Books Marc is Writing
Marc says that over the years he’s talked about writing a book and has often heard people say that their lives have been either so outrageously interesting, crazy or wild, that they could write a book. He always wanted to be able to say to those people, “Well . . . I did!”
Stacey Donovan, New York career book editor and novelist, writes, “Marc is a natural storyteller. He has a terrific knack for weaving the very personal and intimate with a sharp focus on historical elements that enliven his story. Settings and social details are all wonderfully wrought and bring his recollections vividly to life.”
Marc believes he has much to say about his feelings, beliefs and experiences about many subjects and wants to pass information on to his children and anyone else who may be interested. He’s delivered various kinds of speeches and presentations at business events and has even spoken at temple services. Marc also spoke at his kids’ schools, when he was Co-Chairperson of the High School Diversity Counsel and later as the Chairperson of the township’s Human Relations Commission. In spite of all that, he feels that writing a book would be so much more fulfilling and challenging, and an opportunity to express his life views while learning more about topics that interest him.
Marc is planning a series of five books, as described below. His first book, Seven Days of SHIVA: Forty-six years of puppy love, was released in October, 2021. He has started a second book, which is about sixty percent into the writing. The third, fourth, and fifth books will follow.
My First Book:
is a memoir about the love of my life.
Stacey Donovan writes, “Such an engaging, moving, pleasure of a memoir to read. I enjoyed it tremendously and think others will too.”
When I first started to tell people that I was writing a book, it seemed like there were those who thought that I was delusional. Their responses were attempts at being encouraging, but were actually more doubtful, like, “Oh yeah? . . . Sure. That’s nice.” I wasn’t at all discouraged. I knew that my wife, Barbara, who I lost in August 2011, would have had confidence in me and I was reminded of my son, Jonathan, once saying to me, “Dad, you’re the only one that I know who can take two sentences and make an incredible ten-minute speech out of it.” Well, I started off with three thoughts, which were so powerful and took me much further than a ten-minute speech.
Simply:
- I loved my wife.
- She was a courageous woman, and
- I miss her.
As I started to write the first chapter, with the objective of the book being stories for my family, my grief took over. After I finished writing chapter one, I skipped to write the end of the book. I dropped my preconceived ideas as to what I envisioned the book to be and allowed my emotions to guide my writing. The focus became the anguish that I was going through, facing life experiences without Barbara, which brought to mind the many memories of our lives together. So . . . what started out to be a simple book of stories for my family, became weighty creative nonfiction.
Writing this book was the most difficult project in my life and I have never before made such a commitment to any other project. Looking through “Shiva Eyes,” I wrote about various experiences as I searched for answers to understand whether Barbara had lived a good life, to identify her ability to overcome hardships, to learn if I had done all that I could for her, and to determine if she felt good and complete about her life, as she closed her eyes for the last time.
This book is my gift to Barbara: We are thankful for the love we have. Because our love is not limited by a measurement of time, our love will continue on forever.
I hope you will enjoy reading about our love story. Through laughs and tears, I enjoyed writing about it. So . . . be ready to smile, laugh and feel our romance and . . . make sure to have a box of tissues nearby.
My second book:
is currently being written, borne of the appreciation for the non-existence of cell phones when my children were young. And . . . with the hope that my children control the cell phone and texting usage by my grandchildren, during what should be family quality talking time.
I was inspired to write this book while I was in the process of finishing up with my first book. While working on the final draft of that book, I reminisced about many of my family talks, storytelling, speeches, and joking around. I wanted to share my family experiences, with the intent to encourage and inspire others to evaluate their own. I was also inspired to write it because the rate of divorce is out of control, in addition to the current droves of unhappy and dysfunctional marriages.
I hope this book will offer some ideas and an awareness about the opportunities for families to get closer to one another and have fun along the way. Or maybe this book will be a catalyst to inspire people to think about their family and come up with ideas to add new interests or excitement to their lives.
My third book:
will explore the world of middle-aged dating, which sucks. Okay . . . stop laughing. Seriously . . . that social phenomenon is an intriguing, fast growing one, as a result of so much divorce.
My experiences may show that people would benefit from getting themselves in the right frame of mind when dating. And, it’s wise to be prepared for the nuances to be faced or dealt with. As an example, should your date happen to say something like, “I’ll make it easy for you to remember my apartment number. I’m in apartment 3-D and ‘D’ is my bra cup size.”
Well . . . you really need to know what to be prepared for after such a statement and understand what to possibly expect. That statement could be good news or bad news . . . just use your imagination. I’m not going to begin to get into what to expect out of the mouths of men. I need to finish my second book first before I do.
This book will be helpful for planning or starting to date. It will give you comfort to know that you’re not alone in the world of dating. For everyone else, enjoy the laughs. But don’t laugh too hard. Because, whether you’re male or female, and even if you’re already in a relationship or married, you’re not exempt from the outrageousness of the opposite sex.
My fourth book:
is about nursing homes, where you can learn so much about life. It’s a place where sadness meets hilarious.
I’m reminded of the time I picked up my mother from the nursing home to take her out for lunch. All was fine as we drove to the restaurant. I found a parking space right in front and walked around the car to help her out of the car. As I opened her door, I saw that she was crying and quickly asked,
“Ma, what’s the matter? Why are you crying?”
“Marc, each day I find something else that I can’t do anymore. Now, I can’t get out of the car,” she answered.
“Ma . . . yes you can get out of the car.”
“No I can’t,” she cried.
“Yes you can, Ma. You just have to take off your seat belt first.”
“Ma . . . wake up and smile. I’m taking our picture.”
My fifth book:
was actually my first idea for a book, based upon my growing up years, in the 1950s and ’60s, in the East New York section of Brooklyn. Back then I witnessed the gradual changes in the neighborhood demographics and, as a young kid, the neighborhood chit-chat that I overheard was intriguing to me. There was much gossip about the perceived unscrupulous lifestyle of the new residents moving in and the rumors about supposed muggings and break-ins by these new residents were in full force. Longtime residents were fearful of the effects of the change on schools, crime and real estate values.
The goings-on left an impression on me. The dynamics of what seemed to be causing change, with people panicking to sell their homes, was confusing. In the late 1990s, I began to study and write a book about the 1950s/’60s Brooklyn.
I didn’t get very far with that book. I had a demanding job and a family. Writing a book, which was intended as a study project and a learning experience, was too demanding of my already busy schedule. Plus, along with my time constraints, my OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) made writing a book back then even more impossible for me. After I lost my wife, I developed DGASD (don’t give a shit disorder), which toned down my OCD. Also, I have more time now to devote to writing books.
