Radio show host Frank Pastore had journalism students Lydia Ness and Job Ang on air to discuss their newly published book The Dominican Dream: A Passion for Baseball, a Love For Family, and a Hope for the Future, a book that visually and verbally recounts the story of everyday Dominicans striving for a better future.

[Dominicans] are such a passionate and colorful group of people, said Ness. I have never seen so many kids so passionate about wanting to change their country.

The two students represented their team of 13 journalism students who worked a total of four months to produce and publish the book. The majority of their material was gathered during spring break when they embarked on a weeklong trip to the Dominican Republic with journalism professors Tamara Welter and Sharon Fain.

Their time in the Dominican Republic was spent talking to a whole spectrum of Dominicans: from little league hopefuls to former major league ballplayers, high-achieving students to high school dropouts, churchgoing Christians to partiers and prostitutes. What they collected from their time in the Dominican Republic was a new perspective on the country and its people.

People just hear about the Dominican Republic as a baseball farm but its more than that. A lot of people there kept saying, We want our stories to be heard. We are more than baseball, said Ang. If our book can play a small role in bringing that forward...Im all for it.   

Listen to Frank Pastore talk with Lydia Ness and Job Ang about The Dominican Dream: A Passion for Baseball, a Love For Family, and a Hope for the Future. To order a copy of the book, contact Journalism Department Secretary Lily Park at lily.park@biola.edu.

Written by Elizabeth Mak, Media Relations Intern. For more information, please contact Jenna Bartlo, Media Relations Coordinator, at jenna.l.bartlo@biola.edu or via phone at 562.777.4061.