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Hope in the Eye of the Beholder:
Interview with Dr. Rob Carpenter
By Carin Chea
Descartes, Einstein, and Darwin are some of the world’s most famous Renaissance men. Dr. Robert Carpenter (aka Dr. Rob) can easily be added to that list.
An interdisciplinary educator, Dr. Rob serves as faculty at UCLA, and is also an accomplished public speaker, filmmaker and writer. Of course, it should be no surprise that the author is adroit at fiction and non-fiction, having written about a wide array of topics ranging from mental health to the entertainment industry.
Dr. Rob’s forthcoming book, Of Kennedy and King: A Novel, is a historical thriller set during the civil rights movement of the 1960s.
As the title suggests, it focuses on two of the most iconic figures of the times - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Bobby Kennedy.
And, since its author is a modern-day Renaissance man, Of Kennedy and King is guaranteed to be as exhilarating and entertaining as it is through-provoking.
Dr. Rob is a charismatic man who has the ability to make you feel like you’re the most important person in the room.
Perhaps it’s his insatiable curiosity or his unwavering empathy. But, to spend time with Dr. Rob is to be truly seen, heard and valued.
I don’t know where to begin. You wear so many hats. What first piqued your interest as a child?
I grew up mostly in California, but for a little while I grew up in a village in Dresden, Ohio. The village was home to about 1000 people.
In that village was a man named Dave Longaberger who told everyone that he would grow up to become a multi-million-dollar basket weaver.
That guy grew up and created a multi-billion-dollar basket weaving business. People would come from all over the world to buy these baskets that cost ten to fifteen thousand dollars.
Oh my goodness! Were these human-sized baskets?
No, they were regular-sized baskets. I was nine years old. I thought, “If this guy can do it, I can do it.” So I started my first business with my older sister.
We went home to home picking flowers from people’s gardens, put them in bouquets and sold them back to them.
But, since it was a village of only 1000 people, there were only so many homes we could go to before people caught on and our business went bankrupt.
That was my earliest memory. When I was younger, I had Shiny Object Syndrome, but I’ve reined it in.
Did you know that by the 2nd grade, school teaches us not to be creative anymore and pursue our dreams?
Really? Why is that?
I just came to learn that when it comes to the discretionary cutting of programs, they usually cut the arts first because they think that math and sciences are the main necessities.
Most principals don’t come from an arts program themselves, even though arts stimulate higher learning. The curriculum is very controlled.
I see so many of my students at UCLA who don’t think they’re creative. But, they’re 18! They’re so young! We’ve convinced them they’re not creative; we haven’t built up that right brain tool in them.
Even in creative fields, you have to be the top of the echelon to have a decent living. There are so many talented creatives who aren’t able to consistently work because of how the system is structured. It’s always been that way.
What would you say your biggest passion in life is?
Telling stories that make people come alive, whether it’s in books or in the classroom or in everyday interactions.
I want to tell stories that allow people to think the best of themselves and the best of humanity, while not ignoring elements that need to be transformed, like pain and trauma.
We can live without a lot of things, like iPhones and internet, but we cannot live without hope, and hope comes in the form of storytelling.
Could you repeat that? I was caught off guard by how impactful it was. I think the last 30 seconds was the most meaningful part of my week so far...
Of course! We cannot live without hope, and hope comes from storytelling. We tell ourselves stories to transmit ideals and beliefs and to connect with one another. Stories allow us to feel what others are feeling.
We’re not telling the stories we should be telling, especially in school. They don’t give them stories anymore; they give students passages to analyze. Why not give them stories to grow, to see the best and worst of society?
We can’t tell people that everything is about logic and data and analytics. Did you know that logic and verbal intelligence is only responsible for 2% of success in life? Emotional intelligence is responsible for over 90% of success, and not just in the workplace.
What inspired you to write Of Kennedy and King?
This is the book America needs right now. According to polls, our country is on the brink of a second civil war. There are deep divisions everywhere – political, racial, religious.
Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. can show us how we can come out of a crisis. I wanted to tell the story of how they averted a civil war.
Back then, it was more along the lines of the protests and sit-ins. The KKK [Ku Klux Klan] were rioting in the streets and taking people out all over the country.
There were tensions and people thought that (around the time of the Watts riots in ‘65) that there was going to be a war between the races.
Bobby Kennedy and Martin were able to summon the better angels of their natures. Had it not been for Martin calling for non-violent action, we might have had a second civil war.
This might be difficult, but if you had to pinpoint one character trait in each man that you admired the most, what would it be?
Stubborn empathy, for both. They were extremely stubborn men. At the same time, they only wanted things because they felt the pain of other people.
They were both stubborn because they felt the trauma of other people. They were both financially stable, you know. To have people at that level be so stubborn for causes that don’t affect them? That’s something. That’s also probably why they drove each other crazy so much.
What do you hope your readers take away from your book?
These two men were very different from one another. One was white, one was black. One was rich, one was poor. One was catholic, one was protestant. One was from the north, one was from the south. They were both young.
They both had visions of civil rights, but different approaches. These approaches were manipulated by the FBI, KKK and Black Panthers. They hated each other for years.
The book also chronicles Bobby’s incredible transformation from being a political opportunist to becoming the greatest white civil rights activist of all time. He was shook by his brother’s assassination.
By the time King was assassinated, Bobby gave one of the most beautiful speeches of his career. He wept.
I want readers to know that the ‘60s was one of most tumultuous times in America. But, rivalries can actually turn into friendships if we listen to one another, if we assume the best of one another.
Bobby and King were able to do that just days before they died. This is a kind of moral leadership we haven’t seen in a while. I didn’t write this book to look backward, but to look forward. It’s a blueprint of how to look forward.
A lot of us can think that problems in politics and society are up to other people to fix. In reality, we can play our small parts in helping to make our own lives and communities better.
It’s easier to look on the outside, but what about what can we personally do? All of us can play a small or large role in that process.
We can’t let our national figures do that because they’re not going to do that for us. They’re not going to show the empathy we need.
Are there any upcoming projects you’d like us to know about?
I’ve got a leadership book coming out, The Creative Leader, where I interview the top producers in Hollywood to learn their creative secrets.
I’m also working on my second novel, a techno-fantasy historical thriller. I can’t say much about it yet, but it’s very existential and practical.
For more information, visit RobCarpenter.org.
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