Attitudes at Altitude August w

Hello, Welcome to the August edition of Attitudes at Altitude, the voice of the Colorado Authors’ Hall of Fame. Here in the Rockies, it’s hot … record breaking temps in some parts of the state.

And for those of you close to Colorado Springs, come to the Barnes & Noble Briargate Bookstore on Sunday, August 4th. Members of the AuthorU.org community will be raising money through book sales to fund Aspiring Author scholarships.

In each edition, you will get updated news on what is happening. This month, the Board will be presenting the Aspiring Authors Scholarships winners. Next month, we honor and celebrate five winners—two nonfiction authors-to-be and three fiction ones. Come to the event and meet Adia Reynolds, Becky Jensen, Jillie Jensen, Julia Jackson, and Zaida Amador.

Janice Kerbel and Brittany Exline are the two finalists. All will be in attendance and share their vision for their writing and publishing forward. The awards luncheon will be on Monday, September 16. Don’t miss it and TELL OTHERS to come. Tickets are available on the website: www.ColoradoAuthorsHallofFame.org.

Nominations will open for the 2025 Hall Induction in November. Who’s on your list to nominate?

This month, 2023 Inductees Temple Grandin and John Denver are featured. Temple also shares the book, Visually Thinking which will be highlighted on the Wednesday, August 14 Author Talk Happy Hour.

In gratitude for you and your support of the Hall,

Temple Grandin

Temple Grandin is an American academic and animal behaviorist and a prominent proponent of the humane treatment of livestock for slaughter. She is a Professor of Animal Science at Colorado State University.

She is the author of more than 60 scientific papers on animal behavior and serves as a consultant to the livestock industry to which she provides advice on animal behavior. She is also an autism spokesperson and one of the first autistic people to document the insights she gained from her personal experience with autism.

Temple has been instrumental in implementing animal welfare auditing programs that are used by McDonald's, Wendy’s, Whole Foods, and other corporations. Facilities she has designed for handling livestock are used by many companies around the world.

She has appeared on numerous TV shows including 20/20 and Prime Time. Her books include Thinking in Pictures, Livestock Handling and Transport, and The Autistic Brain. Her books Animals in Translation and Visual Thinking have been on the New York Times Bestseller List.

Temple was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in September 2017 and in 2022 was named a Colorado State University Distinguished Professor.

FEATURED BOOKS: Visual Thinking, The Autistic Brain, Thinking in Pictures

John Denver

John Denver is one of the world’s best-known and best-loved performers, earning international acclaim as a songwriter, performer, actor, environmentalist, and humanitarian. In the early sixties, he was urged by friends to change his name from Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr. if a recording career was to be in his future. He took his stage name from the beautiful capital city of his favorite state, Colorado.

In 1974, he was named poet laureate of Colorado. The Colorado state legislature also adopted "Rocky Mountain High" as one of its two state songs in 2007, and West Virginia did the same for "Take Me Home, Country Roads" in 2014. In 1982, he was honored with the Carl Sandburg’s People’s Poet Award. in 1994, he published his autobiography.

He solidified his position as a top star of the 70s with songs like "Take Me Home, Country Roads," "Rocky Mountain High," "Sunshine On My Shoulders," "Annie’s Song," "Back Home Again," "Thank God I’m A Country Boy," and "Calypso," solidifying his position as one of the top stars of the 1970s, Denver contributed his talents to the benefit of many charitable and environmental causes and received numerous civic and humanitarian awards over the years.

John Denver died tragically in a plane crash on October 12, 1997. He was survived by his brother Ron, his mother Erma, and three children, Zak, Anna Kate, and Jesse Belle.

Thirty albums and four decades after he began, his music and words are as relevant as ever. His humanitarian work continues to strengthen our global village, and his dynamic celebration of life, spirit, and nature is a powerful inspiration to all.

FEATURED BOOKS: Take Me Home: An Autobiography, John Denver: The Untold Story, Grandma's Feather Bed (John Denver Series)

Visual Thinking

The first step toward understanding that people think in different ways is understanding that different ways of thinking exist. The universally accepted belief that we are all hardwired for language may be why it took me until I was nearly thirty to understand that I am a visual thinker. I am also autistic, and I didn't have language until I was four. I didn’t read until I was eight, and that was only with considerable tutoring in phonics. The world didn’t come to me through syntax and grammar. It came through images. But unlike what Descartes or Chomsky might have expected, even without language my thoughts are rich and vivid. The world comes to me in a series of associated visual images, like scrolling through Google Images or watching short videos on Instagram or TikTok. It’s true that I now have language, but I still think primarily in pictures. People often confuse visual thinking with vision. We will see throughout this book that visual thinking is not about how we see but about how the brain processes information; how we think and we perceive.

Because the world I was born into did not yet distinguish between different ways of thinking, it was disconcerting to discover that other people didn’t think the same way I did. It was like being invited to a costume party and discovering I was the only one wearing a costume. It was difficult to fathom the differences between most people’s thought processes and my own. When I figured out that not all people think in pictures, it became my mission to discover how people think, and to find out if there were other people like me. I first wrote about this in my memoir, Thinking in Pictures, twenty-five years ago. Since then, I’ve continued to investigate the prevalence of visual thinking in the general population through research of the literature; close observation; conducting informal surveys at the hundreds of autism and education conferences I’ve addressed; and talking to thousands of parents, educators, disability advocates, and people in industry.

(Excerpt from Temple Grandin’s book – Visual Thinking: The Hidden Gifts of People Who Think in Pictures, Patterns, and Abstractions, 2022)

Register NOW for one or all sessions slated for 2024 HERE: https://bit.ly/WEDAuthorHappyHour

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email. On Wednesday morning of each Author Happy Hour, you will get a reminder and the Zoom link.

Who Is Temple Grandin?

Temple Grandin has written 27 non-fiction books excluding contributions to anthologies. She is an American academic and animal behaviorist, and a prominent proponent for the humane treatment of livestock for slaughter.

Temple is also an autism spokesperson and one of the first autistic people to document the insights she gained from her personal experience with autism.
Her latest book, Visual Thinking is a New York Times Bestseller.
She has appeared on numerous TV shows including 20/20 and Prime Time.
She has been instrumental in implementing animal welfare auditing programs that are used by McDonalds, Wendy’s, Whole Foods, and other corporations.
She is the author of more than 60 scientific papers on animal behavior and serves as a consultant to the livestock industry to which she provides advice on animal behavior.
She is a Professor of Animal Science at Colorado State University.
She was inducted into the Colorado Authors Hall of Fame in 2023.

It's a great author stop and awe time with the Inductees of the Colorado Authors Hall of Fame. All sessions will be recorded and registrants will receive the replay ... and they are FREE.
Listen in. Join in the conversation. Have fun. Ask Temple your questions.

Mike Howard, Former Chief Security Officer (CSO) for Microsoft Corporation, held global responsibility for vital security functions including operations, investigations, risk mitigation, crisis management, executive protection, security technology, strategy, intelligence, and employee awareness. Mike was the CSO of Microsoft for 16 years and 22 years with the Central Intelligence Agency, finishing as a Chief of Station. And he’s the author of four bestselling books.

As a security leader, Mike contributed to the field through key roles in numerous industry organizations: CSO Roundtable Advisory Board, Past President; International Security Management Association (ISMA), Past President; Security Industry Association (SIA), Board of Directors (former); and U.S. State Department Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC), Technical Threats and Risk Committee (Former Head).

Mike speaks regularly as a subject matter expert on security and leadership while using his extensive security background to help drive industry innovation. He has been profiled in the security press, including Security Technology Executive and Security magazines. And was named one of the most influential people in security by Security 500. Mike also currently serves as the Vice President of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Foundation Board of Directors, is a member of the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce and he and his wife Janice have started the Michael and Janice Howard Foundation which provides resources for disadvantaged youth in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. His website is www.MikeHowardAuthor.com

Attitudes at Altitude’s promises to our readers…

We celebrate the outstanding authors inducted into the Colorado Authors’ Hall of Fame since 2019. They are the first in the United States with a connection to Colorado to have been honored as published authors, highlighting the impact and breadth of their work.

The next Induction will be on September 15, 2025. Add September 16, 2025, for
the Aspiring Authors awards luncheon. Put the dates on your calendar. The venue will
be the DoubleTree Hilton Denver Tech Center in Greenwood Village.

• Each month, past Inductees are featured with their backgrounds and latest books.

• Past Inductees will offer their sage advice on "how they do it"–whatever "it" is.

• You will be the first to hear about planned Hall Events. Meet a favorite author ... or a new one that has delivered mega hours of reading enjoyment ... one that has made an impact on society or their field.

Support the Hall

The Colorado Authors' Hall of Fame celebrates the accomplishments of living and deceased authors who have been connected to Colorado—their words, wisdom, accomplishments, and the life-changing impact their works create. The result: their legacy lives on.

The Hall is an all-volunteer-run 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that honors and celebrates authors connected with Colorado by birth, residence, temporary residency for writing encouragement and support, writing about elements within Colorado, or placing storylines in or about Colorado.

Authors’ words have immense power and impact on changing others’ lives. They solve problems, bring awareness to a topic, and provide hours of pleasurable reading. It’s the power of their words.

Your financial assistance through donations and participation at events supports the bi-annual Induction Gala in odd-numbered years, the Aspiring Author Scholarships, and the general operation to bring these events to the public.

Please support the Hall for this year going forward.