Who would think open-heart surgery at the age of 25 could be funny! Hilariously funny.
“Take Heart!” chronicles the challenges faced by Rudy Wilson Galdonik, motivational humorist and heart patient. Whether it’s the challenge of having $40,000 worth of “stuff” in her chest to keep her heart ticking (that’s the uninstalled price of 2 mechanical heart valves, a pacemaker, bovine patch, assorted leads and a pacer wire named Emily), being an off-the-wall animal lover or just a Yankee living in the Deep South, Rudy keeps readers in stitches while she encourages them to see the funny.
“This is one of the few books I would characterize as a noisy read. Unbidden sounds jumped from my mouth as I turned the pages – Oh, no! Yesss! Oofph! Ack! She didn’t! She wouldn’t! – along with hysterical laughter and outright sobbing. Don’t miss this delectable treat. ~ Jonellen Heckler, Author
About the Author
Hailed as the Erma Bombeck for the 21st century, Rudy Wilson Galdonik is a menopausal mom with an attitude. A tad shy of bionic, she is a lifelong heart patient with $40,000 worth of “stuff” in her chest (that’s the uninstalled price of two mechanical heart valves, a pacemaker, assorted leads, wires, and a pacer wire named “Emily”).
Rudy’s writing career began in the third grade when, filled with a passion to write, she began her Great American Novel. By page 4 she was bored to tears and her masterpiece was eventually thrown out along with Rudy’s extensive collection of airline throw-up bags by her mother, whose own passion was cleaning.
In 2001, Rudy’s 16-year-old son, Brad, decided to solo-hike the Appalachian Trail. Rudy’s role as the heart-patient mom, was to function as Drop Box Coordinator, keeping Brad supplied while he was on the trail, and write e-mail updates to all the people who wanted to be kept informed of Brad’s hiking progress. Early on, Rudy was fired from her job of Drop Box Coordinator after she repeatedly mailed 30-pound packages of food to her ultra-light hiker son. But her e-mail updates grew in popularity to weekly updates of readers as far away as Australia.
“Rudy has a gift to share her world in a witty, self-deprecating and joyful way. You will laugh out loud and want to read passages to anyone nearby who will listen. It’s amazingly life affirming even when dealing with the biggest challenges we face. Taking Heart will make you want to be a better person, but be able to smile even if you fail. When you put it down, you will want to immediately pick it up again. It is a wonderfully entertaining book that uses humor to deal with life’s greatest obstacles. Thinking of Rudy as the new millennium Erma Bombeck is easily justified.” ~ Sue and Neal Tompkins
In 2003, Brad set out on the trail again. This time setting the world record for solo-hiking the 2,650 mile Pacific Crest Trail, and Rudy once again entertained readers with her hilarious updates. At the same time she completed work on her new book Take Heart!
In addition to writing, Rudy uses humor to speak to groups. When Rudy is not writing or speaking, she is stealing treasures off her neighbor’s trash.
“I was amazed to read a book about so many life problems, and end up feeling good at the end! The author certainly knows how to keep life in perspective, and does it with great wit. On a number of occasions I burst out laughing. I would call this a “light read” due to the sense of humor of the author. What a great example of making lemonade out of lemons!”
Take Heart!
Do you…
Select doctors based on sex appearl?
Dance like a spastic robot?
Strive to be THE perfect mom?
Steal treasure off your neighbor’s trash?
If you answered “yes’ to any of the above, you can relate to TAKE HEART! You will laugh out loud and want to read passage to anyone nearby who will listen. It’s amazingly life affirming when dealing with the biggest challenges we face.
“One of those books that is hard to put down once you start reading. Doris Day meets Jerry Seinfeld. Multiple heart surgeries, raising a family, and experiencing widow-hood at an early age would do most of us mere mortals in. Rudy manages to take on all these experiences and give a humorous and soulful insight into dealing with life’s challenges. Reading this book you go from profound sympathy to a grin from ear to ear, page after page. I used to think the heart was that thing in your body that pumps the blood around. Rudy has that unique writer’s gift that can deftly story-tell the emotional heart that keeps us all going, spinning humor and inspiration from cover to cover.”
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