A Life’s Passion, How and Why.
Have you ever wanted to be in the movies?
Did you ever dream of being a star in your own movie?
Well, I was in one, a made for television educational film in the 1960’s, ‘Where Are The Poets,’ which is featured in the music category of this website, but other than that, being in a film had never crossed my mind.
Then one day in 2007 I was at a book fair exhibiting my novel ‘Renaldo’ and a film producer stopped by my booth.
He was a soccer nut, so we chatted for awhile and I gave him a copy to take away.
A few weeks later I received an email from the same guy and he wanted to talk about a project involving my book. The next thing I know we are sitting in the office of Gary Thomas, owner of ‘Crush,’ a media company that gave me a proposal to make short film, about six minutes, dealing with the book and why I wrote it.
Long story short, I decided to go for it.
I figured it would be good promotion for my novel, but I also had a feeling that it was time to tell my story, all of it, from the start until the present day.
My life in 2007 was wonderful. My wife Anne and I had our first granddaughter and our blended family of four children was in it’s eighth year.
The pain and tragedy of the early 1990’s was, for the most, part behind us. We both had lost our spouses.
But it was my personal pain after my wife Carol took her own life that channeled me to my little desktop computer where I pecked away as ‘Renaldo’s’ story spilled onto the pages.
Writing fiction was my therapy, because I could control what happened. I could not control the the insidious effects of her anxiety/depression.
Life does go on however, for better of for worse, and for my two daughters and I things were starting to normalize as much as possible in 2007.
I am a big believer in HOPE. Positive thinking can be a powerful tool, so I figured maybe I could transmit some of the hope I was feeling through a positive film experience.
Making the film was a blast. Gary Thomas’ crew and staff were amazing, writing my story and transposing it onto film was an incredible experience.
‘A Life’s Passion’ ended up being shown on the C.B.C., Canada’s national television network and also exhibited at the Miami Short Film Festival.
While I find the film self serving and somewhat embarrassing to watch, the feedback is usually positive, a story with a happy ending.
I’ve been blessed to have my family and friends to get me through the tough times.
I hope that you too can find the hope and support to carry on when things are bleak.
Try finding a new passion like painting, yoga, sculpture, whatever you like. For me it was writing.
Next to my family, it has become my passion.
As I say in the film, ” Try to find your particular passion and grab onto it, then hold on for all you can…don’t let it go!”
