Whenever I hear it, the song sends me over the 3rd Avenue bridge in 1973 Minneapolis. Music can trigger place memories. “California Dreamin” puts me in Columbus, Georgia, walking past a music store playing the Mamas and the Papas tune. A weekend pass from nearby Ft. Benning, took me there–as does the song. But I […]
Now and again, one should be offering excerpts from their published works. Waiting for Westmoreland is a memoir that describes how Vietnam became an essential path to my enlightenment–and true happiness. The excerpt below doesn’t really speak to that theme, but it provides a historical perspective on the time and place. It also illustrates the corruption […]
Well, this hasn’t been a spectacular year for writing and publishing here. Let’s get 2022 off to a good start with this preview of an eventual Buddhist fiction series. Huh–Buddhist fiction? Hey, Christian fiction is a big genre, let’s fill the gap for Buddhists, neh? [May be a while coming, but there are lots of […]
I’ve been a member of the SGI-USA lay Buddhist organization for 44 years. The August discussion topic in the group is “Practicing for oneself and for others.” It’s an integral part of being a Bodhisattva—the stepping stone to Buddhahood. As it happens, an example taken from the Greater Good Magazine works well for the July WATWB […]
It’s always nice to get a good review! This is one from December, 2020. I knew to look for it after Amazon sent me notification of forthcoming revenue. Here’s what D.W. Peach had to say in her four-star review. John Maberry’s memoir tracks his life from his childhood in a struggling family through his disillusionment […]
There is good news out there–YES, REALLY! I just didn’t have time to find it this month. TOO much going on but I won’t bother you with that. Instead, something I’ve been meaning to do for some time now–post an occasional excerpt from Waiting for Westmoreland. This is from the 2017 Tenth Anniversary Edition. This […]
The elegance of chance, a prompt for the “Munching Words Brunch.” We used to meet on Saturdays at a local coffee shop. Now, with the pandemic, we meet Thursday mornings on Zoom. It’s poetry and prose by Southwestern New Mexico writers. I seldom speak of my Buddhist faith on this blog, but it seemed workable […]
Brent Hightower posted this wonderful review on Amazon one month ago, of the Tenth Anniversary Edition of Waiting for Westmoreland. I missed it at the time but discovered it yesterday. Waiting for Westmoreland is the narrative of one man’s life during the Vietnam era. The story is subjective, at times perhaps too much so, written with a […]
Something a little different this month–with a bit of secular humanism. OK, a little faith-connection too. I’m talking about a national event happening in the USA in nine cities. It’s a festival intended to welcome 50,000 youth–aged from 12 to 39. It’s happening September 23rd and registration ends September 4th. So if you or someone […]
It’s been ten years since Waiting for Westmoreland came out. Yes, the title refers to that general from Vietnam. But the book is really about how my experience in Vietnam put me on a quest to reform myself and make the world a better place. I have continued on that path to enlightenment over the […]