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Each week host Nancy Wiegman talks to local, regional and national writers about their latest projects. Nancy's Bookshelf airs Fridays at 10 a.m.

Alexa Benson-Valavanis : Sipping Tea With Buddha And Christ

Alexa Benson-Valavanis is president and CEO of a philanthropic foundation based in Chico. When she was 25, she was making plans to enter a Buddhist monastery in Nova Scotia when a encounter with a stranger resulted in an invitation to work in Shanghai, China. In a three-year journey from Shanghai to Hong Kong, Guatemala to Vietnam, Alexa struggled to reconcile her sexuality with her longing for a relationship with God.

Nancy Wiegman has a master's degree in French linguistics from Indiana University and taught yoga and foreign languages at CSU Fresno and the College of Charleston before moving to Chico in 1990.