I Challenge You, I Promise You

This week's show begins a series by the Eyres on the main concepts from their 50 published books, all of which take aim at strengthening families. The books covered in this series are free at EyresFreeBooks.com. Each week during this series, Richard and Linda will summarize the main thrust of one their publications, summarizing the points it makes about parenting, marriage and life-balance. 50 is a big number for the Eyres this year, as a new grandson became the 50th member of their family and as they celebrate their 50th anniversary this month. The first of Linda and Richard Eyre's 50 books was published in 1972 while Richard was a graduate student at Harvard, and was co-authored with Paul H. Dunn. It went through dozens of printings and sold in the hundreds of thousands. It has two front covers, one titled I Challenge You and the other titled I Promise You. A reader can start from the challenge side and read one of the 21 challenges, and then flip the book over to read the corresponding promise that follows the challenge. Sample challenges: To write your diary in advance, to be gentle with yourself, to forge a joyful family. From the promise side, one can read the promise desired, and then flip the book over to read the challenge that leads to that promise. Sample promises: That you will have a secret smiling of the heart, that you will learn to like yourself, that you will see more clearly the right forks in your life's road.