A ‘Light’ touch for youngsters

Tim Leedom and Linda Adams would like to see people take a walk on

“The Light Side.” To that end, the two Newport Beach writers, with

Costa Mesa illustrator Sharona Ezer, have written a children’s book

meant to explore the concepts of peace and harmony in our world.

“Kids understand more than adults do,” Adams said. “We get stuck

in what we think and believe.”

Leedom and Adams will appear with Ezer at a book signing from 11

a.m. to 1 p.m. Aug. 11 at the Balboa Island Book Store (308 1/2

Marine Ave., Balboa Island).

“People forget that we all come from the same origins,” said

Leedom, a Balboa Island resident and former aide to the governor of

Hawaii. “There’s a quote in the back [of the book] that no matter who

we are, we all come from the same brush.”

A father of a 15-year-old, Leedom was inspired with the idea for

the book -- which follows a group of multiethnic children from

nothingness to happy peace to strife and back again -- in part by his

sojourns in Hawaii. The people there, he said, have learned to live

in harmony with one another and nature.

Leedom brought the idea to Adams, with whom he had written a

previous project.

The biggest challenge in writing the book, Adams said, was taking

someone else’s words and knitting together.

“It’s like being a gardener,” said the second-degree black belt in

karate. “You either have the seeds to make a garden grow or something

pops up. It takes nurturing and constant refinement.”

The end result is a colorfully illustrated and imaginative book

that has been endorsed by Jayne Meadows Allen, wife of the late Steve

Allen, as “full of love for all humanity and this magnificent Earth

we so often take for granted.”

Though Leedom said many of the concepts in the book come from

history and religion, the message is not centered toward any one

creed. He said he plans to market the book toward groups that share

the same social concerns -- community action groups, schools and

religious groups.

“My hopes are that everybody who picks it up, it will give

them something to think about,” Adams said. “Maybe change their

perspective enough

to make a difference in their life.”

The book -- published by Manoa Valley Publishing Co., Leedom’s

company -- can be found at the Balboa Island Bookstore and may be

ordered from Barnes & Noble or through www.thelightside.com.

* Do you know a local artist, writer, painter, singer,

filmmaker, etc., who deserves to get noticed? Send your nominee to IN

THE WINGS, Daily Pilot, 330 W. Bay St., Costa Mesa, CA 92627, by fax

to (949) 646-4170 or by e-mail to jennifer.mahal@latimes.com.