Our guest today is author William C. Judge, whose new book “The Wonder of it All” shares the inspirations of his life experiences and profound reflections that shape his view of the world.

As the Foreword by Linda Gardner Crandall states, “Judge writes poignantly about his hopes and past disappointments, his travels and the people in his life who have influenced him in unique ways.”

Bill is a veteran of the fire service. He’s an award winning videographer and 3D modeler for a DoD contractor. As Bill puts it, he’s a writer, traveler, photographer on a quest for spiritual truth and understanding.

Here are some questions we discussed with Bill:

Q. First, please tell us about your book and what you’re looking to achieve with it.

Q. Tell us about some of your favorite stories in your book.

Q. You helped produce an award-winning documentary about Native Americans in South Carolina. Tell us about that video, what it covers, and what you learned from it.

Q. Early in the book, you have a chapter, “Our Stories Lost with the Stars.” Tell us about that.

Q. You’ve traveled a lot and many of your stories are based on that. What has all of this taught you about our world?

Q. You write, ”To travel to far-off lands can be transformative if you are willing to embrace the differences between us and recognize the fundamentals that make us all a part of this human family. Explain.

Q. What is your view of the state of our world today from an environmental perspective? Are you concerned? Climate change, for example.

Q. Many of us face forks in the road in our life…choices to make that will, perhaps, shape the rest of our lives. Talk to me about some of the choices you’ve faced and how they’ve worked out.

Q. In a chapter entitled “Human Being,” you write about how the population is changing and that it won’t be long before living to age 100 and beyond will not be all that unusual. What challenges does all this bring?

Q. Not long ago it was the one-year anniversary of the horrific mass killing of children and teachers in Uvalde, Texas. What are your thoughts about these shootings and what lawmakers should do to answer victims’ plea to “do something?”