Betty Mahmoody

Happy Mothers Day weekend to all the moms listening right now.

Today, the story of one exceptionally courageous mom.

Her name is Betty Mahmoody. In the mid-1980s she accompanied her her iranian-born husband back to his native country for what she thought would be a two-week vacation.

But instead of returning to the US, her husband informed her that they would be living permanently in Iran. And that was just the beginning of the ordeal for her and the couple’s four-year-old daughter Mahtob.

Betty Mahmoody tells the story of what happened over the next 18 months in her best-selling book Not Without My Daughter. Her book was later made into a major Motion Picture starring Sally Field as Betty Mahmoody.

So here now, from 1988, Betty Mahmoody…

Betty Mahmoody will be 76 next month. She is President and co-founder of One World: For Children.

Her daughter In 2015, Mahtob Mahmoody wrote her own book about her and her mother’s escape from Iran.

Michelle & Jim Bob Duggar

For seven years, the Duggar family captivated American TV viewers, with their reality show “17 Kids and Counting” — which was later renamed “18 Kids and Counting” and ultimately “19 Kids and Counting.:

Michelle and Jim Bob and their multitude of offspring stood for solid Christian family values.

But, as you know by, eldest child, 33-year-old Josh, has been charged With ossessinon of child pornography. He has pleaded not guilty.

I met the Duggar parents ten years ago when they published their second book, when their TV show was at its peak of popularity.

So here now, from 2011, Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar:

On April 30th. Jim Bob Duggar posted a statement on the Duggar family website, saying, in part: .

“It is our prayer that the truth, no matter what it is, will come to light, and that this will all be resolved in a timely manner. We love Josh and Anna and continue to pray for their family.”

Lewis Black

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Lewis Black makes us laugh by being the angry man.

The perpetually irritated Lewis Black wrote a book in 2005, a semi-autobiographical account but he called Nothing’s Sacred.

And that;s when I met him.

But instead of an “angry ma,” I found a gentle, warm, and very likeable man, who was eager to talk about seriouos things as well as comedy shtick.

So here now, from 2005, Lewis Black.

Lewis Black will be 73 this summer. He lives in New York and North Carolina.