Sloan Moves on With the Shoe
Tina Sloan (ex-Lillian, GUIDING LIGHT) recently regaled a Mid-Manhattan Library audience with her personal stories, many of which are featured in her candid book, Changing Shoes, and her captivating one-woman stage show of the same name. Both works present her life story and how it has been exemplified and invigorated by shoes, including the pink snow boots she wore while bravely climbing Tanzania’s Mount Kilimanjaro in 1987. She spoke with us after participating in a “talk back” session that wrapped up a performance of the dramatic play Wings at Manhattan’s Second Stage Theatre; see the video below.
Soap Opera Weekly: What was the most challenging aspect of writing this book?
Tina Sloan: The part about my parents getting sick and dying would be the most difficult part — to have to relive it after it was all over. You just want to inspire and give insights to people.
Weekly: Is there a part of Changing Shoes that is the most indicative of the book?
Sloan: [Climbing] Kilimanjaro, because I think it gets people to want to do things with their lives. People have told me they took up tap dancing after reading that chapter. Or they took up painting again. They got back on a horse, even though they’d fallen off 12 years before. So things do happen.
Weekly: Can you speak about any memorable moments from the show’s tour?
Sloan: Oh, [performing for] former President George H.W. Bush, in Houston, where he lives. I knew he was coming a few days before, but I wasn’t allowed to tell anybody. The Secret Service came and made sure the theater was all right, and it was really fun. He was so gracious. I saw him before the play and after, and he really liked it, and so did Barbara Bush, and that was the high point of the whole tour for me. It was fascinating.
Weekly: At tonight’s event, you got a few interesting reactions, but has any memorable reaction to the book resonated with you?
Sloan: This one man, his wife read the book, and she was laughing and crying, so he said, “I want to read that.” He closed the book and said, “I’m going to meet my son” — their son, Theo, was in Egypt — “and bike across the desert, 400 miles.” He’s 60 years old. This terrified me. He was so inspired to do it, and that’s what was thrilling. He just came back, 20 pounds thinner (laughs).
Weekly: So you’re changing lives with Changing Shoes.
Sloan: Oh, I like that: changing lives by changing shoes. That’s nice. I never knew [this] was going to happen. I thought it was advice, but I didn’t think it would inspire people to change their shoes — to change their lives.
You can find more information on Sloan’s book and show at
changingshoes.com.
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