YouSaid · the spoken record

Allen Levi

lines on the record: 63
first: 2026-07-21
most recent: 2026-07-21
sittings or episodes: 1
sources: podcast

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“I'm old school, you're old school. It's all long hand. I type it up and do my edits in long hand. Very inefficient way to write, but I can't write any other way. Wow.”
2026-07-21 · The Oprah Podcast · Why 'Theo of Golden' Has Touched Millions of Readers with Allen Levi and Oprah · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Oh, it's so hard. And Oprah, here's why I think it's kind of like what Claude was saying There was no expectation on the first book. I wasn't trying to please anybody. I was just trying to prove to myself I could write a book. And now there are a lot of people that have read Theo and they're probably expecting.”
2026-07-21 · The Oprah Podcast · Why 'Theo of Golden' Has Touched Millions of Readers with Allen Levi and Oprah · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“She still got the noble invention. She is really a beautiful character, but the story will be different. I don't think I'm tipping my hand in any way by saying this. She's homeless and she's very bright. She is very well read. And I've got to explain how does someone with that sort of erudition also have that sort of eccentricity. And she's had a hard life. And the tone of the story, at least for a good portion of the text, will be a bit different than Theo.”
2026-07-21 · The Oprah Podcast · Why 'Theo of Golden' Has Touched Millions of Readers with Allen Levi and Oprah · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I have had my teeth in it for a while, but I've got a lot yet to do. She's been a difficult character to wrestle to the mat.”
2026-07-21 · The Oprah Podcast · Why 'Theo of Golden' Has Touched Millions of Readers with Allen Levi and Oprah · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I think if anyone asked the old man if he thought he enjoyed it more or the recipients of the bestows, he would have said, no one enjoyed this more than me. It's that idea that it's more blessed to give than to receive. That really works.”
2026-07-21 · The Oprah Podcast · Why 'Theo of Golden' Has Touched Millions of Readers with Allen Levi and Oprah · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Okay, I will repeat myself. A life lived in deference or submission to the idea that we honor God and love people well. And every day our mission is that honor God, love people well. A life well-lived is one where we look beyond our own needs, our own preferences. We accept others where they are, asking nothing and without condition and to go back to what Walker was saying, we adopt, we illuminate the lives of others by the way that we love them. If we could do that well, I'm sure the world would look a lot different than it does now. What would you say? Can I ask you that question? What does a life well lived look like”
2026-07-21 · The Oprah Podcast · Why 'Theo of Golden' Has Touched Millions of Readers with Allen Levi and Oprah · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And that comes through in so much everything that you do. So in behalf of so many millions of people, I just want to say thank you”
2026-07-21 · The Oprah Podcast · Why 'Theo of Golden' Has Touched Millions of Readers with Allen Levi and Oprah · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And I think at the end of our lives, it would be nice if we could say, Lord, I didn't do it perfectly, but my aim in life was to love. And Oprah Winfrey, you do that in a way that makes the rest of us envious. Your story is so well known, but the thing that endears so many people to you is behind all of your expertise and your professionalism, your heart explodes with love for people. love for God. I listened to part of your story the other night, a hard part of your story, where you said that during those hard times it was God your Father and Jesus your brother who held you up.”
2026-07-21 · The Oprah Podcast · Why 'Theo of Golden' Has Touched Millions of Readers with Allen Levi and Oprah · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And we have to define it. We have to figure out what it looks like if I'm an insurance salesman, a teacher, a stay-at-home mom, a pastor, a bricklayer. Love looks different in those different settings. But at the end of the day, I think we all want to be able to honestly put our head on the pillow and say, I loved well today.”
2026-07-21 · The Oprah Podcast · Why 'Theo of Golden' Has Touched Millions of Readers with Allen Levi and Oprah · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“It would be the one that you've already mentioned. That if we are going to live our lives well, we have to pray that it all comes from a well of love that can only come from God to us. You know, there was a time that a lawyer asked Jesus a question and he said, what is the great commandment? And there were hundreds that he could have chosen from, but very quickly he responded. Love God with heart, soul, mind, and strength. Love your neighbor as yourself. All of the law and the prophets hang on these commandments. Yeah. And that is what life is about. Sometimes it's hard to know whether we're doing it well or not”
2026-07-21 · The Oprah Podcast · Why 'Theo of Golden' Has Touched Millions of Readers with Allen Levi and Oprah · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Nose coming means Theo was 86 when the story began, and by then no one could have lived eight decades and not been hurt deeply. All of us have to deal with it. One of the reasons that I included that, and it was actually late in the writing Oprah, was because I wanted for people to come away with the impression that this story is about the world that I know. And all of us live in a world where there is sadness. But I think to be able to say, okay, this is part of the human experience. It doesn't have to undo me. Oftentimes it does, at least for a season. But I can prepare for this and I can love myself through this experience. I can accept the love of God through this experience and I can share it with others. And of course when we hurt and survive, then it just opens the door for us to help others when they go through the same thing. And we can look at our experience.”
2026-07-21 · The Oprah Podcast · Why 'Theo of Golden' Has Touched Millions of Readers with Allen Levi and Oprah · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Tamara, did it ever strike you that what you do is exactly what Theo did with people. You happen to do it with structures, but I think there's such an interesting parallel between what Tamra does with these structures that just need someone to love them. You adopt them. You can see beyond the shell, you can see the potential that's hidden behind the boards, and you do this wonderful reconfiguration that turns into beauty. That's exactly what Theo did. And you do that, obviously, with your family. I've read a lot of what you have online, especially about your son who recently graduated, I think. But you and Bill have done such a wonderful job with your family, and that's a blessing to all who know what you do out there.”
2026-07-21 · The Oprah Podcast · Why 'Theo of Golden' Has Touched Millions of Readers with Allen Levi and Oprah · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And I had been criticized mightily for it, but it had to happen. It had to happen the way that it happened. I tried to work other endings to get to the same very end of the book, but none of them worked. And you've heard said that good art makes us feel something. I knew that part of the book was going to make people feel something deeply. I can live with that. I like that.”
2026-07-21 · The Oprah Podcast · Why 'Theo of Golden' Has Touched Millions of Readers with Allen Levi and Oprah · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Like Walker was saying, that whole idea of being adopted, Theo would adopt anybody that would sit at the other end of the bench with him.”
2026-07-21 · The Oprah Podcast · Why 'Theo of Golden' Has Touched Millions of Readers with Allen Levi and Oprah · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I was very gratified, and I will respond to that one. Maybe she and I will become friends. I don't know. But yeah, it's really gratifying to know that goodness To Claude's point, goodness, kindness, those are universals. God has hardwired that into every one of us, I think. It gets beat out of us. And maybe because of trauma, we lose our ability to access that on a regular basis. Or to receive it or to be receive it.”
2026-07-21 · The Oprah Podcast · Why 'Theo of Golden' Has Touched Millions of Readers with Allen Levi and Oprah · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And I don't get many. I don't use media very much. I don't read any reviews. I don't engage with any social media. But every now and then my niece will send me a message. She sent me one this morning from... From a woman, and she had read the book. She said, I'm 71 years old. I've never written to an author before. And she said, because of child trauma in my life, she said, I am an atheist. She said, I just don't buy into the God thing. But she said, the book really spoke to my heart. And she said, I just wanted you to know that the book touched a life from someone not in your intended audience. And I would like to make clear that my intended audience is every person that stands up or can read a book. No walls, no barriers. The book was never meant to be for a select group of people. I hope everybody will read it and be blessed by it.”
2026-07-21 · The Oprah Podcast · Why 'Theo of Golden' Has Touched Millions of Readers with Allen Levi and Oprah · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Exactly. And so, yeah, everything about the book is just an attempt on my part really to articulate even for myself what I believe to be true. But I hope that someone else can read it. I got the most interesting email this morning”
2026-07-21 · The Oprah Podcast · Why 'Theo of Golden' Has Touched Millions of Readers with Allen Levi and Oprah · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Oh, yeah, no doubt. No doubt. Oprah, I think it's fair to say that everything that I've done creatively has been an expression of my faith. I hope that everything I do every day is an expression of faith. I think you and I would share that view that everything we do.”
2026-07-21 · The Oprah Podcast · Why 'Theo of Golden' Has Touched Millions of Readers with Allen Levi and Oprah · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“But I'm really glad that you gravitated to that. We talked about another quote just a minute ago that most people die with all of their music, their songs still in them. Can I commend you for being one who will not do that? You are getting your music out. You're exploring. You're pushing the boundaries, all of that. And thank you for doing that. Maya Angelou. She talks about the songbird We don't, the songbird doesn't sing the song because it has the answers. But because it has the song. And sometimes I think maybe the songs that you write, we don't know how people will interpret them or how they're going to hit a heart. But thank you for what you do. Brilliant”
2026-07-21 · The Oprah Podcast · Why 'Theo of Golden' Has Touched Millions of Readers with Allen Levi and Oprah · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yeah, Florida is interesting to write about goodness. Tony Morrison says it is much more difficult to write about goodness than evil And she talks about how it takes like a fully developed, competent adult to write about goodness. But I was reluctant to write about that as much as I did in the book because I think we have become so cynical by nature that when we write about goodness, kindness, they're just these defenses that go up.”
2026-07-21 · The Oprah Podcast · Why 'Theo of Golden' Has Touched Millions of Readers with Allen Levi and Oprah · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Claude, I know your history, I have studied your work And I know that especially early on, but even now, you are well known for the lyrical content of music that you write and produce. And coming from you, your compliments about the book, they carry great weight. But I'm curious, have you often read to improve your writing skills as a songwriter and producer?”
2026-07-21 · The Oprah Podcast · Why 'Theo of Golden' Has Touched Millions of Readers with Allen Levi and Oprah · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Not so much. I do now. And I've always been a morning person, so most of my work was done early in the day. I love early morning. So it might be three or four o'clock that I'm working. It might be six or seven o'clock, but morning hours are when my mind works best.”
2026-07-21 · The Oprah Podcast · Why 'Theo of Golden' Has Touched Millions of Readers with Allen Levi and Oprah · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“You know, writing, as you probably know, I mean, once you get an idea in mind, it was this way when I was writing songs. The difference being that I could write a song in three hours and a book is going to take three years. But once the story started going, my mind was constantly on the story. But if I got frustrated, again, because I had no deadline, I had no expectation of publishing anything. I'd take a month or two off and then pick it back up. Finally, when it started feeling like a story, I said, okay, I'm going to really finish this thing. I'm going to hunker down and get it done.”
2026-07-21 · The Oprah Podcast · Why 'Theo of Golden' Has Touched Millions of Readers with Allen Levi and Oprah · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Couldn't do it, but doing it one at a time and listening very carefully to what they said. That was the magic of the whole thing.”
2026-07-21 · The Oprah Podcast · Why 'Theo of Golden' Has Touched Millions of Readers with Allen Levi and Oprah · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And for him, that was defeating the whole purpose of what he was doing. He wanted to sit close enough to the person that he could touch them, he could look them in the eye, he could read their countenance, he could read the tone of their voice, and he could listen attentively just to them. If there had been 92 people in the room,”
2026-07-21 · The Oprah Podcast · Why 'Theo of Golden' Has Touched Millions of Readers with Allen Levi and Oprah · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And you know that's tricky to me, Oprah, because I think that if we accept that premise as a rule for life. Which I have, we have to figure out okay what is love and then how do we live it out and I think that the novel for me as I look at it now was maybe an attempt on my part to answer those questions what does it look like to live a life of love and so the fact that Theo does his bestows as quietly as he can You might remember there was a scene when one of the characters says Why don't you just buy all 92 of them and get it over with? Yeah.”
2026-07-21 · The Oprah Podcast · Why 'Theo of Golden' Has Touched Millions of Readers with Allen Levi and Oprah · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“You know, there's another way that that has been expressed in ancient literature. If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging symbol. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing, if I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames but have not love, I gain nothing. I think that was St. Paul's attempt.”
2026-07-21 · The Oprah Podcast · Why 'Theo of Golden' Has Touched Millions of Readers with Allen Levi and Oprah · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Let me at least pay you this compliment. It crossed my mind the other night I was driving home and was listening to your songs. And I thought, you know, if I didn't have the dad that I do have and I'm forever grateful that A.C. Levi is my father, I love him. But if I could choose another dad, it would be you. And just seeing you with your kids and the way that you engage high school kids particularly in some of your videos and whatnot, I do some work with high school kids back home. And I love that you are investing in kids younger than you, obviously.”
2026-07-21 · The Oprah Podcast · Why 'Theo of Golden' Has Touched Millions of Readers with Allen Levi and Oprah · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Walker, I have binged on your music the last few weeks I have wondered where does this guy get the ability to write lyrics the way that he writes? I just assume that you are a verbivore. You read all the time. Maybe not, but I cannot tell you what a wonderful songwriter you are. And your love for people, your love for your family, your love for Christ, all of that comes through in your music. But the honesty of it and the authenticity of it is such an appealing part of what you do. Keep it up.”
2026-07-21 · The Oprah Podcast · Why 'Theo of Golden' Has Touched Millions of Readers with Allen Levi and Oprah · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“You writing it, yeah. Yeah. And when I say that Theo is an aspirational character to me, I really mean it. I really hope that I will be someone like Theo in the book. Yeah, really.”
2026-07-21 · The Oprah Podcast · Why 'Theo of Golden' Has Touched Millions of Readers with Allen Levi and Oprah · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“That he would talk to a newspaper reporter who had been abandoned by a father and had really, really awful images of herself in her mind. I wanted those, I wanted all of those characters to bring something else out of Theo and make us leave the reading experience with the clear image this man could love lots of people unlike himself. I wonder if I could do the same thing.”
2026-07-21 · The Oprah Podcast · Why 'Theo of Golden' Has Touched Millions of Readers with Allen Levi and Oprah · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Early on, once I figured out, okay, this is going to be a story, and I want the main character to be someone who has an expansive Ability to engage with people unlike himself. I wanted each of those characters to bring something different out of Theo. And so for him to be able to engage so affectionately with a woman who was unhoused, who had had some real hardship in her life, that made him a character, I think, with a large heart that he could engage with a school maintenance man, that he could talk to a little boy who had physical challenges.”
2026-07-21 · The Oprah Podcast · Why 'Theo of Golden' Has Touched Millions of Readers with Allen Levi and Oprah · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And it's very affirming. I don't at all diminish that. I'm more honored than I can begin to say. The fact that I'm sitting with you is kind of the crown jewel. But, yeah, so that is very affirming, but I know that there's a lot that I can improve in the way that I write.”
2026-07-21 · The Oprah Podcast · Why 'Theo of Golden' Has Touched Millions of Readers with Allen Levi and Oprah · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“But I think that reading a lot just by osmosis, the style of writing, maybe that I'm gravitating toward, is just the result of reading other. Really good writers. I hope I become one”
2026-07-21 · The Oprah Podcast · Why 'Theo of Golden' Has Touched Millions of Readers with Allen Levi and Oprah · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yeah, the Oprah's Book Club seal on it have been mind stretching for me. I love the fact that you challenge readers. They are not easy reads.”
2026-07-21 · The Oprah Podcast · Why 'Theo of Golden' Has Touched Millions of Readers with Allen Levi and Oprah · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I love to read. I'm not a very good reader. I read slowly. My retention is awful. I complicate both of those traits by reading too many books at the same time. But I am an avid reader and I'm a delighted reader. I love to read. And I think maybe just by...”
2026-07-21 · The Oprah Podcast · Why 'Theo of Golden' Has Touched Millions of Readers with Allen Levi and Oprah · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Right. And so I was thinking, how do I keep the reader engaged and this aspect of secrecy about Theo, I thought, might just keep people involved in”
2026-07-21 · The Oprah Podcast · Why 'Theo of Golden' Has Touched Millions of Readers with Allen Levi and Oprah · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yes, very definitely I wanted something that would pull the reader forward because it's a slow moving book. Most of the action in the story takes place on a bench.”
2026-07-21 · The Oprah Podcast · Why 'Theo of Golden' Has Touched Millions of Readers with Allen Levi and Oprah · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yeah, I think maybe on a broader spectrum, I think all of my work has made me attentive. Part of it because I had to be. You got a case ready for trial, you better be real attentive to details. As a songwriter, I woke up most days looking for something to write about, which meant I had to be attentive to possible subject matter. And then I think, again, just having a love for people, that's a part of my faith. Love my neighbor as myself. Love God with heart, soul, mind, and strength and my neighbor. But being attentive to the fact that everyone has a story to tell, having time, because I live in a small town I can move at a somewhat slower pace. And then just living with an adorational attentiveness to what's going on around me.”
2026-07-21 · The Oprah Podcast · Why 'Theo of Golden' Has Touched Millions of Readers with Allen Levi and Oprah · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“People, I think, want to be seen. They want to be vulnerable with someone they can trust. And I think just growing up around good talkers myself and being heard and seen by people who I love well, maybe inspired me to give that skill set to the old man and see what he could make of it.”
2026-07-21 · The Oprah Podcast · Why 'Theo of Golden' Has Touched Millions of Readers with Allen Levi and Oprah · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“The fruit of the Spirit, you know, to love people. And I live in a very small community. I know a lot of the people in my community, but I love to hear people's stories. And to quote your book, What Happened to You?”
2026-07-21 · The Oprah Podcast · Why 'Theo of Golden' Has Touched Millions of Readers with Allen Levi and Oprah · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“That's right. And it's on a river. I call it the Oxbow River. And then the Duro River in Portugal. Theo was a Portuguese man, grew up on the river. I think river as metaphor for so many things is a powerful image. For all of us, the continuity of it, the depth of it, the purity of it, if it's allowed to run its course. And then again, just the connectedness of it, the fact that some of the water from the Duro River might have made its way across the ocean and up the Chattahoochee River to Golden to plant a seed on the bank of the river. But the idea of connectedness that water is on so many levels is, I think why I chose that to be a prominent thing.”
2026-07-21 · The Oprah Podcast · Why 'Theo of Golden' Has Touched Millions of Readers with Allen Levi and Oprah · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Pretty early on, once I realized I don't have a story and then started trying to conjure up something of a narrative, you know, a narrative arc had a little more definition within which to work. But once I made the choice, okay, this is going to kind of be the flow of the story, then the ending came real, real quickly.”
2026-07-21 · The Oprah Podcast · Why 'Theo of Golden' Has Touched Millions of Readers with Allen Levi and Oprah · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Didn't have an editor, yeah. It was pure instinct. And so I took probably 100 pages of text out of the book and just hoped that what was left behind would constitute a story.”
2026-07-21 · The Oprah Podcast · Why 'Theo of Golden' Has Touched Millions of Readers with Allen Levi and Oprah · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Oh, I worked and worked and worked and nothing bubbled up. I just could not, I could not get a story to form. But I just stayed with it. And by the time I had finished what I think now has become the book, there were lots of sections that needed to be cut. So I took those out. I think I needed to cut it.”
2026-07-21 · The Oprah Podcast · Why 'Theo of Golden' Has Touched Millions of Readers with Allen Levi and Oprah · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I can't say that I modeled any of the characters on a particular person, but particularly Theo. reminded me of my brother who died a few years ago he's younger than me but he was my hero in life my best friend my My mentor in so many things, my spiritual guide. And I realize now, maybe in hindsight, that I was channeling my brother's life into the old man. But I really fell in love with the characters, and that surprised me a lot.”
2026-07-21 · The Oprah Podcast · Why 'Theo of Golden' Has Touched Millions of Readers with Allen Levi and Oprah · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Keep in mind, Oprah, that when I was writing this, I mean, the world was and continues to be just in a place of real division and mean-spiritedness. That's my interpretation of it. And it felt like a story of kindness might serve us well. Again, I was not writing for an audience, but I did have in mind if someone were to read this manuscript, what might I like them to take from it? So I was trying to appeal to the better angels of our nature. And who doesn't like to be told that there is something really wonderful about their life and not in a superficial way? A pretentious sort of way. And the old man seemed to have a real superpower at doing that. And every time he gave a portrait, before he actually put it in their hands, he would say, this is who I see in this face.”
2026-07-21 · The Oprah Podcast · Why 'Theo of Golden' Has Touched Millions of Readers with Allen Levi and Oprah · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Best selling book. I was putting up birdhouses in the pasture out in front of my home, which is one of my favorite things to do and one of my favorite places to be. The book had started getting traction. It was a shock And we were delighted with that. But yeah, the team called and congratulated me and Aaron on the sales. And so we shouted and hung up and I returned to hanging bluebird houses.”
2026-07-21 · The Oprah Podcast · Why 'Theo of Golden' Has Touched Millions of Readers with Allen Levi and Oprah · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yeah. So we started in November of 23, and we sold 3,000. Yeah. In that first month or two. And I would have been happy to retire the project at that point, but people kept sharing it and sales kept increasing. So by the middle of last year, sales were kind of impressive. And Aaron and I were gobsmacked and overjoyed and shocked. And then we started getting calls from people in the business who said, can we take your book and do something with it?”
2026-07-21 · The Oprah Podcast · Why 'Theo of Golden' Has Touched Millions of Readers with Allen Levi and Oprah · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I stumbled forward all through the process. And it was so daunting to me, but I honestly had no expectation we would sell a copy much less a lot of copies. But Aaron and I just kind of figured it out. And she put it up online and the kindness of strangers.”
2026-07-21 · The Oprah Podcast · Why 'Theo of Golden' Has Touched Millions of Readers with Allen Levi and Oprah · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT