God bless community radio

A few days ago, I was on the air on WGDR, the community radio station broadcast from Goddard College.  I was speaking with Merry Gangemi, host of Woman-Stirred Radio, a “multicultural queer journal.”  It was a great conversation, and Merry asked some really good questions, but the coolest part is simply that the show exists.  Public radio, overall, does essential work (of course I say this; I work in the industry and listen incessantly).  But community radio fills this wonderful, creative, dynamic niche that the larger stations sometimes miss.  Community radio really allows people whose voices often get overlooked to be heard, regardless of whether the programs generate enough “cumulative audience” or fit into a tidy program format.  This is a critical part of what public radio is all about — and it is the part that is most vulnerable to funding cuts.

Interview with Realgoodwords, KAXE

I had a great conversation with Heidi Holtan, host of Realgoodwords on KAXE/Grand Rapids, Northern Community Radio.  You can hear it here.  I’ll be in Grand Rapids on September 29 for a program at the public library.

Interview on KALW/San Francisco

I was a guest on Your Call, a call-in talk show produced by KALW/San Francisco and hosted by Holly Kernan.  The other guest on the show was Judy Appel, Executive Director of Our Family Coalition, which serves LGBTQ-headed families in the San Francisco Bay Area.  It was a good conversation, touching on the legal issues facing LGBTQ parents, how to build welcoming schools, and the many different ways that LGBTQ people are creating families.

StarTribune Review

The StarTribune (Minneapolis/St. Paul) writes:

The subtitle of St. Paul writer Amie K. Miller’s book — “A Memoir of (Nonbiological Lesbian) Motherhood” — might not be lyrical, but it’s clear and straightforward, just like the book itself. When Miller and her partner, Jane, decided to have a child, it was Miller who was supposed to get pregnant. But things didn’t work out, and so it was Jane who gave birth to their daughter instead. Miller’s funny, loving and painful book (a finalist for a Minnesota Book Award) is a very honest look at motherhood: how a child changes a relationship; how difficult it is to stay home with a baby; how nervous and paranoid young parents can be about everything from diapers to diseases. But Miller’s story has the added complication of trying to figure out her role in all of this.She’s a mother, but she did not give birth; her partner was pregnant, but Miller is not a father. She’s a stay-at-home mom, but she’s missing her career. Miller walks a fine line beautifully in this book, writing about her own strong self-doubt and confusion, but writing about her family with tenderness and love. Don’t let the subtitle throw you; this is a book for any parent. – LAURIE HERTZEL, BOOKS EDITOR

Summer Reading

She Looks Just Like You made AfterEllen’s summer reading list, along with some other great reads.

Goodkin Reviews She Looks Just Like You

The very cool website, goodkin, which covers “family living, modern style,” ran a great review of She Looks Just Like You. The reviewer writes:

Besides being a great resource for lesbian mothers, I recommend this book to anyone who is considering becoming a parent (male or female). It will give them some idea of what is in store. For those already parents, it is a sometimes stressful, but worthwhile sentimental journey back through pregnancy, birth, and that first uncertain year. This book should also speak well to dads and stay at home dads. Male partners may relate to and appreciate the perspective of a woman on the outside of her partner’s pregnancy. It is an all around, well written unique story. We need more books like this to open up our perspectives on parenting and the new diverse families that are becoming more common in our modern society.

EDGE reviews She Looks Just Like You

Good review of She Looks Just Like You in EDGE, a national online network of GLBT news and entertainment media.

“This book is truly a must read for any parent or anyone thinking of becoming one.”

Article in Seattle Woman

Seattle Woman published a great article about She Looks Just Like You and lesbian-headed families: “A Genderbending Look at Motherhood,” by Mary Lockman.

Picked up by The Daily Dish

My interview with Salon was picked up by Andrew Sullivan’s blog, The Daily Dish, which was a very cool Sunday morning surprise.

ForeWord Reviews on She Looks Just Like You

ForeWord Reviews, which covers independently published books, gave a strong review to She Looks Just Like You.

She Looks Just Like You, Amie Klempnauer Miller’s memoir detailing the birth and early years of her daughter, Hannah, contains many expected travails from a new mother’s world. Miller writes of a complicated birth, hours of birthing classes, deciding to be a stay-at-home mother, and managing a cranky infant—yet, unlike many new mothers, Miller is Hannah’s nonbiological mother. Miller’s partner, Jane, is the birth mother. As lesbian parents, Miller and Jane confront legal and biological decisions that heterosexual parents rarely, if ever, encounter, like second-parent adoption and sperm donation. The memoir chronicles Miller’s experiences through these and other new-mother milestones with a smart, intimate take on the lessons learned along the way.