YouSaid · the spoken record

Wally Lamb

lines on the record: 45
first: 2025-06-10
most recent: 2025-06-10
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

“It's a soul stirring novel. And thank you all for your insightful questions and for reading the book. The River's Waiting is available now wherever books are sold. And before we go, I want to share, I recently publish this little, it's called The Book Lovers Journal. And it's for people who love to read as much as I do. It's a great gift for the reader in your life. Oprah's book Lovers Journal is available anywhere you buy books and you're all going to go home with a cuppy. And I want to give a double shot of gratitude to our phenomenal partners at Starbucks for supporting our community of book lovers. No need to read alone, head to your neighborhood Starbucks cafe, bring your book, have good coffee and good company. Thank you so much, everybody. Go well”
2025-06-10 · The Oprah Podcast · Wally Lamb: "The River Is Waiting" | Oprah's Book Club · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And also the lying about looking for the job and you weren't really looking for the job. So he turns out not to be the person I thought you were.”
2025-06-10 · The Oprah Podcast · Wally Lamb: "The River Is Waiting" | Oprah's Book Club · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Don't you all think so? If it was just an accident, because you all feel that way too. If it was just an accident, you could say absolutely find it in your heart to do that. But the drinking also felt like a betrayal.”
2025-06-10 · The Oprah Podcast · Wally Lamb: "The River Is Waiting" | Oprah's Book Club · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Thank you, Shazik, for being here with us and sharing your story. So on page 365, you write, can a man who caused the death of his children atone enough to be forgiven is absolution ever possible. What do you think?”
2025-06-10 · The Oprah Podcast · Wally Lamb: "The River Is Waiting" | Oprah's Book Club · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I heard in your TED talk 67% of black people don't know how to swim, and that's based on all the generations who weren't even allowed in a public swimming pool for years because of segregation. So, it's a cultural thing you come up not being around swimming pools, swimming is not a part of your culture. And here we are. Yeah.”
2025-06-10 · The Oprah Podcast · Wally Lamb: "The River Is Waiting" | Oprah's Book Club · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I did not know that it was the number one cause of death for children one to four. Did you all know that? Yeah, yeah. And it's just because for a split second you look away and that's all it takes.”
2025-06-10 · The Oprah Podcast · Wally Lamb: "The River Is Waiting" | Oprah's Book Club · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yes. And as you said in your TED talk, I didn't realize this. Children between what age and what age, that's the number one cause of death.”
2025-06-10 · The Oprah Podcast · Wally Lamb: "The River Is Waiting" | Oprah's Book Club · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And you had confidence like seven kids and four adults, and some adults in the pool, you would have confidence that your child is being watched the whole time.”
2025-06-10 · The Oprah Podcast · Wally Lamb: "The River Is Waiting" | Oprah's Book Club · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“That's an important point. It was very quick, but it was also very quiet because everybody always thinks there's going to be a big loud noise or you're going to hear it or you're going to have the thing. And it was very quiet.”
2025-06-10 · The Oprah Podcast · Wally Lamb: "The River Is Waiting" | Oprah's Book Club · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“That is amazing. That is amazing. Well, we're happy that you were able to move on and have a life that brought you joy. And I hear you're going to now have your 24th grandchild. You're their 24th grandchild. Pretty amazing. Shazik is here and she's here to share the story of her three year old son, Yori. Seven years ago, when he drowned in a backyard swimming pool. Tell us what happened that day.”
2025-06-10 · The Oprah Podcast · Wally Lamb: "The River Is Waiting" | Oprah's Book Club · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“That's right. That's right. The body does keep the score I thought it was so striking in that piece, Richard, that you said if you had judged her, that would have been the end and that there was no judgment. You know, this is the kind of thing. I did 4,561 Oprah shows and did so many stories about tragic things that had happened. And in many, many, many, many cases, actually most of them where there's been a tragedy like this, people end up breaking up. They split up. The families fall apart. They end up like Emily in the novel. So why was there, you never had any judgment?”
2025-06-10 · The Oprah Podcast · Wally Lamb: "The River Is Waiting" | Oprah's Book Club · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Questioning myself and like self doubt, and did I do that right and through Like almost to a fault, to an excess, and then to make this connection during one EMDR session that”
2025-06-10 · The Oprah Podcast · Wally Lamb: "The River Is Waiting" | Oprah's Book Club · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Stemmed from this experience. I remember the accident, but I hadn't connected. Processed the trauma Yeah, and I thought because we have our faith, because we. We talk about the kids, it's not something that we break down and cry about every time we speak, it's part of our experience. And you all grew up talking about Jonathan and Katie and Jacob. In the family, they still were considered a part of the family, even though they were gone. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah, and I thought that meant like we're good, we're handling it, it's handled, and then as an adult to make these connections of like,”
2025-06-10 · The Oprah Podcast · Wally Lamb: "The River Is Waiting" | Oprah's Book Club · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Did. Julie, I heard that you were around six years old when this happened, right? And you've only recently discovered how the trauma of that day has lived inside you. What have you discovered? Yeah, that. The body keeps the score as they say. That is proven true in my life as an adult just a few years ago. I decided to do some therapy for reasons unrelated to this, I thought, but through that, through some Some neuro feedback and some EMDR. Connections were made. I was able to see connections how this traumatic experience as a child is affecting how my brain is processing life now, even like to the point like, Light sleeper, and I'm always on high alert, and like feeling danger when my eyes are closed. I mean, not consciously feeling danger, but.”
2025-06-10 · The Oprah Podcast · Wally Lamb: "The River Is Waiting" | Oprah's Book Club · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Heard that it took you two years for you to realize that you didn't need to forgive yourself. But what did you decide you needed to do?”
2025-06-10 · The Oprah Podcast · Wally Lamb: "The River Is Waiting" | Oprah's Book Club · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Teresa and her daughter Julie are here, along with Richard, Julie is one of the children who survived that accident. It's nice to see you all again. Thank you for being here. It's been 34 years since that happened and 25 years since you were on the Oprah Show. Thank you for agreeing to be here to talk to us today and to show us that healing can occur and that you can go on. How are you?”
2025-06-10 · The Oprah Podcast · Wally Lamb: "The River Is Waiting" | Oprah's Book Club · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“They hit the guardrail, then catapulted into the air and headed down a ravine with her six children strapped in their seats.”
2025-06-10 · The Oprah Podcast · Wally Lamb: "The River Is Waiting" | Oprah's Book Club · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Fighting sleep, Teresa plan to stop at the next area to take a break. The cruise control was on, all she had to do was steer, keep her eyes on the road, and drive a few more minutes. But in the blink of an eye, they were plunging toward disaster.”
2025-06-10 · The Oprah Podcast · Wally Lamb: "The River Is Waiting" | Oprah's Book Club · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“After a family vacation, Teresa was driving her children home to be with her husband Richard after several hours on the road, the lines on the highway seemed monotonous.”
2025-06-10 · The Oprah Podcast · Wally Lamb: "The River Is Waiting" | Oprah's Book Club · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Well, you know, as I was reading this book, it brought up so many memories of all the real life stories. I remember when I called you, I told you, I remember this grandmother who had backed up in her driveway and killed her grandson. And she said, I will never get over it. So there's no need to even talk to me about it. Well, there are so many real life moms and dads that I met on the Oprah Show who had accidentally killed their children. Those stories still haunt me. And I have to say that my intention behind sharing those stories then and today was to find deeper meaning in the tragedy and to offer that wisdom to you, the viewers, the audience. And I've never forgotten to Risa Birch's story. So let's take a look. Teresa Birch knows firsthand what it is like to feel responsible for your own child's death. She is sharing her story.”
2025-06-10 · The Oprah Podcast · Wally Lamb: "The River Is Waiting" | Oprah's Book Club · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Back listeners. I'm grateful that you're here for this episode of Oprah's Book Club presented by Starbucks I'm talking to best-selling author Wally Lamb about his new book The River Is Waiting It's the fictional story of Corby, a troubled young father who causes a tragedy that tears his family apart. During our conversation, we're joined by real life parents whose children accidentally died under their care. Are here to share their powerful messages of healing and how to continue to live on after such a tragedy?”
2025-06-10 · The Oprah Podcast · Wally Lamb: "The River Is Waiting" | Oprah's Book Club · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I was reading Wallie I kept thinking of her It's a story that has stayed with me all these years. Teresa and her family are here and I'm going to And I think what they have to say about judgment and healing and living is so profound it's a lesson for all of us.”
2025-06-10 · The Oprah Podcast · Wally Lamb: "The River Is Waiting" | Oprah's Book Club · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Hello, listener. I hope you stay tuned because coming up next we're joined by two mothers who have experienced a similar loss to the tragedy in the river is waiting. One of the moms, Teresa, appeared. peered on the Oprah Show twenty third.”
2025-06-10 · The Oprah Podcast · Wally Lamb: "The River Is Waiting" | Oprah's Book Club · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Get away with hiding the drinks. You're not going to get away with it. Eventually, something bad is going to happen. So, what would have pulled him up? I mean, what would have turned him around?”
2025-06-10 · The Oprah Podcast · Wally Lamb: "The River Is Waiting" | Oprah's Book Club · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yeah, but I, you know, I think, I don't know what you all felt, but I felt more empathy for him as the novel. Progressed As we learn more about who he really was, I felt more empathy. But in the beginning, I was very judgmental. I was like, if you hadn't been drinking, this wouldn't have happened and you deserved to go to be punished.”
2025-06-10 · The Oprah Podcast · Wally Lamb: "The River Is Waiting" | Oprah's Book Club · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“That's a really tough one. This actually leads to a question that I had for Wally. But Telling the story from the perspective of the father versus the mother was really interesting to me. In fact, there's a quote in your book that really stood out to me. If you don't mind, I'll read it. It's all women visiting tonight, wives, girlfriends, moms. I think women are just braver than men. They'll put up with the pain of seeing one of their own stuck inside this place out of love. Most men won't, or can't. Instead, they make excuses. And that really struck me as, you know, what is the difference? What made you choose to tell this story from the perspective of a father versus the mother?”
2025-06-10 · The Oprah Podcast · Wally Lamb: "The River Is Waiting" | Oprah's Book Club · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Corby's wife Emily is devastated by the loss of Nico and is left to raise Nico's twin sister, Macy, alone, and we feel Emily's grief profoundly. I mean, I understood it, didn't you all? And here's what she tells their therapist, Dr. Patel, on page 106. Turning to Emily, Patel asked whether there's anything else she wants to say to me. She nods, turns, and looks me in the eye. Her words are more measured now, more sad than angry. People lose jobs all the time without falling apart and causing everything else to fall apart around them. She says, without causing the death of one of their children, I just can't imagine how I'm ever going to be able to forgive you so that we can salvage what's left. And I'll be honest with you, Corby, I'm not sure I want to. I felt like I was in the room with them doing that scene. How did that scene take shape in your mind?”
2025-06-10 · The Oprah Podcast · Wally Lamb: "The River Is Waiting" | Oprah's Book Club · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I'd never heard that before. That's interesting. While you're in the church basement, meaning for AA or whatever. Your addictions out there ready for you, waiting for you when you come out of the door. Yeah.”
2025-06-10 · The Oprah Podcast · Wally Lamb: "The River Is Waiting" | Oprah's Book Club · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And why would people want to come back into a community that doesn't allow them to get a job, to rent a house, to engage in society in fully and fairly? And so those are very difficult questions. Is the punishment fair? Would it have been different if somebody else's child had died? And those are all, I think, questions that we wrestle with, certainly in my work. But I'm really happy that you wrote this because I hope that as people look at our system of justice and form opinions about what we do. They think that context and nuance is extraordinarily important, and so are facts.”
2025-06-10 · The Oprah Podcast · Wally Lamb: "The River Is Waiting" | Oprah's Book Club · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“As a judge should he have been in prison for that? I think punishment is a complex question. I think the ideas of retribution, which is kind of how our system is set up, is very complex. Do we want retribution or do we want to welcome people back into the community?”
2025-06-10 · The Oprah Podcast · Wally Lamb: "The River Is Waiting" | Oprah's Book Club · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And I think trying to render judgment within the context of an analytical framework that I'm obligated to do and pass judgment, not past judgment on somebody's humanity are two very different things that I hold. But I did have a question for you. The concept of justice was what drew me to the novel throughout it. I tend to avoid these types of novels because of the work that I do daily. But I was fascinated by the context. But for me, I found it difficult. I kept asking myself, where's the river? What's the river And so at the end, what I drew from it was it's a metaphor for justice. It's constantly present, consistently flowing, and it cleanses the land and the people around it. And it was such a part of that mural. And it is a title. Was that your intent in calling it?”
2025-06-10 · The Oprah Podcast · Wally Lamb: "The River Is Waiting" | Oprah's Book Club · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Welcome back to Ober's Book Club presented by Starbucks. I'm with an audience in Seattle talking with acclaimed author Wally Lamb about his new novel The River Is Waiting. This is the third time I've chosen one of Wallie's brilliant novels for my book club. I so appreciate the way he writes and the stories he chooses to tell. Our audience read the book and they have so many interesting questions that may be the same ones some of the same ones at least that you have. So let's get it. We have a judge in our audience. Hello, Judge Galben. And you're in the criminal justice system. And what do you want to say about this?”
2025-06-10 · The Oprah Podcast · Wally Lamb: "The River Is Waiting" | Oprah's Book Club · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
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2025-06-10 · The Oprah Podcast · Wally Lamb: "The River Is Waiting" | Oprah's Book Club · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“You get out there in terms of protest, or you get out there in terms of your writing? I know your time is very valuable to you, dear listeners, so I thank you for joining my conversation with the incredible Wally Lamb. He's the author of my one hundred fifteenth Oprah's Book Club selection The River is Waiting. Coming up, our audience has some really thought provoking questions about justice, addiction, and forgiveness. Themes Wally explores so tenderly and beautifully in the writing of this novel. Also, have you ever heard of a silent book club? I'd not heard of this. One of our audience members actually created this idea that has gone global. Stay with us.”
2025-06-10 · The Oprah Podcast · Wally Lamb: "The River Is Waiting" | Oprah's Book Club · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“More so even than all the years of working with all these women in prison because as we stated earlier, you had a writing program volunteered as a teacher for 20 years teaching women in prison how to write their own stories. And I would think you would see so much and hear so much and reading their stories and you would be outraged by the injustices so many of them suffered. And so writing this book was even more”
2025-06-10 · The Oprah Podcast · Wally Lamb: "The River Is Waiting" | Oprah's Book Club · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Because Everyone I've ever spoken to who's been in prison ends up doing that for themselves. including Nelson Mandela, who said he made a decision to become a different man in prison. And he had been imprisoned, as we know, unjustly, but that he used prison as a time to work on himself, evolve himself, and become a better man. And so this audience has great questions for you, Wally. Tiana, where are you? There you go. Hi, Tiana. So honored to be here. Thank you for having me. Thank you. I experienced a lot of grief and loss in my childhood and I lost both my parents by age 11. So reading this book, it really brought up reflection on my own journey and sinking enlightenment and just clarity in any way I can. So I was wondering while riding the river is waiting, did you learn anything new about yourself or the human condition?”
2025-06-10 · The Oprah Podcast · Wally Lamb: "The River Is Waiting" | Oprah's Book Club · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“So, for those of you who haven't read, our audience is all read. So let me just tell you a tragedy occurs while the main character Corby is home with the kids. Ultimately, he's charged in the accidental death of his two-year-old son, Nico, and goes to prison. So you end up exploring the arc of Corby's experience in prison. I was surprised because you've done all of this work teaching writing at a women's prison that you didn't do a female character who had, you know, was accused. Why did you choose a man's prison?”
2025-06-10 · The Oprah Podcast · Wally Lamb: "The River Is Waiting" | Oprah's Book Club · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yeah. Those backup cameras have made a huge difference. I want you watching and listening to read enjoy this utterly compelling book. So we'll try not to give too much away in this conversation, but the story revolves somebody who needed a backup camera. It revolves around Corby, a husband and father of two young children who was just laid off from his job. And he starts drinking during the day and taking prescription pills to deal with the stress while his wife Emily is working like crazy to support the family. And I think this is a timely topic for the millennial generation who are facing so many challenges. How does this writing process work for you? You were saying that you'd seen all of these stories about backups, but how did Corby come into your view?”
2025-06-10 · The Oprah Podcast · Wally Lamb: "The River Is Waiting" | Oprah's Book Club · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Wow, so that was long before I even had a book club and then later, like five years later, I called you and said. I want to choose this book for a book club. So now this audience has read The River is Waiting and I hear you loved it. Hannah, where are you?”
2025-06-10 · The Oprah Podcast · Wally Lamb: "The River Is Waiting" | Oprah's Book Club · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“We just wanted to tell you that we'd read She's Come Undone and how much we loved it. And I remember this day because when we called and it's like, Wally Lamb, is this Wally Lamb? He goes, yes. And it was like, this is Oprah Winfrey. And this is Alice McGee and you were like, well, I was just doing my laundry. Let me put my basket down. And we were like, authors do laundry?”
2025-06-10 · The Oprah Podcast · Wally Lamb: "The River Is Waiting" | Oprah's Book Club · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Because you can't talk about novels unless people have read the novels. And she said, Ask people to read, and then bring the authors on. So brilliant idea to this day from Alice McGee. But before I had a book club, Alice and I would just read ourselves. And we loved authors so much. And it used to be that in the back of the book there'd be a picture of the author and the town that they lived in. Yeah, Steele says that. You live in Connecticut and New York, but it doesn't say the town. Okay, so you used to say the town that they lived in. So Alice and I called information and got your number. From the phone book in your town. This is before I had a book club.”
2025-06-10 · The Oprah Podcast · Wally Lamb: "The River Is Waiting" | Oprah's Book Club · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“First time While he was reminding me backstage, tell we're going to tell, share this with the audience. So, Alice McGee was the original producer for the Oprah Show, who introduced this idea of having a book club. And Alice and I, as friends, used to exchange books. So long before I had a book club, so the book club started in 1996 or 97, long before I had a book club, Alice and I would just read books and she'd pass off books just like you do with your friends. And it was Alice who said to me one day, oh, you should start a book club and we should do this on the air. And I was like, Alice, how are we going to do that?”
2025-06-10 · The Oprah Podcast · Wally Lamb: "The River Is Waiting" | Oprah's Book Club · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“A timely story of unimaginable grief and loss mix with hope, some healing, and ultimately I think redemption. It is called the river is waiting by Wally Lamb. And I have to tell you, this is the third time I've chosen a Wally Lamb novel for my book club because I just so appreciate his writing mind. And the first was she's come undone. And then his novel I know this much is true, which a whole mini-series was made from that. And now here we are. Thank you for being here. It's just, it's wonderful to see you again.”
2025-06-10 · The Oprah Podcast · Wally Lamb: "The River Is Waiting" | Oprah's Book Club · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Where we've had such a warm welcome at the iconic Starbucks headquarters and where it's also warm in Seattle and gorgeous, where Starbucks first opened over 50 years ago. And before we get started, I want to say for each of our book club selections, Starbucks pairs one of their crafted drinks. And this month it's an iced orchada, oat milk shaken espresso, and its summer's newest sip, a refreshing non dairy pick-me-up, made with Starbucks blonde espresso rose blended with orchada syrup, which is a fusion of cinnamon and vanilla and sweet rice flavors, and then shaken with ice and top with creamy oat milk that sounds so delicious. So now I want to tell you, my 115th book club selection is a novel that stays with you in so many ways. It is...”
2025-06-10 · The Oprah Podcast · Wally Lamb: "The River Is Waiting" | Oprah's Book Club · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Nice to see you all. I'm here with Wally Lamb. Are you guys ready? Oh, y'all look so cute. Hi there, everybody. I'm so glad to meet up with you here for Oprah's Book Club presented by Starbucks. We're in Seattle”
2025-06-10 · The Oprah Podcast · Wally Lamb: "The River Is Waiting" | Oprah's Book Club · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT