We’re very proud of local author Cliff Shiepe, who is the subject of one of the featured stories in this month’s April edition of Guideposts magazine. He was also invited to speak about the ability to redeem lost lives to a very appreciative audience of 500 at the Betty Ford Center‘s Annenberg Theater on March 24, and was interviewed March 21 by Colleen Williams on KNBC TV-4 about the challenges for child stars.
Cliff Shiepe photo in April issue of Guideposts
Shiepe’s book Cliff Falls was the subject of Arcadia’s Best Foundation’s annual One Community, One Book event last October, where more than 100 attendees were enthralled with Shiepe’s personal anecdotes and those of students, clergy and readers who were touched and inspired by his book.
Since then, the San Marino resident has made many public speaking appearances and book signings at regional churches, schools, and organizations, including a recent presentation at the Arcadia Rotary Club‘s weekly lunch program. A theater group at the Betty Ford Center is currently working on a dramatic interpretation of his book, a follow-up to the first theatrical production of selected scenes by the Arcadia High School theater department at last year’s One Community, One Book program. Shiepe returned to Arcadia High’s Little Theatre last Saturday to watch some of those same students perform in the closing night of the musical “Oklahoma,” a production in which Shiepe played the role of the peddler man Ali Hakim in eighth grade.
Shiepe’s personal revelation of his own redemption is the call-out story spotlighted with a big photo in the index of this month’s Guideposts, featuring Joel Osteen on the cover. Shiepe’s own story of hope covers three pages, and the magazine devotes another separate article to his Cliff Falls book, which is available to purchase at ShopGuideposts.org, from which a portion of sales will be donated to Guideposts military outreach.
— By Scott Hettrick