A LITTLE MORE ABOUT
BARB'S PEOPLE BUILDERS
 Owners: Kosta and Barbara Radisavljevic, Templeton, CA
History: Barb's People Builders was founded in January of
1992, a few months after our son Jason*, whom we had taught at home from grades 5-8, died
in a jet ski accident at Pyramid Lake in Los Angeles County, California. This left a big
hole in our lives, since no other children were left at home. Most of our close friends
were home schoolers and they had provided much of our spiritual support after
Jason's death. We couldn't envision ourselves leaving the home school community.
At first I (Barb) offered my support to those who sought me out with questions
about how to teach English, since they knew I had taught English and writing in
both public and private schools. I constantly found myself recommending my
favorite resources . Gradually it
dawned on me that I didn't need to keep referring my friends to other suppliers for these
books. I could sell them myself. And that's how it started.
After that it just grew. We began going to home school conferences later
in 1992. Our first was in Fresno, California. Then we began to go farther -- to the state
conventions in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Oregon, Colorado -- even Ohio,
Pennsylvania, and last of all, Virginia. Traveling was interesting, but exhausting. We
enjoyed meeting and interacting with home schoolers and other vendors, and we still miss
that very much. But we have pretty much stopped the home school convention circuit because
my husband developed rheumatoid arthritis and he could no longer help much in loading and unloading
and setting up and tearing down our large booth.
We live in a small town with many home school families, but not enough to
support a business such as ours. We couldn't afford to print a catalog that would do
justice to all the titles we carry, and we are constantly getting new things. Because few
people we haven't met at conferences have heard of us, we had to find new ways to display
and sell our books. So we started supplying Christian school book fairs. We
enjoyed doing this until Kosta could not even drive the truck anymore.
Then I discovered the Internet. It became possible to meet people from all
over the world, put my catalog before people without great expense, and change it easily
whenever I add or subtract something. and that's where we are today. We have begun to add used books in all subject areas -- not just textbooks -- to our
catalog. We hope that will make it easier for you to get inexpensive or out of print
books. We hope to add more articles as we travel less,
and eventually to write some of our own curriculum materials.
In 2001-2002, Kosta had both hips
replaced, one at a time. His recovery has been slow, but he's been swimming to
build up strength, and I'm happy to report that he no longer needs the cane you
see in the picture. He can't walk as fast or as far as I can yet, but he's
making more and more progress. But I'm content to stay at home now and work in
the garden when I have spare time. When I was traveling, we always seemed to be
gone at planting and harvest times. See my
gardening blog, which I add
to when I have time.
Since 2006 I have been on the Board of
Directors for the Internet Bookseller's Co-Op,
tomfolio.com, which hosts my e-commerce site. You can find out more about it
herel
If you have any questions you'd like answered about our company, please feel free to ask.
If you would like to know more about me,
please check out my Squidoo lensmaster page. A Squidoo lens is a unique
perspective on a topic. Squidoo gives me an opportunity to express myself on
subjects that are more personal that I do here. For example, I wrote two lenses
about my daughter, who died in May, 2009.
Sarah: The Suicide of a Child
Sarah was 36 when she died, and we hadn't seen her in 14 years. I tell her story
in this lens.
Adoption Song
was written for and to Sarah when she turned 18. It was an attempt to win her
back.
A Dollhouse Full of
Memories was written about my fourth Christmas in 1947, when I was given a
special dollhouse. I have a picture of me beside it.
Our Fight Against Termites: Not a
Commercial discusses when our lives were turned upside down in April, 2009,
by a termite attack. It describes how we eradicated the termites and repaired
the damage with only the help of our handyman. It is illustrated with the photos
I took of the different stages of work.
Templeton, California is where I
take you on a tour of my hometown. It includes a trip to our local Farmers
Market and introduces you to some of our vendors.
The Paso Robles
Earthquake, December 22, 2003 shows you how much damage an earthquake can do
to a home without really destroying it.
Why does the suicide of a
loved one take us by surprise? This is another sad lens that introduces our
friend Rich. He was a special gift to us, and we enjoyed his company for ten
years. At the end of those ten years, he became ill and convinced he was losing
his mind (as far as we can piece it together) he took his life.
My Tomatoes Were Hit by a
late Frost in April shows the part of me that likes to garden.
My Squidoo Lensmaster Page
lists all the lenses I have written and adds all the new ones that I will write
week by week. It also lists the links to my blogs that aren't hosted here.
Just for fun, check out this
Quiz: How Well Do You Know Barb R?
If you like to write and would like the
encouragement and support of others who also like to write, think about joining
Squidoo. It's social network of people who like to write about almost anything
-- as long as it's G-rated. It's free, and some people even earn some money on
it through affiliate programs, but I don' t put the effort in to do that. I
joined because I like to write. You will also meet some interesting people, many
of whom are educators in homes or schools. May of them share their lesson plans
and unit study ideas. If you want to join, just click the big Make a Lens
button found on all my lenses. It's normally on the right side or near the
bottom or both. All you need to start is an idea. If you do visit my lenses,
please interact with the site by taking polls and leaving comments in various
modules that encourage participation by readers.
 Thanks
for dropping by to get acquainted.
* Jason panning
for gold in American River about a year before his death.
 This is
Sarah modeling my wedding dress when she was about 14 .
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