Launch week in the kindness capital of the world

We rode a wave of kindness through the launch week of our book and podcast, and wrapped it up with an overwhelming sense of gratitude.

Each venue we visited felt so much more comfortable than I’d ever imagined. Tuesday morning, we plopped down on the Good Day Wisconsin set and chatted with Rachel Manek like three old friends sipping tea. Then we headed to Madison for an interview with WPR’s Rob Ferrett, who had done such thorough research we genuinely enjoyed the conversation. That interview will air this morning at around 9:40 a.m. on WPR.

We wrapped up our launch day with a book reading at Mystery to Me in Madison and, once again, found ourselves in the company of a kind and attentive audience.

The whole day seemed surreal to me. We feel a such a strong sense of responsibility to the ladies we feature in our book. We want to get their stories right. So, we wrote the chapters, edited each other’s work, hired editors we respect and then worked with a whole new batch of excellent editors when the Wisconsin Historical Society Press signed our book.

We took the same care with our podcast. Start to finish, our combined project took three years.

Every time I thought about the launch and all the interviews and book talks we’d been invited to do, I had to fend off the kind of nerves that make you sit bolt upright in the middle night.

But, our friends rose to the occasion of our book about friendship, and we made new friends along the way. Our whole family gathered from coast to coast, and that made the occasion extra special.

Thursday night we hosted our official launch in conjunction with the Appleton Historical Society and even that, a room full of 225 people, felt exactly as my daughter and co-writer described — like a crowded dinner table full of friends and family.

What a joy!

We’d like to extend our sincere thanks to everyone who covered our book, including Kendra Meinert, of the Green Bay Press Gazette, Rachel Charniak of WTAQ, and Jim Higgins, who named Lambeau Ladies — The Boundary Breaking Women Behind Lombardi’s Packers the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Book of the Month!

Our first two episodes of our podcast are out now, and you can listen to them on all your favorite platforms. You can find the links here.

This week’s episode, Love and Football, is one of my favorites. These ladies tell such great stories!

Here’s that episode for those who want to hear it on YouTube. We’d be grateful for any likes, shares, downloads and follows.

Lastly, for this project about Packer WAGS, (Wifes and Girlfriends), we’d like to thank our HABS, Vince and Ed, who have been tremendous supporters through this process.

We hope you love these stories as much as we do. Please let us know what you think.

Go Pack Go!