Randy Ross, Ph.D.

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."  Mohandas Ghandi

Welcome to www.Lee-Larod.com,

the website of Randy Ross, Ph.D.

Dr. Ross is a public policy analyst. This website covers his work in public education as well as his key personal interests: writing, musical performance, and family.

FRONT AND CENTER

GREAT NEWS!

My new play, BIRDLAND BLUE, has been published by The Robey Theatre Company (Playwright Series #1) and is now available on Amazon.com. Birdland Blue will be the first of three productions that will make up Robey's 2019 season. Please support Robey TODAY!!!!

PRAYER FOR OUR CHILDREN

Randy's book, The Chocolate Man, is now available as an eBook on Amazon.com ($5.99).  This book features ten short stories that collectively probe the plight and the promise of being a Black man in America. The book received the highest possible writing score in Writer's Digest's 1999 Self Published Book Awards. The anonymous reviewer concluded that "This is an author who can flat-out write, a man who knows his way around the language. Page after page, the characters are engaging and lifelike, and the themes of what it means to be black in America are handled thoughtfully and compellingly." The book includes stories published in the following literary journals: African American Review ("The Chocolate Man"), Maryland Review ("Grape Rain" and "Conjure Women") and Obsidian II ("Fathers and Sons"). It also features the prize-winning story "Run Low," which won a $1,000 prize in Ebony Magazine's Gertrude Johnson Williams writing contest.

When Are They Coming?

ANNOUNCEMENT:  Randy's novel, When Are They Coming? has been published as an Ebook on Amazon Kindle for only $2.99.  In this novel, reeling from the death of two friends in a fire, a boy (and his brother) learn to navigate the mysteries of life through the wisdom of the elders. 

QUOTE FOR THE TIMES:

"And they knew that when any government measure, no matter how carefully crafted or beneficial, is subject to scorn; when any efforts to help people in need are attacked as un-American; when facts and reason are thrown overboard and only timidity passes for wisdom, and we can no longer even engage in a civil conversation with each other over the things that truly matter -- that at that point we don't merely lose our capacity to solve big challenges. We lose something essential about ourselves."
-President Barack Obama, September 9, 2009

WHAT'S

NEW(S)?

FRONT AND CENTER:

Welcome LOGAN RILEY

On September 12, 2018, the world welcomed my newest grandchild, LOGAN RILEY. He's into cool clothes, cool hats, warm blankets, and he loves to sleep.

GREAT NEWS!  BIRDLAND BLUE has been published by The Robey Theatre Company (Playwright Series #1) and is now available on Amazon.com. Birdland Blue will be the first of three productions that will make up Robey's 2019 season. 

Support Robey TODAY!!!

Friday, November 30, 2018, The World Stage Presents the Blue Morning Quintet, two shows: 9 pm and 10:30 pm, 4321 Degnan Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90008.

WRITING: Saturday, November 3, 2018, 2:30pm, IBWA's Los Angeles writers' workshop convenes at St. Elmo Village. 

The Miracle Child

Ariella Naomi Cummins, was born on August 4, 2017. Ariella, my newest grandchild, is the first child of Dennis and Sally. 

Music and Spirituality: A Love Supreme Randy's talk @ Unity of Pasadena on August 20, 2017 has been posted on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/iY9gqQK6tHo

Publishing: Moving letter penned by James Bostick, Jr. upon reading The Chocolate Man.  An eBook version of The Chocolate Man is now available at Amazon.com.