Accidental Life

Jim McCracken is a proverbial Jack-of-Many-Trades and gatherer of many experiences. Having grown up in quintessential baby boomer mid-west, early adventures and crises were of the Huck and Tom variety. Later on, with degrees in business, communication, and cross-cultural theology, varying proficiency in 5 languages, employment experience ranging from NFL personal assistant to missionary, willful assistant to births, marriages and deaths, and experiential claims of being hijacked in Ohio, stranded in Iraq, lost in Turkey, and officially labeled a terrorist in a Middle Eastern country... there is something of relevance and interest for nearly anyone to read. "Accidental Life" not only tells the stories, but also offers a subtle suggestion throughout about how to enjoy such a wonder-filled life. Jim and his wife, Deb, have three daughters, a perfect dozen grandchildren, and are indeterminately paused in Louisiana.

I am writing while "exiled" on Patmos, the very same Greek island on which the Apostle John received and penned the Apocalypse...a mystical place that I could never have foreseen or planned as the setting for composing my book. An apparent "accident" of fate. But fate has nothing to do with it.The author's black-and-white Midwest childhood escapades graduated to full-color worldwide wanderings, crammed with intriguing cross-cultural adventures to satisfy nostalgists and avid travel readers. Accidental Life is a memoir, but reads like a novel. It's story, not timelines. Then, why not make it a novel? Because as it is, it proves the old adage that truth is often stranger (and more charming) than fiction. Why his life? How many single lives include the crazy admixture of small town Tom Sawyer-like exploits, getting hijacked and unintentionally forgotten in Iraq, competing in collegiate sports, working in the NFL, speaking to crowds, flying planes, rock climbing, living on a Turkish mountaintop and a Greek isle, rescuing people in peril, helping numerous people die, and finally selling the house and "Breaking Good?"
The author invites the reader along on a journey of life. A coming of age story...and beyond. A multi-cultural road trip, if you will. The twists, coasting, crashes, and stopovers along the route may themselves reveal a curious path to real life - Accidental Life. This is not a book of teachings…although it potentially teaches. This is a book of stories…personal, real, varied, some funny, some sobering, hopefully all entertaining, touchable, and provocative.