Media Coverage
MEDIA COVERAGE:
The "Book Of The Day" as featured on Dr. Mel's blog:
July 25, 2024 - AWESOME BOOKS:
Featured Author Geir Sivertsen
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born in Norway in 1946 and grew up in a rural town. Until my late teens, my focus was on all kinds of sports. After spending a year in the US on an American Field Service scholarship, attending high school, and living with an American family, my fascination with American culture and politics became rooted.
After finishing my Norwegian Bachelor's Degree, I have enjoyed living and working across various foreign countries for 25 years, including the United States, Denmark, the UK, France, Spain, Bulgaria, and Thailand.
I have a Bachelor of Business Administration from Norway and a Master of Business Administration from INSEAD, France. (Almost) fluent in English and French—along with my native Norwegian/Danish/Swedish—my professional life has spanned 45 years, including roles such as consultant for the Norwegian Export Council and director of hotels in Norway, Denmark, and the UK. I spent the last 10 years of my active career as a certified financial advisor.
In addition to being a "bookworm," I have always enjoyed sports, actively participating in football (soccer), skiing, and tennis.
I now enjoy my retired years in Thailand, and luckily, I have more time than before to read good books. But I must admit that in the past two years, much time has been spent writing my own book about Donald Trump and the worrying political situation in the United States.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I learned to read at age five by listening to our nanny read aloud from various children's books aloud every night. My parents shockingly found out when finding me reading "Who Was the Murderer?" Before I was six years old… I don't remember this episode myself, but I have to believe my parents, who told me many years later. The first book I remember reading was The Bible, a youth edition. It was divided into 365 small chapters, and I read one chapter every day, starting from the day I got it as a Christmas gift. It was a beautiful special edition, nice white (leather?) bound with gold letters. and remained on my night table almost to my teens. I guess that was what really opened my eyes to the beauty to be found inside books.
I have always been more of a reader than a writer. Apart from various writing projects in school and universities and occasionally small projects related to work, it was not until Mr. Donald Trump and his well of lies flowing over the Americans that I felt almost forced to start writing, resulting in my recently published "Donald Trump in the Footsteps of Adolf Hitler." The original work with this book was from a broader perspective, and I am planning to publish another book about American politics, hopefully not too far in the future.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read? Who Inspires you in your writings?
My first favorite genres were science fiction and adventure, inspired by Illustrated Classic magazines like "The War of the Worlds" by H.G. Wells and "Treasure Island" by Robert Stevenson.
In my youth, I could read 3-4 books daily across all genres, including astronomy (!)
I still enjoy a variety of genres, but historical Romans and Biographies are the " heavyweights" I read the most. Allow me to mention a few books that have made a lasting impression, maybe mostly because of the exceptionally captivating writing style used, making it almost impossible to put away once began reading: "L'Etranger" ("The Stranger") by Albert Camus, "War and Peace" by Leo Tolstoy "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote, and "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee. The latter inspired me to write my Bachelor thesis, suggesting that my University should create a subject called "Environmental Economics." It turned out I was ahead of time – the course was created ten years later.
Nowadays, surrounded by the internet flowing into my PC, my phone, and my iPad, I occasionally enjoy reading books on my iPad—but I prefer settling down with a good book in my hands. That, more than anything else, can make me forget the time.
Tell us a little about your latest book.
"Donald Trump in the Footsteps of Adolf Hitler" is actually my first book, inspired by two events. The first was my wonderful experience as an AFS student in the United States back in High School. The other was the entrance of an untraditional president into the U.S., Donald Trump. As a businessman like myself, he intrigued me, but my curiosity quickly turned into worries when his personal behavior and political trajectory started reminding me of Adolf Hitler, the German dictator who led the world into a disastrous war.
I started note-taking from the day he approached Kim Jong Un, curious to see if his unconventional diplomacy could lead to a breakthrough in communications. It did not, and my curiosity soon turned into concerns about how he misused his position and power. On January 6, 2021, the day Trump inspired the attack on Congress, I decided to write a book about what I regarded as a misfortune and danger to American society.
My book draft started as a broad analysis of the political situation, but I ended up focusing on the origin of danger; former president Donald Trump.
I have put a lot of work into fact-checking, and I want the book to counter Trump's flow of lies and his defiance of the law. As an "outsider," knowing U.S. history and culture fairly well but living on another continent, I hope my European perspective can shed some light on the dangers that lie ahead for Americans and how far American politicians, particularly Republican leaders, have distanced themselves from truth and integrity.
I aim to publish another book later about important challenges facing America and Americans: Voting rights, separation of powers, politically biased court system, abortion, immigration policy, etc.
But for now: Focus on Mr. Trump.
Connect with the Author on their Websites and Social media profiles