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Remarkably moving and uplifting,
Journey of the Heart is not only a primer on how people can mentally and emotionally prepare themselves for a life-saving, risky medical procedure, but a blueprint for all generations on navigating uncertainty, triumphing against odds, chasing and finding love and living life to its fullest with the backdrop of all that is Hollywood.
At age 62, tv producer, writer and brother of show business icon Billy Crystal experiences chest pain while playing golf and learns he needs an aortal valve replacement. Without the highly innovative and challenging surgery, he would die. Facing his own mortality, Richard successfully undergoes the surgery. During his days and nights of recovery in the hospital, he revisits his past and a flood of memories rush in, allowing him to rediscover the dramatic events that shaped his life. He uses his life-affirming memories to accelerate the healing process.
About the author
Television producer/writer Richard "Rip" Crystal was born in New York and raised in Long Beach, Long Island. He moved to Los Angeles in 1975 to pursue a career in the entertainment industry. Over the past 30 years, he has produced and written countless television shows including
Life's Most Embarrassing Moments,
Planet's Funniest Animals, and with executive producer Rob Reiner produced the award-winning documentary on political standup comedy
But Seriously.
In 2003, he created and produced the feature film
Murder by Numbers starring Sandra Bullock and Ryan Gosling. He has sung and produced four pop/jazz albums performing the classic standards he first heard in the legendary Commodore Music Shop, his family's record store in Manhattan, managed by his late father.
He lives in Los Angeles and has been married to his wife, Fran, for 40 years. Their daughter, Jackie, and her husband, Lee, have recently given them to lovely grandchildren - Coco, 5; and her younger brother, Maxwell Henry.
