Theo of Golden

During the summer, as we take a break from recording the Someone To Tell It To Podcast, our leadership team is reading a book together - Theo of Golden. 

Authored by Allen Levi, a U.S. attorney-turned singer/songwriter and novelist, the book - his first - became a bestseller after it was published in 2025. It takes place in the fictional town of Golden, Georgia. 

Its themes of kindness, compassion, and community caught our attention. They are the same themes that are foundational to our mission and work. The power of generosity, the absolute value of connection, and the beautiful expressions of kindness that are experienced, are quietly transformative for the people whom Theo directly encounters.

Theo is an older, well-to-do man of Portuguese origin, who moves to Golden. He is a stranger to the town and its people. When visiting a local coffeehouse, he takes special interest in the pencil portraits of Golden’s citizens that hang on the walls. Soon, he begins to purchase them. He then gives each of the portraits to each of the persons who are depicted in them. The only stipulation for the recipient and subject of the drawing is that he asks for their story. Then he listens. What Theo learns are their regrets and their secrets. 

It changes lives in deeper-than-expected ways, as Golden’s citizens share, and are heard and seen.

Major characters in the story also include:

• Asher, the artist who sketches the portraits, and captures the subtle sadness and authenticity of his subjects using just a pencil. He questions the value of his work and is humble, since the drawings initially fail to sell, 
• Ellen, who is unhoused and whose scattered verbal communication hides deep intelligence and creativity. She is a resilient survivor of a traumatic past, including psychiatric institutionalization and the painful loss of her infant daughter, and
• Tony, owns a bookstore, and projects a sarcastic, cynical exterior while regularly predicting his own business's failure. A Vietnam War veteran, he hides a highly sensitive conscience and traumatic memories behind his gruff persona. 

Other featured characters are:

• Minnette, a Certified Public Accountant who feels suffocated by a career path dictated by her demanding father. She carries deep personal regret over terminating a pregnancy during college to satisfy her father's expectations.                                                  
• Kendrick, who works demanding night shifts as a university custodian to provide for his family following a devastating car accident that killed his wife and injured his daughter. Accustomed to being overlooked, he is deeply moved when Theo treats him with respect. 
• Simone, a graduate student of Samoan and Congolese heritage studying cello performance at Golden University. Generally reserved offstage, he dedicates himself entirely to mastering his challenging musical repertoire.
• James, a distinguished, highly respected business consultant who owns the historic Ponder House. Operating with old-school Southern propriety and strict discretion, he acts as a gatekeeper for Golden's elite. 
• Anita, James’ protective and highly efficient secretary. Initially highly suspicious of unconventional requests, she strictly manages the logistics of the office before discovering unexpected joy in tracking down the addresses of portrait subjects.

Cultivating connection through art and kindness is a major theme of Theo of Golden. The story examines how intentional generosity and shared artistic appreciation forge meaningful relationships that transform both individuals and communities. Theo’s simple acts of generosity begin to forge profound connections. His encounters with the people to whom he presents their portraits create an intimate and safe space that encourages honesty and introspection through shared artistic experiences. 

Someone To Tell It To’s collaboration with Harrisburg, Pennsylvania’s Open Stage theater company for 2025’s co-production of the play I’m Proud of You, about a life-altering, true-life friendship between Fred (Mister) Rogers and Texas journalist Tim Madigan, is definitely aligned with the message of Theo of Golden - that kindness goes a long way, that empathy and compassion can change lives, and that deeper connections with others are what humans crave and need.

Another point of alignment with the book is that art - whether it be theater, music, the visual arts, dance, the written arts, drama, comedy, and any other kind of artistic expression - can also draw people closer together, because of the arts’ capacity to stir and enliven human spirits and souls.  

There are countless ways in which we can find meaning, depth, and connection in our lives. In times when we feel uneasy, lonely, disconnected, and distressed with the fractures in our culture, Theo of Golden reminds us that the arts, kindness, and generosity of spirit can and do go a long way toward mending our discontent and the fissures that threaten to defeat us. 

There is a better way, and Someone To Tell It To is committed to showing and modeling that better way so that our lives and our relationships can begin to heal.

Photo by Juri Gianfrancesco on Unsplash