the sofa, watching television out of one eye and looking at Twitter out of the other. I saw that Matt Mira (From The Nerdist) was asking if anyone wanted to ask Scott Mosier (Film producer and all around great guy) a question for the next episode of their PodCast, FEaB. I had no context for his question, but as it turns out, they were about to sit down to record an episode and wanted listener questions.

I, having taken a photograph of Scott in the distant past, replied... 

@MattMira Does @smosier remember/still have this photo that I took of him? #preDogma and just as I was about to press send I thought, "What the hell" and added, ...& Would you guys read my book?

I literally haven't thought about sending that tweet since that moment, until today when I heard this.

Anyway, how mind-bending is it that a photo I took in 1998 when I was twenty seven, at a Kevin Smith film festival, would lead to a book mention in 2013? The Internet is indeed a strange and wonderful place.

If you've read my first book, 'Life Is Short, Laundry Is Eternal' and enjoyed it,

I hope that you'll consider picking it up as a holiday gift for the readers on your list.

 

...and if you've yet to pick it up, I can't wait for you to find

'Life Is Short'... I'm so very proud of it.

 

Please consider checking out the many reader reviews on Amazon,

and Barnes & Noble, I think you'll be glad that you did!

 

 Thank you, as always, for your generous support. 

My very best, Scott 

I want to say a huge thank you to the Edgewater, NJ chapter of The Federation of Woman's Clubs for inviting me to speak at their meeting. I had a fantastic evening!

These lovely woman gather together and do good works, giving back to their community and helping others to realize their dreams. I was lucky enough to be with them on the evening that a young high school student returned to tell the group about what their generosity meant to her. - Very inspiring stuff!

Later, I spoke about my journey to being published and we laughed about the crazy year that followed the release of 'Life Is Short, Laundry Is Eternal'. I hear that I'm going to be invited back for a Q&A/Book Review. I hope they like it! 

Contact Scott with speaking, freelance or interview requests.

Great women, doing great work!

Here I am on 'Family Matters with Nancy Redd' - HuffPostLive