The Sail Needs the Wind

Michael's home is in Chatham, Ontario, Canada where he grew up in a post war environment with a sister and two half brothers. He and his sister, Margo, were among the many young victims of this war having lost their father in its closing days. The loss of a husband, even under the accepted strain of a world war, is a devastating and di¿cult burden for a young mother of two. Grandparents took on a larger role in the developing lives of Michael and his sister who knew their father only from treasured pictures in the family album. Their mother's mother, Nanna, in whose home they were raised took on a more direct role in their growth and was responsible for the introduction of life's morals and values. Michael chronicled ten years of his and his sister's youth in his ¿rst attempt at writing, It's Just About Me, 23 Dover Street, which published in 2004. Always enjoying the activity of note making he has continued to write and has produced a collection of his notes in The Sail Needs the Wind, which was inspired by Notes to Myself by Hugh Prather. Post secondary education took Michael away from Chatham in 1963. The following forty-two years, thirty of which were spent working in local government also included employment in the manufacturing industry, the not-for-pröt sector and two amazing years in Mexico. Michael has a loving daughter from his ¿rst marriage and three beautiful granddaughters. His second relationship includes an additional daughter and son, both of which have brought much meaning to his life. Returning to Chatham in 2005, Michael continues to make notes and plans to complete further writing projects. He, with his very best friend, love, and wife, Mary, now resides in Tucson AZ.

The Sail Needs the Wind has to do with what has occupied my thoughts for my entire adult life...and that is quite simply, life itself. How we move through its maze; how its essence enters us and how we deal with its moment to moment ¿ood and simply survive...and in no cursory way, thoughts about the Creator. I also have to ask, who are we...why are we, and where exactly are heaven and hell?Humanity is not easy and it appears we have little faith in ourselves... which I ¿nd unbelievably sad. We have been lulled into this state by the patronizing and the greedy and to some degree by those who would readily seek compromise to avoid meaningful collaboration.We have been in a state of war since our consciousness ¿owered, nothing has been gained, and we continue to believe, sans proof, that prayer will do more than just comfort the disparately praying soul.My notes are reactions to people and situations, both on the job and in personal relationships. I am not naive enough to believe that living is not complicated...and that everyone lighting just one little candle would create a brighter and more welcoming world. But I am also smart enough to know that retaliation never works; that at some point someone much brighter than anyone who exists today must say "no" no more and that offering the light and warmth of that one little candle may just start a revolution for the one thing that we so disparately want, but for the life of us cannot ¿nd...peace.