A Colin Wilson Moment

Colin Wilson died last week. He was one of the great influences on my intellectual life. I have 14 books by him with THE OUTSIDERS and THE OCCULT heavily annotated. I especially remember his references to the whiskey priest being led out to a firing squad in Graham Greene’s novel, THE POWER and THE GLORY. As he is about to die, the priest realizes he could have chosen to be a saint instead of an alcoholic and cowardly failure. I went to see Colin Wilson speak about writing sometime in the 1990s in Manhattan. A few weeks later I met at a walk-up apartment in Hell’s Kitchen with a group of writers, who had attended the Wilson lecture, to discuss our lives and works. I have never forgotten the remarks of our hostess, who said she decided to move from Washington, D.C. to New York after everything in her life had gone wrong: “My career, my marriage, my affair.” We never got together again, much to my regret.

Comments on THE HURRICANE LOVER by Joni Rodgers

Joni Rodgers put me into the suffering of folks in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in a way that none of the news stories or documentaries had. She is a writer with a command of place and personality. I was quickly drawn through THE HURRICANE LOVER. The ending was logical yet I had a fear that the author might be setting up a sequel. I hope I was wrong. I prefer stand-alone novels. I enjoyed THE HURRICANE LOVER and encourage others who want a good read with substance to download this book. A suggestion for a free download of a literary fantasy/science fiction novel worth reading: OOOEELIE.