Linda Ellis started writing poems as a child, and her work has been featured in bestselling books and magazines such as Family Circle, US News and World Report, and other major publications. Her poems have also appeared on local television and hundreds of radio programs, including Radio Delilah. She lives in GA.
Live Your Dash: Make Every Moment Matter
by Linda Ellis
Paperback
$14.95
- ISBN-13: 9781454912224
- Publisher: Sterling Ethos
- Publication date: 05/06/2014
- Pages: 288
- Sales rank: 165,748
- Product dimensions: 5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.90(d)
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Includes the original poem “The Dash.”
I read of a man who stood to speak
At the funeral of a friend
He referred to the dates on her tombstone
From the beginning to the end
He noted that first came the date of her birth
And spoke the following date with tears,
But he said what mattered most of all
Was the dash between those years.
In 1996, an announcer read Linda Ellis's poem “The Dash” aloud on a syndicated radio program—and, to her surprise, it became an instant, meteoric success. Calls came in from people around the country eager to tell Linda how her words had touched their hearts. That was the beginning of an enduring phenomenon.
Live Your Dash captures and expands upon the theme of the original poem: It's not your birth or death that matters most, but how you spend each passing year. Linda shares her message of joy, hope, and positive energy through uplifting stories, essays, and poetry, along with tales of people who have been "touched by the dash," including Bob Dole, legendary football coach Lou Holtz, and American Idol winner David Cook. An inspiring look at life based on the fantastically successful poem.
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Library Journal
Ellis, based in Georgia, rose to prominence on the strength of her poem "The Dash" (two versions are included here) and has since been quoted on network and cable news shows. The title refers to the dash between a person's birth and death dates, i.e., the time one is alive. Her book of homely wisdom includes testimonials from Sen. Bob Dole, coach Lou Holtz, and The Young and the Restless actor Sean Kanan. A kind of Edgar A. Guest in both verse and prose, Ellis is a lazy, doggerel-prone poet but a relentlessly encouraging life coach, the sort who invokes the "Round Tuit" (doing something when you get around to it) and the "I Infection." VERDICT While Ellis's style and message are essentially trite, she, like any good doctor of the soul or body, does no harm; to those who find her directness appealing, she may do much good.