A New Book is in the World!

My father is a writer. Like Harry Chapin sang of a lonely singer, “[writing] was his life, it was not his livelihood.”

At nearly 73 years old, my dad has published two books of his collected writings—poetry, and essays in verse.

The first book, “Pathways: Through My Mind” was a labor of love for him, and he had it printed several years ago, and it has been greeted with great respect and enjoyment by all who read it.

Now, the ‘sequel’, for want of a better term, arrives in 2006—NOW!

“Other Pathways: Through My Mind—Continuing the Journey” is a self-published volume as well. However, unlike “Pathways”, this volume has been published under the auspices of Trafford Publishing, one of the leading self-publishing housed in the world, and a true leader in the print-on-demand publishing community.

I wrote a preface for Dad’s book, and I would like to share it with you here, before I get on to the ad for “Other Pathways.”

An Introduction to My Father

I have grown up listening to my father speak. Often, it was him reading us a bedtime story; sometimes, it was just him talking about the day’s events to my mother or, as we grew older, to one of his four children.

I loved hearing him talk. My father has a voice that rumbles in a tenor pitch, with eloquence and distinction in every syllable. His voice can carry great kindness or blistering vehemence, but always with the same strength of character.

I have listened to his poems for as long as I can remember. His love of language as a medium of communication and thought fostered my own facility with words. I credit him with teaching me to think, both creatively and independently.

The poems that are contained in his considerable body of work are not of the greeting card variety. To be sure, there is humor contained within these pages, and much warmth and feeling. My father’s poems, however, are first and foremost, as he has put it, “pathways” through his mind.

It is to this mind, and the man who allows it to flow freely into the written word, that I would introduce you.

So venture into this convoluted, complex, and fulfilling experience in life, communication, and faith.

World, meet my Father. He has much to tell you, if you will but listen.

Other Pathways: Through My Mind -
Continuing the Journey
by Marat M. Bandemer, Jr.

Introducing the second most exciting, provocative collection of poetry in years,the first being Pathways: Through My Mind



About the Book

Building a sidewalk takes but a few days...to build a road takes weeks, but to create a pathway takes years of wandering down the same route-always taking the familiar way, always finding the unfamiliar. In Marat M. Bandemer, Jr.'s second book, Other Pathways: Through My Mind - Continuing the Journey, the author has once again put into words nearly fifty years of travels down the road of his life... poignant, angry, sad, hilarious, and always honest...now, and once again, he is prepared to share that pathway with us. This book may be one man's pathway, but it is truly everyman's journey.

About the Author

Marat M. Bandemer, Jr. was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1933. He attended Chicago Public School, graduating from high school in 1950, and then spending a brief time at the University of Illinois Undergrad facility at Navy Pier. Although too young for the draft, he enlisted in the United States Air Force in 1952. It was during this time that he met, and married his wife of more than fifty years, Jean. Together they have four children, six grandchildren and two great grandchildren. Bandemer retired from the corporate world in 1995, and has spent the past ten years working part-time in fundraising and sales for the Houston Symphony. The couple has resided in Houston, Texas since 1991.



Catalogue Information

www.trafford.com/4dcgi/view-item?item=11341
283 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #05-3004; ISBN 1-4120-8006-1; US$23.95, C$27.54, EUR19.67, £13.77


And so it goes…