Lunch With Legends

Angela Madsen; "Spirit of the Sea" Music Video

Angela Madsen was a true superhero. She grew up on a farm in Central Ohio in the 1960's. She was the youngest child in her family, and the only girl, besides her mother. Needless to say, she had to grow up tough and fast! Her father was a military veteran, and so were some of her brothers. Angela enlisted in the Marines, where she was stationed at the now closed El Toro Marine Base in Irvine, California. That is where Angela fell in love with the ocean, through surfing. Angela was also a world class athlete, and at six foot three inches, she a forward on the USMC Division 1 Women's Basketball team. An opponent fell on her lower back during a game, which lead to a failed disk replacement surgery, leaving her paralyzed from the waist down. That surgery lead to her being dishonorably discharged and eventually homeless, until a veteran's group took her in, where she discovered the sport of rowing. Her team missed medaling in the 2008 Beijing Paralympics. She switched her oars to ocean rowing, where she set nine Guiness Book of World Record records for ocean rowing. On July 18, 2014, Angela Madsen and Tara Remington became the first women to row from Long Beach, CA to Honolulu, HI. While attempting the same row solo, Angela died while untangling an anchor line, 1300 miles from Long Beach and, ironically, Honolulu. She told me back in a 2014 interview that if she had a choice of where she could die, it would be in the middle of the ocean. This music video is a small tribute to a bigger than life person, who was, and still is, my inspiration, along with many others, including her wife, Debra Bogen. My dear friend, John Matthew, was so inspired by Angela's story, he wrote and recorded this song for her.

Handsome Ransom Jackson, Major League Infielder, College Football Star

Randy Jackson played with the likes of Hodges, Campanella and Jackie Robinson in an era that will never be duplicated.  Jackson penned these stories in his auto biography, "Handsome Ransom Jackson: Accidental Major Leaguer.  And, are we lucky he did!  Listen to this episode of Lunch With Legends to get to know one of the nicest, folksy people I've ever met.  Thanks, Ruth Ruiz!

Serial entrepreneur John Cerasani

John Cerasani went from the suburbs of Chicago to play D1 football as a tight end at Notre Dame and Northwestern in the mid-'90's.  With the great education he received from those two prestigious halls of education, John went from selling insurance from his kitchen table to one of the most sought after Venture Capitalists in the world.  Imagine; dreaming of a vacation on the beach, to owning one of the most exclusive hotel properties in Newport Beach!  His client list reads like a who's who, with Aaron Rogers, Kevin Garnett, Ashley Greene and Jaleel White.  One of John's latest projects is the exploding sports gambling market. John's second book is, "2000 Percent Raise", where he shares about starting and growing your own business

Damon Hack, NBC Sports & Golf Channel Anchor & Host

Damon Hack, from Van Nuys High School and UCLA, talks with Lew Stowers about his journey from college radio intern at KMPC 710 in Los Angeles, to becoming a rising star anchoring NBC Sports live events and co-hosting events on the Golf Channel.  Damon also tells Lew what it's been like breaking the color ceiling, as a black man in Golf Broadcasting.

Lew Guests On The Bruce Cook Conversation Radio Show

Bruce hosts Lew, talking about baseball and sports in So Cal