He was a big man. Tall. Strong. He was a quiet man too. When I was a young boy, he kind of intimated me. I never doubted that he loved me. Although there was no blood relation, we were family. We were family, of course, because we are human, weContinue Reading
I thought the world of Paul Farkas. I enjoyed studying under him. He had a gentle way of guiding me through my thoughts. He loved old literature. My last class with him at Metro State would have been fall of 1997. I don’t remember when I wrote the following essay.Continue Reading
I spent the customary moments cleaning the lenses of my reading glasses. They usually wear a level of grease from my fingertips. I don’t know why I’ve never kicked the habit of touching the lenses when I put the darn things on and take them off. The little lens cloth,Continue Reading
In our discussion of small presses and literary magazines, I think it is appropriate to discuss a few of the varieties. There are as many flavors of small presses and magazines as there are people and organizations. Literature in the larger circulations have a big impact. Consider this: J.D. SalingerContinue Reading
Reading came to me much later, I think, than it should have. When I order the events of my early life, it’s odd because I was writing long before I was reading. Even now, that makes no sense.During the war and especially the long months of the occupation, I wasContinue Reading
The path home is not lengthy. The distance is short and I make this commute so often. I’m surprised I haven’t got the steps counted, I am a counter after all. If not the steps then the blocks. For those of you familiar with Denver, you’ll know what I meanContinue Reading
Poetry. I’ve always held the belief that more people write poetry than who read poetry. Unfortunately, in this Jumpstart we will not write poetry. We are fiction writers for worse or for wear. Although it should not be without its place. We can learn a great deal from poetry. LawrenceContinue Reading
I have a few guiding principles of dialogue. Many of you know me. Many of you know that I spent a a few months homeless, jobless and writing for the cartoons. What a life. If anything more, I can say that I once found my way into myself during thatContinue Reading
Oh, I think he’s absolutely despicable. I not only think it, I know it to be true, he is the worst person out there. There couldn’t be and would never be anyone worse. This guy is the absolute base of a human being. Subhuman, in fact. The worst. I’m talkingContinue Reading
After a brief detour in the film department, we have made it back to the beginning. If life was only so circular, right? Of course life isn’t always linear either. And sometimes the undulations of the day, or the story are what really keep us going. Whether it’s Brautigan’s windingContinue Reading