Episode 11: She’s got Jesus in her heart: An Interview with author Kitty Slattery

Published: June 1, 2018, 4:05 p.m.

Today’s guest is Kathryn Slattery, better known as Kitty, who is a longtime contributing editor of Guideposts, a monthly publication with short, inspirational and Christian faith-filled stories. It was founded by Dr. Norman Vincent Peale in 1945. Today as a nonprofit with the same name it offers a wider array of resources.    365 Bible Answers for Curious Kids is Kitty’s latest book, published last fall, and we focus on that in today’s podcast. She’s also written several other books for children, in addition to a memoir, a book on Christian faith in emotional healing, other books of stories. She’s been a contributing author to other books, and has ghostwritten cover stories for Guideposts by a number of celebrities. And she’s written for other magazines.   And up until last fall, she lived in New Canaan - where she used to teach Sunday School at St. Mark’s - but she now lives in New Hampshire. So, this is our first podcast with a remote guest, and her energy and enthusiasm carried well across the miles!   365 Bible Answers is a daily a devotional for children as young as four years old, when read with adults as a family devotional, up through middle school age, although adults will certainly learn from it. Kitty’s heard that some confirmation classes use it. It asks a question every day, and there’s an extra in case it’s a leap year. There’s an extensive index in the back, organized by the type of question, e.g., Old Testament, New Testament, Church, Christianity, etc.   We started by reading the question, and answer, for the day, which was May 22, and talked about some of the book’s organization and its index. Then, we asked some questions that we’d received from 7-year-old Katherine, to whom we gave the advance publicity copy (with her mom, Molly, who’s on staff at The Commons).   Katherine wanted to know, how did Kitty think of the questions? And, why did she think it was important for kids to think about these questions?   We learned a lot about some of the events in Kitty’s life that had a life-long impact on her, affected the way she taught fifth-grade Sunday School at St. Mark’s in New Canaan, and continue to resonate in her life. We learn she’s a new grandmother!    Katherine’s mom, Molly, had submitted a few questions as well, which led to Kitty telling us about some of the answers that were the most fun (hint: It has to do with the moon), and the most challenging, to write.   At the end we ask about her next project. She’s a bit guarded because it’s still in the germination stage, which is understandable. However, she does tell us that she’s recently memorized the 23rd psalm, and shares how it’s taking on new life and meaning as she looks out over her green lawn and the pond beyond, in her new home in New Hampshire.    Maybe those reflections are what will come next.