Books At Bunkers Bar & Grill

What a beautiful afternoon for an outdoor book signing! Sun City Center resident Michael H. Blaine, author of The Invisible Walls of Dannemora: Inside the Infamous Clinton Correctional Facility, decided to get together with other local authors to sign and sell their own books. Bunkers Bar & Grill on South Pebble Beach Blvd. was a willing host, and a dozen authors whose works range from mystery to history and everything in between joined to sell and sign on Monday, December 13.

Blaine, a watch commander with 26 years in law enforcement, left Dannemora just short of a year before the 2015 prison break that made news around the globe. According to Blaine, the prison had “a proud past, but the conditions that made possible the notorious escape and the massive manhunt that ensued had festered for years.”

There Once Was a Woman There Once Was a Man, says author Delia Behr, is a collection of Biblical limericks—some humorous, some bawdy—that recognize and celebrate “every great woman behind every great man [in the Bible].”

Michael J. Deeb began his life as a writer of historical fiction after retiring from teaching college-level history in Michigan. Since writing his first book, Duty and Honor, in 2007, what has become the Drieborg Chronicles is composed of eight books. “I thought you were just writing one book,” his wife said. That had been the plan, but, says Deeb, “the characters ran away with the story!”

On the lighter side… Sixties: a Journey Through and To takes Boomers on a romp through their most memorable decade, the 1960s, to the decade some of us are struggling to remember, our 60s. Donna Parrey, the author of this “anthology of heart and humor,” also has written a delightful children’s book, The Muttcracker with illustrations of 15 different dog breeds as the characters in the holiday classic that inspired Muttcracker.

Jacky Costello was born and raised in East Germany. A wife, a mother, a cancer survivor, and a successful entrepreneur, Costello has shared her story in How Far I Have Risen: Coming Clean About Cancer, God, and My American Dream. With her husband Wes’s “wit and humor” as well as his ‘English-as-a-first-language’ skills, Costello takes the reader along her journey of highs and lows that have brought her to a successful arrival here, today.

Murder in the Sunset Years is a collection of five murder mysteries in a senior community some readers might recognize. A college professor and a team of students—his “tech squad”—are called to combine their techie skills with the old school methods and techniques of the local sheriff and his team. With characters based on friend and neighbors in our own Sun City Center, author Harold Emanuel uses his own experience as a community college professor and his knowledge in the field of information and forensic technology to bring five murderers to justice.

The Magic of God is the story of its author, Elena Jones and the story of the mysteries of God. Among her other accomplishments, Jones is an ordained minister, a Reiki Master Healer, a psychic medium and a spiritual life coach. Her objective through this and her other books, is to “motivate and empower individuals to be the best they can be…to manifest his or her life to its fullest potential.”

Fighting the Odds: Pancreatic Cancer and Me, is Marian Stockwell’s account of her own struggle to overcome cancer. With insight and humor, she shares the ups and downs. This short volume, with professional illustrations, offers wisdom and encouragement intended to help other patients, survivors, and their families better understand and more easily navigate the complex journey to survival. Stockwell says she “has more to say,” so her next book, Still in the Fight, is in the works.

Kathleen and Richard Konicek-Moran have co-written several great books for kids. With her own illustrations From Flower to Fruit and The Beaks of Birds are wonderful books for grades K-4 (and beyond), and they’re endorsed by the National Science Teachers Association. These books would be great holiday gifts for the kids!

Resident historian, John Bowker, co-wrote Sixty Years in Sun City Center Florida with retired journalist, Bob Lochte. The authors were assisted in their efforts by a number of SCCCA residents and History Society members. The book covers all 60 years of Sun City Center, Florida, with interesting information and photos depicting life through the years in SCC. Purchase a copy from the SCC History Society (813-633-3038) or email “scchistorysoc@gmail.com”.

Dan Madden, life-long student of history whose undergrad work was in American History and Masters and PhD are in European history shares his knowledge in a series of books (and lectures). The Twisty Trail From Homer to Copernicus: A bird’s eye view “tells the turbulent story of our classical legacy. From Ancient Greece’s literary, philosophical and scientific literature to the fall of Rome, Madden describes this brief volume as a “tour of our ancient world with a quick survey of the neighborhood’s history and focuses [sic] throughout on the key events from our cultural past.”

His books on The American Revolution (Among them, Roots of the First American Republic 1745-1775) emerge from the understanding that that moment in time—this new democracy– “was a stunning event in world history.” Prior to our founding fathers and the Constitution no government had been formed by the people to be governed—“the government they wanted, the way they wanted it to be.”

Struggling to come to terms with the death of her husband, the suicide of her daughter, and the loss of another from cancer, Linda Bartlett wrote Life Does Not Stop for Tears. This collection of poems and memories begins with her meeting her husband and goes through a lifetime of tragedy to bring her some release, some relief, and a measure of peace.

Nearly 20 years ago, T.D. More sat on his boat and started writing Pay the Fiddler. As happens, life got in the way and it was just a few years ago that he picked it up, finished it, and wrote two more in the series. Pay the Fiddler has been described as “a riveting ride of suspense and intrigue full of twists and turns, daring you to put the book down.”

IN THE PHOTO: The authors with their books. L-R: Dan Madden, Harold Emanuel, Donna Parrey, John Bowker, Bob Lochte, Delia Behr, Michael Blaine, Elena Jones, Jacky Costello, Marian Stockwell, Michael J. Deeb, Linda Bartlett, and T.D. More. Seated: Kathleen Konicek-Moran.