Practically every night at 7 p.m. during any given month, you can hear a spiritual or personal growth author at an Author Event at Transitions Bookplace, 1000 W. North Ave. in Chicago. The list of events is enough to make your mouth water. For example, in June, the list includes:

June 3: Michael Newton, PhD, Destiny of Souls. Join regressionist Newton and hear the stories of people regressed into their lives between lives.
June 14: Chris Prentiss, The Little Book of Secrets. Join this scholar of the world's oldest writings such as the Upanishads, Bhavagad-Gita and I Ching, and discover how these writings provide a clear road to good fortune and happiness.
June 20: Eric V. Copage, Soul Food: 105 Inspirational Stories for African-Americans. The author of the best-selling Black Pearls series offers a lasting source of inspiration and nourishment for African-Americans.
June 24: Vernon M. Sylvest, MD, The Formula. Explore a simple, fresh perspective for understanding the cause of illness and the dynamics of healing with author Dr. Sylvest.

Wouldn't you like to go to all of them, not to mention the many others that I didn't have space to list? If you're like me, you would. Even though I live close to downtown Chicago, my schedule often prevents attendance. For suburbanites, the problem is multiplied by distance and crowded expressways.

GOOD NEWS! Transitions Bookplace, in conjunction with their new publishing partner, Hazelden Publishing, is sponsoring live audio broadcasts of these events on the Hazelden site at hazelden.org/newsletter _detail.dbm?id=965. Don't get frightened off by the length of the URL. Once you get there, just bookmark it or put it in your Favorite Places so that the next time it will be easy to find.

The URL takes you to a page entitled "SERENITY AT 7." In order to hear the broadcast, you'll need to have RealAudio's Real Player 7 Basic software on your computer. This is free software that can be downloaded (download time = about 30 minutes) by clicking on a link from the Hazelden site to the RealAudio site.

I tuned in on May 11 to hear artist and best selling author Sark talk about her book Transformation Soup, Healing for the Splendidly Imperfect. Unfortunately, there was a glitch at the Hazelden site that prevented connection to the broadcast. Jason Smith from Transitions and the folks at Hazelden are working to prevent these problems, so by the time you read this, these streaming audio events will, hopefully, be trouble free. Also, at this point there is no link between the "Author Events" section of the transitionsbookplace.com Web site and Hazelden's "SERENITY AT 7" section. This too should be remedied soon. I'll keep you posted about all this in future columns.

Since I'm on the topic of Hazelden and Transitions, a few words are in order about the publishing partnership between the two organizations. This is an exciting development for those of us who appreciate books and audiotapes on spiritual and personal growth topics. The alliance is beautifully described in Hazelden Publishing's fall catalog:

Integration... Connectedness... Healing, Transitions to a New Life and a New World... Hazelden, the leading recovery publisher in the world, has teamed up with Transitions Bookplace, the premier personal growth bookseller, to create Hazelden/Transitions, an exciting new publishing imprint that explores the world of health and transformation for individuals, communities, and the planet.

The catalog features four titles: Health Intuition, A Simple Guide to Greater Well-Being by Karen Grace Kassy, Twin Souls, Finding Your True Spiritual Partner by Patricia Joudry and Maury D. Pressman, M.D., Why Normal Isn't Healthy, How to Find Heart, Meaning, Passion & Humor on the Road Most Traveled by Bowen F. White, M.D. and Thin Within, How to Eat and Live Like a Thin Person by Judy Wardell Halliday, M.S.

For more information on this publishing venture or to submit a book proposal, etc., contact Gayle Seminara-Mandel, Transitions Bookplace, 1000 W. North Ave., Chicago IL 60622 (Phone: 312-951-7323).

By the way, the entire Hazelden site is very interesting, especially for those who have gone through or are experiencing recovery situations. The "Thoughts" section is particularly interesting. The section features a daily inspirational thought and/or story. Visitors can sign up for an additional "Today's Thought" that is send out via e-mail. For example, the web site thought for May 12th was:

"I would be honest, for there are those who trust me.
--Howard Arnold Walter

"Some of those around us seem to see only the good in us. They trust and respect us, even when we ourselves may not feel we deserve it.

"A young girl once talked about her grandfather. She said, "He was the only person in my life who saw the good in me." She mentioned that she sought to please her grandfather and not disappoint the trust which he placed in her. He brought out the best in her because of the way he looked at her. Each of us can be like this grandfather by focusing on the good in other people. We can use our spiritual eyes to see love, honesty, trustworthiness, and unselfishness in the heart of another. As we look for the good, we are doing our part to help create it.

"Do I see the good in those around me right now? "

The e-mailed "Today's Gift" was on different, but related topic. It began: "Now and then, some of us are...tempted just to give up, and go back to the old misery..."

Another Internet Nugget:
If you're a Transitions Bookplace member, you may have received the latest newsletter via e-mail. This is a new service from Transitions. Right now, the e-mail version seems to contain the same material as the print version. My hope is that future e-mail versions will contain longer versions of articles since e-mail doesn't have the same space limitations as print. Also, the links mentioned in the e-mail newsletter are active -- even if they don't appear to be in some browsers.

P.S.: Last month I mentioned World Peace and Prayer Day 2000 (WPPD 2000) sponsored by Chief Avrol Looking Horse in the Black Hills of South Dakota on June 21st. Organizers are looking for people who are willing to facilitate a peace gathering in their own areas on June 21st. These gatherings will be listed at the site's world map at http://worldpeaceday.com/2000/gatherings.html. If you're interested in organizing a gathering and having it listed, contact the WPPD 2000 staff via e-mail at WPPD2000@Yahoo.com.