Word: vanzant
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...Vanzant does follow the Oprah recipe: a la carte spirituality, advice and above all, confession. It is an understatement to say that Vanzant does not shy away from talking about her difficult early life. And as Oprah has taught us, if not with quite so abject a life story, such been-there testimony is essential to bonding with the talk audience (primarily women 18 to 49). "My life is who I am; it's where I come from," says Vanzant. "I don't know what I'd be doing had I not been born in a taxicab or neglected...
...Vanzant positions herself as a counselor and an experienced girlfriend. While some of her topics could be tweaked into scream TV--like one she taped a few weeks ago about talking to your troubled teen--she eases her guests through moments when other hosts would prod a sore spot: "You ask [your daughter] a question," she tells a mom whose 13-year-old has been sneaking out. "She gives you an honest answer. You can't freak out at that moment." (One segment of the episode, in fact, is titled "How to Talk Without Screaming...
...early 1990s Vanzant found a following among African Americans with books like Acts of Faith: Daily Meditations for People of Color. After 11 books with 8 million copies in print, "her message became more universal," says Trish Todd, her editor at Simon & Schuster, but her core audience has stayed with her. At the taping, Vanzant asks who has read her books; about half the audience, and most of the black women, raise their hands...
...Vanzant's books promote an unabashed, if cafeteria-style, spirituality: her New York Times No. 1 In the Meantime asks readers to ascend to the "attic" of their souls, "where the Christ lives...where Buddha lives...where Krishna, Muktananda and the archangels Michael, Ariel, Uriel and Gabriel live." She runs the Inner Visions Institute, an organization based in Silver Spring, Md., that sponsors events like the "Wonder Woman Weekend...centered on the One Mind, One Spirit, One Life of the Creator" ($800 for the weekend, not counting lodging). Call it religion or, as Vanzant prefers, "faith," too much could...
...Vanzant or Lewis to succeed, it will mean cutting into Oprah's lane on the high road or proving that viewers, contrary to their recent choices, really are tired of high-decibel escapism. Both are betting that talk, in Vanzant's phrase, has "got the power" to change lives. Now they have to sell that idea to viewers who've got the power to change the channel...