Interesting People
Life Lessons
After 35 years in public relations, Mia McDaniel knows how to grab attention. That’s why she titled her book “My Father’s Burning in Hell.”
“I was scared because I knew the title was really negative,” McDaniel says. “You’re either going to say, ‘Wow, I’ve got to get this book’ or ‘I never will read this.’ But I figured if you’re buying this book, you really want to see what this is about.”
The memoir isn’t built around a traumatic childhood. Rather, the Carmichael resident exposes family secrets and discusses the impact of having two narcissistic parents, one who’s a predator. But it’s not a sob story. It’s a well-told tale of how truth can set you free.
Earthly Delights
In a world where technology reigns, there’s something wonderfully natural about Kifumi Keppler’s work.
As owner and creative force behind Exotic Plants Ltd., Keppler has spent more than five decades creating a philosophy of making living spaces lush, mindful environments.
Her latest venture into moss‐art blurs the line between horticulture and art.
Mystic Mission
The Altar Room is open to the public only on Saturdays. Arriving at the nondescript storefront off 65th Street for the first time, a visitor might think it’s never open.
Tucked away in an industrial building, the lone indicator of the historical occult curiosities shop is a small sign that welcomes the curious.
Shasta Smith owns and curates The Altar Room. Along with its weekend retail sales, the site is a museum of oddities, an educational workshop for the witchy and an event space showcasing the city’s eclectic side.
Found At Last
As a child, Pocket resident Ellen Yee would stare at a photo on her grandparents’ mantel. The image showed a smiling, handsome aviator in a leather flight jacket, goggles perched on his head.
Yee knew nothing about the man except his name. He was her Uncle Yuen Hop.
Yuen Hop was a U.S. Army Air Forces sergeant who disappeared during World War II in 1944, before Yee was born. “At the time, the military only told my grandparents that he and two other airmen were missing in Germany,” Yee says.
Culture Keeper
Bill Cerruti just returned from his annual trip to Italy. It was work and play.
Cerruti and his wife, a native of Lucca, lead tours as part of their work running the Italian Cultural Society, which they founded in 1981.
As a young man, a proud Italian American and East Sacramento native, Cerruti searched for a cultural organization to meet other young Italians and stay in touch with his roots. When the Italian American club system didn’t click with him, he started his own group.
Green Light
Kimberly Cargile is sold on cannabis. As CEO of an East Sacramento dispensary called A Therapeutic Alternative, Cargile spends her days advocating for the long-maligned plant.
“There’s overwhelming positive research (about the benefits of cannabis),” Cargile says. “It’s sad that anybody would let the stigma stop them from advancing science.”
Cargile was a pre-med college student but found herself drawn toward natural medicine. Studies in herbalism, cannabis, yoga, reiki hands-on healing and pharmacology followed.
