7 Questions for ‘Agenda 21′ author Harriet Parke
Agenda 21 author Harriet Parke.
Ahead of tomorrow’s interview with Harriet Parke, I thought I’d ask her seven questions about her career, her collaboration with Glenn Beck and her motivation for writing the thriller Agenda 21:
1. Tell us a bit about yourself.
Ah, the boring part of the interview, me talking about me! Raised by loving parents but my father had some Archie Bunker characteristics. I wanted to go to college, wanted to learn how to write. He had different ideas; women needed careers they could “fall back on” if anything happened to their husband. Writing wasn’t a career, in his opinion. I was to be a nurse; my sister was to be a teacher. It was written, so to speak. And, in retrospect, nursing, especially emergency nursing and emergency department management, served me well. Over the years, I gained the skills to cared for loved ones in need. For that, I am grateful. Additionally, I learned so much about human behavior. I did steady ER triage for five years and any ER nurse will tell you working triage is like working in a snake pit. But I loved it. Patients and family universally present with some degree of negativity related to pain, fear of the unknown, guilt, whatever. I developed the ability to quickly establish trust and in the process, learned what is important in life. My husband is a steady companion, my three children are positive, productive people, and my grandchildren all are special in their own charming way. By the way, they look adorable in the Agenda 21 T-shirts I gave them for Christmas. But I digress.
I heard Glenn Beck talk about it and I was curious, so I started my own research. I went to credible websites, took some notes, and wondered if Agenda 21 was fully implemented, would the way humans live change forever? That was my instinctual reaction to what I was reading. Ralph Barker, from the Patriot Update on 9/23/11, validated my reaction when he wrote: “Agenda 21 is designed to control every aspect of human life on every square inch of planet earth. As a Biblical worldview dims in the world man falls to the bottom of the food chain.”
Funny you should ask. I belong to a writing group, Madwomen in the Attic, based at Carlow University in Pittsburgh, PA. It’s a great group of women led by a brilliant mentor, Evelyn Pierce. Any member at any time can submit work to the others for review and gentle critique. I submitted what I thought was a stand alone short story and the group urged me to continue. I resisted. . .”I can’t write a novel” . . .and they persisted. . .”Yes, you can.” They had more faith in me than I had in myself. That stand alone short story became Chapter One because of their encouragement. When the concept of the Children’s Village was introduced, they insisted I take the reader inside that village. I groaned at that idea because I knew that was an evil place. Again, they persisted. As it turned out, the Children’s Village scenes, in my opinion, are among the strongest in the novel.
I’d add that God whispered in my ear along the way. While researching Agenda 21, I saw a non-related article about a device you strap on your leg and it stores enough energy to power your cell phone. Aha! What if we channel the energy from tread mills? But wait. . .don’t call them treadmills. What if we call them energy boards! That’s what writer’s do. . .imagine the what if.
When Mercury Inc. contacted me via e-mail indicating interest in the novel, I was on a family vacation with my children and grandchildren (and their dogs) at Deep Creek, Maryland. Such excitement as we all read the e-mail! I had sent the novel out to multiple agents and maintained a spread sheet of publishers, literary agents, date sent, that kind of info. Got some “Not for us at this time” and an amazing number of “no response” at all. The spreadsheet got longer and longer with lots of coffee stains and I began to question myself. Should I persist seeking publication or just give up and do the laundry? That changed on a lovely summer day surrounded by family.
5. We often hear from conservative pundits that culture is politics and that in order to win elections, we must first engage the culture. Is that one of your motivations for writing your book Agenda 21?
Full disclosure here: I was, in the past, a political catatonic. Busy raising kids, working, managing the household, driving car pools, all those activities left little time for staying on top of the political scene. I think 9/11 was a slap upside my head. Be alert. Be aware. Pay attention.
To answer your question more directly, yes, culture is politics. In The Naked Communist, by W. Cleon Skousen, the goals of the Communist Party USA are listed. Excerpts: Infiltrate the press. Gain control of key positions in radio, TV, and motion pictures. Those are just two examples. As I got deeper into my Agenda 21 research and further along in the novel, I began to hope that my little story might be an easy read early warning message.
Oh, dear. Would it be too self-serving to ask them to read and share the novel?After reading the novel, follow the links in the Afterword. The website www.democratsagainstagenda21.
7. Where can people find you on social media?
UPDATE: If you missed our CRF Radio interview with Harriet, just click to listen.
Category: Culture, Internet Radio, Politics
[...] thriller/dystopia Agenda 21 was released late in 2012 to rave reviews, and I had the pleasure of interviewing her and reviewing her novel here on my [...]