Margery Runyan, PhD

Margery Runyan, PhD

  • Dr. Mercy has heard from many twins that she would love the novel I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb, whose books have been popularized by the Oprah Book Club and the merits of his fictional style. The 40-year-old ‘hero’ is an identical twin whose brother has paranoid schizophrenia. The novel covers their childhood, family history (which includes twins), and his psychotherapy with a psychologist who helps him integrate these pieces of his psyche.  Dr. Mercy will be discussing the patterns of twinship attributed to the characters in the novel and their importance in the structure of the novel. Tune in and hear how Wally Lamb, a celebrated fiction writer and teacher, handles the twin theme. #1 New York Times Bestseller and Oprah Book Club selection: "Thoughtful . . . heart-wrenching . . . . An exercise in soul-baring storytelling—with the soul belonging to 20th-century America itself. It's hard to read and to stop reading, and impossible to forget."  — USA Today Dominick Birdsey, a forty-year-old housepainter living in Three Rivers, Connecticut, finds his subdued life greatly disturbed when his identical twin brother Thomas, a paranoid schizophrenic, commits a shocking act of self-mutilation. Dominick is forced to care for his brother as well as confront dark secrets and pain he has buried deep within himself—a journey of the soul that takes him beyond his blue-collar New England town to Sicily’s Mount Etna, the birthplace of his grandfather and namesake. Coming to terms with his life and lineage, Dominick struggles to find forgiveness and finally rebuild himself beyond the haunted shadow of his troubled twin. I Know This Much Is True is a masterfully told story of alienation and connection, power and abuse, devastation and renewal—an unforgettable masterpiece.   I Know this Much is True - Amazon
  • Dr. Mercy recorded this program as a tribute to her mother Margery Wing Sisson Runyan who died on April 2, 2011 in Dayton, Ohio surrounded by her family at the age of 91.  Mother Margery and another daughter Anne were guests on an earlier Twin Talk program entitled Family Secrets available in the archives. Dr. Mercy speaks about her mother’s life and then diverges into a discussion of ‘attachment’ in primary relationships. Twins are believed to bond more closely with each other than the mother. Dr. Mercy reviews the attachment theory of John Bowlby, including the types of attachment (secure, ambivalent, avoidant), the problems related to insecure attachment, and methods to ameliorate related issues in psychotherapy.
  • Brenda Pritchett and Linda DeWitt are two of the most beautiful identical twins ever.
  • Sandy and Dr. Mercy met each other at the International Twins Association convention in Tempe, Arizona.
  • This show will explore the actual experiences of two female identical twins during childhood, adolescence and adulthood.  Lee and Jesse will relate stories from their early lives illustrating their alikeness and differences, their comfort with other children, their position in the family, and the advantages and disadvantages of twinship.  They will also answer the questions: 1. How is it different to be the first born or the second born? 2. How do you see yourselves as different from each other? 3. How do your parents see you as different from each other? 4. How did you relate to each other in School? 5. What did you share?  Friends?  Belongings? 6. Did you have some secrets from each other and from the world? 7. How did your sister influence your career? 8. How did your twinship affect your view of health and wellness?
  • In this program, Dr. Mercy discusses the tragic case of the Silent Twins, June and Jennifer Gibbons born on April 11, 1963 at a Royal Air Force Hospital in Aden, England to black parents from Barbados. The identical twin girls kept silent throughout their childhood speaking only to each other in their bedroom where they created elaborate doll fantasies, wrote books and poems, and kept profuse diaries.  They were destined to be confined to a maximum security psychiatric hospital for eleven years of their adult lives following an adolescent crime spree. For most of this time the twins were kept in separate quarters.  Released together in 1993, Jennifer died within hours of a mysterious cardiac condition and June returned to live with her family.  June now speaks.
     
  • Karey Baker is the mother of two 6-year-old twin boys who were diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis.
  • Program description: Bob Davidson discovered in adulthood that he was born a twin.  His aunt revealed to him late in her life that his twin brother was relatively undeveloped and thus stillborn.  The brother was not named.  This family secret came as a revelation because Bob had always wanted a brother and at times had been sure that he did have a brother somehow somewhere. He did have two younger sisters and befriended many men throughout his life to fill this empty space of brotherhood.  Listen to Bob reflect on his lifetime from the perspective of 70 years of age, looking back on some of the most fascinating changes in society and in his own concept of the meaning of life.  He will discuss the experience of lost twinship, being raised as a singleton and only later discovering his true identity as a twin.  Raymond Brandt the founder of Twinless Twins believes in twin bonding in utero.  Bob will shed light on his missing pieces. Bio:  Bob Davidson is now 70 years of age and only learned in late adulthood that he was born a twin.  He was born in the Bronx, a borough of New York City, and raised there with two younger sisters.  After high school, he joined the Navy and flew as a navigator.  Later he worked towards his own pilot license and still meets with other men who are also 'high flyers.'  Bob married and had six sons. He worked throughout New York City as an iron worker and was eventually injured.  He retired and now runs a farm in Duchess County, New York and a citrus grove here in SW Florida.  He met Dr. Mercy through a mutual friend and they were immediately attracted spiritually and emotionally as twins.
  • Dr. Mercy calls upon her studies of numerology to cover the basics that you need to know to live your life.
  • An interview with Sally Rhine Feather PhD on Twin Parapsychology. Dr. Feather is the eldest daughter of Joseph Banks Rhine and Louisa E Rhine, who are considered to be the founders of modern parapsychology.  Feather served as a child subject at the Duke Parapsychology Laboratory founded by her father, and later worked there as a research assistant, both before and after attending college, and after obtaining a doctorate in experimental psychology from Duke University (1967).  Her research topics included psi abilities of animals, correlation of memory and ESP performance, and help-hinder effects in a PK task. Following another lifelong interest, Feather obtained further training in clinical psychology at University of North Carolina in 1969 and devoted the next several decades to clinical psychology in mental health centers and private practice until retirement in 2004.   A move back to North Carolina in the early 1990’s enabled her to get re-involved in the Rhine Research Center.  Since 1994 she has served in various administrative capacities including the board of directors and for several years as volunteer executive director.  She co-authored a popular book on ESP experiences (St. Martins, 2005) and received the 2010 Career Achievement Award from the Parapsychology Association.
  • BIO: Anne Sisson Runyan is a Professor in the Department of Women's, Gender & Sexuality Studies at the University of Cincinnati (UC) with a Ph.D. in International Relations from The American University. She additionally holds an appointment in Political Science at UC and a visiting appointment at the Centre for Feminist Research at York University, Toronto. She previously founded and directed women’s studies programs at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Potsdam and Wright State University (WSU).  A pioneer of feminist international relations and a recipient of  an Eminent Scholar Award from the International Studies Association, she is the co-author of Global Gender Issues and the co-editor of Gender and Global Restructuring. She has headed five academic departments and has directed international exchange projects. Dr. Runyan has taught graduate and undergraduate courses, including Transnational Feminist Theory, Feminist Political Theory, Feminist Research, Women and Politics, Gender and International Relations, and Gender and Globalization. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION:  Dr. Mercy has been privileged to have exceptional sisters and parents.  Her mother Margery and younger sister Anne will guest on the program to share their experiences with the twins Malinda and Margery (Dr. Mercy) throughout their shared lives.  Dr. Mercy’s mother raised four girls in Cincinnati, Ohio with her husband Richard who was a graduate of Cornell Law and brilliant labor lawyer. Mother Margery, herself raised in Cincinnati, is a graduate of Smith College and holds a master’s degree in library science.  She worked as librarian for the City of Dayton for many years and now at 90 she is happily supported by her friends at Bethany Village in Centerville.  Mother Margery is proud of her heritage and leadership within the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Magna Charta.  Her third daughter Anne is a professor at the University of Cincinnati and her fourth daughter Catherine is raising her two daughters and step sons in Columbus.  This is an Ohio family died in the wool.  How did Dr. Mercy end up outside Ohio?  Tune in to hear Dr. Mercy’s childhood story.
     
  • If you are a twin, a parent of twins, or close to a twin, you will enjoy the interview with Dr. Barbara Klein, a twin herself and expert in childhood development. Dr. Klein will discuss the strong influences of parenting styles and early childhood experiences on the way in which co-twins relate to each other. These methods of twinning are covered in her book ‘Not All Twins Are Alike.’  She will also answer questions such as; ‘What is it like growing up as a twin? Do twins have difficulty in non-twin relationships? Why do twins fight? Why is twin loss so profoundly difficult for the surviving twin? Why should parents stress the individual differences between their twin children? How can we help gifted and challenged twins?  What are the advantages of co-twins being different?’  Dr. Klein’s twin Marjorie teaches rhetorical writing at Stanford University and Dr. Klein will surely comment on their relationship throughout the life stages of childhood and adulthood.

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