The important life lesson musician Donné Roberts learned from Shannon's Way by A.J. Cronin
This interview originally aired on March 23, 2019.
Donné Roberts is a citizen of the world. Born in Madagascar, raised in Moscow and now living in Toronto, Roberts mainly sings in Malagasy, his native tongue. His career has sky-rocketed in Canada.
After receiving recognition for his albums Rhythm Was Born and Internation, he became one of the members of the African Guitar Summit project, which won a Juno Award in 2005, and a member of Okavango the African Orchestra, which won a Juno Award in 2017.
Roberts has been reading Shannon's Way by A.J. Cronin and tells The Next Chapterwhy he can't put it down.
"The book is about a doctor. His name is Robert Sheldon. He's a young scientist writing a book about medical discovery. He just graduated and he got a new job working in his lab. He's very devoted to the role. He doesn't pay attention to anything else. However, there is a lady who notices him; her name is Jane. She feels something about him and he seems to not see it right away.
"It's a life lesson about being open and seeing what's going on around you. I would say that's the message that I took from it personally — that whatever you do, no matter how much you're focused on job, look around and try to feel other people at the same time."
Donné Roberts's comments have been edited for clarity and length.