Submitted outline to Random House

Well, I finally got off my ass and submitted what I have written so far to Random House. I can in contact with a senior editor of Crown Publishing in August of 2009. I have contacts at St. Martins Press from when I owned a company but those leads are cold. This one is new.

So yesterday, December 9th, I send off the manuscript, such as it is, to my friend by email after deciding this was the best way for him look at what I'd already written. Maybe I should have written more but I didn't want to much time to go by since meeting him that he'd forget me or our conversation.

Alot of people are interested in my writing and I look forward to getting published regarding something I am passionate about.

However,I am feeling kind of down at the moment. The work is slow on the Oregon Coast (Cannon Beach) and although I have saving in reserve I always worry about it being enough. Must be the Jewish part of me. LOL.

Anyway, now I wait and it being the Christmas season and all, I expect I will be waiting a long time.

Others share my vision of changing how we in America view the old people in our society. Thats been an encouragement to me but have a written enough to catch the interest of a publisher??? That is the question, Mary. That is the question.

Oregonian - 92 year young Grandma

November 17, 2009 Tuesday Oregonian

Article by Anne Saker - "Gruff granny tweaks Portland's young.

This article caught my eye because the little granny some 92 years old shaking her finger at me saying, "Who gives a rip, what you think?"

I am remind of the countless times my mentors and elders told me that one person can make a difference. Even Mother Theresa said, "There are no great acts of kindness, only little ones that make a big difference."

A single person can make a difference in history. The examples are many but what is most important too is that we do not forget that we, yes, you and I can change the course of history just with a kind word or act no matter how insignificant we feel it may be.

It is because of this encouragement that I get involved, not for the recogniation but simply because it's the right thing to do.

So remember, you can make a difference and get involved.

Be well and Happy Thanksgiving if I don't write again before then. I am making my world famous chocolate raspberry cake for the Thanksgiving celebration.

Bob

As I speak

As I speak to more and more people about my writing and how passionate I am about changing how we American's view old people I am convinced that my timing is right.

Tonight I met a gal named Hunter who went to see the movie, "2012" with me and two other friends. We drove from Seaside, Oregon to Astoria to see it on the big screen. It was intense. On the way there, I spoke with Hunter about my passion to write this book and tell the stories I've heard from others with a new group of listeners. She loved the title of my book and thought the timing perfect.

I now have 15 people I am including in my writing and the last one which will feature my friend Jimmy G will discuss the art of "living in the present". A lesson he and I have talked about many times and one that he always seems to be passionate about passing on to others.

I am pumped up about writing more the next few days as I regroup from my trip to LA and the Magic Castle and The Getty Museum. LA is a bit much for me. All three times I have been there I have been on a mission...1st as a key note speaker for a technical dinner, 2nd with my appearance of the Roseanne Barr Talk Show and now this last weekend for my friends 49th birthday party which took place at the Magic Castle. Next time I am in LA I want to be there longer and spead more time on the beach.

That's it for today...with fifteen people to highlight their influnce on my life, I think I have my writing cut out for me. I love writing because I can write till I feel I have used the exact word I wanted to communicate the beauty of life and it's challanges. Good Night and be well.

It becomes important

As I continue to talk about my book the more important it becomes to me to finish. I have a passion to learn and to from those that have blazed a trail before me. Network people, not only with your age group but with those much older.

At this time I am helping an 82 year old friend be place in hospital care and later assisted living. The system sucks if no one advocates for you. I and my friend, Dottie are there for our old friend...who will be there for you when the time comes?

Making time

Today was going to be dedicated to writing. However, life is not always scripted according to my plans. My friend, Jimmy G., who is 82 is in the hospital and not doing well. So I took this morning off from writing and visited him in the hospital. I was there for several hours and one meal. So when I saw that he was stabilized I told him I had things I needed to do and returned home to write.

I am happy to report I wrote on several chapters, I , at least got a outline down for those chapters with thoughts of the most lasting impression or lesson I was taught and how I saw those lessons lived out. I certainly hope that my little stories can make a difference in how old people are viewed in our country.

I wrote the following passage late at night and I am sharing it here so I don't lose it....."I am writing to enact change and if only one person changes I will have been successful. If I can change how old people view themselves or of how young people view an older generation I will have done my job."

I am passionate about learning from others. I love the stories I hear today from friends of "truisms" they learned from family members...mostly from a mom or a dad or sometimes a grandparent. they tell me the little stories that have helped them navigate through life. Stories that changed their lives. And stories they pass down to their children and other young people. Stories that make our society what it is today. Life is good and if we keep our ears open we can continue to be as fasinated about it now as to when we were mere babes.

Got the flu

This weekend was tough. I somehow managed to get the flu and have been feeling under the weather for a couple days. Today is the first day I began to feel better. Writing is my passion to take all the experiences I have learned and to share them and maybe make the world an easier place for anyone to live in will be the reward.

Also, the weekend was spent helping an 82 year old friend of mine who just fell down a flight of 12 stairs get situated in the hospital so not much time has been left to write but although that is true at least I can take a few minutes and jot down a few thoughts of the weeks events.

As I considered submitting what I have written thus far to an editor I met recently I have come to realize I have my work cut out for me. When I wrote technically, I wrote and re wrote my articles and papers over and over again. I am a stickler for using the right word and I expect that will be the same here. So bare with me and enjoy the ride.

I need to close now I need to upload some pics and send some emails out tonight but I will return with more to share and question.

Be well, my friends.

Thinking

Well, I am not writing much today on the book but I have continued to chat with people about it and they seem to be interested and I am encouraged.

A little about me. I started out my career in the engineering field. I worked for a consulting engineering firm in Bellingham, Washington. I began in the design department and ended up the firms Marketing Director. That position enabled me to travel and lecture at Purdue and the University of Ill. and others on plastics. The technecial papers I wrote were published in trade journals and one paper was included in a text book published by Purdue on Materials. I was a published text book author by 30. Not bad for a boy from New Jersey! LOL.

I liked writing then and was sad when I left the engineering world to not be writing. But is now to time to write again but to write about something I am passionate about. The way we treat old people in America. It is sad that when people grow old their usefulness decreases. Now I realize at 20 year old can out perform a 80 year old on physical feats but on life experiences the Old Guy rules.

Because I am a student and observer of life I love old people. It intrigues me to listen about the changes they have seen during their life and learn how it changed them. Hell, I am even old enough to have experienced talking to teenagers only to have them confuse a CD (Certificate of deposit) with a CD that today's music is recorded and distributed on. Things will never stay the same.

Well, rather then ramble on tonight I am going to close and maybe watch some TV (which I rarely do) or chat up a friend. Good night and I probably wont write more until I get back from being a few days in Portland. Other then NYC where I still have family I love Portland.

Getting started!

Its been over ten years since I first wanted to start writing this book. It all began after I retired from a business I had and I started working in a retirement center in Medford, OR., just for something to do. There I met a 103 year old lady named Alice. At this time I was in my 40's. I digress.

Alice was a neat old lady. And I can remember when her daughter would visit and realized that she too was old and some where in her 80's. i have always enjoyed old people. And I have been blessed by knowing some of the best. But the start of my wanting to write began with Alice. You see, when I would talk with her eyes would light up when I would ask her questions about her life. We would talk and talk and talk.

And then later I thought about the plight of old people in this country and unlike other countries we put our old people, who are full of wisdom and knowledge out to pasture and for the most part consider them a burden.

I want to change this.

I hope that in writing my experiences with old people, others will also consider the importance they play in the cycle of life and treat them with the respect and honor due them...and help them realize too that someday we will all be old....and I say, "Thank God, it sure is better then being dead!"

To leave you with a thought of a movie I saw when I was in eighth grade (1969) Romeo and Juliet," A rose will bloom, it then will fade so does a youth". We all grow old but let us enjoy every day of life with have with all its seasons.

And so it is that after ten years of thinking about this undertaking and being encouraged by all that I spoke with about my passion to record and change the way we look at old people that I embark on a crusade to change the world and finish this book in a year.

The idea about doing this blog came from two ladies I met in Cannon Beach, Oregon. Who when I told them of my writing suggested I read the book, "Julia and Julia" ( I saw the movie) and start a blog about my writing. Thank you ladies and I am still waiting to hear back from you.

I want to write something daily (as life permits) to keep my creative juices going. Next blog I will tell you about myself and accomplishments and what drives me to communicate about my experiences. Good night.