038: Letters From Elvis

 

Today we’re shining a light on the side of Elvis Presley that very few people know about.

 

In this show, we explore the life of someone who had such incredible energy and really made a mark on this world. When Elvis came along, nobody had ever created music quite like his before, and he did a lot of amazing things to revolutionize the way that music was. But, image makers were stuck on creating a version of Elvis that wasn’t really true to who he was or what he wanted to portray.

They wanted him to project himself into the world as the Elvis we’re all familiar with, sporting the slicked-back hair and gyrating hips. But what happens to a person that’s forced to live an incongruent life and show up inauthentically? Elvis had a lot more to himself than what most of us saw from the outside looking in, and there are things about him and his story that we can all learn from today.

Gary Lindberg, author of the new book Letters from Elvis, has spent 20 years of research and incredible effort putting together this work that explores the depths and truth of Elvis Presley. He joins me today to share more about his book that originated from letters written by Elvis to his spiritual guide and provides us with some real insight into who Elvis really was.

 

We Discuss:

• What often happens to individuals that are living an incongruent or inauthentic life
• What made Gary Lindberg decide to do all of the work to bring this book into fruition
• The relationship and memories that Elvis had with his stepbrother David Stanley
• How Elvis’ letters were discovered and who the spiritual guide was that he connected with
• The pain, trauma, and intense frustration that Elvis dealt with in his personal life and career

 

“He experienced pain and intense frustration all of his life. What he really wanted to do was to sing his music. He wanted to essentially minister to people through his music, which is why very often he turned to gospel music, because this is how he grew up and these were beliefs he had, and he wanted to make people happy, even though he wasn’t always happy himself.”  –  Gary Lindberg

 

About Gary:

Gary Lindberg was born in 1943 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. As a writer and film producer/director, he has won over 100 major national and international awards.

Gary is the co-writer and producer of the Paramount Pictures feature film That Was Then, This Is Now starring Emilio Estevez and Morgan Freeman.

His debut novel, a thriller called The Shekinah Legacy, was published in 2011. Two months later it became the most popular Kindle thriller on Amazon.

 

“I want to see what I believe is a true story as told by Elvis and his close friends to be made public. I think a lot of people think of Elvis today as this cartoon cutout. Suddenly, he became fat, was abusing drugs, and went in this real tailspin. If people knew the causes of much of this, they would have an entirely different view of Elvis and they would have a lot more sympathy and compassion – perhaps even respect because of how he kept going for his fans. He kept performing, even when he was in terrible physical pain and emotional distress.”  –  Gary Lindberg

 

Resources Mentioned:

• Letters From Elvis: Shocking Revelations to His Secret Confidante
• Deeper and Deeper
• The Shekinah Legacy
• Sons of Zadok
• Ollie’s Cloud
• If you have any questions or would like to book a session, contact Paula at (626)-864-0756
• Listen to Paula’s former show, Transition Radio

 

Learn More About Host Paula Shaw