To the credit of his programmers, WRIF radio personality Steve Black has never been asked to sound like his colleagues, iconic ‘RIF DJs Ken Calvert or Arthur Penhallow during his 19 years at the radio station, known for decades as “Detroit’s Rock Station.”
“Honesty and individuality — Detroit listeners know fake when they hear it and we have always strived to be honest with the listeners,” says Black, a Flushing native who lives with Gina Sambuchi-Black, his wife of 12 years, in Lake Orion. “(My programmers) have always allowed the personalities to be themselves (and not like someone else), which, of course, is another form of honesty.”
Honesty informs the 31-year radio veteran’s latest book, “The Last Child,” a science-fiction novel about Kyle Jordan, the last child ever born on Earth as humankind faces the prospect of extinction. It depicts the struggles of human nature when pushed to extremes.
“I wanted the story to be as real as possible,” Black says, “so when I ran into questions about religion, I interviewed priests and ministers and submitted questions to imams and rabbis. When I needed a deeper understanding of the science, I became versed in quantum physics. For questions about birth and biology in general, I interviewed doctors. That level of detail may in fact be the reason why people have been able to relate to the story.”
Black developed the ideas in “The Last Child” while looking for a way to play with his feelings about science and religion and at points play them against each other. A fictional world in which neither could provide a suitable answer to a major dilemma would be ideal, he realized.
“So, I decided a world where no more children could be born would not only do the trick, but also provide all kinds of additional challenges,” he says. And he was pleased with the initial response to his book.
“People seem to be enjoying it,” Black says. “I had originally feared it might be too deep and readers might lose interest, but — thankfully — the response has been overwhelmingly positive.”
This is Black’s second book. His first “From Black to Light” is an autobiography chronicling his first wife, Sabrina’s, six-year battle with cancer. Black also serves on the board of directors for Gilda’s Club Metro Detroit, an organization that supports families touched by cancer.
“In a really weird way, the two books are related, by creating the fictional place that allowed me to explore my grievances with both science and religion in the wake of the unfairness life can throw at us,” he says. “I’ve been a communicator in multiple art forms for most of my life, but it feels like all those expressions have led me to writing and I absolutely plan to continue.”
You can purchase “The Last Child” at chopshopradio.com.
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WRIF personality Steve Black publishes sci-fi novel, ‘The Last Child’ - The Morning Sun
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