Gwen Agna grew up in Yellow Springs and had a long career as an educator in Massachusetts. Now retired, she recently published "Community-Centered School Leadership: Lessons in Sustaining a Just and Equitable School," in which she reflects on her experiences and lessons learned. Agna credits her parents, the late Jim and Mary Agna, for setting her on a compassionate path of helping people. The year she spent in Haiti as a child had a significant impact on her. This book is part memoir, part educational guide, and is not a dry academic tome. It is well worth reading.
Bonus segment: An interview with Kevin Locke (1954-2022)
We had some extra time on the program, so we revisited a recording I made of an interview with the late Kevin Locke. He had captivated a full house in Springfield at the Kuss Auditorium, then came to our studios and performed for our listeners. Locke was a foremost Indigenous artist performing on the flute. He brought his ancient instrument and played love songs for our audience. He explained that all flute songs performed by Native peoples throughout history were love songs and that only in recent years have their flutes been used to perform other kinds of music. I don't recall the exact year this interview took place — the late 1990s would be my best guess.
The Book Nook airs Saturdays at 7 a.m. and Sundays at 10:30 a.m. on WYSO 91.3 FM and streams at WYSO.org or wherever you get your podcasts.
The Book Nook on WYSO is presented by the Greene County Public Library with additional support from Washington-Centerville Public Library, Clark County Public Library, Dayton Metro Library, Wright Memorial Public Library, and Tipp City Public Library.
