Noah benShea
“Person to Person: Audio Messages of Insight and Support”

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By Gary Wosk

It was not easy for The ALS Association’s (ALSA) National Laureate, Noah benShea, to maintain his composure when he recorded six inspirational audio messages.

First he thought about his father, and then the emotional vulnerability of all people, their families and friends and then the universal topics dealing with life and death that impact all of us.

“As someone who witnessed my own father’s struggle when dying and the consequence to my mother, myself and my family, it became clear that some of the most profound pain on the journey came from the sense of isolation,” benShea said. “My hope was that when people heard these messages they would feel someone reaching out and speaking out and speaking to them and they were a little less alone.”

“I was thinking about my dad and what he went through, and I wanted to be the voice he lost and the message of strength and love he always lived with – and died with.”

Noah benShea’s “Person to Person Audio Messages of Insight and Support” are filled with personal anecdotes and metaphors. The messages are accompanied by music and range in length from 2-l/2 to 4 minutes.

In reaching out, Noah talks about such themes as hope, faith, love, character, peace, and change. The goal of the project, he said, was to be “a source of strength to others.”

In the message “Hope,” benShea tells the story of dying woman who tells her pastor that she wants to be buried with a fork in her right hand because when she was a young girl someone at the dinner table would always say “keep your fork” after the main course dishes had been cleared away. In the second part of the message, benShea talks about a little girl who is walking to school in a thunderstorm and when lightning streaks across the sky, she looks to the heavens and smiles because she believes God is taking her picture and she wants to look pretty.

“The issues of hope, faith, peace, love, character and change are central in all our lives no matter what we are going through, and the thoughts I recorded are intended to be a source of strength to all of us whether we’re dealing with ALS or simply trying to find the courage to get through the day,” benShea said.

“Each of us is ground zero,” he continued. “We cannot be other loving until we are self loving. We cannot offer hope for others until we are prepared to live with hope in our own lives.

ALSA’s Director of Communications Greg Cash, accompanied benShea to the studio in Ventura, Calif.

“You can hear in the tone of his voice his understanding and emotional ties to what people who are going through,” Cash said. “Noah was emotionally involved. It was not like he was reading the news. He did not try to be perfect. It was like he was speaking to a friend with inspirational messages.”

The concept for the project arose after benShea gave an address at ALSA’s 2005 Leadership Development Conference in St. Louis last year.

“The keynote address seemed to speak to people and touch lives, so the folks at ALSA asked if I would be willing to share some of my thoughts on subjects of relevance in a way that would allow people no matter their struggle, even the day to day struggles of living.”

“We wanted there to be a way for people to hear the emotion in his voice,” Cash said. “Noah benShea speaks to people’s heart and mind in a way that is rare and profound. His voice calls to us.”