The cover of Sharon Richards's new book, Nights in the Vault, entices us to read by telling potential readers that the work is "a personal memoir" of Sharon's days as an employee of "The Vault" - Hard Rock's short-lived museum of rock'n'roll history.

But the book is much more than a journal of Sharon's experiences in this amazing job. It's much more than a listing of the celebrities that she met (her Bo Diddley story is fascinating!) or a discussion of the rare artifacts that she created provenances for - or proved to be inaccurately authenticated (one of John's Rics, for example). These events make for a great read, and Richards provides photographs to illustrate their details. But these stories are not the heart of the book.

The real focus of Nights in the Vault is the strength of the spirit that many Beatles fans share. Far from mindlessly singing, "All you need is love," many Beatles aficionados have truly incorporated this core belief into their daily lives and have found themselves the better for it. And that is exactly what Sharon Richards discovered when, in 2002, she took on a job as a tour guide for Hard Rock's Vault in Orlando, Florida.

Almost immediately, Richards discovered that her "dream job" of telling "strangers 'bout rock'n'roll" (nod to John Sebastian) was riddled with children who ran through the exhibits, people who touched artifacts that they had expressly been told not to handle, demanding clients, and egomaniacs who tried to ask questions that would trip her up. But time and time again, Richards found a quiet strength that permitted her to cope...an inner "give peace a chance" outlook that enabled her to find some positive aspect in each situation.

After dealing with one trying customer, for example, Sharon concluded, "I guess I need to laugh it off." A few pages later, after a very difficult experience, she wrote, "So, unlike other tour guides who would have felt belittled by this man, I had a fine experience, and he's okay." When dealing with an angry customer that no one else wanted to tour, Sharon journaled, "I was able to diffuse her anger...I'm able to calm people down."

Over and over, when faced with hostile situations, Sharon not only handled the problem with grace, but she actually found good in the interaction...not a "Pollyanna" sort of good that is superficial or transparent, but an honest appreciation of each and every life moment.

At the end of the book, Richards includes an essay that she wrote on John Lennon as a part of her employment by Hard Rock. (She was, of course, hired as a Beatles expert for the Vault.) And in that essay, she says of John, "He was always pushing barriers and planting seeds." And that is exactly what Richards did during her months of "nights inside the vault." She pushed away barriers that management or impossible guests placed in her path, and she planted seeds of truth (questioning artifacts that did not seem accurate). She planted seeds of friendship and kindness. She planted seeds of acceptance and understanding.

I began reading Nights Inside The Vault to find out more about Hard Rock and The Beatles. But by page three, I had already begun to read Richards's work as a self-help book...gleaning from this amazing memoir ways to be more peaceful and positive. By the end of the book, I had learned more than I had ever anticipated. I had learned about the importance of not taking oneself too seriously, about the value of shrugging things off and not over-reacting, about the joy one can find in reacting with love rather than anger.

This book is a quick read, but it is one that will stay with me for quite a long time. Richards concludes her work with a collection of poems she composed while working in the Vault, and in one of these, "Fury of Pace," she writes this line: "Occupy a thoughtful space." That is really the message of Richards's work, and after reading Nights in the Vault, I'm striving to do exactly that.

To order a copy of Nights Inside The Vault, send an email to how2foryou@yahoo.com.

Jude Kessler is the author of the John Lennon biography, Shoulda Been There.

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Published November 27, 2008

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