Eddie Minyard is a retired Disaster Response and Emergency Management expert. He's traveled the world in order to help people after natural disasters strike. My guest attributes his "ability to bring a sense of calm and clarity to a scenario that's otherwise very chaotic and difficult to deal," to his mother, Barbara Joyce.
Eddie's mother had to deal with adversity and chaos from a very early age, yet she always remained calm. She was the only child of a single mother and she never knew her father until later on in life. She fell in love and got married at the age of 16, had two children and became a single mother herself by the time her oldest son, Eddie, was 5 years old. Barbara was hardworking and had the help of her mother and grandmothers, though her maternal grandmother suffered from Polio and MS.
She was a sexual assault survivor who was held captive and tortured after she came home for lunch one day and surprised a burglar. For many years after the incident, she was a very out spoken advocate for sexual assault victims and survivors. Eddie says, "she wouldn't accept the fact that she had limitations."
Book titled, "After Disaster, Insiders Perspective from the Heart of Chaos, available now.
Hope you enjoy the episode.