Dr. Tyra Manning’s story is both unique and universal, as it demonstrates the pervasive devastation of loss while demonstrating how courage and love can triumph. Tyra’s husband was shot down over the Laotian jungle while flying a top-secret mission during the Vietnam War. She learned of his death while she was hospitalized at the Menninger Clinic, where she was being treated for depression. Tyra’s worst fear had come true.
Determined to fulfill the rest of the dreams and promises she and her husband had made to one another, that she get well and become a teacher, Tyra persevered through the darkest of times. Ultimately, Tyra earned a doctorate in education from the University of Kansas, becoming one of the nation’s top school superintendents.
She has devoted her forty-year career to helping children achieve their highest potential. Since retiring in 2004, Dr. Manning’s mission has been to share her personal journey of hope with people who are experiencing depression, addiction, and loss.
Though she travels around the country delivering the messages and lessons in her new book, Where the Water Meets the Sand, Dr. Manning is a born and bred Texan. She currently resides in the Texas Hill Country.
Storytelling for Change
Attending the She Writes Press and Spark Point Studio Conference in Scottsdale Arizona this past week exceeded my expectations in so many ways. The mountainous setting, cacti, and beautiful desert flowers reminded me that Texas, my home state, is not the only place in America that can accurately be described as God’s Country! The conference […]
Storytelling for Change
As a former educator, I will always associate fall with the start of the school year – bells ringing in the hallways, sharpening of brand-new pencils, cracking the spine of a textbook for the first time. While I’ve been retired from the profession for some time, I haven’t left the academic world behind entirely. As […]
Lady Gaga: A Prominent Voice on Behalf of Mental Health Services
Promoting improved mental health education and the de-stigmatization of mental illness have long been central to my purpose as a writer, speaker and human being, which is why, when a global celebrity steps up to talk about this issue, it catches my attention and hopefully that of millions of others. On October 9, The Guardian […]
