Healthier Ways to Mentor the Talented
and Bring Healing to Our Culture
Lisa Loving Dalton, a forty-year veteran of the entertainment industry, dares to pull back the curtain of tinsel town to examine some very gritty facts.
What stands out in her new book Murder Of Talent: How Pop Culture Is Killing "IT" is the no-holds-barred assay she makes on the fans, the families, mentors and the talented ones revealing the dangers that exist. An easy and dynamic read, with something for everyone, this messy memoir, part uncensored social diatribe, part gentle master class on the nature of peak performance and how to achieve it in a way that is good for the fans and for our heroes.
Dalton puts us all on trial for the death and destruction of our stars, our wannanbes, our selves and our culture. She calls for the arrest of some and even judges herself guilty of self-violence for allowing a famous coach to destroy her film-acting career. Then, with empathy and wisdom, Lisa gently steps us along a path to redemption with tips for each of us on how to stop the metaphoric and actual bloodshed, leading us to happier, healthier lives.
Endorsed by a Clinical Psychologist and a Tony Award-winning Producer, with a foreword by noted scholar/author Dr. Sharon Carnicke, Dalton courageously shares painful true stories of how she and fellow artists were indoctrinated in PTSD-inducing techniques. The knife is further twisted when we understand this destruction is still propagated by academia and manipulative super coaches, some making over a million dollars a year as they drain the pockets of penniless actors and a few superstars to boot.
No wonder stars are killing themselves with sex, drugs and other bad behavior.
Perhaps the most publicly provocative aspect of this book is how children are traumatized into denying their talent by parents, teachers, and peers. Parents fear economic and social instability, and even attach homophobia to talent, refusing to support their children in non-math/science careers, forcing them away from what they love and into other fields where they suffer, fail and take a toll on society. Dalton reveals what it takes to survive humiliation in the classroom, harassment and jealousy from friends, self-doubt and parental disapproval.
