Meet an old friend of mine. His name is Alepho Deng and his life is a series of miracles due to astounding courage. He is a modern day hero living among us in San Diego via Sudan.
I read his first book “They Poured Fire On Us From The Sky”. I was so completely blown away by his true story as one of the lost boys of Sudan that survived unimaginable horrors to make it to America.
We met when my brother Charley Lochtefeld and I attended a book signing in Santa Cruz. We were so impressed that we invited him to give a keynote speech at one of our college retreats at UCLA. 
From there we began a friendship and managed to stay in touch all these years despite not seeing each other for nearly two decades. Thanks to FB I get to follow his life and cheer him on.
He published his second book a few years called “Disturbed In Their Nests”. It continues his improbable journey from surviving the war in Sudan to living in San Diego. Rumor has it that Hollywood will be adapting his story into a movie. I’m not at all surprised and will be the first to buy tickets.
A shout out to his co-author Judy A. Judy A. Bernstein, whose love and support of Alepho is legendary.
If you all want to be lit up with inspiration, either one of these great books will do the honors. It’s nice to know that we have real life heroes among us.
