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.
A Magical Setting
What Is This Book?
Part One: THE SILLY YEARS
Inglorious Accidents
Romantic Hardhead
Street Cruisers
KO’d in Detroit
Second Fiddle’s Fine
The College Experiment
A Thundering Velvet Hand
Part Two: MORE SERIOUS TIMES
Hitchhiking and Hijacked
Presidents and Pygmies
Family Planning
Acapulco Gold
Home Sweet Hospital
Inner-City Slaughter
A Skeleton from the Closet of My Personal Journal
In Camp with the Kurds
A Man’s Been Shot!
Career Development
Helping People Die
Helping People Get Hitched
Big Bending
Success in Reverse
Part Three: SEASON OF SERENDIPITY
Breaking Good
A Season in the NFL
Seconds of Turkey
Good Dog Bad Dog
Son of the Highlands
Exiled on Patmos
Poetry in Motion